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Mechanisms for vestibular disorders in space flight. Facts and hypotheses
This article discusses the vestibular disorders associated with space flight. It is found there is still no complete understanding of the changes occurring in the sensory systems of the body during weightlessness. Results of studies are presented, including results of a ground model.
Annual Report to the NASA Administrator by the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel on the Space Shuttle Program. Part 2: Summary of Information Developed in the Panel's Fact-Finding Activities
The panel focused its attention on those areas that are considered most significant for flight success and safety. Elements required for the Approach and Landing Test Program, the Orbital Flight Test Program, and those management systems and their implementation which directly affect safety, reliability, and quality control, were investigated. Ground facilities and the training programs for the ground and flight crews were studied. Of special interest was the orbiter thermal protection subsystems.
Annual report to the NASA Administrator by the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel on the space shuttle program. Part 2: Summary of information developed in the panel's fact-finding activities
Safety management areas of concern include the space shuttle main engine, shuttle avionics, orbiter thermal protection system, the external tank program, and the solid rocket booster program. The ground test program and ground support equipment system were reviewed. Systems integration and technical 'conscience' were of major priorities for the investigating teams.
Annual report to the NASA Administrator by the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel. Part 2: Space shuttle program. Section 2: Summary of information developed in the Panel's fact-finding activities
The management areas and the individual elements of the shuttle system were investigated. The basic management or design approach including the most obvious limits or hazards that are significant to crew safety was reviewed. Shuttle program elements that were studied included the orbiter, the space shuttle main engine, the external tank project, solid rocket boosters, and the launch and landing elements.
NASA Facts: Images of Saturn from Voyager 2
Six color images of Saturn and four of her moons, acquired by Voyager 2, are presented. A brief narrative and explanatory captions, including explanations of the planet's atmosphere and rings, are presented.
Mass loss from cool stars, facts, fads, and fallacies
The accumulation of observational material (ultraviolet spectroscopic measures, quantitative optical spectroscopy, and X-ray photometry) and its use in discerning the presence and character of mass loss across the cool half of the H-R diagram and establishing constraints on theoretical models are discussed. Analogies with closed and open solar magnetic structures are found. Two determinants of atmospheric wind structure, temperature and gravity, may suffice in a most superficial way to define the wind and atmospheric structure in a star, however it is apparent that there is still a missing parameter which may stem from magnetic activity and its particular configuration. Theories that appear successful in reproducing observed line profiles, wind temperatures, and terminal velocities incorporate Alfven wave heating and momentum deposition. Successive observations of an active binary (lambda and G8III-IV) and a supergiant star, alpha Aqr (G2 Ib) revealed that magnetic activity and perhaps mass loss occur on restricted regions of a stellar surface and that long-term structures are present in the wind. These phenomena are present in the solar atmosphere and wind and may be considered a general characteristic of stellar winds.
NASA Facts: Food for Space Flight
A history of space flight feeding is reviewed. The menu and preparation of food on the space shuttle are described.
Large amplitude middle atmospheric electric fields - Fact or fiction?
An analysis of the measurements of large apparent dc fields in the middle atmosphere, previously gathered by two sounding rockets, shows these fields to be spurious. In the case of one of the rockets, the evidence presented suggests that the measured electric fields, aligned with the rocket's velocity vector, may be due to a negatively charged wake. A comparison of measurements made by various electric field booms also suggests that the insulating boom coatings in one experiment may have affected the results obtained. It is recommended that insulating coatings should not be used at mesospheric altitudes, because of the detrimental effects that frictional charging may have.
Aircraft accident report: NASA 712, Convair 990, N712NA, March Air Force Base, California, July 17, 1985, facts and analysis
On July 17, l985, at 1810 P.d.t., NASA 712, a Convair 990 aircraft, was destroyed by fire at March Air Force Base, California. The fire started during the rollout after the pilot rejected the takeoff on runway 32. The rejected takeoff was initiated during the takeoff roll because of blown tires on the right landing gear. During the rollout, fragments of either the blown tires or the wheel/brake assemblies penetrated a right-wing fuel tank forward of the right main landing gear. Leaking fuel ignited while the aircraft was rolling, and fire engulfed the right wing and the fuselage after the aircraft was stopped on the runway. The 4-man flightcrew and the 15 scientists and technicians seated in the cabin evacuated the aircraft without serious injury. The fire was not extinguished by crash/rescue efforts and the aircraft was destroyed.
NASA Facts: How We Get Pictures from Space
The past 25 years of space travel and exploration has generated an unprecedented quantity of data from planetary systems. Images taken in space and telemetered back to Earth have greatly aided scientists in formulating better and more accurate theories about the nature and origin of out solar system. The procedures and spacecraft systems used to gather data are explained.
Planet X - Fact or fiction?
The search for a possible tenth planet in our solar system is examined. The history of the discoveries of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are reviewed. Searches of the sky with telescopes and theoretical studies of the gravitational influences on the orbits of known objects in the solar system are discussed. Information obtained during the Pioneer 10 and 11 missions which could suggest the presence of an undiscovered planet and computer simulations of the possible orbit of a tenth planet are presented.
Induced starburst and nuclear activity: Faith, facts, and theory
The problem of the origin of starburst and nuclear (nonstellar) activity in galaxies is reviewed. A physical understanding of the mechanism(s) that induce both types of activity requires one to address the following issues: (1) what is the source of fuel that powers starbursts and active galactic nuclei; and (2) how is it channeled towards the central regions of host galaxies? As a possible clue, the author examines the role of non-axisymmetric perturbations of galactic disks and analyzes their potential triggers. Global gravitational instabilities in the gas on scales approx. 100 pc appear to be crucial for fueling the active galactic nuclei.
On roughness-induced transition - Facts, views, and speculations
Roughness is considered as a steady passive device, and it is shown that roughness-induced separation is specifically sensitive to unsteady environmental forcing. The two-dimensional isolated roughness causing local upstream and downstream separations is considered, along with flows associated with the two-dimensional roughness and their relevance to the problem of distributed roughness. The difference between the two-dimensional isolated roughness and a three-dimensional isolated roughness at all Reynolds numbers is underlined, and the mechanisms and parameter conditions of a sudden breakdown of hairpin eddies are discussed, as well as flows over distributed roughness.
On-orbit coldwelding: Fact or friction?
A study into the potential of on-orbit coldwelding occurring was completed. No instances of cold welding were found during deintegration and subsequent testing and analysis of LDEF hardware. This finding generated wide interest and indicated the need to review previous on-orbit coldwelding experiments and on-orbit spacecraft anomalies to determine whether the absence of coldwelding on LDEF was to be expected. Results show that even though there have been no documented cases of significant on-orbit coldwelding events occurring, precautions should be taken to ensure that neither coldwelding nor galling occurs in the space or prelaunch environment.
NDE of the universe - New ways to look at old facts
The paper investigates the relation between cosmology and NDE, emphasizing the need for new approaches and models imposed by new space-age materials. These are frontier materials with tailored microstructures and specially designed properties, such as the ceramic and intermetallic matrix composites for very high temperature power and propulsion systems. These materials require new NDE approaches, which are discussed in this paper.