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NASA NTRS2018

Working at the Speed of Innovation: Impedance Mismatch in Rapid and Innovation Projects

In this paper we report on the results of an ethnographic study of a rapid design innovation (RDI) experiment in NASA Aeronautics. This work is based on the study of the Aeronautics Autonomy Testbed Capability (AATC) team in the Convergent Aeronautics Solutions (CAS) project. This paper focuses on and summarizes one of the key over-arching findings from the study: there is a significant mismatch in the organizational culture in the rest of the organization compared with that required for RDI. And, if this organizational cultural mismatch is not addressed, the likelihood of any organization being able to advance a new and different type of work (such as RDI) will be jeopardized. We delineate several aspects of the two different cultures identified in order to enable leaders and practitioners to better understand what contributes to the cultural dissonance and the implications of the differences in the cultures. As well, we identify ways in which those differences can be addressed. Research from organization and other social sciences are incorporated to highlight the differences. The implications of the research suggest that the significant cultural differences trigger a strong and resistive response from the dominant culture that may negate leadership’s strategy to build the new capacity for RDI. While the research results noted the pervasive nature of innovation throughout the workplace, the type of innovation envisioned in RDI is a rare type of innovation that requires significantly new methods, work processes, tools, and skills such that approaches used in the dominate culture cannot be adopted by expediting the existing approaches. Examples include: innovation teaming and leadership; the need for adaptive leadership that changes the relationship of a research leader to the other researchers; and, an interdisciplinary teaming approach which shapes team relationships and activities. Each of these aspects requires new teaming, tools, and skills in order to succeed. Thus, when introducing RDI activities where there is a different dominant culture, teams need to be: well trained; protected; recognized and rewarded. And, team leaders must also be trained in the unique types of teaming and innovation tools used in RDI. Both RDI teaming and team leadership must be sanctioned, supported, and rewarded by leadership. Because of the cultural mismatch, in some organizations looking to add RDI to their existing and established organizations, sep to avoid or mitigate the negative impact of the culture mismatch.

Crain, Cathleen↗
NASA NTRS2011

Observation of Hydrological Processes Using Remote Sensing: Volume 2: The Science of Hydrology - Chapter 2.14

Improving water management can make a significant contribution to achieving most of the Millennium Development Goals established by the UN General Assembly in 2000, especially those related to poverty, hunger, and major diseases. The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002 recognized this need. Water and sanitation in particular received great attention from the Summit. The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation recommended to improve water resources management and scientific understanding of the water cycle through joint cooperation and research. For this purpose, it is recommended to promote knowledge sharing, provide capacity building, and facilitate the transfer of technology including remote-sensing (RS) and satellite technologies, especially to developing countries and countries with economies in transition, and to support these countries in their efforts to monitor and assess the quantity and quality of water resources, for example, by establishing and/or further developing national monitoring networks and water resources databases and by developing relevant national indicators. The Johannesburg Plan also adopted integrated water resources management as the overarching concept in addressing and solving water-related issues. As a result of the commitments made in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, several global and regional initiatives have emerged. Current international initiatives such as the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program of the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) 10-Year Implementation Plan, have all identified Earth observation (EO) of the water cycle as the key in helping to solve the world s water problems. The availability of spatial information on water quantity and quality will also enable closure of the water budget at river basin and continental scales to the point where effective water management is essential (e.g., as requested by the European Union s Water Framework Directive (WFD), as well as national policies). Geo-information science and EO are vital in achieving a better understanding of the water cycle and better monitoring, analysis, prediction, and management of the world s water resources. The major components of the water cycle of the Earth system and their possible observations are presented. Such observations are essential to understand the global water cycle and its variability, both spatially and temporally, and can only be achieved consistently by means of EOs. Additionally, such observations are essential to advance our understanding of coupling between the terrestrial, atmospheric, and oceanic branches of the water cycle, and how this coupling may influence climate variability and predictability. Water resources management directly interferes with the natural water cycle in the forms of building dams, reservoirs, water transfer systems, and irrigation systems that divert and redistribute part of the water storages and fluxes on land. The water cycle is mainly driven and coupled to the energy cycle in terms of phase changes of water (changes among liquid, water vapor, and solid phases) and transport of water by winds in addition to gravity and diffusion processes. The water-cycle components can be observed with in situ sensors as well as airborne and satellite sensors in terms of radiative quantities. Processing and conversion of these radiative signals are necessary to retrieve the water-cycle components.

Wilder, Peter↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

TPSAS-NF1676L-18251-DND

The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and its Eco-Schools USA program is focused providing an engaging educational experience to help students better understand the essential principles of Earth's systems and the impact of climate change on them. The program is aimed to provide those students with the ability to communicate about climate change and apply knowledge in decision making. To achieve these objectives, the NWF partnered with NASA scientists and developed the Eco-Schools USA Climate Change Connections (CCC) is a 9th-12th grade curriculum. CCC is designed to build upon and utilize the many NASA mission resources, programs, and associated interfaces to enhance authentic learning experiences for both educators and students. It seeks to develop an integrated systems-thinking approach to understanding and acting upon the issue of climate change. In collaboration with mission specialists from ICESat, LandSat, Terra, AQUA, AURA, a cross programmatic curriculum was developed to provide a unified or systems-thinking approach to addressing realworld Earth systems problems (see NWF web page below). In this presentation, we provide an overview of the Climate Change Connections lesson curriculum but focus specifically on a couple of example exercises where NASA data sets are used to teach basic lessons about aspects of the climate system as it pertains to the built environment. In particular, we show how data adapted from NASA’s GEWEX Surface Energy Budget are applied to a lesson in solar energy. These data sets are made available directly through NASA web portals entitled “My NASA Data” and the Prediction of Worldwide Renewable Energy Resource. At the POWER web portal there is a link to the Surface meteorology and Solar Energy web portal providing data sets tailored specifically to the assessment of solar energy resource at any location on the globe. Here, we depict the sources of these data and their subsequent usage in the Eco-Schools USA CCC Lessons.

Paul W Stackhouse↗
NASA NTRS1994

Space-based crystal growth and thermocapillary flow

The demand for larger crystals is increasing especially in applications associated with the electronic industry, where large and pure electronic crystals (notably silicon) are the essential material to make high-performance computer chips. Crystal growth under weightless conditions has been considered an ideal way to produce bigger and hopefully better crystals. One technique which may benefit from a microgravity environment is the float-zone crystal-growth process, a containerless method for producing high-quality electronic material. In this method, a rod of material to be refined is moved slowly through a heating device which melts a portion of it. Ideally, as the melt resolidifies it does so as a single crystal which is then used as substrate for building microelectronic devices. The possibility of contamination by contact with other material is reduced because of the 'float' configuration. However, since the weight of the material contained in the zone is supported by the surface-tension force, the size of the resulting crystal is limited in Earth-based productions; in fact, some materials have properties which prevent this process from being used to manufacture crystals of reasonable size. Consequently, there has been a great deal of interest in exploiting the microgravity environment of space to grow larger size crystals of electronic material using the float-zone method. In addition to allowing larger crystals to be grown, a microgravity environment would also significantly reduce the magnitude of convection induced by buoyancy forces during the melting state. This type of convection was once thought to be at least partially responsible for the presence of undesirable nonuniformities--called striations--in material properties observed in float-zone material. However, past experiments on crystal growth under weightless conditions found that even with the absence of gravity, the float-zone method sometimes still results striations. It is believed that another mechanism is playing a dominant role in the microgravity environment.

Shen, Yong-Hong↗
NASA NTRS2012

NASA Human Health and Performance Strategy

In May 2007, what was then the Space Life Sciences Directorate, issued the 2007 Space Life Sciences Strategy for Human Space Exploration. In January 2012, leadership and key directorate personnel were once again brought together to assess the current and expected future environment against its 2007 Strategy and the Agency and Johnson Space Center goals and strategies. The result was a refined vision and mission, and revised goals, objectives, and strategies. One of the first changes implemented was to rename the directorate from Space Life Sciences to Human Health and Performance to better reflect our vision and mission. The most significant change in the directorate from 2007 to the present is the integration of the Human Research Program and Crew Health and Safety activities. Subsequently, the Human Health and Performance Directorate underwent a reorganization to achieve enhanced integration of research and development with operations to better support human spaceflight and International Space Station utilization. These changes also enable a more effective and efficient approach to human system risk mitigation. Since 2007, we have also made significant advances in external collaboration and implementation of new business models within the directorate and the Agency, and through two newly established virtual centers, the NASA Human Health and Performance Center and the Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation. Our 2012 Strategy builds upon these successes to address the Agency s increased emphasis on societal relevance and being a leader in research and development and innovative business and communications practices. The 2012 Human Health and Performance Vision is to lead the world in human health and performance innovations for life in space and on Earth. Our mission is to enable optimization of human health and performance throughout all phases of spaceflight. All HHPD functions are ultimately aimed at achieving this mission. Our activities enable mission success, optimizing human health and productivity in space before, during, and after the actual spaceflight experience of our crews, and include support for ground-based functions. Many of our spaceflight innovations also provide solutions for terrestrial challenges, thereby enhancing life on Earth. Our strategic goals are aimed at leading human exploration and ISS utilization, leading human health and performance internationally, excelling in management and advancement of innovations in health and human system integration, and expanding relevance to life on Earth and creating enduring support and enthusiasm for space exploration.

Davis, Jeffrey R.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Studying the Use of Photocatalytic Coatings to Increase Building/Structure Sustainability and Cleanliness at NASA Stennis Space Center

TiO2 coated surfaces demonstrated both visually through photographic representation, and quantitatively, through reflectance measurements that they improved upon the current state of cleanliness upon the surfaces that they were applied to. TiO2 has the potential to both maintain and increase building s sustainability and the overall appearance of cleanliness TiO2 coated slides degraded soot under UV light compared to soot samples on plain uncoated slides under the same conditions Degradation of soot by photocatalysis was far more apparent than degradation of soot by UV light alone This demonstration provides the foundation for a laboratory model that could be used to simulate real world applications for photocatalytic materials Additional research is required to better understand the full potential of TiO2

Underwood, Lauren↗
NASA NTRS2012

NASA Human Health and Performance Strategy

In May 2007, what was then the Space Life Sciences Directorate, issued the 2007 Space Life Sciences Strategy for Human Space Exploration. In January 2012, leadership and key directorate personnel were once again brought together to assess the current and expected future environment against its 2007 Strategy and the Agency and Johnson Space Center goals and strategies. The result was a refined vision and mission, and revised goals, objectives, and strategies. One of the first changes implemented was to rename the directorate from Space Life Sciences to Human Health and Performance to better reflect our vision and mission. The most significant change in the directorate from 2007 to the present is the integration of the Human Research Program and Crew Health and Safety activities. Subsequently, the Human Health and Performance Directorate underwent a reorganization to achieve enhanced integration of research and development with operations to better support human spaceflight and International Space Station utilization. These changes also enable a more effective and efficient approach to human system risk mitigation. Since 2007, we have also made significant advances in external collaboration and implementation of new business models within the directorate and the Agency, and through two newly established virtual centers, the NASA Human Health and Performance Center and the Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation. Our 2012 Strategy builds upon these successes to address the Agency's increased emphasis on societal relevance and being a leader in research and development and innovative business and communications practices. The 2012 Human Health and Performance Vision is to lead the world in human health and performance innovations for life in space and on Earth. Our mission is to enable optimization of human health and performance throughout all phases of spaceflight. All HH&P functions are ultimately aimed at achieving this mission. Our activities enable mission success, optimizing human health and productivity in space before, during, and after the actual spaceflight experience of our crews, and include support for ground-­‐ based functions. Many of our spaceflight innovations also provide solutions for terrestrial challenges, thereby enhancing life on Earth. Our strategic goals are aimed at leading human exploration and ISS utilization, leading human health and performance internationally, excelling in management and advancement of innovations in health and human system integration, and expanding relevance to life on Earth and creating enduring support and enthusiasm for space exploration.

Davis, Jeffrey R.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Vertical structure of Arctic haze observed by lidar

In the study of the Arctic Haze phenomenon, understanding the vertical structure of the haze aerosol is crucial in defining mechanisms of haze transport. Questions have also arisen concerning the representativeness of surface observations of Arctic Haze. Due to the strongly stratified nature of the Arctic troposphere, the mechanisms which transport aerosol to the surface from the transport altitudes of the lower troposphere are not obvious. In order to examine these questions, a Mie scattering lidar was installed at Alert, NWT, Canada. Lidar observes atmospheric aerosols and hydrymeteors as they appear in nature, unmodified by sampling effects. As such the results obtained are more realistic of the light scattering characteristics of the in situ aerosol than are those obtained by integrating nephelometers, for example, which heat the aerosol and dry it before measurement. With this lidar, a pulse was transmitted vetically through an evacuated tube in the roof of a building at Alert. The receiver consisted of a 20cm diameter Fresnel telescope, neutral density and polarizing filters, and RCA C31000A PMT, Analog Modules LA-90-P logarithmic amplifier and a Lecroy TR8827 32 MHz digitizer. The lidar equation was solved for the backscattering coefficient of the aerosol assuming no two way transmission losses in the signal. The lidar results have shown that intercomparison between lidar obtained visibilities and observer visibilities are in much better agreement than for other optical or aerosol monitors. Three new effects were identified in the lidar profiles which contribute to the vertical transport of haze. These effects are briefly discussed.

Hoff, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Protein Kinase Classification with 2866 Hidden Markov Models and One Support Vector Machine

The main application considered in this paper is predicting true kinases from randomly permuted kinases that share the same length and amino acid distributions as the true kinases. Numerous methods already exist for this classification task, such as HMMs, motif-matchers, and sequence comparison algorithms. We build on some of these efforts by creating a vector from the output of thousands of structurally based HMMs, created offline with Pfam-A seed alignments using SAM-T99, which then must be combined into an overall classification for the protein. Then we use a Support Vector Machine for classifying this large ensemble Pfam-Vector, with a polynomial and chisquared kernel. In particular, the chi-squared kernel SVM performs better than the HMMs and better than the BLAST pairwise comparisons, when predicting true from false kinases in some respects, but no one algorithm is best for all purposes or in all instances so we consider the particular strengths and weaknesses of each.

Weber, Ryan↗
NASA NTRS2010

Phase-Conjugate Receiver for Gaussian-State Quantum Illumination

An active optical sensor probes a region of free space that is engulfed in bright thermal noise to determine the presence (or absence) of a weakly reflecting target. The returned light (which is just thermal noise if no target is present, and thermal noise plus a weak reflection of the probe beam if a target is present) is measured and processed by a receiver and a decision is made on whether a target is present. It has been shown that generating an entangled pair of photons (which is a highly nonclassical state of light), using one photon as the probe beam and storing the other photon for comparison to the returned light, has superior performance to the traditional classical-light (coherent-state) target detection sensors. An entangled-photon transmitter and optimal receiver combination can yield up to a factor of 4 (i.e., 6 dB) gain in the error-probability exponent over a coherent state transmitter and optimal receiver combination, in a highly lossy and noisy scenario (when both sensors have the same number of transmitted photons). However, the receiver that achieves this advantage is not known. One structured receiver can close half of the 6-dB gap (i.e., a 3-dB improvement). It is based on phase-conjugating the returned light, then performing dual-balanced difference detection with the stored half of the entangled-photon pair. Active optical sensors are of tremendous value to NASA s missions. Although this work focuses on target detection, it can be extended to imaging (2D, 3D, hyperspectral, etc.) scenarios as well, where the image quality can be better than that offered by traditional active sensors. Although the current work is theoretical, NASA s future missions could benefit significantly from developing and demonstrating this capability. This is an optical receiver design whose components are, in principle, all implementable. However, the work is currently entirely theoretical. It is necessary to: 1. Demonstrate a bench-top proof of the theoretical principle, 2. Create an operational prototype off-the-bench, and 3. Build a practical sensor that can fly in a mission.

Erkmen, Baris I.↗
NASA NTRS2016

IN11B-1621: Quantifying How Climate Affects Vegetation in the Amazon Rainforest

Amazon droughts in 2005 and 2010 have raised serious concern about the future of the rainforest. Amazon forests are crucial because of their role as the largest carbon sink in the world which would effect the global warming phenomena with decreased photosynthesis activity. Especially, after a decline in plant growth in 1.68 million km2 forest area during the once-in-a-century severe drought in 2010, it is of primary importance to understand the relationship between different climatic variables and vegetation. In an earlier study, we have shown that non-linear models are better at capturing the relation dynamics of vegetation and climate variables such as temperature and precipitation, compared to linear models. In this research, we learn precise models between vegetation and climatic variables (temperature, precipitation) for normal conditions in the Amazon region using genetic programming based symbolic regression. This is done by removing high elevation and drought affected areas and also considering the slope of the region as one of the important factors while building the model. The model learned reveals new and interesting ways historical and current climate variables affect the vegetation at any location. MAIAC data has been used as a vegetation surrogate in our study. For temperature and precipitation, we have used TRMM and MODIS Land Surface Temperature data sets while learning the non-linear regression model. However, to generalize the model to make it independent of the data source, we perform transfer learning where we regress a regularized least squares to learn the parameters of the non-linear model using other data sources such as the precipitation and temperature from the Climatic Research Center (CRU). This new model is very similar in structure and performance compared to the original learned model and verifies the same claims about the nature of dependency between these climate variables and the vegetation in the Amazon region. As a result of this study, we are able to learn, for the very first time how exactly different climate factors influence vegetation at any location in the Amazon rainforests, independent of the specific sources from which the data has been obtained.

global warming↗
NASA NTRS2002

LWS/SET Technology Experiment Carrier

This paper examines the approach taken to building a low-cost, modular spacecraft bus that can be used to support a variety of technology experiments in different space environments. It describes the techniques used and design drivers considered to ensure experiment independence from as yet selected host spacecraft. It describes the technology experiment carriers that will support NASA's Living With a Star Space Environment Testbed space missions. NASA has initiated the Living With a Star (LWS) Program to develop a better scientific understanding to address the aspects of the connected Sun-Earth system that affect life and society. A principal goal of the program is to bridge the gap between science, engineering, and user application communities. The Space Environment Testbed (SET) Project is one element of LWS. The Project will enable future science, operational, and commercial objectives in space and atmospheric environments by improving engineering approaches to the accommodation and/or mitigation of the effects of solar variability on technological systems. The SET Project is highly budget constrained and must seek to take advantage of as yet undetermined partnering opportunities for access to space. SET will conduct technology validation experiments hosted on available flight opportunities. The SET Testbeds will be developed in a manner that minimizes the requirements for accommodation, and will be flown as flight opportunities become available. To access the widest range of flight opportunities, two key development requirements are to maintain flexibility with respect to accommodation constraints and to have the capability to respond quickly to flight opportunities. Experiments, already developed to the technology readiness level of needing flight validation in the variable Sun-Earth environment, will be selected on the basis of the need for the subject technology, readiness for flight, need for flight resources and particular orbit. Experiments will be accumulated by the Project and manifested for specific flight opportunities as they become available. The SET Carrier is designed to present a standard set of interfaces to SET technology experiments and to be modular and flexible enough to interface to a variety of possible host spacecraft. The Carrier will have core components and mission unique components. Once the core carrier elements have been developed, only the mission unique components need to be defined and developed for any particular mission. This approach will minimize the mission specific cost and development schedule for a given flight opportunity. The standard set of interfaces provided by SET to experiments allows them to be developed independent of the particulars of a host spacecraft. The Carrier will provide the power, communication, and the necessary monitoring features to operate experiments. The Carrier will also provide all of the mechanical assemblies and harnesses required to adapt experiments to a particular host. Experiments may be hosted locally with the Carrier or remotely on the host spacecraft. The Carrier design will allow a single Carrier to support a variable number of experiments and will include features that support the ability to incrementally add experiments without disturbing the core architecture.

Sherman, Barry↗
NASA NTRS2004

Improved Temperature Dynamic Model of Turbine Subcomponents for Facilitation of Generalized Tip Clearance Control

This paper describes efforts conducted to improve dynamic temperature estimations of a turbine tip clearance system to facilitate design of a generalized tip clearance controller. This work builds upon research previously conducted and presented in and focuses primarily on improving dynamic temperature estimations of the primary components affecting tip clearance (i.e. the rotor, blades, and casing/shroud). The temperature profiles estimated by the previous model iteration, specifically for the rotor and blades, were found to be inaccurate and, more importantly, insufficient to facilitate controller design. Some assumptions made to facilitate the previous results were not valid, and thus improvements are presented here to better match the physical reality. As will be shown, the improved temperature sub- models, match a commercially validated model and are sufficiently simplified to aid in controller design.

Kypuros, Javier A.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Coordinated Analysis of an Experimentally Space Weathered Carbonaceous Chondrite

The surfaces of airless bodies experience solar wind irradiation and micrometeorite impacts, a process collectively known as space weathering. These mechanisms alter the chemical composition, microstructure, and optical properties of surface materials and considerable work has been done to understand this phenomenon in lunar and ordinary chondritic materials. However, ongoing sample return missions Hayabusa2 to asteroid Ryugu and OSIRIS-REx to asteroid Bennu have prompted the need to study the effects of space weathering on hydrated, organic-rich materials, especially in the context of early results. Understanding space weathering of these samples is critical for properly interpreting remote sensing data during asteroid encounters, for sample site selection, and for the eventual study of returned samples. We can better understand space weathering of carbonaceous materials by simulating these processes in the laboratory. Recent experiments have shown that the changes in spectral characteristics of carbonaceous chondrites are not consistent among experiments, suggesting additional work is needed before these results can inform our understanding of spectral variations on asteroidal surfaces. Similarly, substantial work remains to characterize the chemical and microstructural effects of these processes in order to correlate these features with spectral changes. Here, we build on our previous work, presenting new results of the pulsed laser irradiation of the Murchison (CM2) meteorite to simulate micrometeorite impacts and the progressive space weathering of carbonaceous surfaces.

Thompson, M. S.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Spacecraft Block Scheduling for NASA’s Deep Space Network

Currently, NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) is responsible for uplink to, downlink from, and/or tracking of dozens of missions for space agencies across the world. The DSN scheduling process starts about four months prior to the start of the schedule week, a process in which requirements are defined and then the schedule is created, de-conflicted, and negotiated over the next 2–3 weeks with a team of mission representatives. Now scheduled for late 2019, Exploration Mission1 (EM-1) will deploy upwards of 12 SmallSat missions that will be served by the DSN. This will increase the DSN’s actively serviced spacecraft by up to 30%, further increasing the difficulty of meeting all mission needs via the over subscribed network. To mitigate their impact on DSN scheduling, a block scheduling process is proposed for scheduling the SmallSats. Block scheduling consists of aggregating spacecraft together into larger “pseudo-spacecraft” based on geometric alignment that then follow the same process as any other DSN mission to receive segments of track time. These tracks are then decomposed into tracks for individual users based on their specific requirements. This paper describes a full novel scheduling tool set for building candidate blocks, evaluating the efficacy of these blocks, and optimal and suboptimal de-blocking schemes. To demonstrate these developed tools, results from three simulations are presented: a blocking example with lunar SmallSats, blocking potential in the greater DSN spacecraft catalog, and opportunistic multiple spacecraft per aperture potential for the DSN spacecraft catalog. Block scheduling has the potential to reduce overhead and scheduling resources for the EM-1 SmallSats while also providing them with a better means to meet their mission requirements.

Bilén, Sven G.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Improving Efficacy and Safety of Pharmacological Treatment Through Precision Health and Pharmacogenomics

INTRODUCTION: Future spaceflight will require increased crew medical autonomy as exploration class missions expand in duration and distance from Earth, especially for Mars missions. As mission duration increases, it will be essential to have appropriate amounts of effective medication to ensure the maintenance of crew health and performance. Conversely, mass and volume constraints will become more severe as future spaceflight expands beyond low Earth orbit, where resupply is difficult or becomes impossible. These constraints thus convey an urgency to tailor medications for individual crewmembers and further examine appropriate dosing regimens. BACKGROUND: Precision Health is an exciting area of medicine focused on maintaining an individual’s health and performance through in-depth understanding of an individual’s unique clinical and environmental history, genetic makeup, and molecular profiles. This approach can be adapted to better predict, monitor, and address physiological responses to the spaceflight environment. A subset of this field is pharmacogenomics (PGX), the study of how the expressed genome impacts drug responses with the goal of prescribing the right dose of the right drug at the right time. Specifically, PGX testing provides valuable information on an individual’s precise allelic variations to guide physicians in making informed decisions on drug choice and dosing to avoid adverse events and maximize efficacy. The study goal was to identify which current space pharmacy drugs could be evaluated using PGX testing and to understand the potential impact on the health and wellness of the astronaut population. Additionally, we sought to evaluate clinically available FDA-approved PGX testing solutions to better understand its applicability. METHODS: A complete list of drugs on the ISS was analyzed for risk and likelihood of drug failure and PGX actionability. This analysis encompassed both astronauts’ personal medications, including supplements and over the counter drugs (n=151) contained in the ISS medical accessory kit (IMAK), and ISS MedKit formulary medications (n=95). Duplicate medications and different formulations were removed, which resulted in a total of 157 drugs used in the subsequent analysis. A 5x5 risk assessment table was produced by examining the likelihood of drug failure compared to the consequence of drug failure (LxC). Likelihood of individual drug failure was defined by whether existing processes are sufficient to prevent ineffective treatment or impactful side effect events, as ranked from 1 (very low, can easily be prevented) to 5 (very high, cannot be prevented) during a Mars mission. In contrast, the consequence of drug failure was defined by impact to safety, schedule, cost, or technical criteria and ranked from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high). An assessment of PGX reference laboratories is currently underway to evaluate sample requirements, benefit analysis (cost vs. utility of allele variant analysis), relevance to inflight medication usage, quality of reporting in enabling clinical application, and ease of integration into electronic medical records. RESULTS: Risk assessments (LxC 5x5 table) indicated 128 medications were in the green zone where risk is acceptable, with the remaining 29 of the medications in the yellow or red zone driven predominantly due to drug failure or safety concerns. We found that current PGX testing results could impact 21% of the total medications in the ISS MedKit and IMAK; of these, 9 medications currently have direct clinically actionable guidance available. Results of the clinical PGX solution evaluations as related to these medications will be presented. CONCLUSION: PGX testing has demonstrated clear benefits in terrestrial medicine and clinical environments for the selection of proper medications, avoiding adverse drug reactions, and maximizing drug efficacy. We propose that similar benefits would be bestowed on the astronaut and commercial spaceflight passenger population by performing preemptive preflight PGX testing to reduce risk of mission failure due to ineffective or toxic medications, improve drug efficacy, and further open the door to countermeasure research. For example, PGX results could allow tailoring of specific medications at optimal doses more precisely to each individual astronaut, particularly in areas of space motion sickness, sleep aids, and analgesics. An additional benefit is that PGX results could provide information for better planning of the components of a space pharmacy for deep space missions to be more effective and efficient in the utilization of limited pharmaceutical resources. Finally, while PGX testing of the astronaut corps is not currently conducted, this approach could provide immediate impact in support of mission success by reducing risks, optimizing astronaut performance, and providing valuable insights into long-term astronaut health. Such advancements in clinical decision making are important next steps in building dynamic individual risk profiles for astronauts, increasing selection of the best treatment choice, and providing tailored countermeasures for individual crewmembers.

Pharmacogenomics↗
NASA NTRS1985

An Initial Analysis of LANDSAT-4 Thematic Mapper Data for the Discrimination of Agricultural, Forested Wetlands, and Urban Land Cover

The capabilities of TM data for discriminating land covers within three particular cultural and ecological realms was assessed. The agricultural investigation in Poinsett County, Arkansas illustrates that TM data can successfully be used to discriminate a variety of crop cover types within the study area. The single-date TM classification produced results that were significantly better than those developed from multitemporal MSS data. For the Reelfoot Lake area of Tennessee TM data, processed using unsupervised signature development techniques, produced a detailed classification of forested wetlands with excellent accuracy. Even in a small city of approximately 15,000 people (Union City, Tennessee). TM data can successfully be used to spectrally distinguish specific urban classes. Furthermore, the principal components analysis evaluation of the data shows that through photointerpretation, it is possible to distinguish individual buildings and roof responses with the TM.

Quattrochi, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Insights into Tropospheric Ozone from the INTEX Ozonesonde Network Study (IONS)

Ozone profile data from soundings integrate models, aircraft and other ground-based measurements for better interpretation of atmospheric chemistry and dynamics. A well-designed network of ozonesonde stations, with consistent sampling, can answer questions not possible with short campaigns or current satellite technology. The SHADOZ (Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes) project, for example, has led to these findings about tropical ozone: definition of the zonal tropospheric wave-one pattern in equatorial ozone, characterization of the "Atlantic ozone paradox" and establishment of a link between tropical Atlantic and Indian Ocean pollution. Building on the SHADOZ concept, a short-term ozone network was formed in July-August 2004 to coordinate ozonesonde launches during the ICARTT/INTEX/NEAQS (International Consortium on Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformation)/Intercontinental Transport Experiment/New England Air Quality Study. In IONS (INTEX Ozonesonde Network Study), more than 250 soundings, with daily frequency at half the sites, were launched from eleven North American stations and an oceanographic ship in the Gulf of Maine. Although the goal was to examine pollution influences under stable high-pressure systems and transport associated with "warm conveyor belt" flows, the INTEX study region was dominated by a series of weak frontal system that mixed aged pollution with stratospheric ozone in the middle troposphere. Deconvoluting ozone sources provides new insights into ozone in the transition between mid-latitude and polar air.

Thompson, Anne M.↗