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At least 37 records · Page 2

STS-61 mission director's post-mission report

To ensure the success of the complex Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, STS-61, NASA established a number of independent review groups to assess management, design, planning, and preparation for the mission. One of the resulting recommendations for mission success was that an overall Mission Director be appointed to coordinate management activities of the Space Shuttle and Hubble programs and to consolidate results of the team reviews and expedite responses to recommendations. This report presents pre-mission events important to the experience base of mission management, with related Mission Director's recommendations following the event(s) to which they apply. All Mission Director's recommendations are presented collectively in an appendix. Other appendixes contain recommendations from the various review groups, including Payload Officers, the JSC Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Section, JSC EVA Management Office, JSC Crew and Thermal Systems Division, and the STS-61 crew itself. This report also lists mission events in chronological order and includes as an appendix a post-mission summary by the lead Payload Deployment and Retrieval System Officer. Recommendations range from those pertaining to specific component use or operating techniques to those for improved management, review, planning, and safety procedures.

Newman, Ronald L.↗

Design and Development of Lateral Flight Director

The current control law used for the flight director in the Boeing 737 simulator is inadequate with large localizer deviations near the middle marker. Eight different control laws are investigated. A heuristic method is used to design control laws that meet specific performance criteria. The design of each is described in detail. Several tests were performed and compared with the current control law for the flight director. The goal was to design a control law for the flight director that can be used with large localizer deviations near the middle marker, which could be caused by winds or wake turbulence, without increasing its level of complexity.

Kudlinski, Kim E.↗

NASA Ames Research Center R and D Services Directorate Biomedical Systems Development

The Ames Research Center R&D Services Directorate teams with NASA, other government agencies and/or industry investigators for the development, design, fabrication, manufacturing and qualification testing of space-flight and ground-based experiment hardware for biomedical and general aerospace applications. In recent years, biomedical research hardware and software has been developed to support space-flight and ground-based experiment needs including the E 132 Biotelemetry system for the Research Animal Holding Facility (RAHF), E 100 Neurolab neuro-vestibular investigation systems, the Autogenic Feedback Systems, and the Standard Interface Glove Box (SIGB) experiment workstation module. Centrifuges, motion simulators, habitat design, environmental control systems, and other unique experiment modules and fixtures have also been developed. A discussion of engineered systems and capabilities will be provided to promote understanding of possibilities for future system designs in biomedical applications. In addition, an overview of existing engineered products will be shown. Examples of hardware and literature that demonstrate the organization's capabilities will be displayed. The Ames Research Center R&D Services Directorate is available to support the development of new hardware and software systems or adaptation of existing systems to meet the needs of academic, commercial/industrial, and government research requirements. The Ames R&D Services Directorate can provide specialized support for: System concept definition and feasibility Mathematical modeling and simulation of system performance Prototype hardware development Hardware and software design Data acquisition systems Graphical user interface development Motion control design Hardware fabrication and high-fidelity machining Composite materials development and application design Electronic/electrical system design and fabrication System performance verification testing and qualification.

Pollitt, J.↗

[The Engineering and Technical Services Directorate at the Glenn Research Center]

My name is James Moon and I am a senior at Tennessee State University where my major is Aeronautical and Industrial Technology with a concentration in industrial electronics. I am currently serving my internship in the Engineering and Technical Services Directorate at the Glenn Research Center (GRC). The Engineering and Technical Service Directorate provides the services and infrastructure for the Glenn Research Center to take research concepts to reality. They provide a full range of integrated services including engineering, advanced prototyping and testing, facility management, and information technology for NASA, industry, and academia. Engineering and Technical Services contains the core knowledge in Information Technology (IT). This includes data systems and analysis, inter and intranet based systems design and data security. Including the design and development of embedded real-time s o h a r e applications for flight and supporting ground systems, Engineering and Technical Services provide a wide range of IT services and products specific to the Glenn Research Center research and engineering community. In the 7000 Directorate I work directly in the 7611 organization. This organization is known as the Aviation Environments Technical Branch. My mentor is Vincent Satterwhite who is also the Branch Chief of the Aviation Environments Technical Branch. In this branch, I serve as the Assistant program manager of the Engineering Technology Program. The Engineering Technology Program (ETP) is one of three components of the High School L.E.R.C.I.P. This is an Agency-sponsored, eight-week research-based apprenticeship program designed to attract traditionally underrepresented high school students that demonstrate an aptitude for and interest in mathematics, science, engineering, and technology.

Moon, James↗

Phonon-induced rotation of the electronic nematic director in superconducting Bi 2 Se 3

The doped topological insulator A x Bi 2 Se 3 , with A = {Cu,Sr,Nb}, becomes a nematic superconductor below T c ≈ 3–4 K. The associated electronic nematic director is described by an angle α and is experimentally manifested in the elliptical shape of the in-plane critical magnetic field H c2 . Because of the threefold rotational symmetry of the lattice, α is expected to align with one of three high-symmetry directions corresponding to the in-plane nearest-neighbor bonds, consistent with a Z 3 -Potts nematic transition. Here, we show that the nematic coupling to the acoustic phonons, which makes the nematic correlation length tend to diverge along certain directions only, can fundamentally alter this phenomenology in trigonal lattices. Compared to hexagonal lattices, the former possesses a sixth independent elastic constant c14 due to the fact that the in-plane shear strain doublet (ε xx – ε yy , – 2ε xy ) and the out-of-plane shear strain doublet (2ε yz , – 2ε zx ) transform as the same irreducible representation. We find that, when c 14 overcomes a threshold value, which is expected to be the case in doped Bi 2 Se 3 , the nematic director α unlocks from the high-symmetry directions due to the competition between the quadratic phonon-mediated interaction and the cubic nematic anharmonicity. This implies the breaking of the residual in-plane twofold rotational symmetry (C 2x ), resulting in a triclinic phase. Furthermore, we discuss the implications of these findings for the structure of nematic domains, for the shape of the in-plane H c2 in A x Bi 2 Se 3 , and for the presence of nodes inside the superconducting state.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Effect of an electric field on the orientation of a liquid crystal in a cell with a nonuniform director distribution

The electric field-induced reorientation of a nematic liquid crystal in cells with a planar helicoidal or a homeoplanar structure of a director field is studied theoretically and experimentally. The dependences of the capacitances of these systems on the voltage in an applied electric field below and above the Fréedericksz threshold are experimentally obtained and numerically calculated. The calculations use the director distribution in volume that is obtained by direct minimization of free energy at various voltages. The inhomogeneity of the electric field inside a cell is taken into account. The calculation results are shown to agree with the experimental data.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Surface Anchoring and Director Distribution in a Grandjean–Cano Wedge

Theoretical calculations of the director distribution in a Grandjean–Cano wedge in relation to the anchoring strength and mutual orientation of the easy axes at the wedge surfaces are performed for various model surface anchoring potentials. Comparison of the theory and experiment allows one to propose the socalled model D-potential, quadratic in angle of director deviation from the easy axes, as the best one in fitting the experiment in the angular range of performed measurements. To satisfy general requirements on the wedge surface, a modified D-potential is proposed. The optimal conditions of the experiment aimed at restoring the potential in the whole range of its definition (in particular, nonparallel orientation of the easy axes at the wedge surfaces) are formulated.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Director and Spontaneous Polarization Fluctuations in Ferroelectric Smectic-C* Cells

The correlation function of the director fluctuations in a plane-parallel smectic-C* cell with a bookshelf structure is calculated far from phase transition points. The free energy takes into account the anisotropy of the Coulomb interaction of the bound charges induced by spontaneous polarization fluctuations. This correlation function of the director fluctuations is used to calculate the scattered light intensity. Taking into account the anisotropy of the permittivity in the Coulomb interaction of bound charges is shown to change a scattering indicatrix substantially.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Associate Laboratory Directorate for Weapon Physics (ALDX) [Slides]

ALDX is one of seven technical Directorates at the Laboratory and resides within the Weapons Program. The Weapons Physics Directorate stewards a number of critical capabilities to meet its mission. Our mission is to sustain the resilience of the US nuclear stockpile and help shape a globalized nuclear world. Sustaining the aging stockpile poses scientific challenges to assess and certify the stockpile without testing. We are helping to solve major technical challenges in the nuclear global security regime. Geopolitical realities demand the Laboratory’s excellence in providing solutions to national security problems. High Performance Computing at Los Alamos opens the doors to many sophisticated modeling techniques. We use many experimental facilities to probe weapons physics. The diverse skill set required to execute ALDX’s mission has benefited greatly from the Postdoc program.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗

Did you know the Lab and its first director share a birthday month? A look back at Oppenheimer’s wartime legacy through historical items in our collections

Many birthdays ago, at only 38 years old and with no previous administrative experience, J. Robert Oppenheimer accepted responsibility for a national security mission of unprecedented scale. His charge, handed down by Manhattan Project director General Leslie R. Groves, was to lead a team of the world’s foremost scientific minds in developing the first atomic bomb. Under Oppenheimer’s leadership, a community of over 6,000 scientists, engineers, and other personnel living and working at the top-secret lab in Los Alamos completed their task in only 27 months, delivering the world’s first two atomic weapons to the U.S. military. In honor of what would have been Oppenheimer’s 119th birthday (on April 22), the National Security Research Center remembers his contributions as an administrator and scientist and the scope of his legacy as the first director of the Lab through items in our unclassified collections.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Attend debut of new film on the Lab’s first director

The NSRC’s much-anticipated documentary, Oppenheimer: Science, Mission, Legacy, will premiere for Lab staff later this summer at the NSSB auditorium, and then be made available online. Speakers at the premiere will include film creator and primary producer Dave Tietmeyer (Multimedia Services, CEA-MP), Senior Historian Alan Carr (WRS-NSCMS), and NSRC Director Brye Steeves (WRS-DO). The film was entirely produced by the NSRC and Laboratory staff and will commemorate former director J. Robert Oppenheimer and his endeavors. Much of the material and several scenes featured in the film are based on collections from the Manhattan Project era and interviews with today’s Lab staff and Oppenheimer experts.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Watch it again-or for the first time: Panel discussion and Q&A on First Lab Director J. Robert Oppenheimer

On June 19, 2023, at the National Security Sciences Building (NSSB) auditorium, LANL Director Thom Mason, LANL physicist Anna Llobet, American Prometheus author Kai Bird, and retired Senate staff member Tim Rieser discussed the life, work and legacy of first Lab Director J. Robert Oppenheimer. The panel event was moderated by LANL senior historian Alan Carr.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Flight director design for a STOL aircraft.

The study described here was intended to explore some ways of giving the pilot the information necessary to perform as well as an autopilot. A fixed-base flight simulator was built to study pilot/director/aircraft performance. Instrument rated pilots used the different director-displays in an approach down to touchdown, including a flare and decrab maneuver. Two well established areas of control theory are combined in the design of the cockpit display. Optimal control theory and the theory of manual control are used to find the feedback gains required to drive the display symbols. Conclusions based on the simulator are presented. The results show that the director display developed in the work provides more than adequate information for simulated landing in highly turbulent conditions.

Seitz, W. R.↗

Turbulence flight director analysis and preliminary simulation

A control column and trottle flight director display system is synthesized for use during flight through severe turbulence. The column system is designed to minimize airspeed excursions without overdriving attitude. The throttle system is designed to augment the airspeed regulation and provide an indication of the trim thrust required for any desired flight path angle. Together they form an energy management system to provide harmonious display indications of current aircraft motions and required corrective action, minimize gust upset tendencies, minimize unsafe aircraft excursions, and maintain satisfactory ride qualities. A preliminary fixed-base piloted simulation verified the analysis and provided a shakedown for a more sophisticated moving-base simulation to be accomplished next. This preliminary simulation utilized a flight scenario concept combining piloting tasks, random turbulence, and discrete gusts to create a high but realistic pilot workload conducive to pilot error and potential upset. The turbulence director (energy management) system significantly reduced pilot workload and minimized unsafe aircraft excursions.

Johnson, D. E.↗

Development of automatic and manual flight director landing systems for the XV-15 tilt rotor aircraft in helicopter mode

The objective of this effort is to determine IFR approach path and touchdown dispersions for manual and automatic XV-15 tilt rotor landings, and to develop missed approach criteria. Only helicopter mode XV-15 operation is considered. The analysis and design sections develop the automatic and flight director guidance equations for decelerating curved and straight-in approaches into a typical VTOL landing site equipped with an MLS navigation aid. These system designs satisfy all known pilot-centered, guidance and control requirements for this flying task. Performance data, obtained from nonstationary covariance propagation dispersion analysis for the system, are used to develop the approach monitoring criteria. The autoland and flight director guidance equations are programmed for the VSTOLAND 1819B digital computer. The system design dispersion data developed through analysis and the 1819B digital computer program are verified and refined using the fixed-base, man-in-the-loop XV-15 VSTOLAND simulation.

Hofmann, L. G.↗

Work management plan for data systems and analysis directorate

A contract with the Data Systems and Analysis Directorate contains a specified level of resources related to a specific set of work in support of three divisions within the Data Systems and Analysis Directorate. The divisions are Institutional Data Systems Division, Ground Data Systems Division, and Mission Planning and Analysis Division. The Statement of work defines at a functional requirements level the type of support to be provided to the three divisions. The contract provides for further technical direction to the contractor through issuance of Job Orders. The Job order is the prime method of further defining the work to be done, allocating a portion of the total resources in the contract to the defined tasks, and further delegating technical responsibility.

Nichols, L. R.↗

A flight investigation of static stability, control augmentation, and flight director influences on helicopter IFR handling qualities

A flight experiment was conducted using the NASA-Army V/STOLAND UH-1H variable-stability helicopter to investigate the influence of several longitudinal-static-stability, control-augmentation, and flight-director parameters on helicopter flying qualities during terminal area operations in instrument conditions. This experiment, which was part of a joint NASA/FAA program pertaining to helicopter IFR airworthiness, was designed to corroborate and extend previous ground simulation results obtained in this program. Variations examined included stable and neutral longitudinal control position gradients, rate-damping and attitude-command augmentation, and raw data versus flight-director displays. Pilot rating results agreed excellently with the ground simulation data, indicating an adequate instrument capability with rate-damping augmentation and neutral statics and the need for pitch-roll attitude augmentation to achieve a satisfactory system.

Lebacqz, J. V.↗

Flight directors for STOl aircraft

Flight director logic for flight path and airspeed control of a powered-lift STOL aircraft in the approach, transition, and landing configurations are developed. The methods for flight director design are investigated. The first method is based on the Optimal Control Model (OCM) of the pilot. The second method, proposed here, uses a fixed dynamic model of the pilot in a state space formulation similar to that of the OCM, and includes a pilot work-load metric. Several design examples are presented with various aircraft, sensor, and control configurations. These examples show the strong impact of throttle effectiveness on the performance and pilot work-load associated with manual control of powered-lift aircraft during approach. Improved performed and reduced pilot work-load can be achieved by using direct-lift-control to increase throttle effectiveness.

Rabin, U. H.↗