Date: Mon, 8 Feb 93 08:10:35 From: Space Digest maintainer Reply-To: Space-request@isu.isunet.edu 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 "space@isu.isunet.edu", and (un)subscription requests of the form "Subscribe Space " to one of these addresses: listserv@uga (BITNET), rice::boyle (SPAN/NSInet), utadnx::utspan::rice::boyle (THENET), or space-REQUEST@isu.isunet.edu (Internet). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 5 Feb 93 00:05:00 GMT From: wingo%cspara.decnet@Fedex.Msfc.Nasa.Gov Subject: (Bullcrap) Was Re: Challenger transcript Newsgroups: sci.space In article , dsblack@iastate.edu (Vilkata TDK) writes... >In <728437280.AA00100@eilc.fidonet.org> Tim.Tyler@f48.n374.z1.fidonet.org (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 Subject: FREE-ENERGY and other posts Newsgroups: sci.space In article , 18084TM@msu.edu (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 Subject: Silly distortions of the Japanese space program Newsgroups: sci.space szabo@techbook.com (Nick Szabo) writes: >ewright@convex.com (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 jbh55289@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu 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 Subject: So what's happened to Henry Spencer? Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1993Feb4.005547.27669@cs.rochester.edu> dietz@cs.rochester.edu (Paul Dietz) writes: >In article henry@zoo.toronto.edu (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 rkolker@nuchat.sccsi.com < Do Not Write In This Space> -------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1993 00:20:21 GMT From: Bruce Dunn 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 Bruce_Dunn@mindlink.bc.ca ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1993 00:13:08 GMT From: Tom A Baker Subject: The day before Challenger exploded. Newsgroups: sci.space In article rabjab@golem.ucsd.edu (Jeff Bytof) writes: >In article <1993Feb2.030433.27452@newshost.lanl.gov> jjb@beta.lanl.gov (Jeffrey J Bloch) writes: >>From: jjb@beta.lanl.gov (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 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 ------------------------------