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NASA NTRS2000

National Aerospace Professional Societies and Associations and Organizations

This session will highlight several highly recognized National Technical and Professional Aerospace Societies, Associations and Organizations that are dedicated to the advancement of the theories, practices and unique applications of Science, Engineering and related Aerospace Activities ongoing in the United States. The emphasis will be on at least three (3) Aerospace Organizations, while reference many others. This paper will provide a wealth of educational references, information, opportunities and services available through many of the National and Local Chapter Affiliates, associated with the respective associations. Again, all experience and knowledge levels (K-12) will benefit from this information and reference material. Reference materials and other points of contact will be made available to all attendees.

Henderson, Arthur J., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Student Outreach with Renewable Energy Technology

The Student Outreach with Renewable Energy Technology (SORET) program is an education program involving three Historically Black Colleges and Universities and NASA's John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field. These three universities; Central State University (CSU), Savannah State University (SSU) and Wilberforce University (WU) are working together with NASA Glenn to use the theme of renewable energy to improve the science, engineering and technology education of minority students and to attract minority students to these fields. In this vein, a renewable energy laboratory course is being offered at WU with the goal of giving the students of WU and CSU hands on experiences. As part of this course, the students are constructing solar light posts for a local high school with a high minority population. A Physics teacher from this school and some of his high school students are involved with this project. A lecture course on energy systems and sustainability is being developed by SSU to be delivered via distance reaming to the other institutions. Summer activities are being planned at all three institutions involving student projects in renewable energy. For example, WU students will work on a study of the synthesis and properties of photovoltaic materials. In addition, CSU will present a weeklong summer program to high school students with the assistance of WU. This presentation will focus on the student involvement and achievements in the educational area to date and plot the future course of this program.

Buffinger, D. R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

NASA and Education

President Bush endorsed a package of six goals developed by the governors of the 50 states, among them making the United States first in the world in mathematics and science achievement. The crux of the technical manpower problem is that too few people in the workforce today have the skills required to function in a technologically advanced society. All over the U.S., government, industry and academic organizations, individually and in concert, at the national, state and local levels, are accelerating efforts to find remedies for the educational and training maladies that threaten America's scientific and technological future. NASA is among the leading education promoting organizations and the agency is expanding its effort. In May 1990, NASA and the Department of Energy concluded an agreement for a cooperative program directed at encouraging more U.S. students to pursue careers in science, engineering and mathematics, and at improving the instructional process in those areas at the precollege and university levels.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2003

Scientific Visualization & Modeling for Earth Systems Science Education

Providing research experiences for undergraduate students in Earth Systems Science (ESS) poses several challenges at smaller academic institutions that might lack dedicated resources for this area of study. This paper describes the development of an innovative model that involves students with majors in diverse scientific disciplines in authentic ESS research. In studying global climate change, experts typically use scientific visualization techniques applied to remote sensing data collected by satellites. In particular, many problems related to environmental phenomena can be quantitatively addressed by investigations based on datasets related to the scientific endeavours such as the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE). Working with data products stored at NASA's Distributed Active Archive Centers, visualization software specifically designed for students and an advanced, immersive Virtual Reality (VR) environment, students engage in guided research projects during a structured 6-week summer program. Over the 5-year span, this program has afforded the opportunity for students majoring in biology, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, physics, engineering and science education to work collaboratively in teams on research projects that emphasize the use of scientific visualization in studying the environment. Recently, a hands-on component has been added through science student partnerships with school-teachers in data collection and reporting for the GLOBE Program (GLobal Observations to Benefit the Environment).

Chaudhury, S. Raj↗
NASA NTRS2003

Automating CapCom: Pragmatic Operations and Technology Research for Human Exploration of Mars

During the Apollo program, NASA and the scientific community used terrestrial analog sites for understanding planetary features and for training astronauts to be scientists. More recently, computer scientists and human factors specialists have followed geologists and biologists into the field, learning how science is actually done on expeditions in extreme environments. Research stations have been constructed by the Mars Society in the Arctic and American southwest, providing facilities for hundreds of researchers to investigate how small crews might live and work on Mars. Combining these interests-science, operations, and technology-in Mars analog field expeditions provides tremendous synergy and authenticity to speculations about Mars missions. By relating historical analyses of Apollo and field science, engineers are creating experimental prototypes that provide significant new capabilities, such as a computer system that automates some of the functions of Apollo s CapCom. Thus, analog studies have created a community of practice-a new collaboration between scientists and engineers-so that technology begins with real human needs and works incrementally towards the challenges of the human exploration of Mars.

Clancey, William J.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Results of the Magnetometer Navigation (MAGNAV) Inflight Experiment

The Magnetometer Navigation (MAGNAV) algorithm is currently running as a flight experiment as part of the Wide Field Infrarad Explorer Post-Science Engineer- ing Testbed. Initialization of MAGNAV occured on September 4, 2004. MAGNAV is designed to autonomously estimate the spacecraft orbit, attitude, and rate using magnetometer and sun sensor data. Since the earth s magnetic field is a function of time and position, and since time is known quite precisely, the differences between the computed magnetic field and measured magnetic field components, as measured by the magnetometer throughout the entire spacecraft orbit, are a function of the spacecraft trajectory and attitude errors. Therefore, these errors are used to estimate both trajec- tory and attitude. In addition, the time rate of change of the magnetic field vector is used to estimate the spacecraft rotation rate. The estimation of the attitude and tra- jectory is augmented with the rate estimation into an Extended Kalman filter blended with a pseudc-linear Kalman filter. Sun sensor data is also used to improve the accu- racy and observability of the attitude and rate estimates. This test serves to validate MAGNAV as a single low cost navigation system which utilizes reliable, flight qualified sensors. MAGNAV is intended as a backup algorithm, an initialization algorithm, or possibly a prime navigation algorithm for a mission with coarse constraints.

Thienel, Julie↗
NASA NTRS2004

Ice Particle Impact on Cloud Water Content Instrumentation

Determining the total amount of water contained in an icing cloud necessitates the measurement of both the liquid droplets and ice particles. One commonly accepted method for measuring cloud water content utilizes a hot wire sensing element, which is maintained at a constant temperature. In this approach, the cloud water content is equated with the power required to keep the sense element at a constant temperature. This method inherently assumes that impinging cloud particles remain on the sensing element surface long enough to be evaporated. In the case of ice particles, this assumption requires that the particles do not bounce off the surface after impact. Recent tests aimed at characterizing ice particle impact on a thermally heated wing section, have raised questions about the validity of this assumption. Ice particles were observed to bounce off the heated wing section a very high percentage of the time. This result could have implications for Total Water Content sensors which are designed to capture ice particles, and thus do not account for bouncing or breakup of ice particles. Based on these results, a test was conducted to investigate ice particle impact on the sensing elements of the following hot-wire cloud water content probes: (1) Nevzorov Total Water Content (TWC)/Liquid Water Content (LWC) probe, (2) Science Engineering Associates TWC probe, and (3) Particle Measuring Systems King probe. Close-up video imaging was used to study ice particle impact on the sensing element of each probe. The measured water content from each probe was also determined for each cloud condition. This paper will present results from this investigation and attempt to evaluate the significance of ice particle impact on hot-wire cloud water content measurements.

Emery, Edward F.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Results of the Magnetometer Navigation (MAGNAV)lnflight Experiment

The Magnetometer Navigation (MAGNAV) algorithm is currently running as a flight experiment as part of the Wide Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) Post-Science Engineering Testbed. Initialization of MAGNAV occurred on September 4, 2003. MAGNAV is designed to autonomously estimate the spacecraft orbit, attitude, and rate using magnetometer and sun sensor data. Since the Earth's magnetic field is a function of time and position, and since time is known quite precisely, the differences between the computed magnetic field and measured magnetic field components, as measured by the magnetometer throughout the entire spacecraft orbit, are a function of the spacecraft trajectory and attitude errors. Therefore, these errors are used to estimate both trajectory and attitude. In addition, the time rate of change of the magnetic field vector is used to estimate the spacecraft rotation rate. The estimation of the attitude and trajectory is augmented with the rate estimation into an Extended Kalman filter blended with a pseudo-linear Kalman filter. Sun sensor data is also used to improve the accuracy and observability of the attitude and rate estimates. This test serves to validate MAGNAV as a single low cost navigation system which utilizes reliable, flight qualified sensors. MAGNAV is intended as a backup algorithm, an initialization algorithm, or possibly a prime navigation algorithm for a mission with coarse requirements. Results from the first six months of operation are presented.

Thienel, Julie K.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Post-Modern Software Development

The history of software development includes elements of art, science, engineering, and fashion(though very little manufacturing). In all domains, old ideas give way or evolve to new ones: in the fine arts, the baroque gave way to rococo, romanticism, modernism, postmodernism, and so forth. What is the postmodern programming equivalent? That is, what comes after object orientation?

Filman, Robert E.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Air Separation Using Hollow Fiber Membranes

The NASA Glenn Research Center in partnership with the Ohio Aerospace Institute provides internship programs for high school and college students in the areas of science, engineering, professional administrative, and other technical areas. During the summer of 2004, I worked with Dr. Clarence T. Chang at NASA Glenn Research Center s combustion branch on air separation using hollow fiber membrane technology. . In light of the accident of Trans World Airline s flight 800, FAA has mandated that a suitable solution be created to prevent the ignition of fuel tanks in aircrafts. In order for any type of fuel to ignite, three important things are needed: fuel vapor, oxygen, and an energy source. Two different ways to make fuel tanks less likely to ignite are reformulating the fuel to obtain a lower vapor pressure for the fuel and or using an On Board Inert Gas Generating System (OBIGGS) to inert the Central Wing Tank. goal is to accomplish the mission, which means that the Air Separation Module (ASM) tends to be bulky and heavy. The primary goal for commercial aviation companies is to transport as much as they can with the least amount of cost and fuel per person, therefore the ASM must be compact and light as possible. The plan is to take bleed air from the aircraft s engines to pass air through a filter first to remove particulates and then pass the air through the ASM containing hollow fiber membranes. In the lab, there will be a heating element provided to simulate the temperature of the bleed air that will be entering the ASM and analysis of the separated air will be analyzed by a Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer (GC/MS). The GUMS will separate the different compounds in the exit streams of the ASM and provide information on the performance of hollow fiber membranes. Hopefully I can develop ways to improve efficiency of the ASM. different types of jet fuel were analyzed and data was well represented on SAE Paper 982485. Data consisted of the concentrations of over 300 different hydrocarbons commonly found in JP- 8, Jet A, and JP-5 fuels. I researched the major hydrocarbons that has a concentration of greater than 50 parts per million and found the vapor pressure data coefficients for a specific temperature range. The coefficients were applied to Antoine s Equation and Riedel's Equation to calculate the vapor pressures for that specific hydrocarbon in the specific temperature range. With the vapor pressure data scientists can formulate a fuel composition that has a lower vapor pressure profile, therefore making jet fuels less flammable. work, learn how to operate and examine the data from Gas Chromatograph and Mass Spectrometer, and develop new ways in applying hollow fiber membrane technology to other areas of environmental engineering. The United States military currently uses air separation technology and their primary The other side of making air travel safer is to reformulate the fuel. Analyses of three My goal this summer is to learn about hollow fiber membrane technologies and how they

Huang, Stephen E.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Conversion of the Aeronautics Interactive Workstation

This summer I am working in the Educational Programs Office. My task is to convert the Aeronautics Interactive Workstation from a Macintosh (Mac) platform to a Personal Computer (PC) platform. The Aeronautics Interactive Workstation is a workstation in the Aerospace Educational Laboratory (AEL), which is one of the three components of the Science, Engineering, Mathematics, and Aerospace Academy (SEMAA). The AEL is a state-of-the-art, electronically enhanced, computerized classroom that puts cutting-edge technology at the fingertips of participating students. It provides a unique learning experience regarding aerospace technology that features activities equipped with aerospace hardware and software that model real-world challenges. The Aeronautics Interactive Workstation, in particular, offers a variety of activities pertaining to the history of aeronautics. When the Aeronautics Interactive Workstation was first implemented into the AEL it was designed with Macromedia Director 4 for a Mac. Today it is being converted to Macromedia DirectorMX2004 for a PC. Macromedia Director is the proven multimedia tool for building rich content and applications for CDs, DVDs, kiosks, and the Internet. It handles the widest variety of media and offers powerful features for building rich content that delivers red results, integrating interactive audio, video, bitmaps, vectors, text, fonts, and more. Macromedia Director currently offers two programmingkripting languages: Lingo, which is Director's own programmingkripting language and JavaScript. In the workstation, Lingo is used in the programming/scripting since it was the only language in use when the workstation was created. Since the workstation was created with an older version of Macromedia Director it hosted significantly different programming/scripting protocols. In order to successfully accomplish my task, the final product required correction of Xtra and programming/scripting errors. I also had to convert the Mac platform file extensions into compatible file extensions for a PC.

Riveras, Nykkita L.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Mission leverage education: NSU/NASA innovative undergraduate model

The BEST Lab (Center for Excellence in Science Education), the Center for Materials Research (CMR), and the Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science (CS) Departments at Norfolk State University (NSU) joined forces to implement MiLEN(2) IUM - an innovative approach tu integrate current and emerging research into the undergraduate curricula and train students on NASA-related fields. An Earth Observing System (EOS) mission was simulated where students are educated and trained in many aspects of Remote Sensing: detector physics and spectroscopy; signal processing; data conditioning, analysis, visualization; and atmospheric science. This model and its continued impact is expected to significantly enhance the quality of the Mathematics, Science, Engineering and Technology (MSET or SMET) educational experience and to inspire students from historically underrepresented groups to pursue careers in NASA-related fields. MiLEN(2) IUM will be applicable to other higher education institutions that are willing to make the commitment to this endeavor in terms of faculty interest and space.

Chaudhury, S. Raj↗
NASA NTRS1997

Mars Pathfinder Surface Operations Verification

Over 20 years have passed since NASA's Viking landers traveled to the surface of Mars. But now NASA is returning, in fact, it's already on the way with one of NASA's faster, better, cheaper missions known as Mars Pathfinder. This mission was developed in 3 years for $171 million dollars and is focused on engineering, science, and technology objectives.

Mars Pathfinder↗
NASA NTRS2006

Identification of Technologies for Provision of Future Aeronautical Communications

This report describes the process, findings, and recommendations of the second of three phases of the Future Communications Study (FCS) technology investigation conducted by NASA Glenn Research Center and ITT Advanced Engineering & Sciences Division for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FCS is a collaborative research effort between the FAA and Eurocontrol to address frequency congestion and spectrum depletion for safety critical airground communications. The goal of the technology investigation is to identify technologies that can support the longterm aeronautical mobile communication operating concept. A derived set of evaluation criteria traceable to the operating concept document is presented. An adaptation of the analytical hierarchy process is described and recommended for selecting candidates for detailed evaluation. Evaluations of a subset of technologies brought forward from the prescreening process are provided. Five of those are identified as candidates with the highest potential for continental airspace solutions in L-band (P-34, W-CDMA, LDL, B-VHF, and E-TDMA). Additional technologies are identified as best performers in the unique environments of remote/oceanic airspace in the satellite bands (Inmarsat SBB and a custom satellite solution) and the airport flight domain in C-band (802.16e). Details of the evaluation criteria, channel models, and the technology evaluations are provided in appendixes.

Gilbert, Tricia↗
NASA NTRS2007

Overview of Engineering Design and Analysis at the NASA John C. Stennis Space Center

A wide range of rocket propulsion test work occurs at the NASA John C. Stennis Space Center (SSC) including full-scale engine test activities at test facilities A-1, A-2, B-1 and B-2 as well as combustion device research and development activities at the E-Complex (E-1, E-2, E-3 and E-4) test facilities. The propulsion test engineer at NASA SSC faces many challenges associated with designing and operating a test facility due to the extreme operating conditions (e.g., cryogenic temperatures, high pressures) of the various system components and the uniqueness of many of the components and systems. The purpose of this paper is to briefly describe the NASA SSC Engineering Science Directorate s design and analysis processes, experience, and modeling techniques that are used to design and support the operation of unique rocket propulsion test facilities.

Ryan, Harry↗
NASA NTRS2007

Artificial Muscles Based on Electroactive Polymers as an Enabling Tool in Biomimetics

Evolution has resolved many of nature's challenges leading to working and lasting solutions that employ principles of physics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, materials science, and many other fields of science and engineering. Nature's inventions have always inspired human achievements leading to effective materials, structures, tools, mechanisms, processes, algorithms, methods, systems, and many other benefits. Some of the technologies that have emerged include artificial intelligence, artificial vision, and artificial muscles, where the latter is the moniker for electroactive polymers (EAPs). To take advantage of these materials and make them practical actuators, efforts are made worldwide to develop capabilities that are critical to the field infrastructure. Researchers are developing analytical model and comprehensive understanding of EAP materials response mechanism as well as effective processing and characterization techniques. The field is still in its emerging state and robust materials are still not readily available; however, in recent years, significant progress has been made and commercial products have already started to appear. In the current paper, the state-of-the-art and challenges to artificial muscles as well as their potential application to biomimetic mechanisms and devices are described and discussed.

electroactive polymers↗
NASA NTRS2011

Virginia Demonstration Project Encouraging Middle School Students in Pursuing STEM Careers

Encouraging students at all grade levels to consider pursuing a career in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields i s a national focus. In 2005, the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), a Department of Defense laboratory located in Da hlgren, Virginia, began work on the Virginia Demonstration Project (VDP) with the goal of increasing more student interest in STEM educatio n and pursuing STEM careers. This goal continues as the program enters its sixth year. This project has been successful through the partici pation of NSWCDD's scientists and engineers who are trained as mentor s to work in local middle school classrooms throughout the school year, As an extension of the in-class activities, several STEM summer aca demies have been conducted at NSWCDD, These academies are supported by the Navy through the VDP and the STEM Learning Module Project. These projects are part of more extensive outreach efforts offered by the National Defense Education Program (NDEP), sponsored by the Director, Defense Research and Engineering. The focus of this paper is on the types of activities conducted at the summer academy, an overview of the academy planning process, and recommendations to help support a nati onal plan of integrating modeling and simulation-based engineering and science into all grade levels. based upon the lessons learned

Bachman, Jane T.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Kalman Filter for Calibrating a Telescope Focal Plane

The instrument-pointing frame (IPF) Kalman filter, and an algorithm that implements this filter, have been devised for calibrating the focal plane of a telescope. As used here, calibration signifies, more specifically, a combination of measurements and calculations directed toward ensuring accuracy in aiming the telescope and determining the locations of objects imaged in various arrays of photodetectors in instruments located on the focal plane. The IPF Kalman filter was originally intended for application to a spaceborne infrared astronomical telescope, but can also be applied to other spaceborne and ground-based telescopes. In the traditional approach to calibration of a telescope, (1) one team of experts concentrates on estimating parameters (e.g., pointing alignments and gyroscope drifts) that are classified as being of primarily an engineering nature, (2) another team of experts concentrates on estimating calibration parameters (e.g., plate scales and optical distortions) that are classified as being primarily of a scientific nature, and (3) the two teams repeatedly exchange data in an iterative process in which each team refines its estimates with the help of the data provided by the other team. This iterative process is inefficient and uneconomical because it is time-consuming and entails the maintenance of two survey teams and the development of computer programs specific to the requirements of each team. Moreover, theoretical analysis reveals that the engineering/ science iterative approach is not optimal in that it does not yield the best estimates of focal-plane parameters and, depending on the application, may not even enable convergence toward a set of estimates.

Kang, Bryan↗