Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V16_1/V16NO139.TXT

Internet Message Format | 1993-07-13 | 41KB

Date: Mon,  8 Feb 93 08:10:35
From: Space Digest maintainer <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Space Digest V16 #139
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk


Space Digest                Mon,  8 Feb 93       Volume 16 : Issue 139

Today's Topics:
               (Bullcrap) Was Re: Challenger transcript
                     FREE-ENERGY and other posts
           Silly distortions of the Japanese space program
                 So what's happened to Henry Spencer?
             Space Station Freedom Media Handbook - 14/18
             The day before Challenger exploded. (2 msgs)

    Welcome to the Space Digest!!  Please send your messages to
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Date: 5 Feb 93 00:05:00 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (Bullcrap) Was Re: Challenger transcript
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Vilkata TDK) writes...
>In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Tim Tyler) writes:
>

>Why do you think it's tasteless?  It happens to be the truth.  I went to Space
>Camp for two years, and lots of those people have information the general
>public usually doesn't.  In fact, the first year, my group's counselor was the
>daughter of astronaut Robert L. Stewart, Jenny (very nice).  I don't remember
>if it was she or someone else, but someone told us that the last thing they
>heard _before the explosion_ was something to the effect of "Uh oh."
>
>The truth is, they were all conscious (sp?) and aware of what was happening.
>Which makes it that much more terrible, but that's Life, and a lot of us like
>to know the whole truth.
>--

The real truth is that you are full of it. How do I know this? Well it happens
that I know Jenny Stewart and also Taylor Jernigan who dated her for a long time
Through them we also know General Stewart. Taylor nor Jenny or General Stewart
ever ever said anything like what you purport. Also if you were there when
you claim you would know Taylor and he would have found anything that could
have been found out. He was one of the ones that helped to send the
Teacher in space finalist through the early simulations that were at space camp
to familiarize the finalist with what they would be going through at NASA.

What if they were concious? The G loading on the crew compartement was only
about 20 gs which is not enough to kill. What if there is a tape of the
last words of some of the crew? To put this out on the net is simply tasteless
and degrading of the sacrifice that these people gave. Its like broadcasting
Gus Grissims sreams as they were buring up. Nothing but a cheap thrill for
some one who gets off on the "Faces of Death" type of movie. I bet your little
old rear end would be screaming and crying much worse than they did. Have
you ever faced death? I don't think so.

Dennis, University of Alabama in Huntsville

------------------------------

Date: 5 Feb 1993 00:37:05 GMT
From: Jon Leech <[e-mail]>
Subject: FREE-ENERGY and other posts
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Tom) writes:
|> >                   FREE-ENERGY TECHNOLOGY
|> >              by Robert E. McElwaine, Physicist
|>
|> [lots of stuff that you've already seen or ignored several times]
|>
|> Maybe if we gave this kind of stuff a FAQ, we wouldn't keep seeing it
|> over and over.

    The only FAQ I'd be willing to keep related to McElwaine is a short
discussion of KILL files.

    Jon
    __@/

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1993 19:30:12 GMT
From: Josh Hopkins <[e-mail]>
Subject: Silly distortions of the Japanese space program
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (Nick Szabo) writes:

>[e-mail] (Edward V. Wright) writes:

>>Well, the Japanese construction industry thinks it could do
>>the job for around one billion.

>By "the Japanese construction industry" you mean one particular
>person, the senile head of the Shimuzu Corp., who pours his
>money into publications promoting his various cliched,
>grandiose ideas.

I think you may have a few things twisted around here.  There is indeed a rather
"interesting" man named Shimizu but I don't think he actually has a position of
authority in the Shimizu construction company.  I'm fairly sure that the
company does have a branch (admittedly quite small, but it does exist) which is
charged with research on space design.  They are specifically interested in
lunar engineering.  The company does not deserve your low opinions of it.

--
Josh Hopkins                                          [e-mail]

Q:  How do you tell a novice from an expert.
A:  A novice hesitates before doing something stupid.

------------------------------

Date: 4 Feb 93 23:56:10 GMT
From: Rich Kolker <[e-mail]>
Subject: So what's happened to Henry Spencer?
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Paul Dietz) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Henry Spencer) writes:
>
>> history of his single-stage-to-orbit concepts, and Mitchell Burnside
>> Clapp tell you why kerosene and hydrogen peroxide is a better fuel
>> combination for an SSTO than LOX/LH2?
>I'd like to here more about that.  I assume the much higher density
>(5-6 times?) of the kerosene/peroxide combination more than
>compensates for the lower Isp, so that smaller and lighter tanks can
>be used (and that having room-temperature storable propellants makes
>the tanks easier to build and pressurize.)  But do you need more or
>larger engines to get enough thrust, for a given size payload,
>and can peroxide be pumped safely?
>

I can't speak for Mitch, but I'll try.  The lower energy of the storable
fuels is more than made up by decreased weight.  That weight comes
from (among other places) structures (smaller tanks) insulation (none
needed) and his decision to go with a pressure fed (rather than pump fed)
design.  He's looking at a large number of relatively small pressure fed
engines, clustered depending on how big the bird is.

Mitch has promised to upload information one of these days.  I'll have to give
him a call and check on when.

++rich
-------------------------------------------------------------------
   rich kolker       [e-mail]
                         < Do Not Write In This Space>
--------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1993 00:20:21 GMT
From: Bruce Dunn <[e-mail]>
Subject: Space Station Freedom Media Handbook - 14/18
Newsgroups: sci.space

From NASA SPACELINK:

"6_10_2_6_7.TXT" (29947 bytes) was created on 10-07-92

Ames Research Center

Traditional Center Roles and Responsibilities

Ames was founded in 1939 as an aircraft research laboratory by the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and named for
Dr. Joseph S. Ames, Chairman of NACA from 1927 to 1939 and
former President of Johns Hopkins University. In 1958 Ames became
part of NASA, along with other NACA installations and certain
Department of Defense facilities. In 1981, NASA merged the Dryden
Flight Research Facility with Ames. The two installations are now
referred to as Ames-Moffett and Ames-Dryden.

Ames-Moffett is located in the heart of Silicon Valley at the southern
end of San Francisco Bay on about 430 acres of land adjacent to the
U.S. Naval Air Station, Moffett Field, California.

Ames-Dryden, which is located in the high desert about 80 miles
northeast of Los Angeles, occupies about 520 acres adjacent to
Edwards AFB. This facility was established in 1947 as a NACA flight
research station at the U.S. Army Air Corps Test Facility, Muroc, CA
(now Edwards AFB). In 1959, the station became the NASA Flight
Research Center, and in 1976 it was renamed the Dryden Flight
Research Facility in honor of D. Hugh Dryden, Chairman of NACA
from 1947 to 1958 and Deputy Administrator of NASA from 1958 to 1965.

Ames specializes in scientific research, exploration, and applications
aimed toward creating new technology for the nation. The Center's
major program responsibilities are concentrated in:

*       Computational fluid dynamics,
*       Advanced life support,
*       Artificial intelligence,
*       Flight simulation,
*       Flight research,
*       Life sciences,
*       Computer science and applications,
*       Rotorcraft and powered lift technology,
*       Aeronautical and space human factors,
*       Space sciences,
*       Interplanetary missions,
*       Airborne science and applications,
*       Search for extraterrestrial intelligence,
*       Earth systems science, and
*       Infrared astronomy.

About 2,200 civil service employees and almost 2,100 contractor
employees are employed at Ames.

Along with other NASA Centers, Ames significantly contributed to
the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. The Center's
achievements in atmospheric entry systems and heating,
aerothermodynamics, and derivation of flight profiles, contributed to
the design of the Shuttle Orbiter and the materials of its thermal
protection system. Ames-Dryden continues to handle the Shuttle
landing operations as well as to manage flight research on virtually
every new military fighter and experimental aircraft built in the
United States. The Pioneer series of spacecraft, an Ames triumph,
made the first trips through the asteroid belt and on to Jupiter and
Saturn. The array of scientific experimental equipment carried in
these spacecraft resulted in significant discoveries, culminating in
June 1983 when Pioneer 10 completed history's first flight beyond
the known solar system while still transmitting data, as it does today.
Ames has some of the most unique facilities in the country including:

*       National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex, which includes the
largest wind tunnels in the world,
*       Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation Complex, which houses the
world's most powerful supercomputer system ,
*       Ames' fleet of airborne laboratories,
*       Vestibular Research Facility,
*       Human Research Facility,
*       Suite of rotating devices for animal and human research,
*       Man-Vehicle Systems Research Facility,
*       Human Performance Research Lab,
*       Automated Sciences Research Facility, and
*       Piloted flight simulation facilities.

New programs for the 1990s and beyond include Space Exploration
Initiative (SEI), Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy
(SOFIA), Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) and Shuttle life
sciences experiments.

Space Station Freedom Unique Activities

Ames Research Center serves in a dual role for Space Station
Freedom. Ames has provided a source of research, advanced
development and technology for the space station since the inception
of the program. Ames is also poised to become a major scientific user
of the space station, taking advantage of the unique microgravity
research capabilities that Space Station Freedom will provide. In
addition, Ames has developed a number of unique facilities that will
support operations and research for Space Station Freedom.
Most of the Ames work concerns human-centered technologies. The
common objective is to find better ways to support and enhance
space crew performance in the living and working environment on
Space Station Freedom and on future long-duration exploration
missions.  Some of the Ames space station user payloads will support
basic science research, notably the Closed Ecological Life Support
System (CELSS) Test Facility and the Gas-Grain Simulation Facility.
(See Appendix E). Space Station Freedom is essential to carry out the
many scientific and technical investigations being conducted at Ames
Research Center.

Life Science

Increasing our understanding of the human response to spaceflight
has long been considered crucial to our long-term objectives for
human space exploration, particularly long duration missions to other
worlds. However, the space environment also provides a unique
laboratory for biomedical research that may allow us to significantly
increase our knowledge of the nature and treatment of terrestrial
diseases and medical conditions. Recent flights have produced
tremendous evidence that space-based biomedical research has the
potential to improve our understanding of the cardiovascular system,
gerontological conditions such as osteoporosis and arthritis, the
immune and hormonal systems, the vestibular (balance and
orientation) system and fluid and electrolyte balance mechanisms.

Centrifuge Facility
The Centrifuge Facility Program will provide key laboratory
hardware elements required to support a life sciences research
program in Earth orbit. It will afford the life sciences community an
opportunity to gain an understanding of the role of gravity in living
systems.  These objectives can only be accomplished through long-
term controlled experimentation with a significant number and
variety of experimental subjects. The Centrifuge Facility will provide
life support for various types of plant and animal subjects, and
controlled levels of gravity for experiments utilizing these subjects.
The controlled artificial gravity, provided by the Centrifuge, is
necessary to isolate the effects of weightlessness from other
environmental factors (such as radiation) and examine the influence
of gravity on biological systems as a function of gravity level. Space
Station Freedom will be an excellent platform for the long duration in
situ research needed to determine the biological effects of space
flight, with the objective of better protecting the health, well being
and performance of humans in space.

Scientific investigations using the Centrifuge Facility will contribute
to a core science knowledge base as well as provide a proper
foundation for enabling extended-duration exploration missions.
Research in the Centrifuge Facility will enable experiments to
address the time course of adaptation to microgravity and
readaptation to earth's gravity, effectiveness of artificial gravity as a
therapeutic countermeasure to long-duration exposure to
microgravity, adaptation to gravity levels simulating the moon and
Mars, and the characterization of minimum levels (thresholds of
intensity and duration) of gravity required to maintain normal
physiological structure and function.  Scientific issues encompass all
of the space life sciences disciplines, including musculoskeletal,
cardiopulmonary, neuroscience, regulatory physiology,
environmental health and radiation, behavior and performance, cell
and developmental biology and plant biology.

The major flight system elements of the Centrifuge Facility include:

*       Modular Habitats - file drawer size containers which house
plant and animal biospecimens and, when installed in the Centrifuge
and Habitat Holding Units, provide environmental control and life
support for the biospecimens;
*       Centrifuge - 2.5 m. in diameter, supports a number of Modular
Habitats while providing selectable gravity levels between 0.01 and
two-g; and
*       Habitat Holding Units - standard racks (approximately two file
cabinets in size), which serve as support systems for Modular
Habitats in the ambient microgravity environment.

Ames will develop the required ground operations units, software,
Ground Support Equipment, Flight Support Equipment, and Orbital
Support Equipment as part of the Centrifuge Facility.

Other major hardware systems required to support the research to
be conducted using the Centrifuge Facility are listed below.

*       A Life Sciences Glovebox to provide an isolated work volume
for conduct of laboratory procedures and operations in which
biospecimens, consumables and equipment are manipulated and
transferred in and out of Modular Habitats, equipment transport
modules and Rodent Transporters;
*       A Service Unit to provide storage of laboratory equipment,
consumables, and laboratory waste including new and used specimen
chambers, waste trays, filters, spares, etc., in close proximity to the
Life Sciences Glovebox; and,
*       Rodent Transporters to provide environmental control and life
support for rodents in the Space Shuttle middeck during
transportation to and from orbit.

The Life Sciences Glovebox is presently part of the Space Station
Freedom Program, and the Service Unit and Rodent Transporters are
included in the overall Office of Space Science and Applications
(OSSA) program to support life sciences research.

Gravitational Biology Facility
The Gravitational Biology Facility is an ensemble of laboratory
equipment designed to augment and enhance the capabilities of the
Space Station Biosciences Laboratory. It will provide advanced
physiological sensors and radio-frequency biotelemetry to monitor
animal subjects. Sophisticated instruments such as gas
chromatograph/mass spectrometers and high performance liquid
chromatographs will be used to evaluate plant growth and
metabolism. The Gravitational Biology Facility will augment and
enhance the capabilities of the Space Station Biosciences Laboratory.
It will integrate with other elements of the Laboratory, such as the
Centrifuge Facility and the Closed Ecological Life Support System
(CELSS) Test Facility. The variety of modular habitats for plants and
animals and cell and tissue culture will enable the Gravitational
Biology Facility to support novel and serendipitous scientific study in
the unique environment of space.

Exo-Biology

Gas-Grain Simulation Facility
The Gas-Grain Simulation Facility (GGSF) will provide a new and
essential tool for studying small particle phenomena. These basic
phenomena are important to the fields of exobiology, planetary
science, astrophysics and atmospheric science, biology, chemistry and
physics. The GGSF is planned as a multidisciplinary facility that will
enable researchers to simulate and study fundamental chemical and
physical processes such as formation, growth, nucleation,
condensation, evaporation, accretion, coagulation, collision and the
mutual interaction of small (sub-micron to millimeter size) particles
(e.g., crystals, powders, liquid droplets and dust grains).
In the study of small particle processes, the demands on experiment
design are severe. Two common requirements are low relative
velocities between particles and long time periods during which the
particles must be suspended. Sufficiently long duration suspension
times to do this fundamental research cannot be attained in one-g,
but can be investigated with this general-purpose particle research
facility in Earth orbit.

Scientists at Ames Research Center, other NASA Centers, and
academic institutions have suggested a wide range of fundamental
scientific questions involving interactions between small particles.
The GGSF will accommodate a wide variety of sub-micron sized
particle experiments that require the long-term, low-gravity
(microgravity) environment that will be available on Space Station
Freedom. When installed in Space Station Freedom, the GGSF will
provide a truly unique opportunity to perform small particle
experiments in microgravity.

Life Support

Space Station Freedom has its own life support system, which
benefits from decades of research at Ames Research Center in life
support principles and technologies. Now Space Station Freedom will
help advance research in life support by providing operational
experience with regenerative life support technology and providing
research facilities for developing and validating new technologies.

CELSS Test Facility
The CELSS Test Facility will serve as a laboratory facility on Space
Station Freedom. It will be used to compare the productivity of

plants in micro-gravity to productivity on the ground. In this case,
productivity is defined as the ability of a crop to produce biomass
and food, to exchange carbon dioxide and oxygen, and to transpire
water per unit of volume and power used. The data gathered by the
CELSS Test Facility is essential in evaluating the capabilities of plants
to function in space as components of a human life support system.
The data are vital for planning the life support systems that will be
necessary for long duration human missions in space, such as an
expedition to Mars and the establishment of permanent outposts on
the moon or Mars. Thus, the CELSS Test Facility will evaluate the
growth characteristics and productivity of a variety of potential crop
plants, and will measure growth rates, times to maturation, and other
parameters relevant to life support issues. The CELSS Test Facility
consists of equipment contained within two standard international
space station racks, and will function in bioisolation from the space
station crew environment.

The Salad Machine
The "Salad Machine" is a unique application of technology derived
from the CELSS program at NASA-Ames in collaboration with
industry, universities and other NASA centers.

The primary purpose of the Salad Machine is to provide fresh salad
vegetables for consumption by crew members on Space Station
Freedom and other long-duration missions, including an initial lunar
base, or a Mars Transfer Vehicle. The Salad Machine represents the
first step away from the total reliance of astronauts on resupply for
food. Work completed to date within the NASA CELSS program
suggests that the technologies needed for growing plants in the space
environment are sufficiently well understood to allow an early
application that can provide dietary benefits and enhance the sense
of well-being of crew members on extended duration missions.

Human Factors, Architecture and Habitability

Ames has supported the space station by providing human factors
and habitability research on space station-specific questions
throughout the Advanced Development Program and continues to
advise the work package centers. Ames participated in the early
configuration definition studies and contributed research to the
design of the space station configuration and module architecture,
including the nodes, airlock, windows, cupola, interim design and
habitability enhancement. Ames has worked closely with the
Man/Systems organizations at both Johnson Space Center (JSC) and at
Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). For both of these collaborations
Ames drew upon research to provide guidelines, criteria and
recommendations, for designing and building prototype flight
hardware for human factors demonstration purposes.

Habitability and Wardroom
Under the Ames/Johnson Space Center collaboration, Ames
investigated the requirements for a wide range of crew performance
and human productivity needs and capabilities, including safety,
private sleep quarters, the "wardroom and associated activities,"
crew workload, interior layouts and design, window and
window/workstation design. The deliverables were typically design
criteria and guidelines, or prototype hardware. One task that
involved prototype development was crew group activities centered
around the wardroom where the crew would prepare food, dine, hold
meetings and conferences, and perhaps assemble or repair
equipment. Ames developed a prototype Space Station Wardroom
Table and module mockup to demonstrate these findings.

Operational Simulation
Ames developed "OpSim," a low-cost, operational simulation
Macintosh computer-based modeling tool to aid in understanding the
planned resource utilization and the projected scenarios involving space
station crews, equipment and mission objectives. Ames validated
OpSim against the actual flight logs of the Spacelab 3 mission. Ames
uses OpSim to study crew safety, crew activity and operations
questions, including Space Station Life Science Mission Plan.

Element Control Work Station
Under the Ames/Marshall Space Flight Center collaboration, Ames
designed a prototype Element Control Work Station to monitor and
control the critical functions of the internal payloads of the U.S.
Laboratory Module and selected external payloads. This work station
includes a Deployable Video Conference Table to support video
conferences between the Lab Module crew and principal
investigators on the ground. This multi-purpose, group work station
would provide the lab crew with a place to meet and hold "office
hours" for principal investigators, while simultaneously monitoring
and multiplexing the data and video links to share them with their
colleagues on the ground.

Orbital Operations
Ames researched and developed a number of tools and simulation
capabilities for space station orbital operations capabilities. These
activities included the Space Station Proximity Operations Simulator,
an integrated window/work station simulator. The "Prox-Ops"
simulator employed active computer graphics in three viewing ports
and interactive displays and controls including a voice recognition-
based checklist, Shuttle side-arm controller for orbital maneuvering
and a 3D perspective display derived from an air traffic collision
avoidance system. The Prox-Ops work led to a number of products
for planning orbital maneuvering, including "Navie," which runs on
an Iris work station, and "Eivan," which runs on a Macintosh personal
computer. Ames is continuing state of the art research and
development work in these space operations tools.

Human Factors of EVA
Ames has also researched a number of human factors aspects of
extravehicular activity (EVA). For the Advanced Development
Program, Ames designed a new airlock concept, the "Suitport" that
supports the AX-5 hard suit or other rear-entry suit for much more
efficient and reliable don/doffing, egress and ingress and suit
servicing. Other "human factors of EVA" studies include maneuvering
operations and the rescue of a free-floating astronaut.

AX-5 Space Suit
Ames Research Center has developed the Ames Experimental 5 (AX-
5) hard space suit under the Space Station Advanced Development
Program to support routine safe and productive extravehicular
activity on Space Station Freedom. (The official baseline suit is the
current version of the Shuttle suit made by Hamilton Standard.) This
prototype space suit is made from parts milled numerically from
solid aluminum and assembled with a unique set of rotating seals
and bearings. All the joints on the AX-5 are mechanical; there are no
fabrics or soft parts that would be vulnerable to damage by abrasion,
tearing, or chemical attack by rocket fuel or free atomic oxygen in
the upper atmosphere. The AX-5 is designed for high reliability and
low maintenance, while enhancing the mobility and comfort of the
crew member who wears it. Because of its double aluminum shell
structure, the AX-5 shields the wearer against radiation and the
impact of small meteoroids and space debris more effectively than
earlier fabric suits. This hard suit maintains a constant internal
volume, so that the internal pressure remains constant, reducing
resistance to the astronaut's movements. The AX-5 has a modular
design that employs Ortman couplings to allow the easy change-out,
of parts to fit the full anthropmetric range of astronaut sizes.
The AX-5 suit is being evaluated in a series of water immersion tests
at Ames Research Center and at Johnson Space Center. Immersion in
water under neutral buoyancy protocols simulates the effects of
weightlessness. The AX-5 offers improvements both in its
performance for EVA and for doffing and donning. The crew member
can put on the suit or take it off in just a few seconds compared to a
number of minutes for the current Space Shuttle suit. This
improvement is made possible through the rear-entry hatch, through
which the astronaut enters, putting in the legs first, followed by the
upper part of the body. The new hard suit no longer requires an
astronaut to devote several hours to prebreathing pure oxygen
before EVA to prevent the bends (as is necessary with the 4.3 psi
Shuttle suit) because the AX-5 can support a higher internal
operating pressure of 8.3 psi, which is sufficient to minimize the
bends.

Information Science

Thermal Control System Testbed and TEXSYS
The System Autonomy Demonstration Project for the advanced
demonstration of the Space Station Freedom Thermal Control System
(TCS) Testbed was a joint effort between Ames and Johnson Space
Center. The project consisted of the development and validation of a
knowledge-based system to perform real-time control, fault
detection and isolation (FDIR) of the Thermal Control System Testbed.
This testbed project included a Thermal Expert System (TEXSYS) as
the know-ledge-based controller and FDIR. Two associated software modules,
Thermal Data Acquisition System (TDAS) and Human Interface to
TEXSYS (HITEX) were operated in conjunction with TEXSYS during a
five day test demonstration at Johnson Space Center in August of
1989. During this test, the system automation successfully controlled,
monitored and operated the functioning of the TCS breadboard,
without need of human intervention.

TEXSYS demonstrated significant enhancements over current
conventional means available to the thermal engineer for the real-
time analysis of faults, and recovery from complex fault situations.
TEXSYS can analyze a fault situation, display pertinent schematics
and data histories, recommend recovery actions, and explain the
analysis of the problem to the human operators. The Thermal Control
System Testbed is a significant step forward for automating thermal
control systems in human spacecraft. It also represents a new
paradigm for automating both the "system executive" and the
human-machine interface for a wide range of other critical systems
on spacecraft in the future.

Advanced Space Station Freedom Data Management System Architectures
This ongoing task is to define and evaluate the spaceborne hardware
and system software technologies, and the ground-based automation
programs that will lead to a practical, evolvable and reliable data
management system (DMS) for Space Station Freedom. This goal is
being accomplished through the use of increasingly higher fidelity
software simulations and hardware testbeds. This analysis places the
options for the DMS design in the perspective of existing and past
manned spacecraft computer systems and the capabilities that they
were required to provide.

The most recent work concentrates on the analysis of the Standard
Data Processors, the fiber-optic wide area network, Software
Standard Services and Engineering, System Reliability (FDIR), and the
DMS support of Space Station Freedom operations. Researchers at
Ames are performing a detailed analysis of the DMS design to assess
its adequacy to satisfy programmatic issues and performance
requirements. These requirements include payload use, ground
systems versus on-board system functional allocation, system safety,
availability and reliability. This analysis addresses high level
program requirements for failure tolerance, real-time response, and
central processing unit (CPU) performance, specifically concerning
the Intel 80386 versus 80486 CPUs.

Supporting Facilities

Ames has developed and operates a number of unique life science
research facilities that will support both research and operations on
Space Station Freedom, and provide research and technology
development for future space station evolution.

Automation Sciences Research Facility
In 1992, Ames opened the Automation Sciences Research Facility
(ASRF) with over 57,000 square feet to provide eleven technology
research and development laboratories. These individual laboratories
will support research in a variety of domains. The Advanced Mission
Technology Lab performs testing and integration of electromechanical
systems.  The development of software tools to test and validate
artificial intelligence concepts in robotics will occur in
the Robotics Lab. The Multiprocessing Testbed Lab specializes in
real-time parallel processing of knowledge-based systems,
visualization techniques, and adaptive operating systems, as well as
testing and evaluating multiprocessor prototypes for space
applications.

The Advanced Architectural Lab emphasizes advanced automation,
computer architectures, and tools for the simulation and monitoring
of computer systems. The Optical Processing Lab focuses on optical
correlators for image recognition and matrix processor applications.
Other labs include the Systems Evaluation, Information Systems,
Rapid Prototyping, and Intelligent Agent Testbed Labs.

Human Performance Research Laboratory (HPRL)
In 1990, Ames opened the HPRL. This 65,000 square foot facility is
used to study the performance and interaction of humans with
machines, with other crew members, and with mission or flight
controllers in advanced aircraft and space missions. It also supports
the study and development of teleoperation and virtual reality
techniques that allow Earth-based researchers to "bring space down
to Earth" to improve their ability to conduct remote operations in
space. NASA's future challenges such as Space Station Freedom, the
National Aero-Space Plane (NASP), and lunar and Mars exploration
impose complex mission objectives that require computer-operated
systems that complement highly-trained human crew members. The
HPRL supports research on both sides of this equation: the
human/machine interaction including cognitive and perceptual
aspects of complex operations on the one side, and crew training
team work, organization, habitability, scheduling, and environmental
interactions on the other. A long-term interest is development of
simulation tools and planning for space orbital and planetary surface
operations.

Human Research Facility (HRF)
Ames has operated the HRF since the 1960s to investigate the effects
of varied gravity regimes upon human physiology and behavior and
to identify possible countermeasures to the debilitating effects of
prolonged exposure to microgravity. These effects include bone
demineralization, fluid shifts in the body, loss of muscle tone and
muscle mass, cardiovascular deconditioning and changes in weight.
The primary components of the HRF are the Bedrest Facility and the
20-g Centrifuge. The Bedrest Facility provides 12 beds for human
subjects to experience simulated reduced gravity conditions for
periods of typically up to 30 days. The 20-g Centrifuge provides the
capability to expose these subjects to simulated gravity stresses of
reentry to Earth after a prolonged period of deconditioning.

Space Life Sciences Payload Facility
Ames currently has the responsibility for designing, integrating and
preparing for flight all the non-human experiments for the Spacelab
life sciences flights. Ames will extend this capability to support the
life science payloads for the Centrifuge Facility Project and draw on
this experience to support other space station payloads including the
CELSS Test Facility and the Gas-Grain Simulation Facility.

Vestibular Research Facility  (VRF)
The VRF enables scientists and medical researchers to investigate the
important role of the vestibular organs in governing the performance
of humans, particularly the abilities involving balance, coordination,
sense of orientation and space adaptation mechanisms, both in an
altered environment and on Earth. This understanding is essential for
the effects of varied gravity regimes on human physiology and
behavior.

Advanced Space Technology Office

The Advanced Space Technology Office is responsible for
coordinating the Center's activities in NASA space programs and
projects, such as the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI), Space Station
Freedom, and the Space Shuttle Program. The Office is the focal point
for the Center's participation in all aspects of these programs. The
Office also serves as the focus for new opportunities to participate in
space technology programs, as well as enhancing the transfer of its
research and technology developments to other organizations,
including industry, other government laboratories, and other NASA
centers. This includes such space-related disciplines as Advanced
Life Support Technology, Space Human Factors, Life Sciences,
Artificial Gravity, Information Sciences, and Aerothermodynamics
and Aerobraking Technologies.

The Office is also responsible for coordinating and directing new
interdisciplinary multi-organizational space research and technology
programs and projects, with the objective of utilizing the unique
technical strengths at the Center to further NASA space programs.


The material above is one of many files from SPACELINK
A Space-Related Informational Database
Provided by the NASA Educational Affairs Division
Operated by the Marshall Space Flight Center
On a Data General ECLIPSE MV7800 Minicomputer

SPACELINK may be contacted in three ways:

1) Using a modem, by phone at 205-895-0028

2) Using Telnet, at spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov

3) Using FTP capability. Username is anonymous and Password is guest.
Address is 192.149.89.61.


--
Bruce Dunn    Vancouver, Canada   [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1993 00:13:08 GMT
From: Tom A Baker <[e-mail]>
Subject: The day before Challenger exploded.
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jeff Bytof) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jeffrey J Bloch) writes:
>>From: [e-mail] (Jeffrey J Bloch)
>
>>People who have posted about dreams aside, some of us did have a funny
>>feeling about the launch that day before it happened when we saw the
>>ice hanging from the pad on the TV coverage.
>
>Ya, the sort of technical bloopers that went on the day before
>gave me the creeps.  I was driving to work with my wife and I

I was uneasy the month before.  I had always kept an intellectual "NASA
knows what they are doing - look at the track record" attitude, but
concerns kept coming up.  Solid boosters?  No escape tower?  I was concerned.

But December 1985 was Jake Garn's flight.  It was do to land on a Thursday,
I think.  (I may have the day of the week wrong, but that doesn't affect
what follows.)  The following is what really began scaring me...

One day: "The shuttle is doing so well, NASA is considering landing it
         in Florida on Friday instead of Thursday."

Next day: "NASA says it will not extend the flight a day.  If they extend
          the flight to Friday, then the Challenger takeoff won't meet
          schedule."

Next day: "The weather in Florida still stinks, but NASA doesn't want to
          land in California.  That would add a week to the ship's turn-
          around time.  They still hope to land on Thursday.  If they
          land on Friday, the Challenger liftoff will have to be delayed."

Next day: "The weather in Florida still prevents a landing, so the flight
          is extended a day.  The Challenger liftoff will STILL be on
          schedule, however."

I forget whether they finally landed on Friday or Saturday, but they certainly
landed in California, extending the delays on one of the future flights.
Still everyone insisted that the original schedules were going to be met.

Really on point is the insistence on the goal of landing in Florida in
the face of reality.

Anyway, I've been in situations (technical ones) where management is
insisting on "no-schedule-slips" even as the ceiling is crashing in on them.
This looked like a classic case.

But my attitude "NASA-knows-what-they're-doing-look-at-the-record" came to
my mind, as nonsensical as it was.  I was going to wait for a disaster of
some kind before I started criticizing them.  I had no idea it would be
so soon.  I doubt my voice would have counted for anything, though.

A small part of the "tragedy" was the well-deserved dispersal of NASA's
golden image.  The public sense of betrayal was heartfelt, and I shared it.

tombaker

------------------------------

Date: 4 Feb 1993 17:26:20 -0500
From: Pat <[e-mail]>
Subject: The day before Challenger exploded.
Newsgroups: sci.space

Failure of the O-RIngs due to Weather is still disputed.  THe rogers
commision was headed by a trade lawyer, not an engineer.  Had it been the
Feynman commision or the Carter Commission or a Technical University
president heading it, I would have more confidence in the investigation.

Facts are that seal burn through was documented in warm weather also.
Also, the Challenger had gone through severe wind shear at the point
of failure.  In fact the engines were rotated to the most extreme
point recorded to then when the SRB failed.

The facts are the STS was poorly designed from word one and that several
mechanisms contributed to the loss of 51-L.

pat

------------------------------

End of Space Digest Volume 16 : Issue 139
------------------------------