NASAclo 2
NASAclo 2
NASAclo 2
Spinoff
/,am= T. Rose
of this technology-spinoffs-have emerged
to the benefit of the nation's lifestyle and Assistant Administrator for Cmmrcial Programs
economy. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Introduction
Aerospace Aims
Technology Utilization
Recycling Technology
Aerospace Aims
i
are intended to provide
In January 1988, NASA greater mobility than the
began evaluating two experi- Shuttle suit offers with more
mental prototypes of EVA comfort, despite the design
suits being developed by constraints imposed by the
Ames Research Center and higher pressure. NASA will
Johnson Space Center, each select one suit or the other,
employing a different design or possibly a new hybrid de-
approach. sign that combines features
Shown undergoing test in of both, as the standard suit
a water tank is Ames' X-5, for Space Station or Space
I worn by space suit designer Shuttle EVA in the 1990s. A
Herbert C. "Vic" Vykukal
of the center's Aerospace
Human Factors Research Di-
vision. The AX-5 is an "all-
hard" suit, made of alumi-
num and stainless steel with
no "soft" (fabric) parts.
Miao Craft, Inc. is Ames'
principal contractor.
Johnson Space Center
USC) is taking a design ap-
proach based on the philoso-
phy that soft parts enhance
wearer comfort and should
be employed to the extent
T he artist's concept
shows a Shuttle de-
ployed Orbital Maneu-
vering Vehicle ( O W ) re-
trieving an orbiting payload
The reusable OMV is a
space tug intended to extend
the reach of the Shuttle Or-
biter by moving satellites
and other objects to and
Remotely-controlled by
ground-based astronauts em-
ploying television and other
sensors to guide its move-
ments, the OMV can handle
tem can be configured to
perform a wide variety of
space tasks.
No provision has been
made for basing an O W at
for return to the Shuttle Or- from altitudes beyond the routine on-orbit servicing, the initial baseline Space Sta-
biter. The next planned ad- Orbiter's normal operating maintenance or payload tion, but the OMV could
dition to the space Transpor- area of 150-300 miles above changeout, and can be useful evolve later into a station ad-
tation System, the OMV is Earth's surface. It can, for as a "Shuttle associate" in junct, performing such tasks
being developed by TRW example, propel a payload as construction of large space as deployment of station-
Inc.; Marshall Space Flight far as 1,200 miles after structures. By use of modifi- assembled satellites or po-
Center is project manager. deployment from the cation kits, the versatile sys- sitioning Shuttle-delivered
Orbiter--or it can retrieve a resupply modules. The sys-
payload, deliver it to the Or- tem is targeted for service in
biter for repair, then return 1993. r
it to its operational orbit.
k- %,
i'h
5'.
7'
. . ..., '
,' .
.
, . . .
. . provide the U.S. laboratory
and habitation modules, lo-
gistics elements, resource
node structures, airlock sys-
tems, the environmental con-
trol and life support system,
audio and video systems,
and associated software.
Work Package Two,
managed by Johnson Space
Center, is being performed
by a team headed by Mc-
Domell Douglas Astronau-
tics Company. It embraces
the auss structure, the MSS
transporter, airlocks, outfit-
ting of the resource nodes,
hardware and software for
the data management sys-
tem, the communications
and tracking system, the
guidance, navigation and
control system, EVA sys-
tems, the propulsion system,
Astro-Space Division with loah and assist in servicing In addition to the GE/ the thermal control system
assistance h m team mem- .-s TRW contracts described, and amdated software.
ber TRW Inc. The GE/ Another major component which are part of Work Rocketdyne Division of
TRW team is also responsi- of the Space Station is the Package Three, NASA Rockwell International Cor-
ble for integration into the Mobile Servicing System awarded letter contracts in poration is handling Work
Space Station of the Fhght (MSS) being developed by December 1987 to three Package Four under the
Telerobotic Servicer, a multi- the Canadian government. other major contractors, each management of Lewis
armed robot that will help Shown above, the robotic of which is supported Research Center. The
astronauts assemble the MSS operates h m the hori- by a number of team Rocketdyne team will pro-
Space Station (above), later zontal truss,positioned by a subcontractors. vide the complete power sys-
help maintain attached pay- U.S.-provided mobile trans- tem and associated software,
porter, performing assembly, including power generation,
maintenance and servicing storage, management and
tasks. In the concept shown, distribution of electric
the MSS manipulator arm is power. Rocketdyne will also
addug an experiment mod- provide the electric power
ule to a auss-attached pay- system for the U.S. polar
load. orbiting platform.
(Continued)
he Presidential space Therefore, to lay a foun- ment and build upon the Project Pathfinder is orga-
I policy announced in
February 1988 di-
rected that NASA pursue a
dation for deciding advanced
goals, the President's direc-
tive created Project Path-
ongoing Civil Space Technol-
ogy Initiative (CSTI). Where
CSTI aims to develop tech-
nized around four major
thrusts: Exploration, Transfer
Vehicles, Humans in Space,
long range goal "to establish finder, a major new program nologies related to space op- and Operations. Each thrust
human presence and activity for research and development erations in low Earth orbit, focuses on a set of key tech-
beyond Earth orbit." The di- of "precursor" technologies Pathfinder will concentrate nology elements to support
rective recognized, however, that will enable a wide range on emerging, innovative critical mission capabilities.
that an immediate decision of manned and unmanned technologies that would Examples of the Explora-
on speufic goal, or set of missions beyond Earth orbit. make possible such lunar/in- tion thrust include develop-
goals, would be premature; Pathfinder will comple- terplanetary missions and ad- ment of the technologies
intelligent goal selection vanced robotic exploration of needed for automated or as-
among the alternatives being the solar system, a human-
considered demands a smffed outpost on the Moon,
broader science and technol- or a manned expedition to
ogy base. Mars.
20 Flight Plan fw T o m m
tronics and knowledge of the human factors jetliners and high performance military An artist's conception of a 21st
in flight operations. The other part embraces air&. century aerospace plane preparing
technology development for improving the Additionally, the aeronautical research to dock at a space station.
performance, efficiency and environmental program includes development of technology
acceptability of specific types of flight vehi- for solution of current and predictable avia-
cles, such as tomorrow's general aviation tion problems. Examples indude curbing air-
planes, rotary wing aircraft, advanced craft fuel consumption, curbing airplane and
helicopter noise, finding ways to alleviate
congestion and a variety of safety-related in-
vestigations, such as anti-icing research, re-
search on fire resistant materials and im-
proved aircraft structures for better passenger
protection. A
A t right is an experi-
mental concept in-
stalled in the cockpit
of NASA's Transport Sys-
tems Research Vehide
(TSRV). In this new all-elec
tronic flight deck concept,
virtually all of the traditional
display indicators have been
replaced by advanced indi-
cators such as those shown at
far right; the upper display
shows flight information, the
lower navigation informa-
tion. Electronically generated
displays promise to reduce
clutter, complexity and aew
workload while maintaining
reliability in the transport
cockpit of the funue.
The TSRV is a modified
Boeing 737 jetliner operated
by Langley Research Center 1990s.Color displays, on-
in a cooperative program- board computers and spe-
with the Federal Aviation d y developed software
Administration-that is ex- make it possible to provide
ploring technology for en- more dearly information
hanced air safety and reduc- The ?SRV is a flying lab- to explore innovations in dis- thar, in today's aircraft, is
tion of flight delays. Called oratory, extensively equipped play format and content, and presented only parually or
ATOPS-for Advanced with advanced experimental to evaluate pioneering con- in scattered locations.
Transport Operating Sys- avionics. It has two flight cepts for improved aircraft In addition to the video
tems-the program aims to decks: a conventional for- operations. flight and navigation dis-
provide a technology base for ward deck and a fully opera- On the research flight plays, center panel displays
development of airborne tional research flight deck, deck, information is pre- provide capabilities for mon-
automation aids that com- located in the main cabin aft sented to the crew by eight itoring engine and system
plement advancing ground- of the standird pilots' com- electronic displays represen- status and managing aircraft
based air traffic control con- parunent. From the win- tative of the technology that systems operation. The cen-
cepts for improved safety, dowless aft cockpit, research will be available for new ter panel displays permit re-
communications and trafKc aews fly the airplane by commercial transports of the search on how additional in-
flow. means of computer-driven formation can be displayed
systems and informational to improve air ttaffic control
displays, while pilots on the communications, flight man-
standard flight deck monitor agement options and d c
the flight. The aft flight awareness. A
deck provides the capability
A n airplane's angle of
attack is the angle be-
tween the wing and
the air through which it
moves. At high angles of at-
tack, airflow around the air-
craft becomes extremely
complex and accurate in-
formation about such
airflows is scant. Most air-
aafi handle poorly at high
angles of attack, and they
can fall off into dangerous
spins. loan from the Navy to inves- of airtlow at high alpha con- Another major project at
Better understanding of tigate high alpha airflows ditions in addition to instru- Ames-Dryden is flight test-
"high alpha" conditions, as and to test post-stall maneu- ments for collecting basic ing of the X-29 advanced
NASA refers to them, could verability by thrust vector- dam. Smoke generators technology demonstrator
enable prediction of the ing, or deflecting the en- delineate vortex flows, mini- (above right), built by
complex airflow interactions, gine's exhaust. Managed by tornados swirling around Grumman Aerospace Cor-
provide design aiteria to Ames-Dryden, the program parts of the air& that in- poration for a program spon-
prevent spins and related is a cooperative d o r t of aease lift and can potentially sored by the Defense Ad-
crashes, and greatly inaease Ames, Langley and Lewis be used for aircraft control at vanced Research Projects
the maneuverability of high Research Centers. high alpha. Other flow data Agency with NASA and Air
performance jet aircraft. The High Alpha program is gathered by injecting col- Force support.
Those are the aims of a is expected to aeate a data ored dye fluids onto the air The X-29 features a
NASA High Alpha Technol- base and develop methods surfaces. Thrust vector con- unique forward-swept wing,
ogy Program under way at that will permit more &- trol flights are scheduled to
Ames-Dryden Flight Re- cient design of aircraft and begin next year and the pro-
search Facility. The program thereby minimize costly gram is expected to extend
involves use of a specially post-production design fixes. to autumn 1992.
equipped and instrumented The F/A-18 research air-
F/A-18 Hornet (right) on craft is equipped with sys-
tems that allow visualization
P erformance advances
envisioned for fighter
aircraft of the 1990s
could require costly develop-
ment of new engines. But a
new NASA-developed en-
gine control system offers a
I
possible alternative: squeez-
ing unused power out of ex-
isting jet engines to gain ma-
jor thrust and fuel economy
advantages.
Using new engine/flight
control integration technol-
ogy, researchers at NASA's
Ames-Dryden Flight Re-
search Facility are demon-
strating inaeased thrust of
10 percent and more in an
F- 15 research air& (right).
Flight tests have also shown HIDEC gets increased about 12 percent, for a sub- mands are then made to the
that fuel savings of five to performance by trading un- stantial gain in usable power. digital engine control system,
seven percent may be needed engine stall margin Flight condition information, which adjusts the engine
achieved in lieu of higher (the amount of engine op- such as attitudes, rates and nozzle to provide the correct
thrust. This inaeased perfor- erating pressure for addi- pilot commands, are pro- operating pressure.
mance has been attained tional thrust reduction re- vided to the HIDEC and The Ames-Dryden F-15
with only one of the F- 15's quired to avoid stall at any analyzed. In addition, has one standard F-100 en-
two engines fitted with the given instant). A typical jet HIDEC anticipates flight gine plus a Pratt & Whimey
new control system. engine stall margin is 25 conditions in advance to 1128 research engine with
The research effort is percent, because designers select the minimal margin the digital electronic controls.
known as the Highly Inte- have to allow for the worst required for that instant of In addition, the F- 15 has a
grated Digital Electronic combination of flight condi- flight. The appropriate com- digital electronic flight con-
Control (HIDEC) program, tions the airaafi may en- trol system. The flight test
a cooperative program in- counter. That 25 percent program has been under way
volving NASA, the Air margin can reduce the en- since June 1986. A
Force, F- 15 builder McDon- gine's usable power by about
n d Douglas Corporation 15 percent.
and engine builder Pratt & The HIDEC system, in
Whitney division of United which engine and flight con-
Technologies Corporation. trol systems communicate
with each other, allows the
engine to adjust itself to the
minimal stall margin for any
flight condition, down to
I n aeronautics, researchers
create mathematical
models of flight vehicles
and "fly" them by computer
simulation, thus allowing
study of many Werent con-
figurations before settling on
a final design. Called com-
putational simulation, this
technique has expanded
enormously in recent years to
embrace calculation and vi-
sual imagery of many types
of forces acting upon flight
vehicles, including phenom-
ena that cannot be realisti-
cally simulated in a wind
tunnel.
The world's most ad-
vanced computational sys-
tem, now operational, is solution of many previously vanced pathfinder in near term goal for the early
NASA's Numerical Aerody- intractable problems and supercomputing for govern- 1990s is a NAS memory of
namic Simulation (NAS) make possible many of the ment, industry and universi- one billion words and com-
facility. Located at Ames calculations required to de- ties. Since 1986, when the puter power for four billion
Research Center, it is a velop advanced air& with facility went into limited op- calculations a second. The
supercomputer system being greater accuracy and reliabil- eration with a capability of long term goal of 10 billion
developed in building block ity. NAS will not only im- 250 million calculations a calculations a second is tar-
fashion toward an eventual prove the design process, second, the NAS computa- geted for the late 1990s.
capability of 10 billion cal- providing costs savings and tional capability has been Such computational capabil-
culations a second. aircraft performance gains, it boosted fourfold, to one bil- ity will not only provide
NAS is an evolutionary will also reduce the long and lion calculations a second. A enormous impetus to aero-
effort to permit realization of expensive wind tunnel and space research and develop-
a major goal of aeronautical flight testing essential to fi- ment, it will also permit ma-
science: the ability to simu- nal validation of a design. jor advances in other areas,
late routinely the complex The key to attainment of such as non-aerospace
three-dimensional airflow that goal is far greater com- structural design, materials
around a complete airplane puter capability than has research, chemistry and
and its propulsion system. been available. NASA is in- weather research. A
Such a capability will allow corporating the latest
supercomputing technology
as it becomes available, so
that NAS serves as an ad-
--
and beyond.
A subdivision that will get considerable
research emphasis is Earth science and appli-
cations, which seeks understanding of the
factors that influence Earth's environment
Encased in thermal insulation to
and use of the knowledge gained to benefit
keep temperatures of the space-
humanity. A related applications area is craft structure even, the Hubble
development of communications and Space Telescope is shown being
information systems technology to meet the moved to a thermal vacuum
futureneeds of government and the satellite chamber for an April 1988 envi-
communications industry, ronmental test. One of the key-
The other two subdivisions are stone elements of NASA's space
microgravity science and applications (see
page 46) and life sciences. The latter is
- science strategic plan for the re-
mainder of the century, the tele-
aimed at understanding the origin and scope is shown at left as it will
distribution of life in the universe and at look in orbit after its 1989 launch.
uthing the space environment to improve
knowledge in medicine and biology, with
special emphasis on assuring that humans
can perform safely and &ectively in space.
(ContimedJ
-
servatories, the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics
The Cosmic Background Explorer The year 1989 promises to be a year of Facility.
will study the radiation emitted by unparalleled space science activity, with Additionally, 1989 activity will include
celestial objects seeking clues as scheduled launches of five major new pro- development-for operation in 1990-
to the earliest beginning and struc- p~, the A~~~~~arrival of the Vower 1993--a series of experiment packages to be
tures of the universe. 2 spacecraft at distant Neptune, one of two flown in the Shuttle-based Spacelab system;
as yet unexplored planets. they include several life science missions, two
Targeted for February launch by an ex- rniaogravity research laboratories, several
pendable launch vehicle is the Cosmic Back- atmospheric science laboratories, two
ground Explorer, a two-and-a-half ton obser- astronomy laboratories and two space radar
vatory designed expressly to investigate laboratories.
the Big Bang theory of the origin of the ALL of the major projects in the 1989 on-
universe. going program will have been launched by
In April, the Space Shuttle will dispatch 1993. Since it takes about six years to de-
the Magellan s p a c d toward Venus to velop a new major flight project, it will be
map the neighbor planet with unprecedented necessary, during 1990-1994, to select and
precision. In June, the Shuttle is expected to initiate the successors to the ongoing pro-
deliver to orbit the Hubble Space Telescope, gram. The suategic plan contemplates these
widely considered to be the most important major missions:
scientific instrument ever designed for use in The Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby, a
space. closeup look at an asteroid followed by a
multiyear rendezvous with a comet.
Cassini, a comprehensive investigation of
Saturn, its major moon Titan, its rings and
other moons.
The Earth Observing System, centerpiece The High Resolution Solar Observatory, a The Shuttle-based Astro Observa-
of a long term integrated study of Planet platform for studying in visible light the tory, scheduled for first service
Earth and global change. fundamental processes of the Sun's surface late in 1989, will view the sky in
The Space Infmed Telescope Facility, atmosphere. ultraviolet light not visible on Earth
fourth and last of the Great Observatories. The Lunar Observer, a long duration and provide high-resolution x-ray
The Solar Probe, man's 6rst direct explor- mapping mission to measure the Moon's views of a recently-discovered
atory venture to the vicinity of the Sun. supernova.
surface composition and to assess its
resources.
Gravity Probe-B, which will test Einstein's
theory of general relativity.
These programs are amplified on the
following pages. A
Solar System Exploration
I n August 1989, the Managed by Jet Propul- human endeavors in space; Venus, two neighbor planets
Voyager 2 s p a d will sion Laboratory UPL), the this aspect of the program similar in many respects that
make a close encounter Voyager project exemplifies involves s w e y of near-Earth have evolved in strikingly
with the planet Neptune, NASA's solar system ex- resources, characterization of different fashion. Using an
reaching its closest point on ploration program, aimed at planetary sutfaces and a advanced system called a
August 25 (below), when understandmg how the solar search for life on other synthetic apermre radar, Ma-
Earth and Neptune will be system and its objects planets. gellan will map more than
separated by 2.8 billion formed, evolved and-in at NASA's planetary 90 percent of Venus' surface
miles. Already a veteran of least one instance-produced exploration d o r t is built with resolutions 10 times
hlghly successful imaging en- an environment capable of around the recommendations better than the best obtained
counters with Jupiter, Saturn sustaining life. The program of the govemment/indus~ry/ by prior s p a c e d . Magellan
and Uranus, Voyager 2 will also seeks greater knowledge universities Solar System Ex- is managed by JPL; Martin
be more than 12 years out of of Earth through "compara- ploration Committee (SSEC), Marietta is developing the
home port Earth. The im- tive planetology,," the science formed in 1980 to develop a spacecraft and Hughes Air-
ages it returns will provide of relating phenomena on long range program. Stress- aaft the advanced imaging
man's first real look at Nep- one planet to conditions on ing cost effectiveness and use radar.
tune, because the planet is another and learning why of existing technology to the On the currently planned
not visible to the unaided the planets are so different extent possible, SSEC's Core schedule, October 1989 will
eye and even to large from each other. An ancillary Program recommended a see the second planetary mis-
telescopes it shows up as a goal of the program is to es- continuing series of modest sion of the year-Galileo, a
small, greenish disc in which tablish a scientific/technid Planetary Observer missions long term Jupiter-orbiting
no sutfxe detail is visible. base for undertaking major to explore the inner planets observatory that will also
and near-Earth asteroids, carry a probe to investigate
using reconfigured "off-the- Jupiter's aunosphere. Deliv-
shelf" Earth orbital space- ered to Earth orbit by the
d.Additionally, SSEC Space Shuttle, Galileo will
recommended a comple- be boosted into a trajectory
mentary series to explore the that will take it six years to
outer planets, comets and as- reach Jupiter. As it ap-
teroids, these missions would proaches the giant planet in
employ a common, basic mid- 1995, Galileo will re-
Mariner Mark I1 spacecraft lease the probe to descend by
with evolving technological parachute into the Jovian at-
capabilities for a variety of mosphere. The main space-
exploratory assignments. craft will swing into orbit
In April 1989, NASA around Jupiter, in dect be-
will launch the h t planetary coming a man-made moon,
mission since Voyagers 1 transmitting-for at least
and 2 departed Earth in two years-high quality im-
1977. Called Magellan, it ages and instrument data
will orbit Venus and image
in never-before-seen high
resolution views of the sur-
face of the cloud-shrouded
planet for continuing com-
parative studies of Earth and
T raditionally, scientific
knowledge of Earth
and its environment
has advanced piecemeal
through separate investiga-
(top) will report global data
about the composition and
dynamics of the upper atmo-
sphere over a span of several
years. Among major objec-
tions of the individual com- tives are understanding of
ponents: the planet's interior, the mechanisms that control
its crust, biosphere, oceans the structure and variability
and ice cover, the atmo- of the upper aunosphere and
sphere and the ionosphere. the role of the upper atmo-
Recent research has dernon- sphere in dimate and di-
strated, however, that all matic changes.
these components are inter- The other program is
linked, or coupled. NASA's TOPEX (Ocean Topography
new aim, therefore, is to Experiment), an ocean ob-
study the Earth as a single servation satellite designed to
d e d system, to learn how make highly accurate mea-
the components and their in- surements of sea s h e
teractions have evolved and elevations over entire ocean
will evolve in the future. The basins for several years. Inte-
ultimatc goals are a complete grated with subsdace mea-
understanding of the Earth surements, this information
system on a global scale and will be used in models to de-
a capability for predicting termine ocean circulation and
the environmental changes its variability. TOPEX
that will occur decades or (right) will sigdicantly ex-
~ e n ~ ihence,
e s whether pand knowledge of ocean
those changes derive from dynamics and it will also es-
natural causes or from tablish an informational base
human activities. for practical applications,
ir: Major steps toward those such as weather and dimate
goals are promised by two prediction, coastal storm
major missions already in warning, maritime safety,
/ development and intended ship design and routing, and
for service in the early food production from ocean the 1990s. EOS will dow, hensive study of the global-
r
1990s. One is the Upper sources. for the first time, long term scale processes that shape
Aunosphere Research Satel- The Earth science center- (15 years or more) consistent and influence Earth as a
lite (UARS), being devel- piece planned for the 1990s measurements of global system.
oped by General Electric's is the Earth Observing Sys- changes, enabling compre- EOS fin* will be
RCA Astro-Space Division tem (EOS), not a speafic complemented by new Earth
under Goddard Space Flight satellite but a "suite" of in- science satellites, such as a
Center management. UARS struments to operate from a proposed Mesosphere and
number of satellites and Lower Thermosphere Ex-
from a new generation of plorer, by a series of small
polar-orbiting platforms ex- missions called Earth probes.
pected to be operational in
42 C o n r m i a l U I of
~ Space
fuming the belief that expanded private sec-
tor invesunent in space can generate signrfi-
cant economic benefits for the U.S., the
policy provides support and direction for a
vigorous space commercial program.
The policy stated these g d :
Promoting a strong U.S. commercial
presence in space
Assuring a highway to space, and
Building a solid technological and talent
base.
Among other NASA actions to implement
the President's policy, NASA took initial
steps toward complying with the speafica-
tion that the agency, an an "anchor tenant,"
lease space in a commercially financed and
operated orbital facility for materials process- optimum industry use; research facilities and What looks like a batch of
ing research and other activities. NASA also hardware that would most &ectively multicolored ribbon (left) is
invited private sector firms to submit pro- stimulate commercial space endeavors; and actually a research image, a
posals on how the normally jettisoned Space NASA/indusay arrangements that enhance computer generated represen-
Shuttle External Tanks might be put to com- policy objectives. tation of the molecular structure
mercial use. Additionally, NASA i n a d NASA has also formed a Commercial Use of a protein. Marshall Space
its activity toward development of commer- Flight Center is helping U.S.
of Space Task Team, composed of more than pharmaceutical companies
cial applications of remote sensing. 100 NASA and industry experts who will conduct space-based protein
In the area of space privatization, NASA study and recommend new initiatives and crystal growth experiments.
continued activities to encourage and facili- changes in ongoing projects. Such crystals, superior to those
tate commercial operation of space launch One other major action involved initiation grown on Earth, could lead to
vehicles. of a comprehensive long range strategic plan development of powerful new
Among other initiatives, NASA continued for commercial space development over the drugs for treatment of disease.
to expand its network of Centers for the next quarter century; it will draw upon the Shown above is a view of protein
Commercial Development of Space (CCDS), combined expertise of NASA, industry, crystals being grown in a Shuttle-
not-for-profit joint research undertakings academic and other government agency based facility.
composed of industrial firms, academic insti- organizations.
tutions and government organizations. From Many of these initiatives are amplified on
the original five CCDS activated in 1985, the following pages. A
the network has grown to 16.
In February 1988, NASA established a
Commercial Programs Advisory Committee,
to operate as a subcommittee of the NASA
Advisory Council. The new group is charged
with reviewing the NASA space commercial
program and recommendmg changes that
would enhance the overall effort. The group
will also advise on speufic program elements,
including research priorities; the research
data base structure and accessibility for
44 Comtner~iaIUse of Space
facility for testing new space
equipment. The President's
commercial space initiative
announced government in-
tent to spur commercial fi-
nancing, construction and
operation of such a facility
by leasing space for NASA
experiment packages. At
publication time, NASA was
awaiting Congressional au-
thorization to proceed with
the program.
In May 1988, NASA
began implementation of
another orbital research
stimulus suggested in the
Presidential commercial
space initiative when the
agency asked indusay for ex-
pressions of interest in mak-
ing commercial use of the
Space Shuttle's External
Tank.The huge expendable
tanks are normally jettisoned
just before the Shuttle attains
orbit, but they could be offering to make the tanks
boosted into orbit for a available without charge, but
number of possible uses. At users must pay costs associ- At right is the Geostar
right above is an artist's con- ated with orbital insertion DS- 1 communications satel-
cept of a Shuttle-delivered and eventual safe disposition lite. Under a Space Systems
tank in low Earth orbit. of the tanks. Costs will in- Development Agreement,
Through 1994, approxi- dude payments to NASA for NASA will Shuttle-launch
mately 40 tanks will be unique mission engineering, three such satellites for
flown. The exact number planning and safety reviews, Geostar Corporation, which
that could be made available special studies, pre-launch will provide as a commercial
for commercial use will de- modifications to the tank service a capability for com-
pend on a case-by-case anal- and, if necessary, on orbit panies to track and commu-
ysis of each Shuttle mission nicate their mobile fleets of
and the proposed use for trucks, ships, trains, or air-
that particular tank. Where craft. Geostar will pay
commercial use can be ac- NASA for launch services on
commodated, NASA is a deferred basis. The first of
the Geostar satellites is
scheduled for Shuttle deliv-
ery in early 1992. A
ment for materials processing thereby lead to revolutionary is the Joint Endeavor Agree- indude many types of fut-
research. such research can improvements in Earth pro- ment (JEA), in which naces for growing crystals or
lead to man- in space cessing techniques. NASA sponsors Space Shut- for melting/solidifyhg met-
of products that cannot be NASA's role is to conduct tle flights of industrydevel- als and alloys; apparatus for
produced effenively or in miaogravity research and oped, industry-6nanced separating biological materi-
quantity in the presence of technology development and experiments to reduce the als, levitators that enable
Earth's atmosphere and make available to industry technical and financial risks processing of materials with-
gravity. Among such prcd- new discoveries that may of early research, develop- out use of containers that
ucts are hlgh purity biologi- have commercial applicabil- ment and demonstration of might conraminate the sam-
cal materials for more ity. NASA also seeks to promising, commercially ple; systems for observing
effdve health care, semi- encourage broadest private applicable technologies. fluid processes in micro-
conductor materials with sector participation in co- Among the leading indus- gravity; computers for con-
enormously improved operative orbital research. trial participants is 3M, trolling experiments; and
electrical properties for great One of the agency's key tools which contemplates more cameras and other data ac-
than 60 flight experiments quisition systems for record-
over a 10-year span. 3M de- ing the results.
veloped one of the two ma-
terials processing experiments
for the "new beginn@"
STS-26 flight of the Orbiter
Discovery., at left, astronaut
James Van Hoften is operat-
ing a 3M experiment on a
Space Shuttle flight.
NASA has developed a
broad range of equipment
and f d t i e s , much of it
generated by Marshall Space
Flight Center, to support
miaogravity research. Exam-
ples of Shuttle-based systems
R emote sensing of
Earth's surface is a
process in which sat-
ellite or airbome sensors de-
tect various types of radia-
avoidance, guiding fishing
fleets to most productive
waters, monitoring oil spills,
and producing general in-
formation that can help im-
tion emitted by or reflected prove ship design and ship
from objects on Earth. Com- routing techniques.
puter processed at ground NASA developed the
facilities, this data can be Landsat series of Earth re-
interpreted to differentiate sources survey satellites, first
among a broad variety of launched in 1972, demon-
surface features and strated in government opera-
conditions. tion for more than a decade
This information can be and now operated as a com-
put to practical use in such mercial system; below is a
applications as agricultural late model Landsat getting a
crop forecasting, rangeland f d pre-launch check. Com-
and forest management, mercial remote sensing has
mineral and petroleum ex- great growth potential, but
ploration, mapping, dassi- as yet only a few applications
fying land use, delineating are being pursued on a con-
urban growth patterns, sistent basis. NASA seeks to
studying floods to lessen expand the list of applica-
their devastation, and plot- tions by developing new
ting changes in ecology re- technologies and demonstrat-
sulting from forest fires, ing new uses of space-based
earthquakes or strip mining and airborne remote sensing.
activities, to mention just a NASA projects for com-
few of the applications for mercial development of re-
remote sensing of land areas. mote sensing are managed
A representative computer by the Earth Resources Lab-
processed image is shown at oratory (ERL)at Stennis
right center. The scene is the Space Center, Mississippi.
Gulf of Mexico near Corpus ERL is conducting research
Christi, Texas;to skilled and technology development,
analysts, the color codes exploring ways to use exist-
reveal a wealth of informa-
tion about land cover, vege-
tation, swamp areas and
sedimentation.
In addition, remote sens-
ing of oceans offers another
range of beneficial applica-
tions, for example, warning
of threatening coastal disas-
ters, storm and iceberg
48 Cmnnre~ialUse of Space
ing remote sensing technol- projects, to be managed by application of airborne ocean In addition to Stennis
ogy in new commercial ERL, aimed at broader use color imaging technology to Space Center activity, NASA
products and services, and of NASAdeveloped technol- commercial fishing; and use also sponsors two Centers for
helping users develop their ogy in land and ocean of satellite data for potato Commercial Development of
own technology; industrial observations for practical production estimates. Space (CCDS) that specialize
investigators have access to benefit. To be conducted by At the same time, NASA in remote sensing. The Insti-
airborne sensor data acquired teams of industry firms, uni- announced 11 other projects, tute of Technology Develop-
by the specially-fitted ERL versities and other research to be managed by the Office ment CCDS, Hancock, Mis-
Learjet shown. An example organizations, the projects in- of Space Science and Appli- sissippi conducts research in
is ERL's work with Union volve, for example, commer- cations, involving remote sensor technology, data inter-
Oil of W o r n i a (Unocal), cial development of an ice sensing technology develop- pretation techniques and
which has proposed a cor- data and forecasting system; ment for public sector appli- data handling capabilities.
porative arrangement to de- development of methods for cations. Some examples: The Ohio State University
velop and test-initially on using satellite data in forest remote sensing as a tool for CCDS, Columbus, Ohio is
the Space Shuttle and later resources management; landslide hazard assessment; developing satellite mapping
aboard the Space Station- analysis of sediment trans- technology. A
new technology for Earth- port and land loss processes;
orbiting sensors designed to and investigation of an
seek out energy resources. automated satellite-based fire
In April 1988, NASA an- detection and monitoring
nounced selection of nine system.
commercial applications
++
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,.,.LT, s.. -
Space Software for Automotive Design
The spinoff-spurred growth
of a chassis manufacturina" I n 1971, sharp reductions in the federal
defense and space budgets aeated what
was known as the "aerospace recession"
that put thousands of aerospace engineers out
his company into a bustling design and
manufacturing operation speciahhg in chas-
sis for buses, trams, trucks, recreational vehi-
cles and special purpose military vehicles.
And aerospace spinoff would be the trigger.
company exemplifies the of work. Traditionally the state with the
largest aerospace employment, California was Thousand put his aerospace group to
benefit potential of particularly hard hit. To ease the impact, the work on an unfamiliar job-designing a bet-
state government established a retraining ter brake drum-using computer design
aerospace technology program to prepare aerospace engineers for techniques with which they were entirely fa-
jobs in other industries. miliar. Used in the aerospace industry since
transfer That's how John Thousand wound up the earliest days of the computer era, com-
with six young aeronautical engineers who puter design involves creation of a math-
had previously worked for a California plant ematical model of a product and analyzing
of the aerospace giant, Md>omefl Douglas its effectiveness in simulated operation. The
Corporation. Thousand was president of technique enables study of the performance
Wolverine Western Corporation, Newport and structural behavior of a number of
Beach, California, a company providing engi- different designs before settling on a final
neering consulting services to the automotive configuration.
industry. He didn't know it at the time, but The new Wolverine employees attacked a
his acquisition of the aerospace group was to traditional brake drum problem-the sud-
start a chain of events that would transform den buildup of heat during fast and repeated
brakings. The part of the brake drum that is
John Thousand, a consulting
not confined tends to change its shape under
engineer serving the automotive
industry (right), took on six un- the combination of heat, physical pressure
employed aeronautical engineers and rotational forces--a condition known as
who expanded and transformed "bellmouthing." Since bellmouthing is a
his business by applying aero- major factor in braking effectiveness, a
space techniques and software to solution to the problem would be a major
automotive design. Thousand's advance in automotive engineering.
consulting firm is now a busy de- One of the group was Richard Hagen
sign and manufacturing operation who, at McDomefl Douglas, had worked on
producing automotive chassis and NASA projects. He knew of a series of
components.
NASA computer programs that seemed
ideally suited to the task of confronting
bellmouthing. Originally developed as aids
to rocket engine nozzle design, they were ca-
pable of analyzing the problems generated-
in a rocket engine or an automotive brake
drum-by heat, expansion pressure and
rotational forces.
Use of these computer programs led to a
new brake drum concept featuring a more
durable axle and heat transfer ribs, or fins,
on the hub of the drum. The ribs reinforce
the shape of the drum and help prevent bell-
mouthing. Additionally, they act as cooling
Above, the principal product of
Thousand's Wolverine Western
Corporation: an advanced brake
drum featuring a ribbed hub, a
spinoff from rocket engine nozzle
design technology. The ribs rein-
force and cool the drum, helping
to prevent a shape distortion
known as "bellmouthing" that
adversely affects braking effi-
ciency. At left, a mechanic adjusts
the brake shoes.
fins, allowing the brake to remain cooler dur- In time, Wolverine's aerospace engineers
ing repeated braking on grades and thereby moved on to other pursuits, but the innova-
reducing brake fade or failure. tions they left behind dramatidy changed
Hagen and his coworkers went a step the company, In the years since, John Thou-
k h e r and applied computerized structural sand has done less and less consulting and
analysis to vehicle frames, using a computer more and more manufacturing of the brake
program NASA had originally developed for drum, axles and vehicle frames designed by
early studies of an orbiting space station. his reuained aerospace engineers. Wolverine
John Thousand approved the brake drum Western incorporates these parts in complete
design and ordered patterns, prototypes and high quality chassis for a variety of automo-
eventually castings. Sample drums were sent tive applications: for military command, con-
to Bendix Engineering Laboratories for test, trol and communications centers; for intelli-
and under intense dynamometer testing they gence vehicles; and for multipurpose vehicles
never failed. Thousand's Wolverine Western that can be airlifted on military transports. In
Corporation was in the brake drum business. the civil sector, Wolverine chassis are used
in buses, recreational vehicles and delivery
trucks; they are also sold as turnkey medical
dugnostic facilities, providing, for example,
mobile eye examination or mammography
(breast x-ray) services.
(Contintred)
Space Software for Automotive Design (Continaed)
Above, a client at the Skin Study A great many otherwise healthy adults ex- group has developed a number of pioneering
Center is having a silicon rubber hibit signs of "photoaging," changes in the non-intrusive testing procedures, some of
impression made of the skin-particularly the face-that result from them based on NASA technology, that have
"crowsfeet" wrinkles around her aging or excessive exposure to the Sun. These been useful in experimental studies employ-
eye for assessment by digital im- changes produce the stigmata of a yellowish, ing human volunteers.
age processing. At right above, mottled, wrinkled, leathery, rough skin often In the Retin-A studies, the Skin Study
the impression is being photo- Center used a spinoff technique, developed
studded with small growth.
graphed by a video camera.
Until recently, the only routes to a more by Gary and Mary Jo Grove from Jet Pro-
youthful appearance were cosmetic surgery to pulsion Laboratory's moon-imaging technol-
remove the flaws or makeup to conceal ogy, called "optical profilometry." This tech-
them. Now, however, pharmaceutical and nique employs a fiber optic illuminator to
cosmetic houses are offering retinoid prepara- sidelight silicon rubber replicas of skin sur-
tions for smoother skin. Such drugs naturally face specimens, generating an image of as-
have excited wide public attention and are sorted shadows and highlights. By computer-
getting intense scientific scrutiny to see if ized image manipulation, the picture of the
they really have antiaging properties. specimen can be enhanced and analyzed to
One such product is Ortho Pharmaceuti- extract quantitative information regarding
cals' Retin-A, which has undergone extensive the degree of roughness or wrinkling. By
assessment by Dr. Gary Lee Grove and the comparing processed numerical representa-
Skin Study Center, an independent testing tions over time, it is possible to determine
laboratory in the Philadelphia area. This the degree of effectiveness of drug treatment.
P rototypes of an ingest-
ible thermometer ca-
I pable of measuring
transmission of coded data
signals to Earth from
orbiting spacecdi.
and relaying internal body The ITMS was developed
temperatures are undergoing as a means of getting inter-
clinical testing at Maine nal temperature readings for
(Portland) Medical Center treatment of such emergency
and animal testing at the conditions as dangerously
Johns Hopkins Medical In- low (hypotherrnia) and dan-
stitutions, Baltimore, Mary- gerously high (hyperthermia)
land. Commercial units are body temperatures. Extreme
expected to be available this accuracy of temperature
Year. r&gs is important in
The thermometer was treating such cases. Where
developed by The Johns the average thermometer is
Hopkins Applied Physics accurate to one-tenth of a
Laboratory (APL), Laurel, degree Centigrade, ITMS is
Maryland, under the direc- off no more than one hun-
tion of Dr. Russ Eberhart, in dredth of a degree, and it
collaboration with NASA's provides the only means of
Goddard Space Flight Cen- obtaining deep body tem-
ter as a technology utilization perature.
project. Human Technol- The system has additional
ogies, Inc. (HTI), St. Peters- applicability in fertility mon-
burg, Florida will manufac- itoring, incubator monitor-
ture and market the ing, and some aspects of sur-
capsule-like system under a gery, aitical care, obstetrics,
licensing agreement with metabolic disease treatment,
APL. gerontology (aging) and food
Formally known as the In- processing research.
gestible Thermal Monitoring The three-quarter-inch sil- the one-to-three days it takes
System (ITMS), the ther- icone capsule, which contains the capsule to pass through
mometer incorporates several a telemetry system, rniao- the body.
aerospace technologies, such battery and a quartz crystal APL is working on an ad-
as integrated circuit min- temperature sensor, is in- vanced, four-channel capsule
iaturization, sensor and serted vaginally or rectally, or system that will simulta-
microbattery developments, swallowed by the patient to neously monitor tempera-
and telemetry, technologies make its way through the ture, heart rate, inner body
originally developed for digestive tract. The sensor pressure and acidity. A
"reads" the internal tem-
perature and telemeters its
information to a receiving
coil outside the body, then
on to the computer. ITMS
monitors continuously for
Shown above is an example of The TXG laminate has found broad and Among the many other types of materials
Thermoguard heat shields, diverse employment. For example, it is used MP supplies to manufactuters is SP 27 Ther-
windshield and window curtains by Connecticut Advanced Products (CAP), mal Interlining, a dlong used in space
that reflect the Sun's rays and Glastonbury, Connecticut for Thermoguard suits; it features a reflective barrier that
protect long-parked aircraft from heat shields, custom-tailored reflective cur- prevents the pasage of radiant energy, thus
"greenhouse" heat buildup and tains that cover the windshield and windows keeps heat from escaping from clothes or
ultraviolet radiation that could
damage the plane's sensitive and
of dosed, parked aircraft to protect avionics sleeping bags. It is used by many manufac-
expensive avionic equipment. equipment and upholstery from "green- turers of outdoor wear, such as pckers, pants,
Thermoguard shields are custom- house" heat buildup and ultraviolet radia- gaiters or gloves for climbers, campers and
tailored-by Connecticut tion. W similarly uses TXG for protection skiers.
Advanced Products-from TXG of boats and road vehicles, and it manufac- Among MP's own products are a quartet
metallized fabric. The company tures a reflective survival blanket made of of protective fabrics with different names but
also provides curtains for use on TXG. similar purposes: the Emergency Blanket, the
autos (above right). Late model Star Technology Corporation, Carbondale, Space@Brand Emergency Bag, the All-
cars have electronic equipment Colorado employs TXG as a thermal barrier Weather Blanket and the Marathon Blanket;
that needs protection, but the in its Starshade", a multilayered automatic they reflect and retain up to 80 percent of
Thermoguard shield also protects shade system for large windows in comrner- the user's body heat, thus help prevent post-
against upholstery fade and
dashboard splitting caused by a
cial or residential buildings. The standard accident shock or post-exercise chills, or keep
breakdown of chemicals in plastic system features an electric drive motor to a person warm for hours in cold weather
dashboards from long exposure to raise or lower the shade, a b e p r o o f fiber- &is situations. All are remarkably compact.
the Sun. At top is a closeup of a glass outer fabric and three layers of TXG, The Space Bag, for example, opens into a
TXG sample, shaded gold for extra which combine with the fiberglass to provide three by seven foot personal tent/blanket but
reflectivity. exceptional insulation value. folds into a three-ounce package the size of a
deck of playing cards. MP also produces the
Even-Up@ Tanning Blanket, which reflects
the Sun's rays and disperses them to the
hard-to-tan parts of the body.
Manufactured by Winslow The windows of this home are
Company Marine Products, the fitted with Star Technology
Winslow Radar Reflector Life Raft Corporation's Starshade automatic
features a canopy made of TXG insulation system that includes an
metallized nylon. The canopy electric motor to raise or lower the
serves dual purpose: it reflects the shade. Intended for large windows
Sun's rays like a mirror, enabling in commercial or residential
radar or satellite sensors to spot buildings, Starshade is a thermal
survivors of a mariime accident barrier that bars or retains heat.
at great distances, and it also The shade is made of three interior
provides thermal insulation to keep layers of TXG encased in an outer
the occupants warm until rescued. shield of flameproof fiberglass.
electric technology. Among ized metallic aysmls, heat is R&D focused on creation of craft. The company also
the company's products are produced, and when the proprietary thermoelectric benefits from NASA solar
portable heating and refrig- current direclion is reversed, systems for consumer, com- power technology.
eration units called precision cooling is produced. At mercial, industrial and aero- Other UST products in-
temperature chambers right above an engineer is space use. Products indude dude therm-c solar
(PTG), a m m d versions inspecting a thermoelectric heating and cooling systems, driven refiigerators; a Third
of systems developed for use assembly. power generators and ther- World refrigerator that can
in spgcecnrft under contract PTCs have been used in moelectric systems operated operate on very low power or
to Arne Research Center. medical and scientific appli- by solar power sources. UST on solar power; a Refrigera-
Instead of the bulky coils c a b . Powered by the bat- chief executive ofKcer and tion Conversion Module that
and compressors used in con- tery of an auto or airplane, general manager James M. can convert any insulated
ventional refiigeration sys- they offer a typical tempera- Kerner states that his com- container into a +erator,
tems, UST design engineers ture range of 35 to 150 pany has bendted from and several types of PTCs.
drew on thermoelectric tech- degrees Fahrenheit; a *tal NASA technology in several Scheduled for release this
nology. UST's precision tem- keypad or a thumbwheel areas. NASA crystal growth year or early in 1989 is an
perature chambers (PTCs) switch offers temperature se- technology has proved valu- Undercounter Water Deliv-
f e a k small thermoelectric leaion in one degree incre- able. In designing advanced ery System for the home that
modules that measure not ments. UST's chambers can thermoelectric power genera- delivers p d e d hot and
much more than one square drigerate for up to 48 hours tion systems, UST employs cold water to the household
inch and operate on a on a single charge powered NASA technology developed sink at the touch of an
unique phenomenon of heat by a 16-ounce battery pack. for the radioisotope thermo- electronic faucet. A
exchange: wheq electric cur- As the company's name electric generators aboard
rent flows through special- indicates, UST specialttes in several long duration space-
Glass Artworks
I
then the glass rods melt to-
by Great Lakes Carbon Cor- gether into Beecham's prede-
poration, Briardiff Manor, termined design. At left,
New York. .4nexample of Beecham peels away the
the utility of this kind of foam support sheet, which is
graphite is found in the easily removed and leaves no
work of artist Mark Peiser, residue or impurities. A
who machines it in his stu
dio to exact compound an-
gles and aeates molds for
poured-glass artworks of dra-
matic design. At upper left into an alumina crucible in-
on the opposite page is a side a gas-fired oven; a new
graphite mold in the fore- crucible is shown in front of
ground and the resulting art- the oven. The glass formula
work (cost $11,000) in the is melted and kept liquid for
background. days and even weeks,
At top left center, the throughout the production
husband-wife team of John of the artwork. Once the
and Kate Littleton is aeating piece is completed, it must
a blown glass artwork. In the be cooled to room tempera-
left center photo, John Lit- ture very slowly, only a de-
tleton is dipping a blowpipe gree per hour. This is done
Telescope Equipment
I
tenance functions-watering,
inspection, cleaning, rotation
and replacement. By one es-
timate, watering accounts for
25-60 percent of the time
spent on-site by maintenance
technicians. Therefore, main-
tenance costs can be substan-
tially reduced by an auto-
mated system for watering
indoor plants, says ~ t u a r t -
Snyder, president of Aqua/
Trends, Boca Raton, Florida,
who invented a family of
computer-controlled Micro-
I
Irrigation Systems.
At upper right is a Palm various plants in an installa- structure to water all the ongoing research effort in
Beach (Florida) condomin- tion. At far right is a doseup greenery in a large office or plant use for water purifica-
ium lobby whose plants have of an adjustable nozzle that apartment building. tion and pollution control
been automatically tended meters out exactly the right NASA provided Snyder (see page 94) and it made
for five years by an Aqua/ amount of water at the assistance during develop- available to Snyder reports
Trends system. In the center proper time to the plant it ment of the Aqua/Trends of this work. A
photo, Snyder is pictured is serving. More than 100 line through the Southeast
with some of the elements of Aqua/Trends systems are Area Office of the Southern
his system in a home instal- in service in the U.S.; they Technology Applications
lation. The Aqua/Trends come in various sizes, from Center (STAC), located at
system draws water from a simple residential system Florida Atlantic University,
building outlets or from a that takes care of up to 12 Fort Lauderdale. STAC
pump/reservoir module and houseplants to a Mirage I11 furnished pertinent NASA
distributes it to the plants system integrated into a technical repom, advised
via a network of tubes and Snyder of seminars useful in
adjustable nozzles. A key product development, and
element of the system is an put him in contact with
electronic controller pro- NASA's National Space
grammed to dispense water Technology Laboratories
according to the needs of the (NSTL). NSTL conducts an
Pool Purification
1
surface of the pond. These lytic silver ion generator only
before and after photos were slightly larger than a ciga-
made to demonstrate the ef- rette pack and weighing only
ficacy of the Caribbean Clear nine ounces. One or more
Automatic Pool Purifier, units, mounted at various lo-
which utilizes NASA tech- cations in the potable water
nology developed to sterilize supply and wastewater sys-
the water supply of long tem of Apollo or future
duration spacecraft. spacecraft, would dispense
silver ion concentrations of
100 to 300 parts a billion,
sufficient to eliminate bacte-
ria in the water within hours.
Caribbean Clear, Inc., a
Leesville, South Carolina
Automatic Pool Purifier, a
I
system that offers an alterna-
tive approach to the use of I
conventional purification At lower lefi is a residen-
chemicals. Caribbean Clear's tial swimming pool with a
principal markets are swim- built-in hot tub, both
ming pool owners who want serviced by the Automatic
to eliminate chlorine and Pool Purifier; the system is
bromine. The purifiers in the effective in both units de-
Caribbean Clear system are spite the difference in tem-
the same silver ions used in perature. Shown above is the
the Apollo system to kill key element of the system,
bacteria, plus copper ions to two silver-copper alloy elec-
kill algae. They produce pool trodes which generate the sil-
and spa water that ver and copper ions when an
exceeds the Environmental electric current is passed
Protection Agency's stan- through them. The rest of
dards for drinking water. the system includes a miao-
computer that monitors wa-
ter condition, water tempera-
ture and electrode wear, and
A* 3 d a controller that automati-
cally introduces the correct
amount of ions into the wa-
ter; the upper right photo
shows the controller with the
electrodes and their
84 Energy
veloped by Hughes' Space and Communica- Near the midway mark of the 1,950-mile trans-
tions Group, which has special expertise in Australia race, the General Motors Sunraycer passes
I
fabricating curved solar arrays; a hallmark of a camel train in Central Australia's outback. Powered
Hughes satellites is the technique of install- by space-derived solar cell technology and incorpo-
ing solar cells on the exterior surface of a cy- rating a number of other aerospace technologies, the
lindrical spacecraft body, rather than on Aat- 547-pound one-seater averaged better than 41
panel solar wings. Although the intensity of miles an hour and finished 600 miles ahead
of its nearest competitor.
the Sun's rays and the temperature of the
environment affect output, the solar array
typically operates at 150 volts, providing up
to 1,500 watts of power at noon. The elec-
tricity generated flows to the motor or to
the storage battery system, composed of 68
rechargeable silver zinc cells producing a total
of 102 volts. The batteries weigh 60 pounds,
one-fifth the weight of a lead acid battery of
the same capacity. In the race, battery power
was used early and late in the day to supple-
ment the reduced solar power available at
those times. A
Motor Controller
S everal years ago, Mar- help, he also lined up suppli- box) installed on a home
shall Space Flight ers for the various compo- heating blower unit; below is
Center engineer
- Frank nents of the Electra-Miser kit. the normal sine wave of the
Nola came up with a way to When the Popular Elec- electrical current and the
curb power wastage in AC tronics article appeared, power savings (blue) the
induction motors caused by Marks was stunned by the Electra-Miser makes possible
the fact that such motors op- response. Within two weeks by interrupting the cycle.
erate at a fixed voltage, the he had orders for 500 kits In time the PFC technol-
voltage necessary to handle and the orders kept coming ogy spread widely and, as
the heaviest loads the motor the experience of Myles H. over a three-year span. He many new suppliers entered
is designed to carry. The Marks, then a Pittsburgh used his garage as a kit as- the field, demand for the
wastage occurs when the (Pennsylvania) television sembly plant and the rest of Electra-Miser fell off, but
motor is operating at less broadcast engineer who the house as a warehouse, Marks still maintains a
than full load but is still get- started out with the notion and nuned out some 2,500 supply of parts and builds
ting full load power. Nola's of doing a magazine article kits. Marks is shown above Electra-Misers on special
answer was a device called about the PFC and wound with an Elecua-Miser (black demand.
the Power Factor Controller up with a thriving garage
(PFC) that matches voltage industry selling controller
with the motor's actual need. kits in volume.
Plugged into a motor, the Marks learned of the PFC
PFC continuously determines from a TV broadcast and hit
motor load by sensing shifts upon the idea of writing an
between voltage and current article for Popular Efectronic~
flow; when it senses a light magazine and at the same
load it cuts the voltage to time offering to furnish kits
the minimum needed. It of- to readers interested in as-
fers potential energy savings sembling their own PFCs.
ranging from eight percent The editor of Popular Elec-
all the way up to 65 percent, tronics was enthusiastic about
depending on the type of the project, so Marks began
application. gathering information.
Considering the millions He contacted the NASA
of electric motors in service Industrial Applications Cen-
I and the rising cost of energy, ter at Pittsburgh, which sup-
I
it was not surprising that plied him a detailed tech-
Nola's invention excited nical information package
broad interest and became and advised him how to ob-
one of the most widely used tain a NASA license. Marks
NASA spinoffs. A user ex- got the license, developed his
ample of particular interest is own prototype and patented
it as the Electra-MiserTM, a
unit designed to cut power
up to 40 percent in type-
writers, washing machines,
refrigerators and similar is a trademark of M.
TY~lectra-Miser
equipment. With NASA H. Marks Enterprises.
86 Energy
Flow Measurement
Energy 87
Solar Electricity
hen sunlight
strikes certain ma-
ports DOE by conducting
demonstrations of the advan- I
terials-such as sil- tages of this type of power
icon--electrons are set in generation. NASA's Jet Pro-
motion. These moving elec- pulsion Laboratory (JPL) is
trons can be drawn off as the organization primarily
electricity. That is the basic responsible for developing
principle of photovoltaic con- advanced PV technology and
version, or PV, the method finding ways to cut costs.
of providing power to nearly Research has gradually re-
all the satellites launched duced the cost to the point
into space. In recent years, where PV is in practical use I
PV has been getting more of in a number of Third World
a foothold in practical Earth areas where no established
applications. energy network exists. In de-
The first step in produc- veloped countries, it is still
ing a PV system is to make too expensive for widespread
the solar cells, very thin, commercial, industrial and
treated wafers of extremely residential applications but it
pure silicon sliced from cy- is making an appearance as a
lindrical uystals "grown" working component of the
from molten silicon. Then U.S. utility grid.
the cells are electrically con- "People have traditionally
nected and encased in weath- thought of photovoltaics as a etry systems that monitor power generation for utilities.
erproof packages called mod- technology with promise of environmental conditions. A JPL contractor since the
ules. Several modules join becoming a source of utility They are also used to 'power early development of Earth-
together to form a panel and scale energy in the more or agricultural water pumping use solar arrays, ARCO Solar
any number of panels can be less distant future," says systems, to provide electricity designed and built some of
assembled to form a PV James H. Caldwell, presi- for isolated villages and the world's largest PV
array. dent of ARC0 Solar, Inc., medical clinics, for corrosion systems.
NASA pioneered PV Carnardlo, California, a sub- protection for pipelines and Shown above is an ARCO
power for spacecraft and has sidiary of Atlantic Richfield bridges, to power railroads Solar PV power plant located
been very active in support Company. "The fact is, signals and air/sea naviga- on 20 acres at Hesperia,
of Department of Energy photovoltaics is already a tional aids, and for many California. It is capable of
(DOE)programs designed to business, using today's types of military systems. generating one megawatt of
expand Earth applications. technology to supply Since 1982, ARC0 has been electrical power and supply-
Lewis Research Center sup- power today." moving into large scale PV ing 3 million kilowatt hours
ARCO Solar manufac- of electricity annually; at the
tures PV systems tailored to time of the plant's dedica-
a broad variety of applica- tion in 1983, its rated capac-
tions. PV arrays are routinely ity was three times greater
used at remote communica- than any PV system in the
tions installations to operate world. The system makes
large microwave repeaters, maximum use of available
T V and radio repeaters, rural sunlight by means of auto-
telephones and small telem- matic, computer-controlled
88 Energy
Sacramento (California) batteries. An in between ex-
Municipal Utility District. ample is pictured at left; it is
But the granddaddy of all a three-acre, 300 kilowatt
I PV systems is ARCO Solar's
6.5 megawatt plant at
municipal utility financed by
the city of Austin, Texas.
Carrisa Plains, just west of ARCO Solar won the bid for
Bakersfield in California's the plant, provided the de-
I
Kern County. The 160-acre sign and the PV modules. A
trackers that continually plant, part of which is
point the PV panels directly I shown above, has 756 solar
at the Sun for efficient ac- trackers, each with 16 PV
quisition of solar radiation. panels. It produces almost
The Hesperia station has 14 million kilowatt hours a
256 PV modules on each of year, enough to serve 2,300
108 tracker pedestals. Its average homes, and feeds it
electricity, enough to serve to the grid of Pacific Electric
300-400 homes, is pur- Company. It is planned to
chased by Southern Califor- boost the Carrisa Plains
nia Edison Company (SCE) capacity eventually to 16
and fed to SCE's utility grid. megawatts.
Between the plant and the ARCO Solar has PV in-
utility grid is an inverter sta- stallations on five continents
tion that converts the elec- and the company's broad
tricity from direct current product line ranges from
(DC), the type of current mammoth systems like
generated by PV systems, to Carrizo Plain to simple units
alternating current (AC), the that provide power for re-
current to which the U.S. charging recreational vehicles
utility grid is geared.
ARCO Solar also built a
one megawatt facility for the
Research Help
T he experience of The
Electrosynthesis Com-
pany, Inc., East Am-
herst, New York illustrates
the benefits available to in-
technology-and helps par-
ticipants investigate patents,
gain competitive intelligence
and identlfy qualified tech-
nical experts.
lithium batteries. The bot-
tom photo shows a test of a
lithiurn/carbon battery
bathed in thiomyl chloride
solution. The composition is
with an electrochemical cell
to provide an apparatus ca-
pable of destroying virtually
all toxic chemicals and air-
borne bacteria. The project is
dustry through a network of NERAC also provides in- readily decomposed when funded by the Department
NASA assistance centers that formation about commercial oxygen or water vapor is of Defense as a prospective
provide information retrieval possibilities and market con- present, so the test is con- means of decontaminating
services and technical help. ditions. Electrosynthesis ducted inside a "glove box" airborne chemicals and bio-
NASA operates 10 such plans internal manufacturing with an inert argon gas envi- logical watfare agents. It also
centers serving different geo- and marketing of certain of ronment free of moisture has broad civil use applica-
graphical areas; the one in its products and expanded and oxygen. bility, for example, hospital
this instance is NERAC, marketing through licensing Below, a scientist is test- use for destruction of air-
Inc., Tolland, Connecticut. agreements with larger ing the efficiency of the borne viruses and bacteria
Electrosynthesis is a small manufacturers. company's ElecmcheratorTM and industrial use for elimi-
entrepreneurial firm that re- Among several projects in System, which integrates a nating toxic solvent vapors
ceives research and develop- R&D or limited production highly effective air scrubber and malodorous emissions. r
ment funding through the status is a family of carbon/
Small Business Innovation graphite materials known as
Research (SBIR) program. Specifically Fluorinated Car-
Company president Dr. bons or SFCTM. Shown in
Norman Weinberg states various forms above, SFC
that he uses NERAC's ser- materials offer efficiency im-
vices to advantage in prepar- provement and extended
ing each SBIR proposal.
NERAC prepares custom-
ized literature searches, pro-
lifetime for batteries, fuel
cells and electrodes due to
superior stability and
TIL
vides helpful technological electrocatalytic properties.
background and current Electrosynthesis is also in-
awareness information- vestigating other chemically
including pertinent NASA modified carbons for use in
90 Energy
L "SFC and Electrocinerator are d e -
marks of The Elemosynthesis Com-
pany, Inc.
Light Reflector
A t right, a fluorescent
lighdng fixture is get-
ting a boost in reflec-
tivity through installation of
Lightdrive@, a thin, tough
thermoplastic film plated
with aluminum capable of
reflecting 95 percent of the
visible light striking it.
Lightdriver is marketed by
Ultra Sales, Inc., Colonia,
New Jersey.
Lightdriver increases
brightness without adding
bulbs and allows energy
savings by removing some
bulbs, because the mirrorlike
surface cuts the light loss
generally occasioned by the
conventional low reflectivity
white painted surface above
the bulbs in many fluores-
cent 6xtures. With
Lightdriver, says Ultra Sales,
a 45 percent reduction in
electricity usage is arminable
by removing two of the
bulbs in a four bulb fixture; Sold in sheets and cut to highly refiective skin for a
the remaining two will stdl fit fixtures, Lightdriver is balloon type satellite. The
provide excellent lighting. made in three layers: the need was met by Metallized
Additional savings accrue thermoplastic film, which Produces (MP), Winchester,
from lower air conditioning proterrs the reflective surface Massachusetts (see page
bills due to fewer heat- from corrosion and insulates 70), which developed a
producing bulbs in use and it elearically; the aluminum metallized plastic film coated
from bulb replacement costs, reflector, which provides with a mist of aluminum
Bonus advantages indude greater reflectivity than a particles. That development
even lighting throughout a standard mirror; and a per- trigged extensive R&D by
work area, less glare and manent adhesive with re- MP and other companies on
eyestrain, and the f m that movable backing (top) for metalbed materials, which
Lightdriver does not r e b simple installation. found b r d application as
most ultraviolet light. Lightdriver is one more reflecting insulators and radi-
adaptation of a spinoff met- ation barriers in space sys-
allization technology that tems and in a b r o ~ drange of
originated in a 1960 NASA commercial products. A
project involving develop- "Lightdriver is a registered trademark
ment of a lightwe'ght, of Ultra Sales, Inc.
Energy 91
Wastewater Treatment: The Natural Wdy
II
!
A system employing aquatic
plants as water purification
I n the spring of 1985, the town of
Haughton, Louisiana, faced a problem:
the state Department of Environmental
Quality had notified Mayor Harold R. Lee
aquatic plants to remove pollutants from
wastewater at relatively low cost. Wolverton
and his SSC group had developed a new and
advanced technique known as the artificial
I agents higblights spinofis in that Haughton's wastewater treatment marsh filtering system, which seemed a possi-
facility was in violation of environmental ble answer to Haughton's dilemma. Haugh-
environmentalcontroland protectionstandards. ton officials contracted Wolverton, visited an
It looked at first as though Haughton artificial marsh test site and learned details of
resources management would have to lay out $1.2 million for add- the operation. When they looked into relative
on modifications to its activated sludge facil- costs of the two options, "The choice was
ity-and also pay considerably more to oper- dear," said the mayor; the NASA technology
ate the expanded facility. That would have would permit development of a wastewater
been a heavy financial strain for the commu- treatment facility that would allow for growth
nity of 2,000. to almost double the town's population at a
But Mayor Lee had an idea. He had read cost less than one-third the estimate for
of the research of Dr. Billy C. Wolverton, improving the old system.
head of the Environmental Research Labora- The facility Haughton built is an 1 1-acre
tory at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center sewage lagoon with a 70 by 900 foot artifi-
(SSC) in Mississippi. Wolverton is widely cial marsh called a vascular aquatic plant/
acclaimed for his innovative work in natural microbial filter cell. In the cell, microor-
water purification, which involves use of ganisms and rooted aquatic plants combine
to absorb and digest wastewater pollutants,
thereby converting sewage effluents to rela-
tively dean water. Raw wastewater, after a
period in the sewage lagoon, flows over a
rock bed populated by microbes that digest
nutrients and minerals from the sewage, thus
partially deaning it. Additional treatment is
provided by the aquatic plants growing in
the rock bed, which absorb more of the
pollutants and help deodorize the sewage.
The Haughton facility went on line early
in 1987. A year later, Haughton was able to
reduce its sewer user fees by 25 percent. The
facility was easily meeting the more stringent
wastewater deansing standards and there was
a bonus: the system won an award in the
American City and County magazine Awards
of Merit.
94 Environment
the technology "will enable the Town of The spider plant is one of several
Monterey and many other municipalities decorative houseplants that show
with the same problems to meet mandated promise for absorbing gaseous
standards at a cost far less than convention- pollutants to clean indoor air.
ally accepted methods."
Meanwhile, Wolvenon's work has pro-
duced another spinoff technique, this one for
purifying air as well as water in indoor envi-
ronments. A substantial air pollution prob-
lem exists when ventilation is significantly
reduced, as in pressurized long-duration
spacecraft or highly insulated Earth build-
ings. In an effort to develop a practical
means of preventing buildup of gaseous toxic
substances in space stations or in airtight
homes and office buildings, SSC is again
evaluating the natural approach-in this case
the use of common houseplants as air
cleaners.
The potential health hazard in energy effi-
cient homes stems from reduced ventilation
and increasing use of resins and solvents in
modem construction; they cause an increase
in such indoor air pollutants as formalde-
hyde. Additionally, combustion of fossil fuels A penthouse green garden serves
-as in cooking-and tobacco elevates home as a natural purification system
and officelevels of carbon monoxide and for "atmospheric revitalization" of
nitrogen dioxide. an office building in this SSC
Branching off from its research on aquatic concept. Efficient insulation de-
plants for wastewater treatment, SSC studied signed to save energy may cause
the use of foliage plants for air filtration and a health hazard in buildup of po-
purification. The common spider plant was tentially toxic gases; a recycling
found to be particularly efficient in absorbing system channels all indoor air
through the garden, which
formaldehyde, nitrogen dioxide and carbon
absorbs the gaseous pollutants
monoxide; other plants showed potential. and returns clean air to the
At a special facility at SSC, Wolverton's offices.
environmental research group is testing a
number of plant types and developing con-
cepts for Earth-use natural air purification
systems. Commercial businesses are watching
the effort and independently looking into
ways of combining natural and mechanical
filter systems to remove both particulate and
gaseous indoor pollutants; two companies are
now selling filter systems. r
Environment 95
Surveying System
A t right, Chuck Muncy adapt it as a surveying tool less accurate Standard Po-
and Werner Bmtsch using reference signals from sitioning Service (SPS). For
of Sunrise Geodetic the U.S. Air Force Navstar reasons of military security,
Surveys, Mesa, Arizona, are Global Positioning System PPS signals will be encrypted
setting up their equipment (GPS). and the code will not be
for a town survey. Their The Navstar GPS is a available to civilian users ex-
equipment, however, differs network of navigation satel- cept by special approval of
from conventional surveying lites intended to provide the Department of Defense.
systems that employ transit,
rod and chain to measure ----- superaccurate position fixes
for military aircraft, ships or
The SPS channel will be
available to civil users, but
angles and distances. They ing data is stored on site in a land vehicles anywhere on its accuracy will be intention-
are using the ISTAC Model portable data recorder and Earth. It is currently operat- ally degraded.
2002 positioning system, later downloaded into the of- ing as an interim, part-time The special utility of the
which offers fast, accurate fice computer for analysis Block I system for testing ISTAC Model 2002 is that
surveying with exceptional (far right). and user familiarization; it can provide positioning of
orders of accuracy, obtained The ISTAC Model 2002 civilians are authorized to the highest accuracy from
by processing signals from is manufactured by ISTAC, use the Block I system. Navstar PPS signals because
orbiting satellites. Inc., Pasadena, California, Beginning next year, the it requires no knowledge of
Below, and at right, Sun- and sold or leased to survey- USAF will begin to replace the secret codes. It operates
rise employees are surveying ing companies. It is based on the Block I satellites with by comparing the frequency
a remote area for placement technology developed by more advanced Block I1 and time phase of a Navstar
of microwave towers. This il- California Institute of Tech- Navstars in what will ulti- signal arriving at one ISTAC
lustrates a particular advan- nology's Jet Propulsion Lab- mately be an 2 1-satellite receiver with the reception of
tage of the ISTAC Model oratory under NASA spon- constellation. However, the the same set of signals by
2002. In mountainous ter- sorship. Inventor of the advent of Block I1 will pose another receiver. The data is
rain or in areas of dense technology was Peter a problem for civilian users. computer processed and
vegetation, the surveying MacDoran, now president of The Block I1 Navstars will translated into three dimen-
team would normally have a ISTAC. send signals on two channels, sional position data-lati-
long and difficult job clear- Working on a way to pro- the superaccurate Precise Po- tude, longitude and eleva-
ing the line of sight path- vide highly precise measure- sitioning Service (PPS) and a tion. This technique d i not
ways between two siting ments of Earth's crust for
points that are essential for tectonic studies and earth-
operating conventional sys- quake prediction, MacDoran
tems. The 70-pound ISTAC conceived SERIES, a package
system can easily be back- consisting of satellite receiv-
packed or helicopter-trans- ing hardware and signal
ported into remote locations processing software that pro-
and its only requirement is duces positioning data with
a line of sight to the sky. accuracies as fine as five
Satellite-referenced position- centimeters (two inches).
MacDoran was subsequently
granted a NASA waiver
assigning him commercial
rights to the technology. He
formed ISTAC to develop
the technology further and
96 Environment
compromise military security A funue application
and is, in fact, welcomed as (when 24-hour global satel-
a viable means of civil use of lite coverage is available),
the GPS. is seismic surveying for
The ability of ISTAC exploration of hydrocarbon
Model 2002 and other code- resources. ISTAC receivers-
less receivers to use the mili- one on the seismic ship, one
tary network opens up a on a trailing buoy and one
broad range of civil applica- on land--can acquire posi-
tions. ISTAC Model 2002 is tion data from four different
used by a number of survey- Navstar satellites; positioning
ing firms in the U.S. and the computations are handled by
United Kingdom for city a computer aboard the seis-
surveys, construction surveys, mic vessel. A
and geodetic surveying.
Forest Damage Assessment
A t right, scientist
Nancy Defeo of the
University of New
Hampshire's Institute for the
Study of Earth, Oceans and
Space (EOS) is processing
Landsat Thematic Mapper
data as part of an investiga-
tion to determine the efficacy
of satellite information in de-
r -
features of importance to re-
sources managers.
Since the early 1960s, the
high-elevation spruce/fir
forests of the northeastern
United States have under-
gone a marked decline in
growth rate and state of
health. During the same pe-
riod, there has been similar
lites are capable of detecting,
identifying and quantifying
forest decline to make possi-
ble forest monitoring and
assessment on a global scale.
Advanced satellite instru-
mentation planned for the
1990s may even be able to
identify spectral "finger-
prints" that would enable
tecting forest dedine damage decline in central European investigators to identify spe-
which may be due to acid forests of spruce, fir and cific causes of forest damage
rain or other atmospheric beech. Remote sensing satel- and dedine. Scientists at
pollutants. EOS are trying to demon-
Defeo is part of a vegeta- strate how accurate satellite
tion remote sensing group observations may be in de-
that has been investigating tecting specific levels of
the matter for several years forest damage.
under the sponsorship of Toward this goal, Dr.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab- Rock's NASA group has
oratory (JPL). The research conducted multiyear forest
is headed by Dr. Barrett dedine investigations using
Rock (center), former leader satellite and aircraft-acquired
of JPL's Geobotanical Re- imagery. This work was
mote Sensing Group, now coordinated with "ground
with EOS. truth" field investigations to
The Thematic Mapper check the accuracy of scanner
(TM), developed by Hughes data.
Airaaft under NASA con- The NASA group, which
tract, is an advanced scan- included Dr. James E.
ning instrument aboard Vogelmann (EOS), Dr. Ann
Landsats 4 and 5, which F. Vogelrnann (EOS),
I were initially developed by Takashi Hoshizaki (JPL),
I NASA and are now operated and Darrell L. Williams of
as a commercial remote sens- Goddard Space Flight Cen-
ing system. The TM detects ter, has conducted research
radiations reflected and emit- on New York's Adirondack
ted from Earth objects- Mountains, the Green
such as trees-in seven Mountains of Vermont and
bands of the spectrum. Since the White Mountains of
each object has its own New Hampshire. In addi-
unique spectral "signature," tion, Dr. Rock's group and
the TM can distinguish scientists from North Caro-
among surface features and
generate computer-processed
imagery identifying specific
can be used accurately and
1I
I n 1976, two NASA
Viking Landers touched
down on the surface of
Mars, equipped with a vari-
ety of systems to conduct
extensive experience in R&D
management, founded Vi-
king Instruments Corpora-
tion, Sterling, Virginia to
commercialize the GC/MS
I automated research. Among technology under an exclu-
this equipment, each Lander sive license from NASA.
They targeted as their pri-
sophisticated instrument for mary market environmental
analyzing the Martian soil monitoring, espeually toxic
and atmosphere. and hazardous waste site
NASA requirements dic- monitoring. Waste sites of-
tated that the instrument- ten contain chemicals in
called a Gas Chromato- complex mixtures and the
graph/Mass Spectrometer conventional method of site
(GC/MS) and developed by characterization-taking
Jet Propulsion Laboratory- samples on-site and sending
be small, lightweight, shock them to a laboratory for
resistant, highly automated analysis-is time-consuming
and extremely sensitive, yet and expensive. Viking In-
require minimal electrical struments sees wide accep-
power. These same charac- tance of its Micro GC/MS
teristics offer wide utility in products (left below) because
Earth applications. they combine the power and
In 1983, Dr. Thomas J. sensitivity of a laboratory
Kuehn and Dr. Russell C. GCMS in a portable, valise-
Drew, both of whom have sized package. The first
prototype instruments were
completed in 1987 and Vi-
king expects to have com-
mercial production proto-
types in 1988.
Among other terrestrial
applications are explosives monitoring crew compart- that would continuously
detection at airports, drug ment atmospheres for sample air at multiple
detection, industrial air mon- contaminants. points, analyze it and warn
itoring, medical metabolic In the top photo, Dr. of contaminants.A
monitoring and, for the mili- Kuehn, Viking executive
tary services, detection of vice president, is using a lab-
chemical warfare agents. oratory high vacuum system
Viking is also planning to to check out the ion source,
develop the technology fut- a key component of the
ther for new space applica- GCMS. In the lower photo,
tions aboard the Space Sta- Dr. Drew, president, stands
tion, for example, chemical beside a larger Viking indus-
analysis of experiments or trial plant monitoring system
Marine Life Study
A s a result of wide-
spread ocean dump-
ing and other pollu-
tion problems, marine
scientists are studying the
populations of various ma-
rine organisms in an attempt
! to determine the &ec*s of
pollution. Marine biologists,
ecologists and fishing indus-
try investigators are compil-
ing data on aging of marine
organisms, including such
factors as the relationship be-
tween the size and age of the
organism, its longevity, its
rate of growth and growth
diffkrencesamong species.
I
These factors hold dues
to many questions of
importance.
Of parti& interest be-
cause of its great economic
value is the surf dam that Professor Ernest G. monitor. The Morgan State/ between each annual ring,
inhabits the U.S. A h t i c Hammond and a group of Goddard technique involved making it easier to get an
Coast. There exists a method students at Morgan State development of a computer accurate count, dearer delin-
of determining the age of University, Baltimore, Mary- program to create digitized eation of the initial ring and
the surf clam: examining land, in cooperation with images of dam sections with the ability to aeate adequate
photographic blowups of a Goddard Space Flight Cen- annual rings. The computer- separation of the aowded
section of the dam that con- ter, have been conducting ized image can then be ring areas of older clams by
tains annual rings or growth research for several years enhanced-manipulated to enhancing and enlarging the
bands, like a tree. Though on a way to apply space emphasize certain features- image. The technique also
useful, this technique has developed digital image pro- in order to improve and showed promise for being
shortcomings, among them cessing techniques to age amplify the information that able to reveal information re-
difficulty in finding the of- determination in dams. can be extracted from the garding the rate of the or-
ten faint initial ring and dif- Digital image processing image. ganism's growth during sea-
ficulty in getting an accurate is the use of computers to A lengthy series of tests sonal and environmental
count in older clams, whose convert sensor data into in- established that the tech- changes that the organism
rings become aowded and formative images. The idea nique offers a number of ad- undergoes. A
run together. of applying it to dam-aging vantages in aging studies not
investigations came from only of dams but of other
Kevin Peters, a Morgan State shellfish and marine organ-
graduate student who is isms that have growth
shown in the accompanying bands. Among these advan-
photograph viewing a high tages, with respect to dam
resolution dam image on a studies, are greater contrast
Space Age Archeology
T he black cylinder at
right is an Aquaspace@
industrial filter used
by a pharmaceutical com-
pany to ensure the purity of
the water it uses. It is one of
a line of fdtration products
manufactured by Western
Water International (WWI),
Forestville, Maryland. Below,
company founder and presi-
dent Paul M. "Mike"
Pedersen is shown in
WWI's laboratory sampling
water filtered by a W W I
system.
Aquaspace filters combine
company technology with
NASA technology developed
to sterilize the drinking wa-
ter of the Apollo spacecraft.
The filters provide dear,
good tasting water by re-
moving toxic contaminants,
organic chemical com- atomic adsorption, other of ions as filtering agents and
pounds, chlorine and other types of organic chemicals by methods dealing with the
water processing agents, mechanical filtration, and absorption and adsorption of
unpleasant taste, color and still other substances by organic compounds.
odor. catalytic reaction. Aquaspace filters are h d -
The key is Aquaspace Seeking to find a more ing wide acceptance in in-
Compound, a proprietary effective method of fdtering dustrial, commercial, resi-
W W I formula that scientifi- potable water that was dential and reaeational
cally blends various types of highly contaminated, applications in the U.S. and
glandular activated charcoal Pedersen learned that NASA abroad. W W I produces a
with other active and inert had conducted extensive re- wide range of systems to
ingredients. The filtration search in methods of purify- meet these various needs,
material is shown at top ing water on board manned from a simple Apollo Pocket
center around the base of a spacecraft. He obtained a Filter that works like a
typical filter system. number of NASA technical
Aquaspace systems re- reports concerning that re-
move some substances- search. NASA information
chlorine, for example-by that contributed importantly
to the development of
Aquaspace Compound,
Pedersen states, included
technology related to the use
drinking straw to high (right). At right below is a
capacity units for communi- whole-house unit installed in
ties in developing nations a laundry room. A special
where the water is highly advantage of whole-house
contaminated. f~ltrationin contaminated
Examples include the water areas is protection
Voyagd 6lter for camping from diseases that occur
and traveling use (left); the through t o p i d absorption of
Aquaspace Counter Top Fi- contaminants through the
ter (below);and the Aquar- skin and through inhala-
ius Udet-the-Sink Filter tion. A
I
systems. A second spinoff program
- The initial spinoff version, began in 1985 with the
shown above, is designed signing of an agreement with
to remove, inspect and re- Inco Limited for develop-
place large components of ment of remote controlled chine from a position under only improves safety in a
I
Ontario Hydro's CANDU mining equipment to en- an already-screened area, hazardous operation that
nudear reactors, which sup- hance the safety and pro- where he is protected from costs more than a score of
ply some 50 percent of On- ductivity of Inco's hardrock rockfall., he positions the lives annually, it
tario Hydro's total power mining operations. The first mesh, drills in a predeter- also increases productivity
reduction. All work is con- such system, now in service, mined pattern, then inserts fourfold.
trolled from an operations is a machine for installing and tightens the rock bolts, The Remote Manipulator
wire mesh screening and handling 35 feet of screening System Division is also man-
rock bolts to shore up the and 18 bolts in a three-hour ufacturing a line of industrial
roofs of mine corridors, as sequence. The system not robots and developing addi-
pictured at right above. An tional systems for nudear
operator controls the ma- servicing, mining, defense
and space operations. A
1 18 Transportation
A technician is spraying Alcide
disinfectant into the evaporator
case of an auto air conditioning
system; the product eliminates
musty odor by killing the odor
causing molds and bacteria that
grow in the warm humid
environment of many car air
conditioners.
S hown at top is the is the lowest priced Learjet, tially reduce drag. Addition- initially on the Models 28/
new Learjet 3 1 busi- an "entry level'' airplane in- ally, the w et generates its 29 introduced to service in
ness jet and below it tended for the business air- own lift, producing f m a r d 1979. Several other plane
its iarger and heavier com- craft operator who wants to thrust in the manner of a builders are taking advan-
panion, the h q e t 55C. move up from propeller- boat's sail. The combination tage of the NASA technol-
Both are built by Learjet driven air& to jet perfor- of reduced drag and addi- ogy, notably McDonnell
Corporation, Tucson, Ari- mance. Both feature Delta tional thrust adds up to sig- Douglas in its new MD- 11
zona and both feature Fins, innovative company- nificant improvement in fuel jetliner, A
NMAdeveloped "wing- designed tail surfaces that efficiency.
lets," nearly vertical exten- provide high directional sta- w i i e t s are particularly
* d d v e on the two new
sions of the wing (doseup at bility at all speeds and im-
! lower right) designed to re- proved handling in the d- Learjets, which can routinely
duce fuel consumption and fic pattern and at lower operate above 45,000 feet
generally improve airplane takeoff, approach and land- and are capable of flying at
performance. ing speeds. Both airplanes altitudes up to 5 1,000 feet.
Powered by twin turbo- are expecd to receive Fed- At such altitudes, where the
fans, the aircraft cany up to eral Aviation Adminimation air is thinner, the drag re-
b 10 passengers. The Model certification in mid- 1988. duction afforded by the
55C, which takes off at w i i e t s are lifting sur- winglets is more pronounced.
2 1,000 pounds, is the largest faces designed to operate in Learjet was the first man-
of the Learjet family. The the "vortex," or air whirl- ufacturer to use the winglet
Model 31 (15,500 pounds) pool, that occurs at an air- design in production air&,
plane's wingtip. This com-
plex flow of air aeates air
drag; the winglet's job is to
reduce the strength of the
vortex and thereby substan-
Transportation 123
I Auto Design
T he accompanying
photos show exterior
and interior views of
the 1987 Honda Acura
Legend Coupe, which was
designed with the aid of
the NASA-developed
NASTRANB computer pro-
gram. The Legend is among
the latest cars designed by
Honda R&D Company,
Ltd., Japan, a longtime user
of the NASTRAN program.
The program is an off- The NASTRAN program
shoot of the computer design takes an electronic look at a
technique that originated in computerized design and
aircraft/spaced develop- predicts how the structure
ment. Engineers create a will react under a great many
mathematical model of the different conditions. Quick
vehicle and "fly" it on the and inexpensive, it mini-
ground by computer simula- mizes trial-and-error in the
tion. This allows study of the design process and makes
performance and structural possible better, lighter, safer
behavior of a number of dif- structures while affording
ferent designs before settling sigdicant savings in devel-
on a final configuration. opment time. One of the
From that base of experi- most widely used of all aero-
ence, Goddard Space Flight space spinoff technologies,
Center developed the NASA the NASTRAN program is
Structural Analysis Program available through NASA's decade for structural analysis
(NASTRAN), a general pur- Computer Software Manage- of auto bodies, motorcycles
pose predictive tool appli- ment and Information (kn- and such components as
cable to structural analysis of ter (COSMIC)@at The Uni- tires, wheels, engine blocks,
1 automotive vehicles, railroad versity of Georgia (see page pistons, connecting rods and
cars, ships, nuclear power 140). crankshafts. All of the
reactors, steam turbines, Virtually all U.S. auto- Honda auto products
bridges, office buildings- makers now employ the designed in the 1980s have
and that's just the beginning aerospace-derived computer been analyzed by the
of a lengthy list. design technique and most NASTRAN program. A
/. employ the NASTRAN pro-
gram or other NASA-devel-
oped programs in the design
process. Honda R&D Com-
BNASTRAN and COSMIC are regis-
puter Ltd. has been using tered trademarks of the National
NASTRAN for more than a Aeronautics and Space Administration.
W indshear, miao-
bursts and extreme
air turbulence-
caused by sudden, intense
changes in wind direction or
streaming from the wingtips
is the result of high humid-
ity, a factor in windshear.
Many groups are investi-
gating ways to detect and
speed-are difKcult to detect predict windshear. Since
and thus dangerous to air windshear episodes are uan-
&c. They have been posi- sient, lasting only five to 10
tively identified as the cause minutes, the goal is an alert
of 28 aviation accidents that system that would enable
claimed 491 lives. holding the plane for the
The downburst, one of brief period it takes for these
several forms of windshear, intense wind abnormalities
is illustrated below. A pilot to pass. Most researchers are as a backup, not a replace- based on FACS software and
first encounters unexpected looking to electronic sensors ment for the human dis- a hardware package that in-
lift and he reacts by drop- as the answer. But Federal patcher. It would incorporate dudes a powerful worksta-
ping the nose of the plane. Aviation Consulting Services, the same data that a human tion connected to an optical
When, a moment later, the Ltd. (FACS), Fresh Meadow, would request to make a de- disc information storage de-
full force of the downburst New York is going a ditfer- cision, and then draw a con- vice. The computer program
strikes, the downward push ent route--applying artificial clusion using the same rules puts emphasis on the factors
is amplified by the fact that intelligence techniques to of logic as the human expert. found in every case where
the airplane is already de- windshear prediction. FACS In directing the FAG windshear was positively
scending. The pilot must has been working since 1985 development, company se- identified as the cause of an
then react quickly to restore to develop a computer pro- nior vice president Jerry accident. The data is overlaid
the plane to its proper ghde gram that will automate the Eichelbaum initially used an on a cartographic mapping
path. At right, a DC-9 air- airline dispatch process and artificial intelligence program program.
liner is landing shortly afier a indude windshear informa- called AESOP, originally de- Using all information
thunderstorm at Hartsfield tion. FACS' artificial intelli- veloped by Langley Research available, the artificial intelli-
International Aqort, At- gence based Airline Dis- Center. As the design gence module sets up a 20-
lanta, Georgia. The vapor patcher program is intended evolved, FACS was able to mile sphere of influence
compact its database and re- around forecasted areas of
place the AESOP shell with windshear. As flight plans
a new artificial intelligence are filed, the routes are
program called CLIPS. Both checked against "no fly"
AESOP and CLIPS were areas indicated. The total
supplied by NASA's Com- FAG/Genesis system pre-
puter Software Management sents the user with pictorial
and Mormation Center. (See displays of navigational maps
page 140). overlaid with flight planning
FAG has signed an options. Two major airlines
agreement with Genesis are considering test and/or
Imaging Technologies, Inc., purchase of the system. A
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
They have put together a
prototype flight dispatcher
Transportation 125
STOL Aircraft
126 Tramportation
per hour. The company has
flight tested two prototypes,
one a 1,200 pound version
with two 80 horsepower en-
gines, the other a 650 pound
version with two 48 horse-
power engines. During the
test program, Culex demon-
strated its ability to climb at
350 feet per minute with
one engine shut down.
At lefi, AVI employees
are installing flaps on a third
prototype, which has one en-
gine in place and the other
1
-
awaiting installation.
Below, a worker is pro-
ducing wing ribs with the
aid of a construction jig;
the wooden parts are bonded
1I together by polyester resins
for superior strength charac-
J
teristics. A
Transportation 12 7
A New Tool for Quality Control
Highlighting spinoffs in
industrial productivity and
manufacturing technology is
n ndustry has long employed machine vi-
sion systems for quality control inspec-
tions and generally they work fine. If
there is a problem it is that such systems
cannot deiect all of the imperfections their
age of the surface is projected onto a video
display and compared with a stored master
image to identify imperfections. Localized
defects measuring less than one thousandth
of an inch are readily detected.
users would like to observe and correct. Surfaces to be inspected must be reflec-
a new product inspection Diffract0 Ltd., Windsor, Ontario is now tive. Since some-such as unpainted sheet
offering an inspection system that allows de- metal-are not sufficiently reflective,
system capable of finding tection of minute flaws previously difficult or Diffracto has developed a reflectivity enhanc-
impossible to observe. Called D-Sight, it rep- ing technique that involves wiping or spray-
tiny flaws P ~ ~ V ~ O U S ~ Y resents a revolutionary technique for inspec- ing a wetting compound on the surface.
tion of flat or curved surfaces to find such D-Sight is offered in two versions with
undetectable imperfections as dings, dents and waviness. different levels of capability to allow the
The system amplifies these defects, making most cost-effective selection for a given type
them highly visible to simplify decision of job. The CVA 3000 is the top of the line
making as to corrective measures or to and there is a lower priced W A 2000.
I
identify areas that need further study. Major users so far are auto manufacturers 1
According to Diffracto, D-Sight can iden- -including Ford, General Motors and
tify 94 percent of the defects when inspect- Chrysler-who employ D-Sight to inspect
ing stamped sheet metal; that compares with external body panels, both metal and plastic,
50 percent for conventional flaw-detection for dings, dents, low spots and waviness. D-
methods. D-Sight is also used to detect im- Sight's sensitivity allows corrective action be-
perfections in glass or plastics, such as surface fore the defects become severe. The system is
sinks, waviness or paint finish irregularities. also useful for die tryout and "first article"
The system is a spinoff from Space Shuttle inspection.
research. Diffracto Ltd., a major company in Aircraft manufacturers are evaluating D-
the field of machine vision systems for in- Sight for inspection of external aircraft sur-
spection, measurement and robot guidance, faces, especially those made of composite
was licensed to develop commercial applica- materials. A variant of D-Sight has been de-
tions for the vision guidance system of the veloped for inspection of transmissive objects,
Shuttle Orbiter's remote manipulator arm, such as windshields or canopies. The com-
known to its Canadian developers-Spar pany is also exploring the system's potential
Aerospace Ltd., Weston, Ontario-as application to wind tunnel and thermal
Canadarm (see page 132). In the course of imaging research.
experimenting with the vision system,
Diffracto engineers noted the phenomenon of
reflected light from the target material. This
led to a company R&D program that pro-
duced an initial CVA 3000 Development
System.
The CVA 3000 employs a camera, high
intensity lamps and a special reflective screen
to produce a D-Sight image of light reflected
from a surface. The image is captured and
stored in a computerized vision system, then
analyzed by a computer program. A live im-
1
surface imperfections measuring would not be visible in the show-
r
less than one thousandth of an
inch. In this test, the target sur-
face is an auto fender (center).
I room.
F or almost 20 years, a
NASA-developed soft-
ware package has
played a in the technical
education of students who
major in Mechanical Engi-
neering Technology at Wil-
liam Rainey Harper College,
Palatine, Illinois. Associate
Professor William F. Hack
has been using the APT
(Automatically Programmed
Tool) software since 1969 in
his CAD/CAM (Computer
Aided Design and Manufac-
turing) curriculum.
At right, Professor Hack
(suited) is explaining to stu-
dents how the APT software
works in guiding machine
tools. At lower right students
are learning how to program
computer guided machine
tools that use APT software.
APT was designed specifi- cessed by the machine tool.
cally for computer aided CAD/CAM students go
manufacturing. The term from writing a program to
APT denotes both the pro- cutting steel in the course of
gramming language and the a semester. Harper College
computer software that pro- leases its APT package
cesses the language. ( 150,000 source statements)
Professor Hack teaches the from COSMIC, NASA's
use of APT programming Computer Software Manage-
languages for control of ment and Information Cen-
metal cutting machines. Ma- ter located at the University
chine tool instructions are of Georgia (see page 140). A
geometry definitions written
in the APT language to con-
stitute a "part program."
The part program is pro-
Composite Materials
'
up of two key components:
fibers to reinforce the high performance plastics,
strength of the material, and resins and composite materi-
matrix resins (polymers) to als. Techimer Materials Divi-
hold the fibers together and sion sells composite matrix
provide protection. At right resins that offer heat resis-
is a photo study of a repre- tance and protection from
sentative group of fibers radiation, electrical and
used in composites and a chemical degradation. The
beaker of a binding material. division's core product line
At Langley Research Cen- utilizes thermoplastic
ter, researchers invented an polyimides based on the
advanced type of polymer, a technology developed at
chemical compound formed Langley Research Center;
by uniting many small mole- HTS has licenses for five
cules to aeate a complex NASA patents and has in-
molecule with different troduced several products
chemical properties. The based on that technology.
material is a thermoplastic major classes of polymers, The company is actively
polyimide that resists sol- thus broadening its indus- marketing matrix resins for
vents; other polymers of this trial applications, which in- composites used in aircraft
generic type are soluble in dude molding resins, adhe- and laminating resins for
solvents, thus cannot be used sives and matrix resins for composites used in printed
in applications where sol- fiber-reinforced composites. board circuitry. Techimer is
vents are present because the The technology is being also offering resins as adhe-
solvents could damage com- commercialized through sives for flexible circuitry and
ponents fabricated from such NASA licenses to several aerospace structural uses. A
materials. Generally, the companies, one of which is
Langley development of the High Technology Services,
solvent-resistant material cre- Inc. (HTS), Techimer Ma-
ated a new polymer with the terials Division, Troy, New
desirable pt0pelTies of two York. HTS was founded in
1983 by Milton L. Evans,
who had spent 20 years with
General Electric Company in
scientific, marketing and
general management posts;
Evans, president of HTS, is
Bar Code Labels
Recycling T e c h n o 13 7
Technology Utilization Officers
A n important element
among the NASA
mechanisms for accel-
erating and broadening aero-
space technology transfer is
Center,dominated by the
massive Vehicle Assembly
Building.
The TUO's basic respon-
sibility is to maintain con-
other cenrer personnel, he
monitors the center's R&D
contracts to see that contrac-
tors similarly document and
report new technology, as is
the Technology Utilization tinuing awareness of research required by law. This tech-
M c e r or TUO. TUOs are and development activities nology, whether developed
technology transfer experts at conducted by his center that in house or by contractors,
each of NASA's nine field have sigdcant potential for becomes part of the NASA
centers and one specahzed generating transferable tech- bank of technical knowledge
, facility who serve as regional nology. He assures that the that is available for secon-
managers for the Technology center's professional people da.ry application.
Utilization Program, identlfv, document and re- To advise potential users
I.
I
t Representative of the port new technology devel- of the technology's availabil-
I group is Tom Harnrnond, oped in the center's labora- ity, the TUO evaluates and
TUO at Kennedy Space tories and, together with processes selected new tech-
Center, shown at right con-
ferring with technology utili-
zation information assistant
Helen LaCroix. The top
photo shows a portion of
sprawling Kennedy Space
1
Support for the TUOs- relations activities connected
NASA conducts, indepen- and for all other elements of with media interest in tech-
dently or in cooperation with the NASA technology utili- nology utilization matters. A
other organizations, a series zation network-is provided
of conferences, seminars and by the Technology Utiliza-
workshops designed to en- uon Office at &;-NASA
courage broader private sec- Scientific and Technical In-
tor participation in the tech- formation Facility (STIF).
nology transfer process and This office executes a wide
to make private companies variety of tasks, among them
aware of the NASA technol- maintenance of the subscrip-
ogies that hold promise for tion list for Tech &.ieji (top),
commercialization. The NASA's principal tool for
TUO plays a prominent part advising potential users of
in this aspect of the pro-
gram. He arranges and co-
ordinates his center's activi-
ties relative to the meetings
and when-as frequently
happens-industry partici-
pants seek to follow up with
I
1
nology utilization service that
offers s o h a r e capable of
being adapted to new uses.
sign, chemical analyses,
determination of building
energy requirements, and a
NASA's mechanism for variety of other functions.
making such programs avail- COSMIC customers can pur-
able to the private sector is chase a program for
the Computer Management a fraction of its original cost
and get a return many times
the investment, even when
the cost of adapting the
program to a new use is
included.
0 ne facet of NASA's
Technology Utiliza-
tion Program is an
applications engineering ef-
fort involving use of NASA
expertise to redesign and
3 reengineer existing aerospace
ip technology for the solution of
problems encountered by
federal agencies, other public
sector institutions or private
organizations. MAGIN NO LENS
Applications engineering
projects originate in various
ways. Some stem from re- OPTICAL FIBER
quests from assistance from
other government agencies, Still in an early stage, this
others are generated by project contemplates employ-
NASA technologists who ment of space-derived com-
perceive possible solutions to puterized image enhance-
problems by adapting ment technology to alter and ,
NASA technology to the enhance images to compen-
need. NASA employs an sate for the low vision TV CAMERA LENSES
application team composed patient's impawed eyesight. SOUD STATE
of several scientists and engi- The program, expected to VIDEO CAMERAS
neers representing diEerent take seven to nine years, is a IMAOE PROCESSOR
areas of expertise. The team collaborative effort of NASA
members contact public and the Wilrner Eye Insti-
sector agenaes, medical tute of Johns Hopkins Med-
institutions, industry ical Institutions, Baltimore,
representatives, trade and Maryland. It will be coordi-
professional groups to un- nated for NASA by the
cover problems that might Earth Resources Laboratory glasses, above, will custom those used to carry telephone
t
be susceptible to solution of John C. St& Space tailor images of the outside signals, will carry pictures
I through application of Center, Mississippi, with world. The patient will see from miniature solid state
aerospace technology. technical contributions from the world on miniature TV TV cameras fitted to a belt
An example of an ongoing the Jet Propulsion Labora- saeens where the lenses of or shoulder pack as shown
applications engineering tory, Johnson Space Center, eyeglasses are normally lo- above. The images will be
project is an efliort to im- and AMES Research Center. cated. Lenses and imaging processed by a small, bat-
prove the sight of some 2.5 The planned Low Vision glass fibers will be embed- tery-powered system in the
million people in the U.S. Enhancement System, to re- ded on each side of the pack and displayed on the
who suffer from "low vi- semble "wraparound" eye- wraparound section, where TV saeens (top photo).
sion," visual impairment the front and ear pieces join.
that cannot be corrected The lenses will form images
medically, surgically or by of the scene before the pa-
conventional prescription tient on the surfaces of the
eyeglasses. fibers. The fibers, similar to
A n essential measure in
promoting greater use
of NASA technology
is letting potential users
know what NASA-devel-
Wdos of
l
l
city.
New York
E a c h ~ e ~ i n -
fbrmation on newly &el-
oped &u- tlnd,-IP ~ ~ ~ S o t v e r
reco~eryvis-
oped technology is available dvoureesinbaskandap- energy savrrc(3s of more than ~ ~I M B 1~ 1 1 d.m s a
for transfer. This is accom- piid remiah, impmvemem .S250F090a mom ajld pEcvrrides it with
plished primarily through ill $hap and lzxboraatory tech- Another example: Eagi- deceiarl~computed
the publication NASA Teth niqua, new so- of &- neers of H a i s Go@on's bydle~tobethe~
Briefi. Rd i data and eamputer pro- ~ ~ c p !%?x%
o& Md-
t codrivet the
The National Aeronautics pms, m d other inn& h e , Fkida llptrd in TK~ moaotrrt@m&-
-
and Space Act requires that orighthqg at NASA field &.fJ about M d spa€@ c h q . Mim, a Hanig
NASA contractors furnish centers of at the u t i e s of FJight Cmter's d h g m e n t SemiOOnd~englnser
written reports containing NASA can-m. Finns in- of h e Power Faam ckmoi- &mpoava-w
technical information about din a pard& inno- ter (PW,a detrlce fm c u b ment equipment dunlng op-
inventiom, improvements or ~on~ygecmore iagpowermmgeinalta- ~ofa,dtilleqIriPpod
innovations developed in the d d e d idkmation by re-
mthg cumnt naotiors. The with r HV-1000 camroller.
course of work for NASA. a T a d Support P X W m a * TheIMEkqllippeddrill
Those reports provide the rn0re thm 10Q*000 voltage with the
*; need u~es?9~,thesamedrill
input for Tecb Issued
10 times a year in 1988 and
Suchreqwmgene-rared
m d y
dm0tqtathgPhshe
fixed full-laad vdqJe it
without * controller would
b w 160 watts.
once a month beginning in Here are gome examples W0uk.i -y m,actine; Ashirdexamgle; Attop
1989, the publication is a of how Dch wfi spfeds ~ t a t h s ~ u miigh;r, a bl~delL dhphyiag
current awareness medium the word and iaapim q a a n d b w TRX Anti-Peg Qm@&
and problem solving tool for seam* usage of NASA lw&ml!eq&w. a n i t x q x d w m
more than 100,000 govem- cfxh* HmkStmid-en- that p e n s clrmbadon of
ment and indusay readers. Thedirectorof- *in~&thePFC moimreonplassicandglaae
First published in 1962 hgOfBallMdW* tedwbgyMinTsth without hm&g the&s
as sde-sheet briefs, Tech & Service Division of Ball &igfiin a zelated iEmovation: of such d. Itbdiw
Bri& was converted to a Q+m, Chicago, Illi- an int-ted dtniit that re- NedbyTraeetWd
NASA-published magazine no$ wed NASA heat trans- duces onto me chip most of -PY, T-pa, =da,
format in 1976 and since fer iniixmatim c y r n M in the -cimritryofthe mY: for it has a vadety of apph-
1985 it has been a joint Tacst&.ie$iasadeparmre s&le phase iudunim mo- tiam-for example, fbg pre-
publishing venture of NASA pointfixthedesignofaa tors,Thechipistheheartof vention far eyqhses, ski
and American Business energy=~bh=reurvery the Hamis HV-IOIM, fnduc- goggles, skin di* masks,
The slystem employs
sysitem. car windows, h h m m mir-
a&ofheatex&qers rors, camera lenses d hd-
(cm=)meightpre9sd met shields.
amthgbUspdtodecome The armpou~dwas origi-
metal sheets* alodng with an d y developed by Johnson
e ~ ~ n o m k higbly
d, &Gent S~centertobrstf~for-
d y s t that &omposes matiaa cm astromut hehut
h y k e 3owhg out of vi9orS 4 8- WiR-
the ovens used in the metal d m . T w Chemical's
decorating proas, The eam-
p y estimates that the heat
--- -
Director, Technology Utilization Divisioh
Ofice of Commercial Programs
NASA Headquarters
Washington, D.C. 20546
b
NASA
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration