Increasing resistance as a means of providing biological protection against various environmental factors during flight
Increasing resistance for protection against physiological hazards in flight
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Increasing resistance for protection against physiological hazards in flight
Commentary on safe flight under turbulent air conditions by military and commercial aircraft
Launch phase real time monitoring in terms of landing point control in abort situation and safe trajectories
Gemini spacecraft reliability and qualification emphasizing low crew-hazard characteristics
Hazard analysis technique in Apollo applications program emphasizing flight crew safety hazards
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Upon the proposal of the Soviet Union, experts from the socialist countries accepted the following scientific problems for cooperation in space biology and medicine: (1) the effect on the body of extreme space flight factors (space physiology); (2) radiation safety of space flights and search for pharmaco-chemical means of antiradiation protection; and (3) medico-biological aspects of closed ecological systems.
Concepts for software to implement real time aircraft control systems on a centralized digital computer were discussed. A fault tolerant software structure employing functionally redundant routines with concurrent error detection was proposed for critical control functions involving safety of flight and landing. A degraded recovery block concept was devised to allow collocation of critical and noncritical software modules within the same control structure. The additional computer resources required to implement the proposed software structure for a representative set of aircraft control functions were discussed. It was estimated that approximately 30 percent more memory space is required to implement the total set of control functions. A reliability model for the fault tolerant software was described and parametric estimates of failure rate were made.
Safety of flight is the first concern of the aviation weather service, the economics of air transportation is a second major interest. Weather is a significant causal factor impacting on the efficiency of air transportation. A discussion is presented on the functions of various weather service agencies as they relate to one another in the dissemination of information to the pilot and to the air traffic controller. Improvements in the aviation weather service and weather knowledge are cited as future goals. The weather service at the present time is an efficient system but future aviation objectives dictate more improvements are needed (especially in automation technology) to enhance flight planning and for safe and efficient flight execution.
The air drop development test program for the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster Recovery System required the design of a large drop test vehicle that would meet all the stringent requirements placed on it by structural loads, safety considerations, flight recovery system interfaces, and sequence. The drop test vehicle had to have the capability to test the drogue and the three main parachutes both separately and in the total flight deployment sequence and still be low-cost to fit in a low-budget development program. The design to test large ribbon parachutes to loads of 300,000 pounds required the detailed investigation and integration of several parameters such as carrier aircraft mechanical interface, drop test vehicle ground transportability, impact point ground penetration, salvageability, drop test vehicle intelligence, flight design hardware interfaces, and packaging fidelity.
Both the effectiveness of pilot training and the safety of flight can be influenced by the distribution of texture in the visual scene, the distance to which the eyes accommodate, and the associated shifts in the apparent size and distance of objects in central and peripheral vision. Studies reviewed and original results presented indicate that these factors are involved in various misjudgments and illusions experienced by pilots: (1) when searching for other airborne traffic or targets, (2) when making approaches to airports over water at night, (3) when breaking out of low clouds on a final approach to a landing by reference to head-up or head-down displays, and (4) when practicing simulated approaches and landings or air-to-surface weapon deliveries by reference to synthetically generated visual systems.
Analyses of the mounting and mount support systems of the clear air turbulence transmitters verify that satisfactory shock and vibration isolation are attained. The mount support structure conforms to flight crash safety requirements with high margins of safety. Restraint cables reinforce the mounts in the critical loaded forward direction limiting maximum forward system deflection to 1 1/4 inches.
The status of concepts and techniques for the design of onboard flight path management systems is reviewed. Such systems are designed to increase flight efficiency and safety by automating the optimization of flight procedures onboard aircraft. After a brief review of the origins and functions of such systems, two complementary methods are described for attacking the key design problem, namely, the synthesis of efficient trajectories. One method optimizes en route, the other optimizes terminal area flight; both methods are rooted in optimal control theory. Simulation and flight test results are reviewed to illustrate the potential of these systems for fuel and cost savings.
This study defined the preliminary designs of flight software for the Space Shuttle Orbiter for three two-phase fluid research experiments: (1) liquid reorientation - to study the motion of liquid in tanks subjected to small accelerations; (2) pool boiling - to study low-gravity boiling from horizontal cylinders; and (3) flow boiling - to study low-gravity forced flow boiling heat transfer and flow phenomena in a heated horizontal tube. The study consisted of eight major tasks: reassessment of the existing experiment designs, assessment of the Spacelab facility approach, assessment of the individual carry-on approach, selection of the preferred approach, preliminary design of flight hardware, safety analysis, preparation of a development plan, estimates of detailed design, fabrication and ground testing costs. The most cost effective design approach for the experiments is individual carry-ons in the Orbiter middeck. The experiments were designed to fit into one or two middeck lockers. Development schedules for the detailed design, fabrication and ground testing ranged from 15 1/2 to 18 months. Minimum costs (in 1981 dollars) ranged from $463K for the liquid reorientation experiment to $998K for the pool boiling experiment.
The certification experience for the primary, safety-of-flight composite structure applications on the F-16 is discussed. The rationale for the selection of delamination as the major issue for damage tolerance is discussed, as well as the modeling approach selected. The development of the necessary coupon-level data base is briefly summarized. The major emphasis is on the description of a full-scale fatigue test where delamination growth was obtained to demonstrate the validity of the selected approach. A summary is used to review the generic features of the methodology.
New controls technologies are now available for implementation with aircraft systems. Many aircraft with state of the art technology in the fields of aerodynamics, structures, and propulsion require extensive augmentation merely for safety of flight considerations in addition to potential performance improvements. The actual performance benefits of integrating the new controls concepts with other new technologies is optimized by including such considerations early in the design process. Recently, several advanced aircraft designs have run into considerable problems related to control systems and flying qualities during flight test, requiring costly redesign and fine tuning efforts. It is no longer possible for the aircraft design to be completed prior to getting the control specialists involved. The challenge to the control system designer has become so great that his concerns must be considered at the conceptual design level. A computer program developed at NASA for evaluating the economic payoffs of integrating controls into the design of transport aircraft at the beginning will be described.
Selected potentially low cost, alternate packaging and interconnection techniques were developed and implemented in the manufacture of specific NASA/MSFC hardware, and the actual cost savings achieved by their use. The hardware chosen as the test bed for this evaluation ws the hybrids and modules manufactured by Rockwell International fo the MSFC Flight Accelerometer Safety Cut-Off System (FASCOS). Three potentially low cost packaging and interconnection alternates were selected for evaluation. This study was performed in three phases: hardware fabrication and testing, cost comparison, and reliability evaluation.
The principal design issues, tests, and analyses required to solve the tile integrity problem on the space shuttle orbiters are addressed. Proof testing of installed tiles is discussed along with an airflow test of special tiles. Orbiter windshield tiles are considered in terms of changes necessary to ensure acceptable margins of safety for flight.