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NASA NTRS2001

Space Life Sciences Research and Education Program

Since 1969, the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), a private, nonprofit corporation, has worked closely with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to advance space science and technology and to promote education in those areas. USRA's Division of Space Life Sciences (DSLS) has been NASA's life sciences research partner for the past 18 years. For the last six years, our Cooperative Agreement NCC9-41 for the 'Space Life Sciences Research and Education Program' has stimulated and assisted life sciences research and education at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) - both at the Center and in collaboration with outside academic institutions. To accomplish our objectives, the DSLS has facilitated extramural research, developed and managed educational programs, recruited and employed visiting and staff scientists, and managed scientific meetings.

Coats, Alfred C.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Rollout and Turnoff (ROTO) Guidance and Information Displays: Effect on Runway Occupancy Time in Simulated Low-Visibility Landings

This report examines a rollout and turnoff (ROTO) system for reducing the runway occupancy time for transport aircraft in low-visibility weather. Simulator runs were made to evaluate the system that includes a head-up display (HUD) to show the pilot a graphical overlay of the runway along with guidance and steering information to a chosen exit. Fourteen pilots (airline, corporate jet, and research pilots) collectively flew a total of 560 rollout and turnoff runs using all eight runways at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport. The runs consisted of 280 runs for each of two runway visual ranges (RVRs) (300 and 1200 ft). For each visual range, half the runs were conducted with the HUD information and half without. For the runs conducted with the HUD information, the runway occupancy times were lower and more consistent. The effect was more pronounced as visibility decreased. For the 1200-ft visibility, the runway occupancy times were 13% lower with HUD information (46.1 versus 52.8 sec). Similarly, for the 300-ft visibility, the times were 28% lower (45.4 versus 63.0 sec). Also, for the runs with HUD information, 78% (RVR 1200) and 75% (RVR 300) had runway occupancy times less than 50 sec, versus 41 and 20%, respectively, without HUD information.

Hueschen, Richard M.↗
NASA NTRS2001

The Impact of Organization Culture on Satisfaction of Engineers in Technology

In today's technological workplace with the shortage of qualified knowledge workers, the factors that lead to job satisfaction have increasing importance. Several past studies have indicated that knowledge worker job satisfaction increases when Herzberg motivators are present. Other research has indicated that job satisfaction improves as the degree of organic organizational culture increases. After examining the factors that led to knowledge worker job satisfaction, the current study was undertaken. Knowledge workers in varying organizational cultures were surveyed in an effort to determine if there is a relationship between the degree of knowledge worker job satisfaction and the measure of organic organization culture. Two survey instruments, the Organizational Cultural Assessment (OCA) developed by Riegle, and the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ), were utilized. The OCA delineates degree of organic culture present whereas the MSQ measures job satisfaction. Results of both surveys were statistically analyzed to determine if knowledge workers experience higher satisfaction levels in organic organizational cultures. Once data was analyzed and the hypothesis proven, this could lead companies to move toward an organic culture with emphasis on motivators in an effort to make their organizational culture more conducive to higher employee retention. Through understanding the factors that lead to increased job satisfaction, corporate resources could more efficiently utilized. A total of eight high technology workplaces were surveyed. Five of the eight workplaces yielded statistically significant positive correlation between a positive organizational culture and increased job satisfaction. These initial results indicate the connection between culture and job satisfaction. The relationship will be further analyzed through future surveys of numerous high technology workplaces.

Westbrook, Jerry W.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Integrating D3 Technology into an Existing DMF Configuration

The Numerical Aerodynamics Simulation (NAS) Facility's CRAY C916/1024 has 240+ GB of SuperHome storage with 2 TB of migrated storage. NAS is a beta test site for the Storage Technology Corporation (STK) Redwood (SD-3) device and Cray's DMF 2.3. This discussion will include a list of resolved problems and various metrics relative to transfer, search, rewind, unload, and mount timings. Also covered will be how DMF 2.3 with the advance tape MSP will integrate the Redwood tape drives along with the existing STK 4490 tape drives to potentially reduce the number of tapes used by 85%.

Powers, Alan K.↗
NASA NTRS2002

SOLARMAX/Electron Pitch Angle Anisotropy Distributions

This final research report summarizes the scientific work performed by The Aerospace Corporation on SOLARMAX/Electron Pitch Angle Anisotropy Distributions. The period of performance was from June 1, 2000 to December 31, 2001.

McKenzie, David L.↗
NASA NTRS2001

NASA's Hall Thruster Program

NASA's Hall thruster program has base research and focused development efforts in support of the Advanced Space Transportation Program, Space-Based Program, and various other programs. The objective of the base research is to gain an improved understanding of the physical processes and engineering constraints of Hall thrusters to enable development of advanced Hall thruster designs. Specific technical questions that are current priorities of the base effort are: (1) How does thruster life vary with operating point? (2) How can thruster lifetime and wear rate be most efficiently evaluated? (3) What are the practical limitations for discharge voltage as it pertains to high specific impulse operation (high discharge voltage) and high thrust operation (low discharge voltage)? (4) What are the practical limits for extending Hall thrusters to very high input powers? and (5) What can be done during thruster design to reduce cost and integration concerns? The objective of the focused development effort is to develop a 50 kW-class Hall propulsion system, with a milestone of a 50 kW engineering model thruster/system by the end of program year 2006. Specific program wear 2001 efforts, along with the corporate and academic participation, are described.

Jankovsky, Robert S.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Helicopter In-Flight Tracking System (HITS) for the Gulf of Mexico

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center (ARC) is sponsoring deployment and testing of the Helicopter In-flight Tracking System (HITS) in a portion of the Gulf of Mexico offshore area. Using multilateration principles, HITS determines the location and altitude of all transponder-equipped aircraft without requiring changes to current Mode A, C or S avionics. HITS tracks both rotary and fixed-wing aircraft operating in the 8,500 sq. mi. coverage region. The minimum coverage altitude of 100 ft. is beneficial for petroleum industry, allowing helicopters to be tracked onto the pad of most derricks. In addition to multilateration, HITS provides surveillance reports for aircraft equipped for Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B), a new surveillance system under development by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) is supporting NASA in managing HITS installation and operation, and in evaluating the system's effectiveness. Senses Corporation is supplying, installing and maintaining the HITS ground system. Project activities are being coordinated with the FAA and local helicopter operators. Flight-testing in the Gulf will begin in early 2002. This paper describes the HITS project - specifically, the system equipment (architecture, remote sensors, central processing system at Intracoastal City, LA, and communications) and its performance (accuracy, coverage, and reliability). The paper also presents preliminary results of flight tests.

Martone, Patrick↗
NASA NTRS1997

Don't Look Now - Tiltrotors Are Coming!

This paper traces the history of tiltrotors, beginning with the XV-3 and XV-15, to the Marine's V-22 Osprey. The design of the first civil tiltrotor, the Bell-Boeing 609, is now complete and the revolutionary aircraft will debut in 2001 after completion of a rigorous test program. The XV-3 proved the safety and ease of transition from the helicopter mode to the airplane mode; however, it had aeroelastic stability and performance problems. The XV-15 was the tiltrotor of the late 70s and the 80s. In 1981, it was demonstrated to the international aviation community at the Paris Air Show. Its success led to the development of the V-22 Osprey and it returned to Paris in 1995 in the livery of a civil tiltrotor. There, it flew joint demonstrations with the Osprey. One is still flying today as a Civil Tiltrotor (CTR) demonstrator. The V-22 first flew in Mar 1989. After a stormy procurement cycle, the Full Scale Development (FSD) aircraft were superseded by the improved Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) aircraft. The #7 Osprey made its first flight eight years later. Many highlights of the FSD and EMD flight test programs will be covered and illustrated with video clips. The Bell-Boeing 609 design was unveiled at the Smithsonian in November, 1996 and the first orders have been taken for this 250 knot, corporate size tiltrotor. Flight testing of this innovative aircraft will commence in 1999.

Dugan, Daniel C.↗
NASA NTRS2002

NARC Rayon Replacement Program

This viewgraph presentation provides information on the search for a replacement product for the aerospace grade rayon formerly used in the reusable solid rocket motor (RSRM). The rayon used in RSRMs is no longer produced by the North American Rayon Corporation (NARC), though NASA has stockpiled rayon to be used until a suitable replacement is found to be used in the RSRM nozzle carbon cloth phenolic (CCP). The primary considerations are performance, process ability, variability, long term availability, and cost. The preference will be given to commercial off-the-shelf products as opposed to those which are custom made. The candidate materials have been tested in previous phases of this selection process, and Enka Textile Rayon has emerged as a possible fabric, though its availability is still in question.

Wilson, Kenneth P.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Performance Comparison of HPF and MPI Based NAS Parallel Benchmarks

Compilers supporting High Performance Form (HPF) features first appeared in late 1994 and early 1995 from Applied Parallel Research (APR), Digital Equipment Corporation, and The Portland Group (PGI). IBM introduced an HPF compiler for the IBM RS/6000 SP2 in April of 1996. Over the past two years, these implementations have shown steady improvement in terms of both features and performance. The performance of various hardware/ programming model (HPF and MPI) combinations will be compared, based on latest NAS Parallel Benchmark results, thus providing a cross-machine and cross-model comparison. Specifically, HPF based NPB results will be compared with MPI based NPB results to provide perspective on performance currently obtainable using HPF versus MPI or versus hand-tuned implementations such as those supplied by the hardware vendors. In addition, we would also present NPB, (Version 1.0) performance results for the following systems: DEC Alpha Server 8400 5/440, Fujitsu CAPP Series (VX, VPP300, and VPP700), HP/Convex Exemplar SPP2000, IBM RS/6000 SP P2SC node (120 MHz), NEC SX-4/32, SGI/CRAY T3E, and SGI Origin2000. We would also present sustained performance per dollar for Class B LU, SP and BT benchmarks.

Saini, Subhash↗
NASA NTRS2001

The Tenth Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop

The Tenth Thermal arid Fluids Analysis Workshop (TFAWS 99) was held at the Bevill Center, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama, September 13-17, 1999. The theme for the hands-on training workshop and conference was "Tools and Techniques Contributing to Engineering Excellence". Forty-seven technical papers were presented in four sessions. The sessions were: (1) Thermal Spacecraft/Payloads, (2) Thermal Propulsion/Vehicles, (3) Interdisciplinary Paper, and (4) Fluids Paper. Forty papers were published in these proceedings. The remaining seven papers were not available in electronic format at the time of publication. In addition to the technical papers, there were (a) nine hands-on classes on thermal and flow analyses software, (b) twelve short courses, (c) thirteen product overview lectures, and (d) three keynote lectures. The workshop resulted in participation of 171 persons representing NASA Centers, Government agencies, aerospace industries, academia, software providers, and private corporations.

Majumdar, Alok↗
NASA NTRS2001

Overview of the NCC

A multi-disciplinary design/analysis tool for combustion systems is critical for optimizing the low-emission, high-performance combustor design process. Based on discussions between then NASA Lewis Research Center and the jet engine companies, an industry-government team was formed in early 1995 to develop the National Combustion Code (NCC), which is an integrated system of computer codes for the design and analysis of combustion systems. NCC has advanced features that address the need to meet designer's requirements such as "assured accuracy", "fast turnaround", and "acceptable cost". The NCC development team is comprised of Allison Engine Company (Allison), CFD Research Corporation (CFDRC), GE Aircraft Engines (GEAE), NASA Glenn Research Center (LeRC), and Pratt & Whitney (P&W). The "unstructured mesh" capability and "parallel computing" are fundamental features of NCC from its inception. The NCC system is composed of a set of "elements" which includes grid generator, main flow solver, turbulence module, turbulence and chemistry interaction module, chemistry module, spray module, radiation heat transfer module, data visualization module, and a post-processor for evaluating engine performance parameters. Each element may have contributions from several team members. Such a multi-source multi-element system needs to be integrated in a way that facilitates inter-module data communication, flexibility in module selection, and ease of integration. The development of the NCC beta version was essentially completed in June 1998. Technical details of the NCC elements are given in the Reference List. Elements such as the baseline flow solver, turbulence module, and the chemistry module, have been extensively validated; and their parallel performance on large-scale parallel systems has been evaluated and optimized. However the scalar PDF module and the Spray module, as well as their coupling with the baseline flow solver, were developed in a small-scale distributed computing environment. As a result, the validation of the NCC beta version as a whole was quite limited. Current effort has been focused on the validation of the integrated code and the evaluation/optimization of its overall performance on large-scale parallel systems.

Liu, Nan-Suey↗
NASA NTRS2002

Energetic Electron Populations in the Magnetosphere During Geomagnetic Storms and Substorms

This report summarizes the scientific work performed by the Aerospace Corporation under NASA Grant NAG5-10278, 'Energetic Electron Populations in the Magnetosphere during Geomagnetic Storms and Subsisting.' The period of performance for the Grant was March 1, 2001 to February 28, 2002. The following is a summary of the Statement of Work for this Grant. Use data from the PIXIE instrument on the Polar spacecraft from September 1998 onward to derive the statistical relationship between particle precipitation patterns and various geomagnetic activity indices. We are particularly interested in the occurrence of substorms during storm main phase and the efficacy of storms and substorms in injecting ring-current particles. We will compare stormtime simulations of the diffuse aurora using the models of Chen and Schulz with stormtime PIXIE measurements.

McKenzie, David L.↗
NASA NTRS1997

NAS Parallel Benchmark. Results 11-96: Performance Comparison of HPF and MPI Based NAS Parallel Benchmarks

High Performance Fortran (HPF), the high-level language for parallel Fortran programming, is based on Fortran 90. HALF was defined by an informal standards committee known as the High Performance Fortran Forum (HPFF) in 1993, and modeled on TMC's CM Fortran language. Several HPF features have since been incorporated into the draft ANSI/ISO Fortran 95, the next formal revision of the Fortran standard. HPF allows users to write a single parallel program that can execute on a serial machine, a shared-memory parallel machine, or a distributed-memory parallel machine. HPF eliminates the complex, error-prone task of explicitly specifying how, where, and when to pass messages between processors on distributed-memory machines, or when to synchronize processors on shared-memory machines. HPF is designed in a way that allows the programmer to code an application at a high level, and then selectively optimize portions of the code by dropping into message-passing or calling tuned library routines as 'extrinsics'. Compilers supporting High Performance Fortran features first appeared in late 1994 and early 1995 from Applied Parallel Research (APR) Digital Equipment Corporation, and The Portland Group (PGI). IBM introduced an HPF compiler for the IBM RS/6000 SP/2 in April of 1996. Over the past two years, these implementations have shown steady improvement in terms of both features and performance. The performance of various hardware/ programming model (HPF and MPI (message passing interface)) combinations will be compared, based on latest NAS (NASA Advanced Supercomputing) Parallel Benchmark (NPB) results, thus providing a cross-machine and cross-model comparison. Specifically, HPF based NPB results will be compared with MPI based NPB results to provide perspective on performance currently obtainable using HPF versus MPI or versus hand-tuned implementations such as those supplied by the hardware vendors. In addition we would also present NPB (Version 1.0) performance results for the following systems: DEC Alpha Server 8400 5/440, Fujitsu VPP Series (VX, VPP300, and VPP700), HP/Convex Exemplar SPP2000, IBM RS/6000 SP P2SC node (120 MHz) NEC SX-4/32, SGI/CRAY T3E, SGI Origin2000.

Saini, Subash↗
NASA NTRS2001

Evaluation of Impinging Stream Vortex Chamber Concepts for Liquid Rocket Engine Applications

To pursue technology developments for future launch vehicles, NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is examining vortex chamber concepts for liquid rocket engine applications. Past studies indicated that the vortex chamber schemes potentially have a number of advantages over conventional chamber methods. Due to the nature of the vortex flow, relatively cooler propellant streams tend to flow along the chamber wall. Hence, the thruster chamber can be operated without the need of any cooling techniques. This vortex flow also creates strong turbulence, which promotes the propellant mixing process. Consequently, the subject chamber concepts not only offer the system simplicity, but they also would enhance the combustion performance. The test results showed that the chamber performance was markedly high even at a low chamber length-to-diameter ratio (L/D). This incentive can be translated to a convenience in the thrust chamber packaging. Variations of the vortex chamber concepts have been introduced in the past few decades. These investigations include an ongoing work at Orbital Technologies Corporation (ORBITEC). By injecting the oxidizer tangentially at the chamber convergence and fuel axially at the chamber head end, Knuth et al. were able to keep the wall relatively cold. A recent investigation of the low L/D vortex chamber concept for gel propellants was conducted by Michaels. He used both triplet (two oxidizer and one fuel orifices) and unlike impinging schemes to inject propellants tangentially along the chamber wall. Michaels called the subject injection scheme as Impinging Stream Vortex Chamber (ISVC). His preliminary tests showed that high performance, with an Isp efficiency of 92%, can be obtained. MSFC and the U.S. Army are jointly investigating an application of the ISVC concept for the cryogenic oxygen/hydrocarbon propellant system. This vortex chamber concept is currently tested with gel propellants at AMCOM at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. A version of this concept for the liquid oxygen (LOX)/hydrocarbon fuel (RPM) system has been derived from the one for the gel propellant.

Trinh, Huu P.↗
NASA NTRS2002

SIDS-toADF File Mapping Manual

The "CFD General Notation System" (CGNS) consists of a collection of conventions, and conforming software, for the storage and retrieval of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) data. It facilitates the exchange of data between sites and applications, and helps stabilize the archiving of aerodynamic data. This effort was initiated in order to streamline the procedures in exchanging data and software between NASA and its customers, but the goal is to develop CGNS into a National Standard for the exchange of aerodynamic data. The CGNS development team is comprised of members from Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, NASA-Ames, NASA-Langley, NASA-Lewis, McDonnell-Douglas Corporation (now Boeing-St. Louis), Air Force-Wright Lab., and ICEM-CFD Engineering. The elements of CGNS address all activities associated with the storage of data on external media and its movement to and from application programs. These elements include: 1) The Advanced Data Format (ADF) Database manager, consisting of both a file format specification and its I/O software, which handles the actual reading and writing of data from and to external storage media; 2) The Standard Interface Data Structures (SIDS), which specify the intellectual content of CFD data and the conventions governing naming and terminology; 3) The SIDS-to-ADF File Mapping conventions, which specify the exact location where the CFD data defined by the SIDS is to be stored within the ADF file(s); and 4) The CGNS Mid-level Library, which provides CFD-knowledgeable routines suitable for direct installation into application codes. The SIDS-toADF File Mapping Manual specifies the exact manner in which, under CGNS conventions, CFD data structures (the SIDS) are to be stored in (i.e., mapped onto) the file structure provided by the database manager (ADF). The result is a conforming CGNS database. Adherence to the mapping conventions guarantees uniform meaning and location of CFD data within ADF files, and thereby allows the construction of universal software to read and write the data.

McCarthy, Douglas↗
NASA NTRS1998

Advanced Data Format (ADF) Software Library and Users Guide

The "CFD General Notation System" (CGNS) consists of a collection of conventions, and conforming software, for the storage and retrieval of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) data. It facilitates the exchange of data between sites and applications, and helps stabilize the archiving of aerodynamic data. This effort was initiated in order to streamline the procedures in exchanging data and software between NASA and its customers, but the goal is to develop CGNS into a National Standard for the exchange of aerodynamic data. The CGNS development team is comprised of members from Boeing Commercial. Airplane Group, NASA-Ames, NASA-Langley, NASA-Lewis, McDonnell-Douglas Corporation (now Boeing-St. Louis), Air Force-Wright Lab., and ICEM-CFD Engineering. The elements of CGNS address all activities associated with the storage of data on external media and its movement to and from application programs. These elements include: 1) The Advanced Data Format (ADF) Database manager, consisting of both a file format specification and its 1/0 software, which handles the actual reading and writing of data from and to external storage media; 2) The Standard Interface Data Structures (SIDS), which specify the intellectual content of CFD data and the conventions governing naming and terminology; 3) The SIDS-to-ADF File Mapping conventions, which specify the exact location where the CFD data defined by the SIDS is to be stored within the ADF file(s); and 4) The CGNS Mid-level Library, which provides CFD-knowledgeable routines suitable for direct installation into application codes. The ADF is a generic database manager with minimal intrinsic capability. It was written for the purpose of storing large numerical datasets in an efficient, platform independent manner. To be effective, it must be used in conjunction with external agreements on how the data will be organized within the ADF database such defined by the SIDS. There are currently 34 user callable functions that comprise the ADF Core library and are described in the Users Guide. The library is written in C, but each function has a FORTRAN counterpart.

Smith, Matthew↗
NASA NTRS2001

A New Frontier for Cardiac Monitoring

CardioDynamics International Corporation (CDIC) has created the BioZ(TM) System through a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award from Johnson Space Center, providing patients and physicians with a cost-effective and highly accurate monitoring system.The BioZ non-invasive heart monitor is based on a technology known as Impedance Cardiography (ICG). BioZ provides the physician with vital information about the heart's ability to deliver blood to the body, the force one's heart exerts with each beat, and the amount of fluid in the chest. Specially designed bioimpedance sensors placed on the neck and chest monitor 12 different parameters, including cardiac output, contractility, systemic vascular resistance, and thoracic fluid content. These sensors monitor the electrical conductivity of the body-information that is converted into blood flow data and is displayed in real time on a monitoring screen. BioZ.com(TM) and BioZ.pc(TM) are two additional products that incorporate the same sensors present in the original BioZ system. The "com" in BioZ.com stands for cardiac output monitor. This fully integrated system is essentially a smaller version of the BioZ, combining the same abilities with a compact, lightweight design, while providing greater portability.

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