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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.

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At least 667 records · Page 37
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NASA NTRS2002

STS-111 Mission Highlights Resource Tape: Flight Days 1 - 4 - Part 1 of 4

This video, Part 1 of 4, shows the activities of the STS-111 crew (Kenneth Cockrell, Commander; Paul Lockhart, Pilot; Franklin Chang-Diaz, Phillipe Perrin, Mission Specialists) during flight days 1 through 4. Also shown are the incoming Expedition 5 (Valeri Korzun, Commander; Peggy Whitson, NASA ISS Science Officer; Sergei Treschev, Flight Engineer) and outgoing Expedition 4 (Yuri Onufriyenko, Commander; Carl Walz, Daniel Bursch, Flight Engineers) crews of the ISS (International Space Station). The activities from other flight days can be seen on 'STS-111 Mission Highlights Resource Tape' Part 2 of 4 (internal ID 2002139469), 'STS-111 Mission Highlights Resource Tape' Part 3 of 4 (internal ID 2002139468), and 'STS-111 Mission Highlights Resource Tape' Part 4 of 4 (internal ID 2002139474). The primary activity of flight day 1 is the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour. The crew is seen before the launch at a meal and suit-up, and some pre-flight procedures are shown. Perrin holds a sign with a personalized message. The astronauts communicate with Mission Control extensively after launch, and an inside view of the shuttle cabin is shown. The replays of the launch include close-ups of the nozzles at liftoff, and the fall of the solid rocket boosters and the external fuel tank. Flight day 2 shows footage of mainland Asia at night, and daytime views of the eastern United States and Lake Michigan. Flight day three shows the Endeavour orbiter approaching and docking with the ISS. After the night docking, the crews exchange greetings, and a view of the Nile river and Egypt at night is shown. On flight day 4, the MPLM (Multi-Purpose Logistics Module) Leonardo was temporarily transferred from Endeavour's payload bay to the ISS.

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NASA NTRS2002

SOFIA Water Vapor Monitor Design

The SOFIA Water Vapor Monitor (WVM) is a heterodyne radiometer designed to determine the integrated amount of water vapor along the telescope line of sight and directly to the zenith. The basic technique that was chosen for the WVM uses radiometric measurements of the center and wings of the 183.3 GHz rotational line of water to measure the water vapor. The WVM reports its measured water vapor levels to the aircraft Mission Controls and Communication System (MCCS) while the SOFIA observatory is in normal operation at flight altitude. The water vapor measurements are also available to other scientific instruments aboard the observatory. The electrical, mechanical and software design of the WVM are discussed.

Cooper, R.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Instrument Deployment for Mars Rovers

Future Mars rovers, such as the planned 2009 MSL rover, require sufficient autonomy to robustly approach rock targets and place an instrument in contact with them. It took the 1997 Sojourner Mars rover between 3 and 5 communications cycles to accomplish this. This paper describes the technologies being developed and integrated onto the NASA Ames K9 prototype Mars rover to both accomplish this in one cycle, and to extend the complexity and duration of operations that a Mars rover can accomplish without intervention from mission control.

Pedersen, Liam↗
NASA NTRS1981

Police Communications

Oklahoma City Police Department developed a computerized communications system, based on Johnson Space Center's (JSC's) 1960-mission control knowledge. JSC furnished information on lighting and other fatigue reducing measures, and provided specifications for equipment and design layouts. JSC also advised OCPD how to avoid communications bottlenecks associated with simultaneous handling of telephone, radio and inner-office transmissions. Oklahoma City saved money in reduced design and engineering costs by utilizing the already developed NASA technology.

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NASA NTRS2000

STS-92 Meal - Suit up - Depart O&C - Launch Discovery On Orbit - Landing - Crew Egress

The video begins with the introduction of the crew of Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-92, at their customary pre-flight meal. The crew consists of Commander Brian Duffy, Pilot Pamela Melroy, and Mission Specialists Leroy Chiao, William McArthur, Peter "Jeff" Wisoff, Michael Lopez-Alegria, and Koichi Wakata. The introduction and suit-up of the astronauts, and their departure in the Astrovan are shown at a quick pace. The video shows in detail the seating of the crew and each astronaut's final preparations in the White Room prior to boarding. Views of Discovery's night launch include: SLF Convoy, Beach Tracker, VAB, Pad Perimeter, Tower-1, UCS-15, Press Site, UCS-23, OTV-61, OTV-70, OTV-71, and the In-Cabin Ascent Camera. While in orbit, the Discovery orbiter docks with the International Space Station (ISS). The docking is shown in a series of still images. The video includes clips from four extravehicular activities (EVAs). The crew members who performed the EVAs comment on them while speaking to Mission Control. During the EVAs, the Z1 Truss and an antenna are attached to the ISS. The crew members on the fourth EVA test jet packs. Views of landing include: TV-1, TV-2, TV-3, LRO-1, and HUD.

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NASA NTRS2003

Smart Buying

When it came time to buy the next-generation data storage system for the Mission Control Center at Johnson Space Center, we asked our contractor who provides Control Center support to come up with a solution that would consolidate three current storage systems, as well as provide additional capability and functionality - all without spending vast amounts of money. Eventually, the contractor's report arrived at my office. To my great disappointment, the proposed system came along with a multi-million dollar price tag. And, even more disappointing, the system relied on the same technology we already had in place and wouldn't deliver much additional functionality. It was clear that we needed to come up with a better solution-the best we could buy. But how do you buy the best technology, when you don't even know what technology is out there?

Gonzalez, Steven A.↗
NASA NTRS2002

STS-111/Endeavour/ISS UF2 Pre-Launch Activities: Launch with Playbacks

This video of the preflight preparations for and launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-111 begins with a view of Endeavour on the launch pad. Additional launch pad views leading up to liftoff are interspersed with footage from the Firing Room at Kennedy Space Center, the crew's prelaunch activities, and inspection of the crew members in the White Room before boarding Endeavour. The crew is introduced by a narrator during the preflight banquet and suiting up, and a later clip shows them departing to the launch site. The crew consists of Commander Kenneth Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Mission Specialists Philippe Perrin and Franklin Chang-Diaz, and the Expedition 5 crew of the International Space Station (ISS) (Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitsun and Sergei Treschev). The nozzles on Endeavour's Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) are swiveled before liftoff, and the launch is shown past the separation of the solid rocket boosters. After a brief clip from the Mission Control Center at Johnson Space Center, the following launch replays are shown: Beach Tracker, VAB, Pad A, Tower 1, UCS-15, Grandstand, Cocoa Beach DOAMS, Playalinda DOAMS, UCS-23, and OTV-070.

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NASA NTRS1968

Apollo 7 - Press Kit

Contents include the following: General release. Mission objectives. Mission description. Flight plan. Alternate missions. Experiments. Abort model. Spacecraft structure system. The Saturn 1B launch vehicle. Flight sequence. Launch preparations. Mission control center-Houston. Manned space flight network. Photographic equipment. Apollo 7 crew. Apollo 7 test program.

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NASA NTRS2004

Energy Management of Manned Boost-Glide Vehicles: A Historical Perspective

As flight progressed from propellers to jets to rockets, the propulsive energy grew exponentially. With the development of rocket-only boosted vehicles, energy management of these boost-gliders became a distinct requirement for the unpowered return to base, alternate landing site, or water-parachute landing, starting with the X-series rocket aircraft and terminating with the present-day Shuttle. The problem presented here consists of: speed (kinetic energy) - altitude (potential energy) - steep glide angles created by low lift-to-drag ratios (L/D) - distance to landing site - and the bothersome effects of the atmospheric characteristics varying with altitude. The primary discussion regards post-boost, stabilized glides; however, the effects of centrifugal and geopotential acceleration are discussed as well. The aircraft and spacecraft discussed here are the X-1, X-2, X-15, and the Shuttle; and to a lesser, comparative extent, Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and lifting bodies. The footprints, landfalls, and methods developed for energy management are also described. The essential tools required for energy management - simulator planning, instrumentation, radar, telemetry, extended land or water range, Mission Control Center (with specialist controllers), and emergency alternate landing sites - were first established through development of early concepts and were then validated by research flight tests.

Day, Richard E.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Space Development Grid Portal

This viewgraph presentation provides information on the development of a portal to provide secure and distributed grid computing for Payload Operations Integrated Center and Mission Control Center ground services.

Vaziri, Arsi↗
NASA NTRS2005

Automating CapCom Using Mobile Agents and Robotic Assistants

We have developed and tested an advanced EVA communications and computing system to increase astronaut self-reliance and safety, reducing dependence on continuous monitoring and advising from mission control on Earth. This system, called Mobile Agents (MA), is voice controlled and provides information verbally to the astronauts through programs called personal agents. The system partly automates the role of CapCom in Apollo-including monitoring and managing EVA navigation, scheduling, equipment deployment, telemetry, health tracking, and scientific data collection. EVA data are stored automatically in a shared database in the habitat/vehicle and mirrored to a site accessible by a remote science team. The program has been developed iteratively in the context of use, including six years of ethnographic observation of field geology. Our approach is to develop automation that supports the human work practices, allowing people to do what they do well, and to work in ways they are most familiar. Field experiments in Utah have enabled empirically discovering requirements and testing alternative technologies and protocols. This paper reports on the 2004 system configuration, experiments, and results, in which an EVA robotic assistant (ERA) followed geologists approximately 150 m through a winding, narrow canyon. On voice command, the ERA took photographs and panoramas and was directed to move and wait in various locations to serve as a relay on the wireless network. The MA system is applicable to many space work situations that involve creating and navigating from maps (including configuring equipment for local topology), interacting with piloted and unpiloted rovers, adapting to environmental conditions, and remote team collaboration involving people and robots.

Clancey, William J.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Ocular examination for trauma; clinical ultrasound aboard the International Space Station

BACKGROUND: Ultrasound imaging is a successful modality in a broad variety of diagnostic applications including trauma. Ultrasound has been shown to be accurate when performed by non-radiologist physicians; recent reports have suggested that non-physicians can perform limited ultrasound examinations. A multipurpose ultrasound system is installed on the International Space Station (ISS) as a component of the Human Research Facility (HRF). This report documents the first ocular ultrasound examination conducted in space, which demonstrated the capability to assess physiologic alterations or pathology including trauma during long-duration space flight. METHODS: An ISS crewmember with minimal sonography training was remotely guided by an imaging expert from Mission Control Center (MCC) through a comprehensive ultrasound examination of the eye. A multipurpose ultrasound imager was used in conjunction with a space-to-ground video downlink and two-way audio. Reference cards with topological reference points, hardware controls, and target images were used to facilitate the examination. Multiple views of the eye structures were obtained through a closed eyelid. Pupillary response to light was demonstrated by modifying the light exposure of the contralateral eye. RESULTS: A crewmember on the ISS was able to complete a comprehensive ocular examination using B- and M-mode ultrasonography with remote guidance from an expert in the MCC. Multiple anteroposterior, oblique, and coronal views of the eye clearly demonstrated the anatomic structures of both segments of the globe. The iris and pupil were readily visualized with probe manipulation. Pupillary diameter was assessed in real time in B- and M-mode displays. The anatomic detail and fidelity of ultrasound video were excellent and could be used to answer a variety of clinical and space physiologic questions. CONCLUSIONS: A comprehensive, high-quality ultrasound examination of the eye was performed with a multipurpose imager aboard the ISS by a non-expert operator using remote guidance. Ocular ultrasound images were of diagnostic quality despite the 2-second communication latency and the unconventional setting of a weightless spacecraft environment. The remote guidance techniques developed to facilitate this successful NASA research experiment will support wider applications of ultrasound for remote medicine on Earth including the assessment of pupillary reactions in patients with severe craniofacial trauma and swelling.

Clinical Trial↗
NASA NTRS2001

STS-108-Endeavour/ISS UF-1/Pre-Launch/Launch/On Orbit/Landing/Crew Egress

This video shows footage from throughout the STS-108 mission. The crew of Space Shuttle Enveavour (Commander Dominic Gorie, Pilot Mark Kelly, and Mission Specialists Linda Godwin and Daniel Tani) together with the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 4 crew (Commander Yuri Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Daniel Bursch) are shown at their pre-flight meal, putting on flight suits, and boarding Endeavour. A special segment shows maintainance performed on Endeavour prior to the orbiter reaching the launch pad. Endeavour is shown arriving at Kennedy Space Center mounted on a 747, and is prepared for launch in the Orbiter Processing Facility. The mating of the External Tank and the Solid Rocket Boosters in shown in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) and the Starshine satellite are shown being loaded into Endeavour's payload bay. Launch views include: Beach Tracker, VAB, Pad-B, Tower-1, DLTR-3, Grandstand, DOAMS, Playalinda DOAMS (with a close-up of the Endeavour's main engine, and UCS-23. On-orbit tasks include: docking with the ISS, greetings and enthusiastic crew transfer with the Expedition 3 crew (Commander Frank Culbertson, Jr. and Flight Engineers Mikhail Turin and Vladimir Dezhurov), Mission Control and crew reflections upon the 9/11 attacks, Raffaello docking with and being removed from the ISS, and an extravehicular activity (EVA) by Godwin and Tani. Landing views include: VAB, Tower-1, Mid-Field, South End SLF, North End SLF, Tower-2, Playalinda DOAMS, and Pilot Point of View (PPOV). Each of the four Endeavour crew members gives a short speech after landing.

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NASA NTRS2005

STS-114 Flight Day 1 Highlights

Video coverage of NASA's Return to Flight begins with the pre-flight meal and suit-up of the STS-114 crew (Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot James Kelly, Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi, Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Wendy Lawrence, and Charles Camarda), and its departure for the launch pad on the Astrovan. The astronauts board Space Shuttle Discovery and are seated. Arms on the launch pad's Fixed Service Structure pull away, and Discovery is shown from liftoff through booster separation. Video of the ascent from a new camera onboard the External Tank (ET) is included, which features views of the ET's bipod and the tank's separation from the orbiter, with Earth in the background. During a change of shift at Mission Control Center, staff members congratulate the Shuttle crew, and Commander Collins thanks them.

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NASA NTRS2005

STS-114 Flight Day 8 Highlights

The major activities of Day 8 for the STS-114 crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery (Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot James Kelly, Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi, Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Wendy Lawrence, and Charles Camarda) and the Expedition 11 crew of the International Space Station (ISS) (Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA ISS Science Officer and Flight Engineer John Phillips) are a press conference and a conversation with President Bush. The two crews are interviewed by American, Japanese, and Russian media. Discovery crew members on the shuttle's mid-deck review paperwork regarding the impending extravehicular activity (EVA) to remove gap fillers from underneath the orbiter, and the Space Station Remote Manipulator System grapples the External Stowage Platform-2 in the Shuttle's payload bay. Finally, Mission control grants the shuttle crew some time off.

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NASA NTRS2005

STS-114 Flight Day 9 Highlights

The highlight of Day 9 is the third extravehicular activity (EVA) of the STS-114 mission (Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot James Kelly, Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi, Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Wendy Lawrence, and Charles Camarda). Astronauts Noguchi and Robinson are seen preparing for the EVA in the closed payload bay of Space Shuttle Discovery; on the EVA they install on the International Space Station (ISS) a Materials on the International Space Station Experiments (MISSE) unit, an External Stowage Platform (ESP-2), and a wireless antenna. The astronauts are seen working on the ISS under different lighting conditions, and use a pistol-grip tool to remove ESP-2 from the shuttle payload bay. The Space Station Remote Manipulator System then carries Robinson to the underside of the Discovery orbiter, where he communicates with Mission Control during the delicate and unprecedented removal of gap fillers from between the shuttle's tiles. Before and the after the EVA the video includes views of a damaged thermal blanket beneath the shuttle cockpit window. Other views of the shuttle include pans along the underside and topside by the Orbiter Boom Sensor System. The video also includes a view from orbit of Kazakhstan.

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NASA NTRS2005

STS-114: Post Launch Press Conference

Dean Acosta, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs hosted this post launch press conference. Present were Mike Griffin, NASA Administrator; William Ready, Associate Administrator for Space Operations; Bill Parsons, Space Shuttle Program Manager; Mike Leinbach, NASA Launch Director; and Wayne Hill, Deputy Program Manager for Space Shuttle Program. Each expressed thanks to all of NASA Officials and employees, contractors, vendors and the crew for their hard work the past two and a half years that resulted the successful and pristine launch of Space Shuttle Discovery. The Panel emphasized that through extensive technical analysis, thorough planning and tremendous amount of public support brought them full circle again to return to flight. Flight safety, debris during rocket separation, sensors, observations from the mission control, launch conditions were some of the topics discussed with the News media.

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NASA NTRS2005

STS-114: Discovery Landing Handout

Mission Control Room in Houston keeps in close communication with STS-114 Commander Eileen Collins as she and her crew follows the standard steps and procedures in maneuvering the Space Shuttle on its way back to Earth. The Space Shuttle Discovery landed at approximately 7:12AM Central daylight time at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

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