Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “capital”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,621 records · Page 90
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2006

NASA Scientific and Technical Information Standards

This document presents general recommended standards for documenting scientific and technical information (STI) from a number of scientific and engineering disciplines. It is a companion publication to NASA SP-7084, "Grammar, Punctuation, and Capitalization: A Handbook for Technical Writers and Editors," and is intended primarily for STI personnel and publishing personnel within NASA and who support NASA STI publishing. Section 1 gives an overview of NASA STI publications. Section 2 discusses figure preparation considerations. Section 3 covers table design, and Section 4 gives information about symbols and math related to STI publishing. Section 5 covers units of measure. Section 6 discusses References, and Section 7 discusses electronic documents. Section 8 covers information related to the review of STI prior to publication; this covers both technical and dissemination review and approval, including data quality. Section 9 discusses printing and dissemination related to STI, and Section 10 gives abbreviations and acronyms used in the document.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2006

SERVIR's Contributions and Benefits to Belize thru Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) Development

Dan Irwin, the SERVIR Project Manager is being honored with the privilege of delivering the opening remarks at Belize s second celebration of GIS Day, a weeklong event to be held at the University of Belize's campus in the nation s capital, Belmopan. The request has been extended by the GIS Day Planning Committee which operates under the auspices of Belize s Ministry of Natural Resources & the Environment, which is the focal ministry for SERVIR. In the 20-30 min. allotted for the opening remarks, the SERVIR Project Manager will expound on how SERVIR, operating under the auspices of NASA s Ecological Forecasting Program, contributes to spatial data infrastructure (SDI) development in Belize. NASA s contributions to the region - particularly work under the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor - will be highlighted. Continuing, the remarks will discuss SERVIR s role in Belize s steadily expanding SDI, particularly in the context of delivering integrated decision support products via web-based infrastructure. The remarks will close with a call to the parties assembled to work together in the application of Earth Observation Systems technologies for the benefit of Belizean society as a whole. NASA s strong presence in Belize s GIS Day celebrations will be highlighted as sustained goodwill of the American people - in partial fulfillment of goals set forth under the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).

Irwin, Daniel E.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Working Group Reports and Presentations: Virtual Worlds and Virtual Exploration

Scientists and engineers are continually developing innovative methods to capitalize on recent developments in computational power. Virtual worlds and virtual exploration present a new toolset for project design, implementation, and resolution. Replication of the physical world in the virtual domain provides stimulating displays to augment current data analysis techniques and to encourage public participation. In addition, the virtual domain provides stakeholders with a low cost, low risk design and test environment. The following document defines a virtual world and virtual exploration, categorizes the chief motivations for virtual exploration, elaborates upon specific objectives, identifies roadblocks and enablers for realizing the benefits, and highlights the more immediate areas of implementation (i.e. the action items). While the document attempts a comprehensive evaluation of virtual worlds and virtual exploration, the innovative nature of the opportunities presented precludes completeness. The authors strongly encourage readers to derive additional means of utilizing the virtual exploration toolset.

LAmoreaux, Claudia↗
NASA NTRS1978

A New Look For Greenbelt

Greenbelt, Maryland, 12 miles from the nation's capital, is an efficiently planned model town and most of its 1600 homes are almost identical in appearance. Four of them, however, stand out from their neighbors; they have distinctive blue glass rooftop superstructures made up of a series of solar collectors. They are part of a NASA community aid program, a joint energy research project involving the Greenbelt housing cooperative and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, located near the community. Built in 1935, Greenbelt is one of three government-planned communities of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first administration; the others are Greendale, Wisconsin and Greenhills, Ohio. The government built the towns to make available low-cost housing, provide employment for workers on relief in the Great Depression era, and to establish models designed to encourage construction of similar developments by private industry. In 1952, the residents of Greenbelt formed a nonprofit cooperative called Greenbelt Homes, Inc., which bought the dwellings, facilities and a large part of the land from the government. The homes are individually owned but collectively maintained by the co-op, with each owner paying a prorated share of utility and maintenance costs. Greenbelt residents are mostly in the low and medium income brackets, and one of every three families lives on a fixed retirement income. For that reason, the sharp escalation of fuel oil prices that began in 1973 imposed particular hardship on the co-op community. So Greenbelt Homes' management asked its NASA neighbor, Goddard Space Flight Center, for assistance in setting up a solar energy research project. The idea was to conduct a small scale demonstration to show what savings could be realized by solar heating Greenbelt homes, with an eye toward possible future expansion of solar energy systems as a means of combating rising fuel costs. Goddard undertook the project as part of the federal government's effort to research and demonstrate ways of conserving energy. The Center was well qualified for the assignment, having acquired extensive expertise in designing thermal control systems for satellites, which must maintain stable temperatures for successful operation.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2006

Progressive Plant Growing Has Business Blooming

In 1997, AgriHouse, Inc. (d.b.a. Aeroponics International), a leading agri-biology company, united with NASA and BioServe Space Technologies, a nonprofit, NASA-sponsored partnership research center, to design a soil-less plant-growth experiment to be performed in microgravity, aboard the Mir space station. This experiment aimed to gauge the effectiveness of a non-pesticide solution on the immune responses of bean plants. In essence, the research consortium was looking for a means of keeping plants free from infection, without having to rely on the use of pesticides. This research, combined with follow-on grants from NASA, has helped Berthoud, Colorado-based AgriHouse gain credibility in the commercial marketplace with related technology and gross the capital necessary to conduct further research in a new-age field known as bio-pharming.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2007

Productivity Analysis of Public and Private Airports: A Causal Investigation

Around the world, airports are being viewed as enterprises, rather than public services, which are expected to be managed efficiently and provide passengers with courteous customer services. Governments are, increasingly, turning to the private sectors for their efficiency in managing the operation, financing, and development, as well as providing security for airports. Operational and financial performance evaluation has become increasingly important to airport operators due to recent trends in airport privatization. Assessing performance allows the airport operators to plan for human resources and capital investment as efficiently as possible. Productivity measurements may be used as comparisons and guidelines in strategic planning, in the internal analysis of operational efficiency and effectiveness, and in assessing the competitive position of an airport in transportation industry. The primary purpose of this paper is to investigate the operational and financial efficiencies of 22 major airports in the United States and Europe. These airports are divided into three groups based on private ownership (7 British Airport Authority airports), public ownership (8 major United States airports), and a mix of private and public ownership (7 major European Union airports. The detail ownership structures of these airports are presented in Appendix A. Total factor productivity (TFP) model was utilized to measure airport performance in terms of financial and operational efficiencies and to develop a benchmarking tool to identify the areas of strength and weakness. A regression model was then employed to measure the relationship between TFP and ownership structure. Finally a Granger causality test was performed to determine whether ownership structure is a Granger cause of TFP. The results of the analysis presented in this paper demonstrate that there is not a significant relationship between airport TFP and ownership structure. Airport productivity and efficiency is, however dependent upon the level of competition, choice of the market, and regulatory control.

Vasigh, Bijan↗
NASA NTRS2002

Land Use and Land Cover Change in Forest Frontiers: The Role of Household Life Cycles

Tropical deforestation remains a critical issue given its present rate and a widespread consensus regarding its implications for the global carbon cycle and biodiversity. Nowhere is the problem more pronounced than in the Amazon basin, home to the world's largest intact, tropical forest. This article addresses land cover change processes at household level in the Amazon basin, and to this end adapts a concept of domestic life cycle to the current institutional environment of tropical frontiers. In particular, it poses a risk minimization model that integrates demography with market-based factors such as transportation costs and accessibility. In essence, the article merges the theory of Chayanov with the household economy framework, in which markets exist for inputs (including labor), outputs, and capital. The risk model is specified and estimated, using survey data for 261 small producers along the Transamazon Highway in the eastern sector of the Brazilian Amazon.

Walker, Robert↗
NASA NTRS2006

Land-Cover and Land-Use Change in the Brazilian Amazon: Smallholders, Ranchers and Frontier Stratification

Tropical deforestation is a significant driver of global environmental change, given its impacts on the carbon cycle and biodiversity. Loss of the Amazon forest, the focus of this article, is of particular concern because of the size and the rapid rate at which the forest is being converted to agricultural use. In this article, we identify what has been the most important driver of deforestation in a specific colonization frontier in the Brazilian Amazon. To this end, we consider (1) the land-use dynamics of smallholder households, (2) the formation of pasture by large-scale ranchers, and (3) structural processes of land aggregation by ranchers. Much has been written about relations between smallholders and ranchers in the Brazilian Amazon, particularly those involving conflict over land, and this article explicates the implications of such social processes for land cover. Toward this end, we draw on panel data (1996-2002) and satellite imagery (1986-1999) to show the deforestation that is attributable to small- and largeholders, and the deforestation that is attributable to aggregations of property arising from a process that we refer to as frontier stratification. Evidently, most of the recent deforestation in the study area has resulted from the household processes of smallholders, not from conversions to pasture pursuant to the appropriations of smallholders' property by well-capitalized ranchers or speculators.

Aldrich, Stephen P.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Evaluation of Integrating the Invasive Species Forecasting System to Support National Park Service Decisions on Fire Management Activities and Invasive Plant Species Control

The USGS and NASA, in conjunction with Colorado State University, George Mason University and other partners, have developed the Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS), a flexible tool that capitalizes on NASA's remote sensing resource to produce dynamic habitat maps of invasive terrestrial plant species across the United States. In 2006 ISFS was adopted to generate predictive invasive habitat maps to benefit noxious plant and fire management teams in three major National Park systems: The Greater Yellowstone Area (Yellowstone / Grand Tetons National Parks), Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, and interior Alaskan (between Denali, Gates of The Arctic and Yukon-Charley). One of the objectives of this study is to explore how the ISFS enhances decision support apparatus in use by National Park management teams. The first step with each park system was to work closely with park managers to select top-priority invasive species. Specific species were chosen for each study area based on management priorities, availability of observational data, and their potential for invasion after fire disturbances. Once focal species were selected, sources of presence/absence data were collected from previous surveys for each species in and around the Parks. Using logistic regression to couple presence/absence points with environmental data layers, the first round of ISFS habitat suitability maps were generated for each National Park system and presented during park visits over the summer of 2006. This first engagement provided a demonstration of what the park service can expect from ISFS and initiated the ongoing dialog on how the parks can best utilized the system to enhance their decisions related to invasive species control. During the park visits it was discovered that separate "expert opinion" maps would provide a valuable baseline to compare against the ISFS model output. Opinion maps are a means of spatially representing qualitative knowledge into a quantitative two-dimensional map. Furthermore, our approach combines the qualitative expert opinion habitat maps -- with the quantitative ISFS habitat maps in a difference map that shows where the two maps agree and disagree. The objective of the difference map is to help focus future field sampling and improve model results. This paper presents a demonstration of the habitat, expert opinion, and difference map for Yellowstone National Park.

Ma, Peter↗
NASA NTRS2006

Science Promise and Conceptual Mission Design for SAFIR - the Single Aperture Far Infrared Observatory

We report on completion of the SAFIR Vision Mission study, as organized by the NASA Science Mission Directorate. This study resulted in a focused baseline design for this large aperture space observatory that capitalizes on architectures being actively developed for JWST and other missions. Special opportunities for achieving thermal performance of this <10K telescope are reviewed, as well as efforts to understand capabilities and needs for focal plane instrument and I&T on this large (10m-class) telescope.

telescopes↗
NASA NTRS2007

Evaluating the Capacity of Global CO2 Flux and Atmospheric Transport Models to Incorporate New Satellite Observations

As we enter the new era of satellite remote sensing for CO2 and other carbon cyclerelated quantities, advanced modeling and analysis capabilities are required to fully capitalize on the new observations. Model estimates of CO2 surface flux and atmospheric transport are required for initial constraints on inverse analyses, to connect atmospheric observations to the location of surface sources and sinks, and ultimately for future projections of carbon-climate interactions. For application to current, planned, and future remotely sensed CO2 data, it is desirable that these models are accurate and unbiased at time scales from less than daily to multi-annual and at spatial scales from several kilometers or finer to global. Here we focus on simulated CO2 fluxes from terrestrial vegetation and atmospheric transport mutually constrained by analyzed meteorological fields from the Goddard Modeling and Assimilation Office for the period 1998 through 2006. Use of assimilated meteorological data enables direct model comparison to observations across a wide range of scales of variability. The biospheric fluxes are produced by the CASA model at lxi degrees on a monthly mean basis, modulated hourly with analyzed temperature and sunlight. Both physiological and biomass burning fluxes are derived using satellite observations of vegetation, burned area (as in GFED-2), and analyzed meteorology. For the purposes of comparison to CO2 data, fossil fuel and ocean fluxes are also included in the transport simulations. In this presentation we evaluate the model's ability to simulate CO2 flux and mixing ratio variability in comparison to in situ observations at sites in Northern mid latitudes and the continental tropics. The influence of key process representations is inferred. We find that the model can resolve much of the hourly to synoptic variability in the observations, although there are limits imposed by vertical resolution of boundary layer processes. The seasonal cycle and its interannual variations generally respond adequately, but discrepancies in the tropics suggest the need for a refinement of the soil moisture dependence of the respiration flux in CASA. Examples and inferences for interpretation of satellite data will be discussed. In general, the fidelity of these simulations leads us to anticipate incorporation of real-time, highly resolved remote sensing and other observations into quantitative analyses that will reduce uncertainty in the terrestrial CO2 sink and revolutionize our understanding of the key processes controlling atmospheric CO2 and its evolution with time.

Kawa, S. R.↗
NASA NTRS2008

NASA's Ares I and Ares V Launch Vehicles -- Effective Space Operations Through Efficient Ground Operations

The United States (U.S.) plans to return to the Moon by 2020, with the development of a new human-rated space transportation system to replace the Space Shuttle, which is due for retirement in 2010 after it completes its missions of building the International Space Station and servicing the Hubble Space Telescope. Powering the future of space-based scientific exploration will be the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle, which will transport the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle to orbit where it will rendezvous with the Lunar Lander. which will be delivered by the Ares V Cargo Launch Vehicle. This new transportation infrastructure, developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), will allow astronauts to leave low-Earth orbit for extended lunar exploration and preparation for the first footprint on Mars. All space-based operations begin and are controlled from Earth. NASA's philosophy is to deliver safe, reliable, and cost-effective solutions to sustain a multi-billion-dollar program across several decades. Leveraging 50 years of lessons learned, NASA is partnering with private industry, while building on proven hardware experience. This paper will discuss how the Engineering Directorate at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center is working with the Ares Projects Office to streamline ground operations concepts and reduce costs. Currently, NASA's budget is around $17 billion, which is less than 1 percent of the U.S. Federal budget. Of this amount, NASA invests approximately $4.5 billion each year in Space Shuttle operations, regardless of whether the spacecraft is flying or not. The affordability requirement is for the Ares I to reduce this expense by 50 percent, in order to allow NASA to invest more in space-based scientific operations. Focusing on this metric, the Engineering Directorate provides several solutions-oriented approaches, including Lean/Six Sigma practices and streamlined hardware testing and integration, such as assembling major hardware elements before shipping to the Kennedy Space Center for launch operations. This paper provides top-level details for several cost saving initiatives, including both process and product improvements that will result in space transportation systems that are designed with operations efficiencies in mind. The Engineering Directorate provides both the intellectual capital embodied in an experienced workforce and unique facilities in which to validate the information technology tools that allow a nationwide team to collaboratively connect across miles that separate them and the engineering disciplines that integrate various piece parts into a whole system. As NASA transforms ground-based operations, it also is transitioning its workforce from an era of intense hands-on labor to a new one of mechanized conveniences and robust hardware with simpler interfaces. Ensuring that space exploration is on sound footing requires that operations efficiencies be designed into the transportation system and implemented in the development stage. Applying experience gained through decades of ground and space op'erations, while using value-added processes and modern business and engineering tools, is the philosophy upon which a new era of exploration will be built to solve some of the most pressing exploration challenges today -- namely, safety, reliability, and affordability.

Dumbacher, Daniel L.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Satellite Monitoring of Asian Dust Storms from SeaWiFS and MODIS: Source, pathway and Interannual Variability

Among the many components that contribute to air pollution, airborne mineral dust plays an important role due to its biogeochemical impact on the ecosystem and its radiative-forcing effect on the climate system. In East Asia, dust storms frequently accompany the cold and dry air masses that occur as part of springtime cold front systems. China's capital, Beijing, and other large cities are on the primary pathway of these dust storm plumes, and their passage over such population centers causes flight delays, pushes grit through windows and doors, and forces people indoors. Furthermore, during the spring these anthropogenic and natural air pollutants, once generated over the source regions, can be transported out of the boundary layer into the free troposphere and can travel thousands of kilometers across the Pacific into the United States and beyond. In this paper, we will demonstrate the capability of a new satellite algorithm to retrieve aerosol optical thickness and single scattering albedo over bright-reflecting surfaces such as urban areas and deserts. Such retrievals have been difficult to perform using previously available algorithms that use wavelengths from the mid-visible to the near IR because they have trouble separating the aerosol signal from the contribution due to the bright surface reflectance. The new algorithm, called Deep Blue, utilizes blue-wavelength measurements from instruments such as SeaWiFS and MODIS to infer the properties of aerosols, since the surface reflectance over land in the blue part of the spectrum is much lower than for longer wavelength channels. We have validated the satellite retrieved aerosol optical thickness with data from AERONET sunphotometers over desert and semi-desert regions. The comparisons show reasonable agreements between these two. These new satellite products will allow scientists to determine quantitatively the aerosol properties near sources using high spatial resolution measurements from SeaWiFS and MODIS-like instruments. The multiyear satellite measurements since 1998 from SeaWiFS will be utilized to investigate the interannual variability of source, pathway, and dust loading associated with these dust outbreaks in East Asia. The monthly averaged aerosol optical thickness during the springtime from SeaWiFS will also be compared with the MODIS Deep Blue products.

Hsu, N. Christina↗
NASA NTRS2008

Ensemble: an Architecture for Mission-Operations Software

Ensemble is the name of an open architecture for, and a methodology for the development of, spacecraft mission operations software. Ensemble is also potentially applicable to the development of non-spacecraft mission-operations- type software. Ensemble capitalizes on the strengths of the open-source Eclipse software and its architecture to address several issues that have arisen repeatedly in the development of mission-operations software: Heretofore, mission-operations application programs have been developed in disparate programming environments and integrated during the final stages of development of missions. The programs have been poorly integrated, and it has been costly to develop, test, and deploy them. Users of each program have been forced to interact with several different graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Also, the strategy typically used in integrating the programs has yielded serial chains of operational software tools of such a nature that during use of a given tool, it has not been possible to gain access to the capabilities afforded by other tools. In contrast, the Ensemble approach offers a low-risk path towards tighter integration of mission-operations software tools.

Norris, Jeffrey↗
NASA NTRS2008

Forecasting Lightning Threat using Cloud-Resolving Model Simulations

Two new approaches are proposed and developed for making time and space dependent, quantitative short-term forecasts of lightning threat, and a blend of these approaches is devised that capitalizes on the strengths of each. The new methods are distinctive in that they are based entirely on the ice-phase hydrometeor fields generated by regional cloud-resolving numerical simulations, such as those produced by the WRF model. These methods are justified by established observational evidence linking aspects of the precipitating ice hydrometeor fields to total flash rates. The methods are straightforward and easy to implement, and offer an effective near-term alternative to the incorporation of complex and costly cloud electrification schemes into numerical models. One method is based on upward fluxes of precipitating ice hydrometeors in the mixed phase region at the-15 C level, while the second method is based on the vertically integrated amounts of ice hydrometeors in each model grid column. Each method can be calibrated by comparing domain-wide statistics of the peak values of simulated flash rate proxy fields against domain-wide peak total lightning flash rate density data from observations. Tests show that the first method is able to capture much of the temporal variability of the lightning threat, while the second method does a better job of depicting the areal coverage of the threat. Our blended solution is designed to retain most of the temporal sensitivity of the first method, while adding the improved spatial coverage of the second. Exploratory tests for selected North Alabama cases show that, because WRF can distinguish the general character of most convective events, our methods show promise as a means of generating quantitatively realistic fields of lightning threat. However, because the models tend to have more difficulty in predicting the instantaneous placement of storms, forecasts of the detailed location of the lightning threat based on single simulations can be in error. Although these model shortcomings presently limit the precision of lightning threat forecasts from individual runs of current generation models,the techniques proposed herein should continue to be applicable as newer and more accurate physically-based model versions, physical parameterizations, initialization techniques and ensembles of forecasts become available.

McCaul, Eugene W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Spacecraft Thermal Management

In the 21st century, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Russian Federal Space Agency, the National Space Agency of Ukraine, the China National Space Administration, and many other organizations representing spacefaring nations shall continue or newly implement robust space programs. Additionally, business corporations are pursuing commercialization of space for enabling space tourism and capital business ventures. Future space missions are likely to include orbiting satellites, orbiting platforms, space stations, interplanetary vehicles, planetary surface missions, and planetary research probes. Many of these missions will include humans to conduct research for scientific and terrestrial benefits and for space tourism, and this century will therefore establish a permanent human presence beyond Earth s confines. Other missions will not include humans, but will be autonomous (e.g., satellites, robotic exploration), and will also serve to support the goals of exploring space and providing benefits to Earth s populace. This section focuses on thermal management systems for human space exploration, although the guiding principles can be applied to unmanned space vehicles as well. All spacecraft require a thermal management system to maintain a tolerable thermal environment for the spacecraft crew and/or equipment. The requirements for human rating and the specified controlled temperature range (approximately 275 K - 310 K) for crewed spacecraft are unique, and key design criteria stem from overall vehicle and operational/programatic considerations. These criteria include high reliability, low mass, minimal power requirements, low development and operational costs, and high confidence for mission success and safety. This section describes the four major subsystems for crewed spacecraft thermal management systems, and design considerations for each. Additionally, some examples of specialized or advanced thermal system technologies are presented, which may be enabling to future space missions never before attempted like a crewed mission to Mars.

Hurlbert, Kathryn Miller↗
NASA NTRS2008

Precision Cleaning - Path to Premier

ITT Space Systems Division s new Precision Cleaning facility provides critical cleaning and packaging of aerospace flight hardware and optical payloads to meet customer performance requirements. The Precision Cleaning Path to Premier Project was a 2007 capital project and is a key element in the approved Premier Resource Management - Integrated Supply Chain Footprint Optimization Project. Formerly precision cleaning was located offsite in a leased building. A new facility equipped with modern precision cleaning equipment including advanced process analytical technology and improved capabilities was designed and built after outsourcing solutions were investigated and found lacking in ability to meet quality specifications and schedule needs. SSD cleans parts that can range in size from a single threaded fastener all the way up to large composite structures. Materials that can be processed include optics, composites, metals and various high performance coatings. We are required to provide verification to our customers that we have met their particulate and molecular cleanliness requirements and we have that analytical capability in this new facility. The new facility footprint is approximately half the size of the former leased operation and provides double the amount of throughput. Process improvements and new cleaning equipment are projected to increase 1st pass yield from 78% to 98% avoiding $300K+/yr in rework costs. Cost avoidance of $350K/yr will result from elimination of rent, IT services, transportation, and decreased utility costs. Savings due to reduced staff expected to net $4-500K/yr.

Mackler, Scott E.↗
NASA NTRS2008

The Space Systems Environmental Test Facility Database (SSETFD), Website Development Status

The Aerospace Corporation has been developing a database of U.S. environmental test laboratory capabilities utilized by the space systems hardware development community. To date, 19 sites have been visited by The Aerospace Corporation and verbal agreements reached to include their capability descriptions in the database. A website is being developed to make this database accessible by all interested government, civil, university and industry personnel. The website will be accessible by all interested in learning more about the extensive collective capability that the US based space industry has to offer. The Environments, Test & Assessment Department within The Aerospace Corporation will be responsible for overall coordination and maintenance of the database. Several US government agencies are interested in utilizing this database to assist in the source selection process for future spacecraft programs. This paper introduces the website by providing an overview of its development, location and search capabilities. It will show how the aerospace community can apply this new tool as a way to increase the utilization of existing lab facilities, and as a starting point for capital expenditure/upgrade trade studies. The long term result is expected to be increased utilization of existing laboratory capability and reduced overall development cost of space systems hardware. Finally, the paper will present the process for adding new participants, and how the database will be maintained.

Snyder, James M.↗