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At least 55 records · Page 3

Cross-calibration of liquid and solid QCT calibration standards: corrections to the UCSF normative data

Quantitative computed tomography (QCT) has been shown to be a precise and sensitive method for evaluating spinal bone mineral density (BMD) and skeletal response to aging and therapy. Precise and accurate determination of BMD using QCT requires a calibration standard to compensate for and reduce the effects of beam-hardening artifacts and scanner drift. The first standards were based on dipotassium hydrogen phosphate (K2HPO4) solutions. Recently, several manufacturers have developed stable solid calibration standards based on calcium hydroxyapatite (CHA) in water-equivalent plastic. Due to differences in attenuating properties of the liquid and solid standards, the calibrated BMD values obtained with each system do not agree. In order to compare and interpret the results obtained on both systems, cross-calibration measurements were performed in phantoms and patients using the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) liquid standard and the Image Analysis (IA) solid standard on the UCSF GE 9800 CT scanner. From the phantom measurements, a highly linear relationship was found between the liquid- and solid-calibrated BMD values. No influence on the cross-calibration due to simulated variations in body size or vertebral fat content was seen, though a significant difference in the cross-calibration was observed between scans acquired at 80 and 140 kVp. From the patient measurements, a linear relationship between the liquid (UCSF) and solid (IA) calibrated values was derived for GE 9800 CT scanners at 80 kVp (IA = [1.15 x UCSF] - 7.32).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS).

NASA Program Space Physiology and Countermeasures

Space Flyable Hg(sup +) Frequency Standards

We discuss a design for a space based atomic frequency standard (AFS) based on Hg(sup +) ions confined in a linear ion trap. This newly developed AFS should be well suited for space borne applications because it can supply the ultra-high stability of a H-maser but its total mass is comparable to that of a NAVSTAR/GPS cesium clock, i.e., about 11kg. This paper will compare the proposed Hg(sup +) AFS to the present day GPS cesium standards to arrive at the 11 kg mass estimate. The proposed space borne Hg(sup +) standard is based upon the recently developed extended linear ion trap architecture which has reduced the size of existing trapped Hg(sup +) standards to a physics package which is comparable in size to a cesium beam tube. The demonstrated frequency stability to below 10(sup -15) of existing Hg(sup +) standards should be maintained or even improved upon in this new architecture. This clock would deliver far more frequency stability per kilogram than any current day space qualified standard.

clocks cesium atomic frequency standard Hg ions li

Planetary program data systems standards

Stages in the development of planetary program data system standards since the inception of program standards in 1969 are identified as a review of the then existing data system element designs, the selection of canditate elements for additional standards, and the formation in 1972 of a Telecommunication Standards Committee for fulltime work in the final preparation of the standards. Further efforts in developing and implementing a complete set of standards within the possibly shortest time are planned.

Glahn, E. W.

Is structural interface standardization beneficial?

Factors applicable to fixed angle, large field and fixed angle, large building flat plate photovoltaic (PV) generator arrays are discussed in the context of standardization. It is concluded that structural interface standardization may be highly desirable in any one major project, but not at this time in the overall PV industry. Attempts to mandate such standardization will act as a deterrent to long-range improvements. In specific projects, structural standardization should be defined at the largest practical interface, leaving the maximum possible freedom to the module and array manufacturer. There is a corollary area, however, where detailed standards would benefit the industry; the matter of Standard Practices. Work being done towards definition of acceptable/desirable practices in materials, finishes, fastening and locking methods, grounding techniques, lightning protection, etc., and in handling the environmental ranges, should be continued.

Dombert, W. E.

Free-falls and parachute descents in the standard atmosphere

A detailed table of the standard equilibrium velocity and standard equilibrium time is presented for bodies falling in the standard atmosphere. This table gives the velocity at various altitudes and the time of fall from sea level to -4000 feet and from 80,000 feet to sea level. In addition to this standard table, there are given short tables and charts of an open-parachute descent and free-falls; the terminal velocity at sea level, and the variation of the weight-to-drag ratio (2w/cds)1/2 for various weight jumpers from 90 to 30 feet in open-parachute descent; and estimations of drag coefficients of silk and nylon parachutes. The table of standard equilibrium velocities and standard equilibrium times may be used directly for open-parachute descents, given the weight of the jumper, the diameter of the parachute, and the drag coefficient. For free-falls starting from horizontal flight, approximately 14 seconds must be added to the equilibrium time given in the table to obtain the total time to sea level. (author)

Webster, A P

NASA software documentation standard software engineering program

The NASA Software Documentation Standard (hereinafter referred to as Standard) can be applied to the documentation of all NASA software. This Standard is limited to documentation format and content requirements. It does not mandate specific management, engineering, or assurance standards or techniques. This Standard defines the format and content of documentation for software acquisition, development, and sustaining engineering. Format requirements address where information shall be recorded and content requirements address what information shall be recorded. This Standard provides a framework to allow consistency of documentation across NASA and visibility into the completeness of project documentation. This basic framework consists of four major sections (or volumes). The Management Plan contains all planning and business aspects of a software project, including engineering and assurance planning. The Product Specification contains all technical engineering information, including software requirements and design. The Assurance and Test Procedures contains all technical assurance information, including Test, Quality Assurance (QA), and Verification and Validation (V&V). The Management, Engineering, and Assurance Reports is the library and/or listing of all project reports.

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Definition of spacecraft standard interfaces by the NASA Space Assembly and Servicing Working Group (SASWG)

The purpose of the NASA Space Assembly and Servicing Working Group (SASWG) is to study enabling technologies for on-orbit spacecraft maintenance and servicing. One key technology required for effective space logistics activity is the development of standard spacecraft interfaces, including the 'Basic Set' defined by NASA, the U.S. Space Command, and industry panelists to be the following: (1) navigation aids; (2) grasping, berthing, and docking; and (3) utility connections for power, data, and fluids. Draft standards have been prepared and referred to professional standards organizations, including the AIAA, EIA, and SAE space standards committee. The objective of the SASWG is to support these committees with the technical expertise required to prepare standards, guidelines, and recommended practices which will be accepted by the ANSI and international standards organizations, including the ISO, IEC, and PASC.

Radtke, Robert

National Center for Standards and Certification Information: Service and programs

The National Center for Standards and Certification Information (NCSCI) provides information on U.S., foreign and international voluntary standards, government regulations, and conformity assessment procedures for non-agricultural products. The Center serves as a referral service and focal point in the United States for information on standards and standards-related information. NCSCI staff respond to inquiries, maintain a reference collection of standards and standards-related documents, and serve as the U.S. inquiry point for information to and from foreign countries.

Overman, Joanne

The ESA standard for telemetry and telecommand packet utilisation: PUS

ESA has developed standards for packet telemetry and telecommand, which are derived from the recommendations of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS). These standards are now mandatory for future ESA programs as well as for many programs currently under development. However, while these packet standards address the end-to-end transfer of telemetry and telecommand data between applications on the ground and Application Processes on-board, they leave open the internal structure or content of the packets. This paper presents the ESA Packet Utilization Standard (PUS) which addresses this very subject and, as such, serves to extend and complement the ESA packet standards. The goal of the PUS is to be applicable to future ESA missions in all application areas (Telecommunications, Science, Earth Resources, microgravity, etc.). The production of the PUS falls under the responsibility of the ESA Committee for Operations and EGSE Standards (COES).

Kaufeler, Jean-Francois

Evaluation of human engineering design standard (MSFC-STD-267A) in the design of manned space vehicles

The major conclusion of the detailed examination of the human factors engineering design standard is that it is unsuitable for future spacecraft design. The standard, published in 1966, was not intended to be a zero or reduced gravity standard and was directed primarily toward ground support equipment and technology. Futhermore, ambiguities, conflicts, and unenforceable requirements contribute to the difficulty. The role of man in future space missions and its impact on human engineering standards are also discussed, and it is concluded that greater standardization is vital to the success of future missions. A survey of NASA/MSFC contractors was made, and it was found that MSFC-STD-267A is largely ignored and the most significant problems are inaccessibility and nonspecificity of the data. The resistance of contract management and designer and of program managers is a primary reason for poor human engineering design. Specific recommendations for improvement of format and organization, including an interim solution, are given.

Rogers, J. G.

Digital frequency control of satellite frequency standards

In the Frequency and Time Standard Development Program of the TIMATION System, a new miniaturized rubidium vapor frequency standard has been tested and analyzed for possible use on the TIMATION 3A launch, as part of the Defense Navigation Satellite Development Program. The design and construction of a digital frequency control was required to remotely control this rubidium vapor frequency standard as well as the quartz oscillator in current use. This control must be capable of accepting commands from a satellite telemetry system, verify that the correct commands have been sent and control the frequency to the requirements of the system. Several modifications must be performed to the rubidium vapor frequency standard to allow it to be compatible with the digital frequency control. These include the addition of a varactor to voltage tune the coarse range of the flywheel oscillator, and a modification to supply the C field current externally. The digital frequency control for the rubidium vapor frequency standard has been successfully tested in prototype form.

Nichols, S. A.

Comparison of pitting fatigue life of ausforged and standard forged AISI M-50 and AISI 9310 spur gears

Standard forged and ausforged spur gears made of vacuum-induction-melted, consumable-electrode, vacuum-arc-remelted AISI M-50 steel were tested under conditions that produced fatigue pitting. The gears were 8.89 cm (3.5 in.) in pitch diameter and had tip relief. The M-50 standard forged and ausforged test results were compared with each other. They were then compared with results for machined vacuum-arc-remelted AISI 9310 gears tested under identical conditions. Both types of M-50 gears had lives approximately five times that of the 9310 gears. The life at which 10 percent of the M-50 ausforged gears failed was slightly less than that at which the M-50 standard forged gears failed. The ausforged gears had a slightly greater tendency to fail by tooth fracture than did the standard forged gears, most likely because of the better forging and grain flow pattern of standard forged gears.

Townsend, D. P.

ANOPP programming and documentation standards document

Standards defining the requirements for preparing software for the Aircraft Noise Prediction Program (ANOPP) were given. It is the intent of these standards to provide definition, design, coding, and documentation criteria for the achievement of a unity among ANOPP products. These standards apply to all of ANOPP's standard software system. The standards encompass philosophy as well as techniques and conventions.

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Shuttle user analysis (study 2.2). Volume 4: Standardized subsystem modules analysis

The capability to analyze payloads constructed of standardized modules was provided for the planning of future mission models. An inventory of standardized module designs previously obtained was used as a starting point. Some of the conclusions and recommendations are: (1) the two growth factor synthesis methods provide logical configurations for satellite type selection; (2) the recommended method is the one that determines the growth factor as a function of the baseline subsystem weight, since it provides a larger growth factor for small subsystem weights and results in a greater overkill due to standardization; (3) the method that is not recommended is the one that depends upon a subsystem similarity selection, since care must be used in the subsystem similarity selection; (4) it is recommended that the application of standardized subsystem factors be limited to satellites with baseline dry weights between about 700 and 6,500 lbs; and (5) the standardized satellite design approach applies to satellites maintainable in orbit or retrieved for ground maintenance.

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Spectral irradiance standard for the ultraviolet - The deuterium lamp

A set of deuterium lamps is calibrated as spectral irradiance standards in the 200-350-nm spectral region utilizing both a high accuracy tungsten spectral irradiance standard and a newly developed argon mini-arc spectral radiance standard. The method which enables a transfer from a spectral radiance to a spectral irradiance standard is described. The following characteristics of the deuterium lamp irradiance standard are determined: sensitivity to alignment; dependence on input power and solid angle; reproducibility; and stability. The absolute spectral radiance is also measured in the 167-330-nm region. Based upon these measurements, values of the spectral irradiance below 200 nm are obtained through extrapolation.

Saunders, R. D.

The proposed coding standard at GSFC

As part of the continuing effort to introduce standardization of spacecraft and ground equipment in satellite systems, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and other NASA facilities have supported the development of a set of standards for the use of error control coding in telemetry subsystems. These standards are intended to ensure compatibility between spacecraft and ground encoding equipment, while allowing sufficient flexibility to meet all anticipated mission requirements. The standards which have been developed to date cover the application of block codes in error detection and error correction modes, as well as short and long constraint length convolutional codes decoded via the Viterbi and sequential decoding algorithms, respectively. Included are detailed specifications of the codes, and their implementation. Current effort is directed toward the development of standards covering channels with burst noise characteristics, channels with feedback, and code concatenation.

Morakis, J. C.

The trapped mercury ion frequency standard

Singly ionized mercury atoms have a structure similar to neutral alkali atoms. They can be maintained as ions for very long times in an RF quadrupole ion trap. Thus, their ground state hyperfine structure can be used to make a frequency standard using optical pumping techniques similar to the well-known rubidium standard. The mass 199 isotope of mercury has an ionic hyperfine structure of 40.5 GHz. In a trap system a linewidth of 10 Hz has been measured. An expression is presented for the short-term stability of a proposed mercury standard as set by the achieved signal to noise ratio. There is prospect of further improvement. Long-term stability is affected by second order doppler effect, and by pressure, light, and Stark shifts. However, these appear either sufficiently small or sufficiently controlable that the proposed mercury ion standard would be competitive with existing standards.

Mcguire, M. D.

Prospects for advances in microwave atomic frequency standards

Traditional standards based on rubidium, cesium and hydrogen have been greatly refined over the past decade, such that the frequency stability of the current generation of devices is generally limited by those basic concepts on which they are based. Future advances in frequency stability will principally come from changes in the concepts on which the standards are based, and only secondarily from more careful engineering of the old concepts. The fundamental limitations in these standards are considered and the important conceptual and component advances which could have a major impact on future performance of these standards are indicated. A very promising new class of microwave standards based on ion storage techniques is examined.

Walls, F. L.