Cost benefit analysis of new launch systems. Volume 2: Results of economic evaluation
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
SEARCH · Engineering Papers
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Automatic design technique uses standard circuit cells for producing large-scale integrated arrays. Computerized fabrication process provides individual cells of high density and efficiency, quick turnaround time, low cost, and ease of corrections for changes and errors.
Meter utilizes three optical systems to detect light scattered by particles in hydrosol at 2 deg and 90 deg simultaneously. Device has capability to detect relative amounts of organic and inorganic contaminants and, with proper calibration, to measure contribution of various species to changes in contamination levels in liquid mediums.
General aviation aircraft fuel consumption and operating costs are closely linked to drag reduction methods. Improvements in airplane drag are envisioned for new models; their effects will be in the 5 to 10% range. Major improvements in fuel consumption over existing turbofan airplanes will be the combined results of improved aerodynamics plus additional effects from advanced turbofan engine designs.
An assessment of the technological impact of modern satellite weather forecasting for the United States is presented. Topics discussed are: (1) television broadcasting of weather; (2) agriculture (crop production); (3) water resources; (4) urban development; (5) recreation; and (6) transportation.
A short-haul air transportation operating cost model is developed. The effect is identified of such factors as level of service provided, traffic density of the market, stage length, number of flight cycles, level of automation, as well as aircraft type and other operational factors on direct and indirect operating costs.
For abstract, see N76-12027.
The growth of electronically viable silicon films on inexpensive foreign substrates is studied, with the objective of creating a technology to radically reduce the overall cost of the silicon employed in photovoltaic solar energy conversion. The approach employed is to enhance crystalline ordering during film nucleation by confining arriving silicon atoms to a narrow band traveling across a substrate, i.e., the Lateral Growth Technique (LGT). The efforts have employed physical vapor deposition of silicon in a vacuum evaporator on glass and metal substrates with both slit masks and single defining edges, and subsequent chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of thicker films on these thin film structures by pyrolysis of silane at higher temperatures.
As future LTA vehicles will be doomed right from the start if they do not fill a real need, some differences in transport philosophy between design engineers on the one hand and freight forwarders on the other are discussed. Watching rising costs of energy necessary to transport our cargo from A to B, and realizing that this price of energy is always included in the product's selling price at B, the apparent correlation between installed specific tractive force per unit of cargo weight and pure freighting cost are contemplated. Very speedy and progressive Airship designs are mistrusted, because the key to any low cost transport tool is to design it for its given task only, without any unnecessary sophistication.
Tables covering the selling price of hydrogen as a function of each process temperature studied are presented. Estimated selling price, based on capital costs and operating and maintenance costs, is included. In all cases, no credit was given for the methane component of hydrogen.
A low-cost solar home heating system to supplement existing warm-air heating systems is described. The report is written in three parts: (1) a brief background on solar heating, (2) experience with a demonstration system, and (3) information for the homeowner who wishes to construct such a system. Instructions are given for a solar heating installation in which the homeowner supplies all labor necessary to install off-the-shelf components estimated to cost $2,000. These components, which include solar collector, heat exchanger, water pump, storage tank, piping, and controls to make the system completely automatic, are available at local lumber yards, hardware stores, and plumbing supply stores, and are relatively simple to install. Manufacturers and prices of each component used and a rough cost analysis based on these prices are included. This report also gives performance data obtained from a demonstration system which was built and tested at the Langley Research Center.
Results are presented of preliminary trade-off studies of operational SEASAT systems. The trade-off studies were used as the basis for the estimation of costs and net benefits of the operational SEASAT system. Also presented are the preliminary results of simulation studies that were designed to lead to a measure of the impact of SEASAT data through the use of numerical weather forecast models.
The hypothetical development and transportation of Arctic oil and other resources by ice breaking super tanker fleets to the continental East Coast are discussed. The utilization of SEASAT ice mapping data is shown to contribute to a more effective transportation operation through the Arctic ice by reducing transportation costs as a consequence of reduced transit time per voyage.
The studies conducted of the potential use of SEASAT ocean condition data and resulting forecasts by dry cargo ships and tankers reached the following conclusions. The SEASAT ocean condition data and resulting forecasts could be usefully employed to route ships around storms, thereby resulting in reduced adverse weather damage, time loss and the related operating costs, and occasional catastrophic losses. These benefits are incremental benefits beyond those which present and future conventional ship routing procedures can supply. The values of the benefits are listed.
The potential application of SEASAT data with regard to ocean fisheries is discussed. Tracking fish populations, indirect assistance in forecasting expected populations and assistance to fishing fleets in avoiding costs incurred due to adverse weather through improved ocean conditions forecasts were investigated. Case studies on fisheries in the United States and Canada are cited.
The SATIL 2 computer program was developed to assist with the programmatic evaluation of alternative approaches to establishing and maintaining a specified mix of operational sensors on spacecraft in an operational SEASAT system. The program computes the probability distributions of events (i.e., number of launch attempts, number of spacecraft purchased, etc.), annual recurring cost, and present value of recurring cost. This is accomplished for the specific task of placing a desired mix of sensors in orbit in an optimal fashion in order to satisfy a specified sensor demand function. Flow charts are shown, and printouts of the programs are given.
The objectives of this phase of the study were (1) to assess the 10 year operating cost trends of the local service airlines operating in the 1965 through 1974 period, (2) to glean from these trends the technological and operational parameters which were impacted most significantly by the transition to newer pure jet, short haul transports, and effected by changing fuel prices and cost of living indices, and (3) to develop, construct, and evaluate an operating cost forecasting model which would incorporate those factors which best predicted airline total operating cost behavior over that 10-year period.
A 700,000 kg (1,540,000-lb) aircraft with a cruise Mach number of 0.75 was found to be optimum for the specified mission parameters of a 272 155-kg (600,000-lb) payload, a 5560-km (3000-n.mi.) range, and an annual productivity of 113 billion revenue-ton km (67 billion revenue-ton n. mi.). The optimum 1990 technology level spanloader aircraft exhibited the minimum 15-year life-cycle costs, direct operating costs, and fuel consumption of all candidate versions. Parametric variations of wing sweep angle, thickness ratio, rows of cargo, and cargo density were investigated. The optimum aircraft had two parallel rows of 2.44 x 2.44-m (8 x 8-ft) containerized cargo with a density of 160 kg/cu m (10 lb/ft 3) carried throughout the entire 101-m (331-ft) span of the constant chord, 22-percent thick, supercritical wing. Additional containers or outsized equipment were carried in the 24.4-m (80-ft) long fuselage compartment preceding the wing. Six 284,000-N (64,000-lb) thrust engines were mounted beneath the 0.7-rad (40-deg) swept wing. Flight control was provided by a 36.6-m (120-ft) span canard surface mounted atop the forward fuselage, by rudders on the wingtip verticals and by outboard wing flaperons.