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Implications of President Johnsons memoranda of Sep. 13 and 14, 1965, for funding of academic research by federal agencies
Federal funding of technological research and development is discussed with regard to the procedures for an economic analysis with the goals of (1) determining when the public sector should invest in a research and development program, (2) evaluating the likelihood of private sector participation in terms of public sector participation, and (3) considering the major factors in the formulation of a research and development program in terms of defining initiatives. Public sector investments are evaluated, noting procedures for determining whether benefits exceed costs. The role of the public sector research and development planning is described, considering the procedure for private sector implementation decisions and a methodology for evaluating the possibility of private sector commercialization. The economic value of the public sector research and development program is presented with attention given to a specific case of NASA-sponsored research and development aimed toward the commercialization of new public communications services.
An approach is proposed for the structuring of a planetary mission set wherein the peak annual funding is minimized to meet the annual budget restraint. One aspect of the approach is to have a transportation capability that can launch a mission in any planetary opportunity; such capability can be provided by solar electric propulsion. Another cost reduction technique is to structure a mission test in a time sequenced fashion that could utilize essentially the same spacecraft for the implementation of several missions. A third technique would be to fulfill a scientific objective in several sequential missions rather than attempt to accomplish all of the objectives with one mission. The application of the approach is illustrated by an example involving the Solar Orbiter Dual Probe mission.
An efficient propellant injection method to raise the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) thrust and payload is discussed. Relatively large diameter injector elements with low pressure loss are recommended for the main combustion chamber and the pre-burners. Smaller losses admit more propellant flow which then raises thrust. Payload is not only gained by specific impulse but also by thrust. The chamber pressure is stabilized by selecting the proper cavity size for the injector elements while reducing the injection pressure loss which normally is kept high for stability. The rather large injector element recesses provide acoustic damping which makes baffles and acoustic absorbers unnecessary. A tenfold reduction of flow induced stresses which are rather high in the present design is shown. Relaxed tolerances, fewer elements, and better maintenance are offered. The study was conducted under a center director discretionary fund assignment.
The Johnson Space Center Director's Discretionary Fund Program Annual Report provides a brief review of the status of projects undertaken during the 1990 fiscal year. Three space exploration initiative related issues were focused on: regenerative life support, human spacecraft design, and lunar surface habitat. A viable program of life sciences, space sciences, and engineering research has been maintained.
This article discusses the U.S. government technical report and the transfer of federally funded aerospace research and development in a conceptual framework of the federal government as a producer of scientific and technical information. The article summarizes current literature and research and discusses U.S. government technical report use and the importance of using data obtained from the NASA/DoD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. The authors make a case for changing existing U.S. technology policy and present a research agenda for the U.S. government technical report.
Magnetographs, which measure polarized light, allow solar astronomers to infer the magnetic field intensity on the Sun. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Vector Magnetograph is such an imaging instrument. The instrument requires rapid modulation between polarization states to minimize seeing effects. The accuracy of those polarization measurements is dependent on stable modulators with small field-of-view errors. Although these devices are very important in ground-based telescopes, extending the field of view of electro-optical crystals such as KD*Ps (potassium di-deuterium phosphate) could encourage the development of these devices for other imaging applications. The work that was done at MSFC as part of the Center Director's Discretionary Fund (CDDF) to reduce the field-of-view errors of instruments that use KD*P modulators in their polarimeters is described.
This article discusses the U.S. government technical report and the transfer of federally funded aerospace research and development in a conceptual framework of the federal government as a producer of scientific and technical information. The article summarizes current literature and research and discusses U.S. government technical report use and the importance of using data obtained from the NASA/DoD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. The authors make a case for changing existing U.S. technology policy and present a research agenda for the U.S. government technical report.
The topics presented are covered in viewgraph form and include the following: (1) focused program elements; (2) base research and technology; and (3) focused programs funding.
This technical memorandum contains brief technical papers describing research and technology development programs sponsored by the ARC Director's Discretionary Fund during fiscal year 1992 (Oct. 1991 through Sep. 1992). An appendix provides administrative information for each of the 45 sponsored research programs.
This technical memorandum contains brief technical papers describing research and technology development programs sponsored by the Ames Research Center Director's Discretionary Fund during fiscal year 1993 (October 1992 through September 1993). An appendix provides administrative information for each of the sponsored research programs.
This technical memorandum contains brief technical papers describing research and technology development programs sponsored by the Ames Research Center Director's Discretionary Fund during fiscal year 1991 (October 1993 through September 1994). An appendix provides administrative information for each of the sponsored research programs.
Marshall Space Flight Center has a rich heritage of launch vehicles that have used aerodynamic surfaces for flight stability and for flight control. Recently, due to the aft center-of-gravity (cg) locations on launch vehicles currently being studied, the need has arisen for the vehicle control augmentation that can be provided by these flight controls. Aerodynamic flight control can also reduce engine gimbaling requirements, provide actuator failure protection, enhance crew safety, and increase vehicle reliability and payload capability. As a starting point for the novel design of aerodynamic flight control augmentors for a Saturn class, aft cg launch vehicle, this report undertakes a review of our national heritage of launch vehicles using aerodynamic surfaces, along with a survey of current use of aerodynamic surfaces on large launch vehicles of other nations. This report presents one facet of Center Director's Discretionary Fund Project 93-05 and has a previous and subsequent companion publication.
This technical memorandum contains brief technical papers describing research and technology development programs sponsored by the Ames Research Center Director's Discretionary Fund during the fiscal year 1995 (October 1994 through September 1995). An appendix provides administrative information for each of the sponsored research programs.
This technical memorandum contains brief technical papers describing research and technology development programs sponsored by the Ames Research Center Director's Discretionary Fund during fiscal year 1997 (October 1996 through September 1997). Appendices provide administrative information for each of the sponsored research programs.
The JSC Center Director's Discretionary Fund Program 1991 Annual Report provides a brief status of the projects undertaken during the 1991 fiscal year. For this year, four space exploration initiative related issues were focused on: regenerative life support, human spacecraft design, lunar surface habitat, and in situ resource utilization. In this way, a viable program of life sciences, space sciences, and engineering research has been maintained. For additional information on any single project, the individual investigator should be contacted.
The award provided funds for a tracking video camera. The camera has been installed and the system calibrated. It has enabled us to follow in real time the tracks of individual wood ants (Formica rufa) within a 3m square arena as they navigate singly in-doors guided by visual cues. To date we have been using the system on two projects. The first is an analysis of the navigational strategies that ants use when guided by an extended landmark (a low wall) to a feeding site. After a brief training period, ants are able to keep a defined distance and angle from the wall, using their memory of the wall's height on the retina as a controlling parameter. By training with walls of one height and length and testing with walls of different heights and lengths, we can show that ants adjust their distance from the wall so as to keep the wall at the height that they learned during training. Thus, their distance from the base of a tall wall is further than it is from the training wall, and the distance is shorter when the wall is low. The stopping point of the trajectory is defined precisely by the angle that the far end of the wall makes with the trajectory. Thus, ants walk further if the wall is extended in length and not so far if the wall is shortened. These experiments represent the first case in which the controlling parameters of an extended trajectory can be defined with some certainty. It raises many questions for future research that we are now pursuing.
This final report summarizes results of Geotail project monitoring Earth's magnetotail during funding period. Compares project's transport statistics to those of International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE) and Ion Release Module (IRM). Program established relations between disruption and flow events, and made observations on the nature of electric field fluctuations and plasma sheet flows.