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NASA NTRS2022

Design Thinking, Lean Startup, and High-Technology Marketing for Human-Centered Systems Engineering

The use of design thinking, lean startup, and high-technology marketing in systems engineering are presented as a case study. All were used and evaluated for their potential to improve systems engineering processes and design, address the challenges of culture change, increase the adoption rate of new technology, and engage with potential users and sponsors more effectively. Multiple examples of training and use on a model-based systems engineering initiative at a large government agency showcase how these approaches were tailored and used successfully for significant benefits such as enhanced collaboration and better problem definition and design solutions. Challenges remain for use by quiet thinkers and with virtual teams. These new ways of thinking are well aligned with creating and using new technologies and are suitable for situations involving innovation, uncertainty, and change within organizations. This case study intends to familiarize systems engineers with the application of these human-centered approaches, to interest systems engineers in incorporating these approaches into their work processes ,and to inspire the systems engineering research community to investigate further.

Karen J. Weiland↗

NASA NTRS2013

System Administrator for LCS Development Sets

The Spaceport Command and Control System Project is creating a Checkout and Control System that will eventually launch the next generation of vehicles from Kennedy Space Center. KSC has a large set of Development and Operational equipment already deployed in several facilities, including the Launch Control Center, which requires support. The position of System Administrator will complete tasks across multiple platforms (Linux/Windows), many of them virtual. The Hardware Branch of the Control and Data Systems Division at the Kennedy Space Center uses system administrators for a variety of tasks. The position of system administrator comes with many responsibilities which include maintaining computer systems, repair or set up hardware, install software, create backups and recover drive images are a sample of jobs which one must complete. Other duties may include working with clients in person or over the phone and resolving their computer system needs. Training is a major part of learning how an organization functions and operates. Taking that into consideration, NASA is no exception. Training on how to better protect the NASA computer infrastructure will be a topic to learn, followed by NASA work polices. Attending meetings and discussing progress will be expected. A system administrator will have an account with root access. Root access gives a user full access to a computer system and or network. System admins can remove critical system files and recover files using a tape backup. Problem solving will be an important skill to develop in order to complete the many tasks.

Virtualizing in Linux↗

NASA NTRS1994

Software architecture standard for simulation virtual machine, version 2.0

The Simulation Virtual Machine (SBM) is an Ada architecture which eases the effort involved in the real-time software maintenance and sustaining engineering. The Software Architecture Standard defines the infrastructure which all the simulation models are built from. SVM was developed for and used in the Space Station Verification and Training Facility.

Sturtevant, Robert↗

NASA NTRS2020

NASA Capacity Building Program Intern Team Findings Final Report

NASA’s Capacity Building Program (CBP) provides individuals and institutions with workforce development, training activities, and collaborative projects to strengthen understanding of Earth observations and expand their use around the world. The team of eight interns set out this summer to work with CBP leadership to explore opportunities & innovations and identify process improvements within the program. For the 10-week summer term, the interns virtually assembled from Washington, Montana, Virginia, Maine, and Puerto Rico to collaborate on this project. The work was divided into four sub-projects: Data Analysis, Communications, Web Development and Strategy.

Grace Finstrom↗

NASA NTRS1988

Spacecraft flight simulation: A human factors investigation into the man-machine interface between an astronaut and a spacecraft performing docking maneuvers and other proximity operations

The anticipated increase in rendezvous and docking activities in the various space programs in the Space Station era necessitates a renewed interest in manual docking procedures. Ten test subjects participated in computer simulated docking missions in which the influence of initial velocity was examined. All missions started from a resting position of 304.8 meters (1000 feet) along the space station's +V-bar axis. Test subjects controlled their vehicle with a translational hand controller and digital auto pilot which are both virtually identical to their space shuttle counterparts. While the 0.1 percent rule (range rate is equal to 0.1 percent of the range) used by space shuttle pilots is comfortably safe, it is revealed to be extremely inefficient in terms of time and not justifiable in terms of marginal safety. Time is worth money, not only because of training and launch costs, but because the sooner a pilot and spacecraft return from a mission, the sooner they can begin the next one. Inexperienced test subjects reduced the costs of simulated docking by close to a factor of 2 and achieved safe dockings in less than 4 percent of the time the baseline approach would entail. This reduction in time can be used to save lives in the event of an accident on orbit, and can tremendously reduce docking costs if fuel is produced from waste water on orbit.

Brody, Adam R.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Motion-Capture-Enabled Software for Gestural Control of 3D Models

Current state-of-the-art systems use general-purpose input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, or joystick that map to tasks in unintuitive ways. This software enables a person to control intuitively the position, size, and orientation of synthetic objects in a 3D virtual environment. It makes possible the simultaneous control of the 3D position, scale, and orientation of 3D objects using natural gestures. Enabling the control of 3D objects using a commercial motion-capture system allows for natural mapping of the many degrees of freedom of the human body to the manipulation of the 3D objects. It reduces training time for this kind of task, and eliminates the need to create an expensive, special-purpose controller.

Norris, Jeffrey S.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Automated Classification of ROSAT Sources Using Heterogeneous Multiwavelength Source Catalogs

We describe an on-line system for automated classification of X-ray sources, ClassX, and present preliminary results of classification of the three major catalogs of ROSAT sources, RASS BSC, RASS FSC, and WGACAT, into six class categories: stars, white dwarfs, X-ray binaries, galaxies, AGNs, and clusters of galaxies. ClassX is based on a machine learning technology. It represents a system of classifiers, each classifier consisting of a considerable number of oblique decision trees. These trees are built as the classifier is 'trained' to recognize various classes of objects using a training sample of sources of known object types. Each source is characterized by a preselected set of parameters, or attributes; the same set is then used as the classifier conducts classification of sources of unknown identity. The ClassX pipeline features an automatic search for X-ray source counterparts among heterogeneous data sets in on-line data archives using Virtual Observatory protocols; it retrieves from those archives all the attributes required by the selected classifier and inputs them to the classifier. The user input to ClassX is typically a file with target coordinates, optionally complemented with target IDs. The output contains the class name, attributes, and class probabilities for all classified targets. We discuss ways to characterize and assess the classifier quality and performance and present the respective validation procedures. Based on both internal and external validation, we conclude that the ClassX classifiers yield reasonable and reliable classifications for ROSAT sources and have the potential to broaden class representation significantly for rare object types.

McGlynn, Thomas↗

NASA NTRS1999

Electron Microscopy and Image Analysis for Selected Materials

This particular project was completed in collaboration with the metallurgical diagnostics facility. The objective of this research had four major components. First, we required training in the operation of the environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) for imaging of selected materials including biological specimens. The types of materials range from cyanobacteria and diatoms to cloth, metals, sand, composites and other materials. Second, to obtain training in surface elemental analysis technology using energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) analysis, and in the preparation of x-ray maps of these same materials. Third, to provide training for the staff of the metallurgical diagnostics and failure analysis team in the area of image processing and image analysis technology using NIH Image software. Finally, we were to assist in the sample preparation, observing, imaging, and elemental analysis for Mr. Richard Hoover, one of NASA MSFC's solar physicists and Marshall's principal scientist for the agency-wide virtual Astrobiology Institute. These materials have been collected from various places around the world including the Fox Tunnel in Alaska, Siberia, Antarctica, ice core samples from near Lake Vostoc, thermal vents in the ocean floor, hot springs and many others. We were successful in our efforts to obtain high quality, high resolution images of various materials including selected biological ones. Surface analyses (EDX) and x-ray maps were easily prepared with this technology. We also discovered and used some applications for NIH Image software in the metallurgical diagnostics facility.

Williams, George↗

NASA NTRS1989

Moments applied in the manual assembly of space structures - Ease biomechanics results from STS-61B

Measurements of the level and pattern of moments applied in the manual assembly of a space structure were made in extravehicular activity (EVA) and neutral buoyancy simulation (NBS). The Experimental Assembly of Structures in EVA program included the repeated assembly of a 3.6 m tetrahedral truss structure in EVA on STS-61B after extensive neutral buoyancy crew training. The flight and training structures were of equivalent mass and geometry to allow a direct correlation between EVA and NBS performance. A stereo photographic motion camera system was used to reconstruct in three dimensions rotational movements of structural beams during assembly. Moments applied in these manual handling tasks were calculated on the basis of the reconstructed movements taking into account effects of inertia, drag and virtual mass. Applied moments of 2.0 Nm were typical for beam rotations in EVA. Corresponding applied moments in NBS were typically up to five times greater. Moments were applied as impulses separated by several seconds of coasting in both EVA and NBS. Decelerating impulses were only infrequently observed in NBS.

Cousins, D.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Using Earth-based Operational Field Tests as High-Fidelity Analogs for Planetary Surface Exploration

NASA is preparing to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon within the next decade and establish a permanent sustainable human presence before sending humans onto Mars. To ensure the success of these missions, NASA has performed operational testing in terrestrial, aquatic, and laboratory analog environments that simulate Lunar and Martian environmental characteristics to evaluate exploration concepts of operations (ConOps), engineering design requirements, science support needs, mission operations techniques, and crew training. Terrestrial analogs include Desert Research and Technology Studies (D-RATS), Biologic Analog Science Associated with Lava Terrains (BASALT), and Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP)Habitat Ground Testing. Aquatic analogs include NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) and Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP).Laboratory analogs include the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL), Active Response Gravity Offload System(ARGOS), rock yards, and virtual and hybrid reality simulation environments. While no single Earth-based analog environment is perfect for simulating all characteristics of other planetary surfaces, testing across multiple locations leverages the strengths of each to provide an integrated understanding of how to best conduct real spaceflight surface exploration missions.

B A Janoiko↗

NASA NTRS1994

NASA Johnson Space Center Life Sciences Data System

The Life Sciences Project Division (LSPD) at JSC, which manages human life sciences flight experiments for the NASA Life Sciences Division, augmented its Life Sciences Data System (LSDS) in support of the Spacelab Life Sciences-2 (SLS-2) mission, October 1993. The LSDS is a portable ground system supporting Shuttle, Spacelab, and Mir based life sciences experiments. The LSDS supports acquisition, processing, display, and storage of real-time experiment telemetry in a workstation environment. The system may acquire digital or analog data, storing the data in experiment packet format. Data packets from any acquisition source are archived and meta-parameters are derived through the application of mathematical and logical operators. Parameters may be displayed in text and/or graphical form, or output to analog devices. Experiment data packets may be retransmitted through the network interface and database applications may be developed to support virtually any data packet format. The user interface provides menu- and icon-driven program control and the LSDS system can be integrated with other workstations to perform a variety of functions. The generic capabilities, adaptability, and ease of use make the LSDS a cost-effective solution to many experiment data processing requirements. The same system is used for experiment systems functional and integration tests, flight crew training sessions and mission simulations. In addition, the system has provided the infrastructure for the development of the JSC Life Sciences Data Archive System scheduled for completion in December 1994.

Rahman, Hasan↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The NASA Space Life Sciences Training Program (SLSTP)

The NASA Space Life Sciences Training Program (SLSTP) provides undergraduate students entering their junior or senior years with professional experience in space life science disciplines. This challenging ten-week summer program is hosted by NASA Ames Research Center. The primary goal of the program is to train the next generation of scientists and engineers, enabling NASA to meet future research and development challenges in the space life sciences. SLSTP Research Associates (RAs) work closely with NASA scientists and engineers on cutting-edge research and technology development. In addition to providing hands-on research experience and the ability to present their findings in a professional forum, SLSTP RAs attend technical lectures given by experts on a wide range of topics, tour NASA and other research facilities, participate in leadership and team building exercises, and develop a group project. Historically the SLSTP program has been held at Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. However, due to the pandemic, both the 2020 and 2021 programs were restructured to be conducted virtually, enabling the program to continue despite the challenging times. For this presentation, we will highlight program processes, student recruitment, accomplishments, goals, and feedback from alumni and mentors since 2013. To date, 92 RAs from 64 different academic institutions in 29 states, 21 staffers, and 37 mentors have participated in the program. The SLSTP is funded by NASA’s Space Biology Program, which is part of the Biological and Physical Sciences Division of NASA. The SLSTP is managed by the Space Biology Project within the Science Directorate at Ames Research Center.

Training Space Biosciences Student↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

We Are All Potential Role Models: How We Can Support Scientist Engagement with Youth and the General Public

We all have the opportunity to be positive STEM role models. Yet scientists rarely identify themselves as a possible role model. In the training, “Empowering Effective STEM Role Models,” scientists practice research based strategies for engaging youth, particularly girls. This type of training is complementary to science communication, but is focused on equipping scientists with the skills needed to successfully encourage youth to pursue STEM careers. This training has been provided to over 150 STEM professionals at NASA and 14 federal agencies participated in a Train-the-Trainer version, organized by the White House Council for Women and Girls in STEM Working Group. Participants in this training reported that learning and practicing how to connect with and inspire children in STEM made them more confident stepping into further engagement opportunities. Confident, inspiring scientists are a highlight of a successful engagement event, but other factors make a positive experience possible.It’s important that all partners are thoughtful and intentional in preparing for public engagement events. The logistics are crucial, especially now while many engagements have moved to virtual platforms. Additional technology considerations make preparation essential. Two examples of virtual engagement highlight the support provided that led to successful engagements. The GLOBE Mission Earth project engages scientists in virtual classroom visits. To ensure both teacher and scientist expectations are met, a coordinator facilitates up front preparation by providing slide templates for the scientist to customize and providing video and other resources to the teacher and students to prompt student questions. Another example leverages the power of social media, particularly NASA Facebook. The NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative organizes citizen science challenges and engages the public on social. For one event, scientists were asked to share their connection to the investigation, but without access to NASA’s video production studio, the plans shifted. Scientists prepared audio files instead of videos and collaborated with communications leads to help craft their message. This weekly series has been flexible, adjusting to scientist's comfort levels, and has resulted in fresh and creative engagement.

Jessica Elaine Taylor↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Decision Support System for Extravehicular Operations Under Significant Communication Latency

Within the next few decades, humanity hopes to perform extravehicular activities (EVAs) on the surface of Mars; however, several technical and operational challenges must first be overcome. Foremost among these challenges is managing a significant two-way communication latency between Earth and Mars. Current and historical paradigms of EVA operations have required near-real-time communication between the crewmember(s) performing an EVA and an Earth-based mission control. Next-generation operational paradigms for supporting deep space exploration will necessitate a distributed decision authority system, including delayed Earth-based mission control, the on-planet extravehicular crewmember(s), and intermediate mission support from intravehicular crewmember(s) within real-time communication range. This latter group is of particular interest: they must provide operations support without the plentiful resources available to mission control on Earth. For this purpose, NASA is developing the Personalized EVA Informatics and Decision Support (PersEIDS) software platform. PersEIDS is designed to bolster operator situational awareness and offload operator workload by automating the tracking and projection of consumables usage over an EVA timeline, providing real-time probabilistic safety assessments of an EVA timeline given consumables constraints, and recommending alternative EVA timeline(s) when the active timeline is not expected to be completed under consumables limits. The PersEIDS concept of operations, use cases, and models will be presented. A limited version of PersEIDS was demonstrated during a three-day-long study where each day a roughly four-hour-long simulated Martian EVA was performed in virtual reality at the NASA Johnson Space Center. The first day was a control trial without PersEIDS support; the second and third days represented different levels of decision support provided by PersEIDS to the intravehicular crewmember acting as mission control. With PersEIDS support, the IV crewmember was able to manage the mission to completion faster and with more remaining consumables; however, additional testing is required to understand confounding factors, e.g. training bias.

Mars↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Decision Support System for Extravehicular Operations Under Significant Communication Latency

Humanity hopes to perform extravehicular activities (EVAs) on the surface of Mars; however, several technical and operational challenges must first be overcome. Foremost among these challenges is managing a significant communication latency between Earth and Mars. Current and historical paradigms of EVA operations have required near-real-time communication between the crewmember(s) and Earth-based mission control. Nextgeneration operational paradigms for supporting deep space exploration will necessitate a distributed decision authority system, including delayed Earth-based mission control, the onplanet extravehicular crewmember(s), and intermediate mission support from intravehicular (IV) crewmember(s) within real-time communication range. This latter group is of particular interest: they must provide operations support without the plentiful resources available to mission control on Earth. Thus, NASA is developing the Personalized EVA Informatics and Decision Support (PersEIDS) software platform. PersEIDS is designed to bolster operator situational awareness and offload operator workload by automatically tracking and projecting consumables usage over an EVA timeline, providing real-time probabilistic safety assessments and recommending alternative EVA timeline(s) when the active timeline is not expected to be completed under consumables limits. The PersEIDS concept of operations, use cases, and models will be presented. A limited version of PersEIDS was demonstrated during a three-day-long study where each day a roughly four-hour-long simulated Martian EVA was performed in virtual reality at the NASA Johnson Space Center. The first day was a control trial without PersEIDS support; the second and third days represented different levels of decision support provided by PersEIDS to the IV crewmember acting as mission control. With PersEIDS support, the IV crewmember was able to manage the mission to completion faster and with more remaining consumables; however, additional testing is required to understand confounding factors, e.g., training bias.

Mars↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

PersEIDS: A Biomedical Decision Support System for Extravehicular Operations Under Significant Communication Latency

Mars↗

NASA NTRS2014

Novel Problem Solving - The NASA Solution Mechanism Guide

Over the past five years, the Human Health and Performance (HH&P) Directorate at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) has conducted a number of pilot and ongoing projects in collaboration and open innovation. These projects involved the use of novel open innovation competitions that sought solutions from "the crowd", non-traditional problem solvers. The projects expanded to include virtual collaboration centers such as the NASA Human Health and Performance Center (NHHPC) and more recently a collaborative research project between NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF). These novel problem-solving tools produced effective results and the HH&P wanted to capture the knowledge from these new tools, to teach the results to the directorate, and to implement new project management tools and coursework. The need to capture and teach the results of these novel problem solving tools, the HH&P decided to create a web-based tool to capture best practices and case studies, to teach novice users how to use new problem solving tools and to change project management training/. This web-based tool was developed with a small, multi-disciplinary group and named the Solution Mechanism Guide (SMG). An alpha version was developed that was tested against several sessions of user groups to get feedback on the SMG and determine a future course for development. The feedback was very positive and the HH&P decided to move to the beta-phase of development. To develop the web-based tool, the HH&P utilized the NASA Tournament Lab (NTL) to develop the software with TopCoder under an existing contract. In this way, the HH&P is using one new tool (the NTL and TopCoder) to develop the next generation tool, the SMG. The beta-phase of the SMG is planed for release in the spring of 2014 and results of the beta-phase testing will be available for the IAC meeting in September. The SMG is intended to disrupt the way problem solvers and project managers approach problem solving and to increase the use of novel and more cost and time effective problem solving tools such as open innovation, collaborative research, and virtual collaborative project centers. The HH&P envisions changing project management coursework by including the SMG in the teaching of project management problem solving tools.

Keeton, Kathryn E.↗

NASA NTRS2012

A Storm's Approach; Hurricane Shelter Training in a Digital Age

New York City's Office of Emergency Management (OEM) originally ran hundreds of classroom based courses, where they brought together civil servants to learn how to run a Hurricane Shelter (HS). This approach was found to be costly, time consuming and lacked any sense of an impending disaster and need for emergency response. In partnership with the City of New York University School of Professional studies, Gronstedt Group and Daden Limited, the OEM wanted to create a simulation that overcame these issues, providing users with a more immersive and realistic approach at a lower cost. The HS simulation was built in the virtual world Second Life (SL). Virtual worlds are a genre of online communities that often take the form of a computer-based simulated environments, through which users can interact with one another and use or create objects. Using this technology allowed managers to apply their knowledge in both classroom and remote learning environments. The shelter simulation is operational 24/7, guiding users through a 4 1/2 hour narrative from start to finish. This paper will describe the rationale for the project, the technical approach taken - particularly the use of a web based authoring tool to create and manage the immersive simulation, and the results from operational use.

Boyarsky, Andrew↗