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Station Break - January  1992

NASA, Italian Space Agency Sign Memorandum of
Understanding

        The Italian Space Agency (ASI) will design and develop
two Mini Pressurized Logistics Modules for the Space Station
Freedom program under a memorandum of understanding
signed with NASA last month in Washington, D.C.  The
agreement was signed by Richard H. Truly, NASA
administrator, and Prof. Luciano Guerriero, president, ASI, in
the presence of Italian Undersecretary of State Senator Learco
Saporito.  The two agencies also agreed to work toward
expanding the relationship to include provision of a Mini
Laboratory as well.
        The mini pressurized logistics modules are
pressurized logistics modules capable of transporting user
payloads and resupply items in a pressurized environment to
the Space Station Freedom and returning necessary items to
the ground.  The mini log modules will be capable of remaining
at the Space Station Freedom until the arrival of the next
pressurized logistics module.  The first mini log module is
currently scheduled to be transported to the Space Station
Freedom by the Space Shuttle in May 1997 and the second in
August 1997.
        A final decision on proceeding with the design,
development, operation and utilization of the mini laboratory
will be made no later than February 1993.  The mini lab is a
pressurized mini laboratory which will include  provisions for
accommodating a variety of research equipment.  In its initial
usage, the mini lab will be dedicated to life sciences research.
At a minimum, the mini lab will be capable of accommodating a
2.5 meter tilting centrifuge and three international standard
payload racks.  The mini lab, if provided, would be scheduled
for launch in October 1999.
        In exchange for ASI's contributions, NASA will provide
to them a percentage of its share of utilization of space station
pressurized volume and accommodations for external
payloads, a percentage of its space station utilization
resources and the opportunity for ASI to provide Space Station
Freedom crew.


Microgravity Sciences on Freedom:  Selecting the Principal
Investigators

        Engineers, scientists and contractors are investing a
significant amount of time and money designing Space Station
Freedom's U.S. laboratory.  They are perfecting equipment
racks, power levels and the specifics of maintaining a
pollution-free work environment.
        But who ultimately will use this laboratory and benefit
from those efforts?  What is the process for choosing the
space station's principal investigators, the scientists who will
actually conceive, build and conduct the experiments?
        The answer to those questions is simple.
        NASA will select research proposals the way it always
has, focusing not on the carrier, but on the research itself.
"We'll only fly the best science," says Gary Martin, an acting
branch chief in the Office of Space Science & Application's
Microgravity Science and Applications Division.  "We'll pick
the science and then make sure it makes sense to fly it on
Freedom."
        Although Freedom will be coming online just as many
of these investigations are beginning to mature, the use of
space station is not a selection criteria.  Microgravity Science
and Applications Division is choosing proposals on the basis
of science.  It is looking for proposals that offer a high
probability of success and are topically important to the field.
In addition, the qualifications and capabilities of the proposed
investigators are factored in as are cost considerations.
        The division solicits experiment ideas from university,
government and industry researchers by issuing NASA
research announcements and announcements of opportunity.
So far, the division has solicited research proposals in the
fields of containerless processing, fluid dynamics and
transport phenomena, biotechnology, materials science and
fundamental science.  Within a year, research announcements
are expected in the fields of combustion sciences and
advanced protein crystal growth.  Many of the researchers
selected for funding under those solicitations could become
Freedom's principal investigators and help define station's
microgravity research requirements.
        Once the announcements are published, researchers
typically have 45 days to respond.  Because some science
investigations are more mature than others, the division offers
researchers both ground-based and flight programs.  The
former gives investigators an opportunity to test their
hypotheses in NASA drop towers, microgravity aircraft and
other facilities before investing their time and money on flight
hardware.  The ground-based experiment program also
accommodates those who are interested in computer modeling
and other investigations that do not require a microgravity
environment.  The flight programs are geared to highly
advanced experiments that have the potential to fly on manned
and unmanned space missions.
        Selections are based on the recommendations of
scientists and engineers chosen to serve on peer review
panels because of their expertise in a particular field.  They
review the proposals individually and as a group?a highly
documented process that may take several months to
complete.  For those chosen to receive funding under the flight
program, the investigators will face a series of increasingly
detailed reviews designed to make sure the experiment
adequately addresses scientific, engineering, management
and cost concerns.  Principal investigators also must show
that the proposed hardware design satisfies the science
requirements.
        After this "critical design review," the investigator
moves into the hardware development phase.  This can take
up to three years to complete, depending on the experiment
and the hardware that needs to be built.  For manned flight - as
in the case of Freedom - safety becomes a paramount issue,
and the requirements become more stringent.  Once the
hardware is built, it must then be integrated with other flight-
ready experiments.
        Despite the amount of time researchers invest in the
process, there remains great interest among potential
investigators.  The containerless processing solicitation, for
example, attracted 92 proposals.  Ultimately, the division
selected 12 ground-based experiments.  Likewise, fluid
dynamics has to date attracted 192 proposals, biotechnology
89 and materials science 129.  In comparison, the division
received a total of 90 proposals for its 1988 solicitations.


Freedom Program Managers Show Off Wares

        After welcoming and inviting the press corps to peruse
the hardware and software displayed by the three work
packages and international partners, NASA Administrator
Richard Truly said, "Look at the hardware we have here today,
talk to our engineers" this is proof that this program is moving
ahead; it is no longer a paper program.
        "A tremendous amount of stability has been added to
the Space Station Freedom Program at the engineering level,
at the ground facilities level, at the mission operations level
and up here in Washington [D.C.] where we deal with the
budget," Truly said.
        "With all this hardware, you get the feeling that this
program is real - that we have flight demonstration and
development hardware," Truly added.
        Arnold Aldrich, associate administrator for Space
Systems Development, added, "We've made very important
progress with the space station program over the last few
years.  With the completion of the restructuring, we have a
very workable configuration that meets our challenges for cost
and schedule."
        Reiterating what Truly and Aldrich said, Space Station
Freedom Director Richard Kohrs pointed out, "We've made a
year's worth of progress this year.  The most significant thing
that's happened this year is that we haven't had to go through
a redesign, a reconfiguration or a restructure.  Looking forward
to next year and the critical design phase, I can honestly say
that we will have another year's worth of progress this time
next year.  We will be a year closer to flight hardware."
        Referring to the major milestone achieved in November
with the wrap up of the station's man-tended capability
preliminary design phase review, Bob Moorehead, deputy
director of space station, said, "We now know that this design
is the right design.  There were no show stoppers that came
from these reviews.
        "We are moving toward a November 1995 first element
launch and man-tended capability in late 1996.  We do
anticipate flying in less than four years," Moorehead said.
        NASA work package managers and their contractor
counterparts were also on hand at the press briefing to
illuminate their hardware testing progress over the past year.
Hardware and software elements produced by Boeing,
McDonnell Douglas, Rocketdyne, Lockheed and Grumman
corporations were displayed at the two-hour press briefing.
        Marshall Space Flight Center's Work Package 1 in
Huntsville, Ala., space station manager George Hopson said,
"We're in testing, and we're building hardware, and we're
really excited about what's happening."
        Marshall and its contractors have met a string of major
milestones over the past year.  First was the environmental
control and life support system comparative test program,
which was completed to select systems for the reclamation of
waste water from crew usage and oxygen from the reduction of
carbon dioxide.
        Another Marshall milestone was the development of the
international standard payload rack, which will be used to hold
most of the station's indoor equipment.
        Meanwhile, a full-sized pressurized module was built
to flight specifications and a series of pressurized tests were
completed.  The results of these tests showed that minor
changes were needed to strengthen one area of the module.  A
common hatch, which is to be used on both of the nodes and
pressurized module, was built and tested.
        A full-scale module test structure has been built and
placed in a test facility where it successfully passed a series
of liftoff and landing load tests.
        "A sampling of testing at Johnson Space Center's Work
Package 2 in Houston, also shows significant strides in
hardware testing," said John Aaron, manager of Work Package
2.  "This is the year of hardware at Work Package 2.
        "We have a full scale mockup of the first four segments
of the space station," Aaron said.
        Johnson and McDonnell Douglas engineers are testing
a rotary joint that will provide stiffness to the station's truss,
as well as transfer power and data.
        To demonstrate how the program plans to use the time
and money saving capabilities of computer aided design,
Aaron showed a picture of part of the propulsion system that
was precision cut from a 7,000 pound billet of aluminum using
a totally automated system.  "We didn't use any intermediate
drawings," Aaron said.
        Work Package 2 has been conducting human
physiology tests aboard the zero-g airplane, known as the KC-
135.  These tests will help crew health experts decide what
kind of exercise equipment will be needed to keep the crew
healthy and fit.
        Johnson engineers also are testing the airlock hatch
and how to shield against radiation.
        "During the next year, the Work Package 2 team will
take the propulsion system to White Sands test firing range for
extensive testing," Aaron said.
        Because the Work Package 4 team at Lewis Research
Center in Cleveland and its contractor Rocketdyne were little
affected by last year's restructuring, space station manager
Ronald Thomas said, "We've been able to make significant
progress with our designs, so we are on schedule to deliver
the solar array segment to Cape in the summer of 1995.
        "More than 32,000 of the station's 64,000 solar cells for
the photovoltaic solar arrays [at man-tended capability] have
been built and are in storage," said Thomas.  "Work on the
other 32,000 cells is still underway."
        A prototype solar array blanket is undergoing low
gravity testing at Lewis to ensure that the array blankets
deploy properly.  "We have to make sure that all of the
springs, tension and clips that will help this thing unfold, work
properly," Thomas said.
        "Lewis also has built a prototype of the master
canister, which will carry the solar arrays into orbit on the first
element launch and successive flights," he said.  The arrays,
when unfolded, will be 110 feet long and 40 feet across.  Each
array will have two solar array blankets, and each blanket will
have 16,000 solar cells.
        Lewis also is testing the lifespan of the bearing that
will allow the solar arrays to constantly track the sun.
Designers are working toward a lifespan goal of 30 years.
Researchers are working to increase the life of the nickel-
hydrogen batteries used to store power.
        Missions operations and training facilities at Johnson
are complete and being outfitted and the Space Station
Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center is making
significant progress for its 1994 opening.


Employee Training - Computer Style

        A cadre of skilled personnel will be needed to support
Space Station Freedom and future lunar and Mars missions.
These personnel will need specialized and individualized
training.  NASA has relied on on-the-job training and on
simulator training for jobs involving complex tasks and
requiring a great deal of independence.  But this is an
expensive training approach, especially when there are many
trainees and relatively few experienced trainers.
        The application of artificial intelligence technology can
deliver affordable solutions providing personalized training in
a workstation environment.  Intelligent Computer-Aided
Training systems can provide trainees nearly the same
experience as the best on-the-job training.  Crew, flight
controllers and the many other ground personnel required to
support space programs can be trained at workstations with
few constraints placed on location and schedule.  The Johnson
Space Center has developed a generic intelligent computer
architecture to support the efficient creation of intelligent
computer applications for various training tasks.  This work is
supported by the Space Station Engineering Prototype
Development activity and the Office of Space Systems
Development's Advanced Program Development office.
        Intelligent Computer-Aided Training systems provide
the same experience as that of the best on-the-job training by
emulating the behavior of a full-time tutor.  They integrate
expertise in a problem area with knowledge of training
methods to duplicate the full attention of a task expert who is
also an expert trainer.  Intelligent computer systems propose
challenging training scenarios to the trainee.  They monitor
and evaluate the actions of the trainee, correct errors, answer
questions and even give hints when appropriate.  The system
remembers the strengths and weaknesses of each trainee to
tailor future exercises.  Users interact with the system by
carrying out an exercise and then examining their
performance.
        The generic intelligent computer  architecture supports
the efficient creation of applications for various training tasks.
New applications can be developed for comparatively modest
costs.  The architecture was originally applied to a training
system for NASA flight controllers learning to deploy satellites
from the Space Shuttle.  The same architecture has been used
for training systems for Spacelab astronauts and for Space
Shuttle main propulsion system test engineers.  This
architecture has proven to be very adaptable to different tasks.
        The intelligent computer system architecture is
modular, consisting of five basic components.  The user
interface provides the trainee access to information,  a way to
take action and a means to communicate with the system.  The
domain expert (contains the expertise in a problem area)
carries out the same tasks as the trainee, using the same
information available to the trainee.  The training session
manager examines the actions taken by the domain expert and
trainee, and takes appropriate action.  The trainee model
contains a history of the trainees' interactions with the system
together with summary evaluative data.  The training scenario
generator designs the training exercises based on the
knowledge of the domain expert, a trainee's current skill level
and weaknesses or deficiencies exhibited by the trainee.
        A comprehensive effort was made in designing the
system architecture to segregate domain-dependent from
domain-independent components.  The training session
manager and trainee model are completely generic (domain-
independent).  The training scenario generator requires only a
database of specific simulation elements and access by a
defined protocol to a simulation engine.  The domain expert is
comprised of knowledge specific to a given task.  The user
interface contains the intelligent computer shell of menus and
text windows used for any system, but menu items and
elements peculiar to each task must be built for specific
applications.
        The computer-aided training system originally
developed for NASA flight controllers, trains flight controllers in
satellite deployment procedures for the Space Shuttle.  Its user
interface provides screens identical to those used in the JSC
Mission Control Center and emulates communication with
other console positions through menu and dialogue windows.
As the first system developed, it serves as a testbed for
creating the generic intelligent computer system architecture.
Other specific systems that have been built or are currently
under development include the Main Propulsion Pneumatics
system, the Instrument Pointing System, the Active Thermal
Control System and the Intelligent Physics Tutor.
        The main propulsion computer training system was
designed for engineers at Kennedy Space Center in testing the
Space Shuttle main propulsion pneumatics system.  Its
interface emulates the firing room console environment and
trains engineers in nominal test procedures as well as those
procedures employed when faults are detected.
        The instrument pointing training system instructs
payload and mission specialists at JSC and Marshall Space
Flight Center in the use of the pointing system on Astro
Spacelab missions.  The system provides a graphical
representation of the Space Shuttle aft flight deck with images
of the displays used in operating the pointing system and with
interactive, digitized images of relevant control panels.
        The active thermal control system is designed to train
both space station crewmembers and flight controllers in the
operation of the space station's thermal control system.  The
system duplicates the displays to be used by the space
station's crew and flight controllers.  It provides access to
functional schematics of the system to facilitate fault detection,
isolation and reconfiguration.
        Training systems built upon the intelligent computer
architecture have demonstrated impressive trainee
performance improvements.  Novices rapidly approached
expert performance levels without formal simulator training or
personnel-intensive instruction.  With further refinement and
extension, this architecture promises to provide a common
foundation to build intelligent training systems for many more
different tasks.  The availability of a robust architecture that
contains many domain-independent components serves to
greatly reduce the time and cost of developing new intelligent
computer applications within NASA, other government
agencies, educational institutions and the private sector.