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At least 397 records · Page 22
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1999

The Role of Capital Productivity in British Airways' Financial Recovery

British Airways (BA) was privatized in 1987, but its financial recovery occurred a number of years earlier, This recovery was sustained throughout the early 1990s economic recession, a period when few major airlines were operating profitably. This paper examines the role of productivity developments at British Airways from the early 1980s through 1996. The emphasis is on capital productivity and investment, but changes in capital intensity and labour productivity are also evaluated. Various measures are considered for both capital and labour productivity: outputs are measured in available tonne-kms (ATKs) and revenue tonne-kms (RTKs), with the former preferred over the latter two measures, after adjustment for work performed by BA for others. Capital inputs are measured in equivalent lease costs adjusted to constant prices with a different treatment of flight and ground equipment or assets. Labour inputs are derived from total payroll costs deflated by a UK wage price index. The airline made considerable capital investments over the period and at the same time went through two major processes of labour restructuring. This resulted in a gradual increase in capital intensity, relative high labour productivity growth, but poor capital productivity performance, However, capital investment played an important role in the airline's sustained labour and total factor productivity over the whole period.

Morrell, Peter↗
NASA NTRS1999

Deep Space Systems Technology Program (DSST-X2000) Future Deliveries

The number of deep space missions is increasing as we embark on a new era of exploration. New missions are "faster-better-cheaper" and cannot afford large individual investments in technology. A new process is needed fo allow these missions to take advantage of the technological breakthroughs that are critical to getting the cost down while increasing the science. The key is multimission technology development. NASA will make institutional investments in technology to benefit sets of missions. Continuous investment will provide a series of revolutions in technology to address common challenges in mission design and execution.

Salvo, Christopher G.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Applying Technology Ranking and Systems Engineering in Advanced Life Support

According to the Advanced Life Support (ALS) Program Plan, the Systems Modeling and Analysis Project (SMAP) has two important tasks: 1) prioritizing investments in ALS Research and Technology Development (R&TD), and 2) guiding the evolution of ALS systems. Investments could be prioritized simply by independently ranking different technologies, but we should also consider a technology's impact on system design. Guiding future ALS systems will require SMAP to consider many aspects of systems engineering. R&TD investments can be prioritized using familiar methods for ranking technology. The first step is gathering data on technology performance, safety, readiness level, and cost. Then the technologies are ranked using metrics or by decision analysis using net present economic value. The R&TD portfolio can be optimized to provide the maximum expected payoff in the face of uncertain future events. But more is needed. The optimum ALS system can not be designed simply by selecting the best technology for each predefined subsystem. Incorporating a new technology, such as food plants, can change the specifications of other subsystems, such as air regeneration. Systems must be designed top-down starting from system objectives, not bottom-up from selected technologies. The familiar top-down systems engineering process includes defining mission objectives, mission design, system specification, technology analysis, preliminary design, and detail design. Technology selection is only one part of systems analysis and engineering, and it is strongly related to the subsystem definitions. ALS systems should be designed using top-down systems engineering. R&TD technology selection should consider how the technology affects ALS system design. Technology ranking is useful but it is only a small part of systems engineering.

Jones, Harry↗
NASA NTRS2001

Process for Making Ceramic Mold

An improved process for slip casting molds that can be more economically automated and that also exhibits greater dimensional stability is disclosed. The process involves subjecting an investment pattern, preferably made from wax, to successive cycles of wet-dipping in a slurry of colloidal, silica-based binder and dry powder-coating, or stuccoing with plaster of Paris or calcium sulfate mixtures to produce a multi-layer shell over the pattern. The invention as claimed entails applying a primary and a secondary coating to the investment pattern. At least two wet-dipping on in a primary slurry and dry-stuccoing cycles provide the primary coating, and an additional two wet-dippings and dry-stuccoing cycles provide the secondary, or back-up, coating. The primary and secondary coatings produce a multi-layered shell pattern. The multi-layered shell pattern is placed in a furnace first to cure and harden, and then to vaporize the investment pattern, leaving a detailed, high precision shell mold.

Buck, Gregory M.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Propellantless Propulsion Technologies for In-Space Transportation

In order to implement the ambitious science and exploration missions planned over the next several decades, improvements in in-space transportation and propulsion technologies must be achieved. For robotic exploration and science missions, increased efficiencies of future propulsion systems are critical to reduce overall life-cycle costs. Future missions will require 2 to 3 times more total change in velocity over their mission lives than the NASA Solar Electric Technology Application Readiness (NSTAR) demonstration on the Deep Space 1 mission. Rendezvous and return missions will require similar investments in in-space propulsion systems. New opportunities to explore beyond the outer planets and to the stars will require unparalleled technology advancement and innovation. The Advanced Space Transportation Program (ASTP) is investing in technologies to achieve a factor of 10 reduction in the cost of Earth orbital transportation and a factor of 2 or 3 reduction in propulsion system mass and travel time for planetary missions within the next 15 years. Since more than 70% of projected launches over the next 10 years will require propulsion systems capable of attaining destinations beyond Low Earth Orbit, investment in in-space technologies will benefit a large percentage of future missions. Some of the most promising technologies for achieving these goals use the environment of space itself for energy and propulsion and are generically called, "propellantless" because they do not require on-board fuel to achieve thrust. An overview of the state-of-the-art in propellantless propulsion technologies such as solar and plasma sails, electrodynamic and momentum transfer tethers, and aeroassist and aerocapture will be described. Results of recent earth-based technology demonstrations and space tests will also be discussed.

Johnson, Les↗
NASA NTRS2001

New Propulsion Technologies For Exploration of the Solar System and Beyond

In order to implement the ambitious science and exploration missions planned over the next several decades, improvements in in-space transportation and propulsion technologies must be achieved. For robotic exploration and science missions, increased efficiencies of future propulsion systems are critical to reduce overall life-cycle costs. Future missions will require 2 to 3 times more total change in velocity over their mission lives than the NASA Solar Electric Technology Application Readiness (NSTAR) demonstration on the Deep Space 1 mission. Rendezvous and return missions will require similar investments in in-space propulsion systems. New opportunities to explore beyond the outer planets and to the stars will require unparalleled technology advancement and innovation. The Advanced Space Transportation Program (ASTP) is investing in technologies to achieve a factor of 10 reduction in the cost of Earth orbital transportation and a factor of 2 reduction in propulsion system mass and travel time for planetary missions within the next 15 years. Since more than 70% of projected launches over the next 10 years will require propulsion systems capable of attaining destinations beyond Low Earth Orbit, investment in in-space technologies will benefit a large percentage of future missions. The ASTP technology portfolio includes many advanced propulsion systems. From the next generation ion propulsion system operating in the 5 - 10 kW range, to fission-powered multi-kilowatt systems, substantial advances in spacecraft propulsion performance are anticipated. Some of the most promising technologies for achieving these goals use the environment of space itself for energy and propulsion and are generically called, "propellantless" because they do not require on-board fuel to achieve thrust. An overview of the state-of-the-art in propellantless propulsion technologies such as solar and plasma sails, electrodynamic and momentum transfer tethers, and aeroassist and aerocapture will also be described. Results of recent earth-based technology demonstrations and space tests for many of these new propulsion technologies will be discussed.

Johnson, Les↗
NASA NTRS2002

NASA's Hypersonic Program: A Status Report

NASA's has established long term goals for access-to-space. NASA's third generation launch systems are to be fully reusable and operational in approximately 25 years. The goals for third generation launch systems are to reduce cost by a factor of 100 and improve safety by a factor of 10,000 over current conditions. The Advanced Space Transportation Program Office (ASTP) at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL has the agency lead to develop third generation space transportation technologies. The Hypersonics Investment Area, part of ASTP, is developing third generation launch vehicle technologies in two main areas, propulsion and airframes. The current program's major investment is in hypersonic airbreathing propulsion since it offers the greatest potential for meeting the third generation launch vehicles goals thus enabling the opening of new space markets. The program will methodically improve the technologies in three key propulsion areas, scramjets, rocket-based combined cycle and turbine-based combination cycle. Ground and flight propulsion tests are planned. A airframe technologies will be matured through ground testing. The invited paper describes NASA's activities in hypersonic. Current programs, future plans and technologies that are being pursued by the Hypersonics Investment Area under the Advanced Space Transportation Program Office will be discussed.

Hueter, Uwe↗
NASA NTRS2002

NASA's Advanced Space Transportation Hypersonic Program

NASA's has established long term goals for access-to-space. NASA's third generation launch systems are to be fully reusable and operational in approximately 25 years. The goals for third generation launch systems are to reduce cost by a factor of 100 and improve safety by a factor of 10,000 over current conditions. The Advanced Space Transportation Program Office (ASTP) at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL has the agency lead to develop third generation space transportation technologies. The Hypersonics Investment Area, part of ASTP, is developing the third generation launch vehicle technologies in two main areas, propulsion and airframes. The program's major investment is in hypersonic airbreathing propulsion since it offers the greatest potential for meeting the third generation launch vehicles. The program will mature the technologies in three key propulsion areas, scramjets, rocket-based combined cycle and turbine-based combination cycle. Ground and flight propulsion tests are being planned for the propulsion technologies. Airframe technologies will be matured primarily through ground testing. This paper describes NASA's activities in hypersonics. Current programs, accomplishments, future plans and technologies that are being pursued by the Hypersonics Investment Area under the Advanced Space Transportation Program Office will be discussed.

Hueter, Uwe↗
NASA NTRS2003

Future Space Transportation Technology: Prospects and Priorities

The Transportation Working Group (TWG) was chartered by the NASA Exploration Team (NEXT) to conceptualize, define, and advocate within NASA the space transportation architectures and technologies required to enable the human and robotic exploration and development of space envisioned by the NEXT. In 2002, the NEXT tasked the TWG to assess exploration space transportation requirements versus current and prospective Earth-to-Orbit (ETO) and in-space transportation systems, technologies, and research, in order to identify investment gaps and recommend priorities. The result was a study now being incorporated into future planning by the NASA Space Architect and supporting organizations. This paper documents the process used to identify exploration space transportation investment gaps, as well as the group's recommendations for closing these gaps and prioritizing areas of future investment for NASA work on advanced propulsion systems.

Billie, Matt↗
NASA NTRS2003

NASA Aviation Safety Program Systems Analysis/Program Assessment Metrics Review

The goal of this project is to evaluate the metrics and processes used by NASA's Aviation Safety Program in assessing technologies that contribute to NASA's aviation safety goals. There were three objectives for reaching this goal. First, NASA's main objectives for aviation safety were documented and their consistency was checked against the main objectives of the Aviation Safety Program. Next, the metrics used for technology investment by the Program Assessment function of AvSP were evaluated. Finally, other metrics that could be used by the Program Assessment Team (PAT) were identified and evaluated. This investigation revealed that the objectives are in fact consistent across organizational levels at NASA and with the FAA. Some of the major issues discussed in this study which should be further investigated, are the removal of the Cost and Return-on-Investment metrics, the lack of the metrics to measure the balance of investment and technology, the interdependencies between some of the metric risk driver categories, and the conflict between 'fatal accident rate' and 'accident rate' in the language of the Aviation Safety goal as stated in different sources.

Louis, Garrick E.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Meeting NASA's Mission Through Commercial Partnerships

This paper examines novel approaches to furthering NASA's missions through the use of commercial partnerships. The exploration of space ha proven to be a costly endeavor requiring the development of new technologies at significant expense. One of the prime factors holding bac the robust development of space is insufficient investment in the technologies necessary to make it a reality. The key to success in bringin needed space development technologies to maturation lies in bringing technology investors together from government, industry and academia. aggressive road map for developing space will require a diverse set of interest to industry or other government agencies. By having each invest( contributing to the part of the technology development of interest to them development of space systems can be put together at a cost far below wl would be required to develop for a stand-alone effort. The NASA Space Partnership Division has been employing this technique to leverage a 30 million dollar NASA investment into at 100 million dollar advanced technology development effort focused on meeting NASA's mission needs.

Nall, Mark↗
NASA NTRS2005

An Overview of Power Capability Requirements for Exploration Missions

Advanced power is one of the key capabilities that will be needed to achieve NASA's missions of exploration and scientific advancement. Significant gaps exist in advanced power capabilities that are on the critical path to enabling human exploration beyond Earth orbit and advanced robotic exploration of the solar system. Focused studies and investment are needed to answer key development issues for all candidate technologies before down-selection. The viability of candidate power technology alternatives will be a major factor in determining what exploration mission architectures are possible. Achieving the capabilities needed to enable the CEV, Moon, and Mars missions is dependent on adequate funding. Focused investment in advanced power technologies for human and robotic exploration missions is imperative now to reduce risk and to make informed decisions on potential exploration mission decisions beginning in 2008. This investment would begin the long lead-time needed to develop capabilities for human exploration missions in the 2015 to 2030 timeframe. This paper identifies some of the key technologies that will be needed to fill these power capability gaps. Recommendations are offered to address capability gaps in advanced power for Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) power, surface nuclear power systems, surface mobile power systems, high efficiency power systems, and space transportation power systems. These capabilities fill gaps that are on the critical path to enabling robotic and human exploration missions. The recommendations address the following critical technology areas: Energy Conversion, Energy Storage, and Power Management and Distribution.

Davis, Jose M.↗
NASA NTRS2005

A Comparative Study of Aerocapture Missions with a Mars Destination

Conventional interplanetary spacecraft use propulsive systems to decelerate into orbit. Aerocapture is an alternative approach for orbit capture, in which the spacecraft makes a single pass through a target destination's atmosphere. Although this technique has never been performed, studies show there are substantial benefits of using aerocapture for reduction of propellant mass, spacecraft size, and mission cost. The In-Space Propulsion (ISP) Program, part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, has invested in aerocapture technology development since 2002. Aerocapture investments within ISP are largely driven by mission systems analysis studies, The purpose of this NASA-funded report is to identify and document the fundamental parameters of aerocapture within previous human and robotic Mars mission studies which will assist the community in identifying technology research gaps in human and robotic missions, and provide insight for future technology investments. Upon examination of the final data set, some key attributes within the aerocapture disciplines are identified.

Vaughan, Diane↗
NASA NTRS2005

Intelligent Systems: Terrestrial Observation and Prediction Using Remote Sensing Data

NASA has made science and technology investments to better utilize its large space-borne remote sensing data holdings of the Earth. With the launch of Terra, NASA created a data-rich environment where the challenge is to fully utilize the data collected from EOS however, despite unprecedented amounts of observed data, there is a need for increasing the frequency, resolution, and diversity of observations. Current terrestrial models that use remote sensing data were constructed in a relatively data and compute limited era and do not take full advantage of on-line learning methods and assimilation techniques that can exploit these data. NASA has invested in visualization, data mining and knowledge discovery methods which have facilitated data exploitation, but these methods are insufficient for improving Earth science models that have extensive background knowledge nor do these methods refine understanding of complex processes. Investing in interdisciplinary teams that include computational scientists can lead to new models and systems for online operation and analysis of data that can autonomously improve in prediction skill over time.

Coughlan, Joseph C.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Planetary Protection Technologies: Technical Challenges for Mars Exploration

The search for life in the solar system, using either in situ analysis or sample return, brings with it special technical challenges in the area of planetary protection. Planetary protection (PP) requires planetary explorers to preserve biological and organic conditions for future exploration and to protect the Earth from potential extraterrestrial contamination that could occur as a result of sample return to the Earth-Moon system. In view of the exploration plans before us, the NASA Solar System Exploration Program Roadmap published in May 2003 identified planetary protection as one of 13 technologies for "high priority technology investments." Recent discoveries at Mars and Jupiter, coupled with new policies, have made this planning for planetary protection technology particularly challenging and relevant.New missions to Mars have been formulated, which present significantly greater forward contamination potential. New policies, including the introduction by COSPAR of a Category IVc for planetary protection, have been adopted by COSPAR in response. Some missions may not be feasible without the introduction of new planetary protection technologies. Other missions may be technically possible but planetary protection requirements may be so costly to implement with current technology that they are not affordable. A strategic investment strategy will be needed to focus on technology investments designed to enable future missions and reduce the costs of future missions. This presentation will describe some of the potential technological pathways that may be most protective.

planetary protections↗
NASA NTRS2008

Advanced Chemical Propulsion for Science Missions

The advanced chemical propulsion technology area of NASA's In-Space Technology Project is investing in systems and components for increased performance and reduced cost of chemical propulsion technologies applicable to near-term science missions. Presently the primary investment in the advanced chemical propulsion technology area is in the AMBR high temperature storable bipropellant rocket engine. Scheduled to be available for flight development starting in year 2008, AMBR engine shows a 60 kg payload gain in an analysis for the Titan-Enceladus orbiter mission and a 33 percent manufacturing cost reduction over its baseline, state-of-the-art counterpart. Other technologies invested include the reliable lightweight tanks for propellant and the precision propellant management and mixture ratio control. Both technologies show significant mission benefit, can be applied to any liquid propulsion system, and upon completion of the efforts described in this paper, are at least in parts ready for flight infusion. Details of the technologies are discussed.

Liou, Larry↗
NASA NTRS1999

Economic Analysis on the Space Transportation Architecture Study (STAS) NASA Team

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) performed the Space Transportation Architecture Study (STAS) to provide information to support end-of-the-decade decisions on possible near-term US Government (USG) investments in space transportation. To gain a clearer understanding of the costs and benefits of the broadest range of possible space transportation options, six teams, five from aerospace industry companies and one internal to NASA, were tasked to answer three primary questions: a) If the Space Shuttle system should be replaced; b) If so, when the replacement should take place and how the transition should be implemented; and c) If not, what is the upgrade strategy to continue safe and affordable flight of the Space Shuttle beyond 2010. The overall goal of the Study was "to develop investment options to be considered by the Administration for the President's FY2001 budget to meet NASA's future human space flight requirements with significant reductions in costs." This emphasis on government investment, coupled with the participation by commercial f'trms, required an unprecedented level of economic analysis of costs and benefits from both industry and government viewpoints. This paper will discuss the economic and market models developed by the in-house NASA Team to analyze space transportation architectures, the results of those analyses, and how those results were reflected in the conclusions and recommendations of the STAS NASA Team. Copyright 1999 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. No copyright is asserted in the United States under Title 17, U.$. Code. The U.S. Government has a royalty-free license to exercise all rights under the copyright claimed herein for Governmental purposes. All other rights are reserved by the copyright owner.

Shaw, Eric J.↗
NASA NTRS2011

NASA Technology Area 07: Human Exploration Destination Systems Roadmap

This paper gives an overview of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Office of Chief Technologist (OCT) led Space Technology Roadmap definition efforts. This paper will given an executive summary of the technology area 07 (TA07) Human Exploration Destination Systems (HEDS). These are draft roadmaps being reviewed and updated by the National Research Council. Deep-space human exploration missions will require many game changing technologies to enable safe missions, become more independent, and enable intelligent autonomous operations and take advantage of the local resources to become self-sufficient thereby meeting the goal of sustained human presence in space. Taking advantage of in-situ resources enhances and enables revolutionary robotic and human missions beyond the traditional mission architectures and launch vehicle capabilities. Mobility systems will include in-space flying, surface roving, and Extra-vehicular Activity/Extravehicular Robotics (EVA/EVR) mobility. These push missions will take advantage of sustainability and supportability technologies that will allow mission independence to conduct human mission operations either on or near the Earth, in deep space, in the vicinity of Mars, or on the Martian surface while opening up commercialization opportunities in low Earth orbit (LEO) for research, industrial development, academia, and entertainment space industries. The Human Exploration Destination Systems (HEDS) Technology Area (TA) 7 Team has been chartered by the Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) to strategically roadmap technology investments that will enable sustained human exploration and support NASA s missions and goals for at least the next 25 years. HEDS technologies will enable a sustained human presence for exploring destinations such as remote sites on Earth and beyond including, but not limited to, LaGrange points, low Earth orbit (LEO), high Earth orbit (HEO), geosynchronous orbit (GEO), the Moon, near-Earth objects (NEOs), which > 95% are asteroidal bodies, Phobos, Deimos, Mars, and beyond. The HEDS technology roadmap will strategically guide NASA and other U.S. Government agency technology investments that will result in capabilities enabling human exploration missions to diverse destinations generating high returns on investments.

Kennedy, Kriss J.↗