Space, security in the forefront

The Washington Watch column reports on President Bush's recently announced human space flight program, which includes new policies for returning the shuttle to flight, finishing the International Space Station by 2010, and developing a new space vehicle to return to the Moon; challenges in the airline industry; and selection of a helicopter for use by the President.     

Leasecraft: An Innovative Space Vehicle

The Leasecraft system is an innovative means to provide a permanent mobile platform in low Earth orbit and the related launch, integration, test, operation, and in-orbit servicing for payloads of industrial and government users. The Leasecraft system is being funded and developed by Fairchild Industries and furthers the industrialization of space with its significant business potential. The technology and techniques underlying this venture are derived from the shuttle compatible multimission modular spacecraft (presently used for the NASA solar maximum mission and Landsat-D/D' mission) and the upcoming demonstration of shuttle repair to be performed on the solar maximum satellite in the first quarter of 1984. Leasecraft can be identified as a system, comprising a low orbit space platform, an operations control center, user accommodations, and services such as payload interfaces, documentation, and ground support equipment and procedures. The combination of these elements facilitates the use of the space environment by both the space and nonspace oriented user. Early potential applications of Leasecraft include the processing of pharmaceuticals and materials, satellite-aided search and rescue, data collection, and support of NASA's astrophysics programs. Initial assessments made concerning the benefits to users and the cost of providing these benefits indicates that Leasecraft can provide needed services at very competitive rates. The leasing arrangement is cost effective as compared with present spacecraft platform development and cost assessment techniques.     

Renewal, reform, and return to flight

The Washington Watch column discusses budget issues on Capitol Hill relating to aerospace issues, including the shuttle's delayed return to flight and Michael Griffin becoming the new NASA administrator; the Transportation Security Administration becoming downsized; and new personnel at the Pentagon.     

Conversations: with Sean O'Keefe. Interview by Frank Sietzen Jr

Sean O'Keefe, who took office as the 10th NASA administrator in December 2001, is interviewed after 9 months on the job. Topics of conversation include his transition from the Office of Management and Budget to NASA, management priorities, space shuttle safety, the Space Launch Initiative and the National Aerospace Initiative, future space exploration, relationships with Congress and the President, and NASA's budget.     

Facing harsh realities--in space, air, and war

Current legislative activity in Washington includes plans for hearings and proposed changes to NASA after the publication of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board report in August, 2003. Also reviewed are legislative interest in airline safety and armed forces expansion.     

Conversations: with Carl Pilcher [interview by Johan Benson

An interview with Carl Pilcher, science program director for solar system exploration at NASA, examines NASA's past, present, and planned missions to explore the solar system. Specific questions relate to the status of current and planned missions, science results of the Pathfinder mission to Mars, cooperation with the Japanese space agency, the status of the search for extraterrestrial life in solar system meteoroids and asteroids, mission size for more in-depth exploration, reports of water on the moon, and the exploration of near-Earth objects.     

Future air traffic management: technology,operations, and human factors implications

The NASA, the FAA and Eurocontrol have initiated programs of research and development to provide flight crew, air line operators and air traffic managers with automation aids to increase capacity in enroute and terminal areas, to support the goals of safe, flexible, predictable and efficient operations, and to ensure, and to enhance the safety of operations in the response to demands for capacity enhancement. Achievement of these goals is enabled by increased precision of knowledge of aircraft and asset position in space and time, by increased density and bandwidth of transmitted information among the airspace assets and users, and by increased service and information to the flight deck, ATC and airline operations centers. These aiding technologies are intended to support exploitation of timely and dynamic information on atmospheric hazards, traffic fluctuations, and airspace utilization. These systems are intended to support the human operators who maintain the authority and responsibility for safe, efficient operations through cognitive aiding technologies, to serve as cognitive orthoses (Reason, 1988) [12].     

航线机务维修人员岗位胜任力评价研究

有效评价航线机务维修人员岗位胜任力，能够拓展针对性培养计划，提升民航机务维修队伍的综合能力。基于工作分析、行为事件访谈、问卷调查等方式对航线机务维修人员岗位胜任力评价指标进行初选、修正，确定21 项评价指标，进而构建航线机务维修人员岗位胜任力评价指标体系；采用熵权法确定指标权重，运用累积前景理论的直觉模糊灰色关联分析法（IF-CPT-GRA）建立航线机务维修人员岗位胜任力评价模型；用该模型对5 位航线机务维修人员的岗位胜任力进行评价，评价结果与其他模型的结果进行对比，并将其应用到实例中。结果表明：该评价模型具有一定的实用性，能够对航线机务维修人员岗位胜任力进行有效评价。     

Life sciences

Space life sciences research activities are reviewed for the year. Highlights of animal studies were the first long-term flight of an animal enclosure module and an avian development facility on STS-108. Plant research efforts focused on a biomass production system for eventual use on the International Space Station (ISS), the PESTO experiment on ISS, and screening of several salad crop varieties for potential use in space. Health-related studies included the Martian Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE) on the Mars Odyssey mission, presentation of results from NASA's Biomolecular Physics and Chemistry Program, and research related to human liver cell function in space through an agreement with StelSys. In industry and academia, a memorandum of understanding was signed between NASA and the biotechnology industry to enhance communication between NASA and the industry, expand commercial biotechnology space research and development, and expand formal and informal education of industry and the public regarding biotechnology and space research. NASA selected Purdue University to lead an NSCORT for advanced life support research to develop technologies to enable long-duration planetary mission and sustain human space colonies.     

The critics return to flight

A former astronaut justifies human space exploration and provides a rebuttal to criticism of continued exploration. The discussion includes examples of skeptics' arguments and examples of NASA achievements that have had direct economic and social impacts on the United States.     

Quality and security, they work together

The importance of considering computer security as part of the software quality assurance practice is discussed. Issues that point to the need for integration of quality assurance and computer security disciplines are raised. To address some of these issues, the NASA Automated Information Security (AIS) program is presented as a model that may be used for improving interactions between the quality assurance and computer security community of professionals. The information presented does not comprise an answer to documenting all computer security interactions with quality assurance, but it does present a currently working baseline model and can serve as a basis for future research and discussion     

大型液体火箭发动机的最新发展

根据美国对ＳＳＭＥ和ＳＴＭＥ的改进设计以及前苏联、欧洲和日本分别对ＲＤ－０１２０、Ｖｕｌｃａｉｎ和ＬＥ－７发动机的开发研究，探讨在研制未来大推力液体火箭发动机（ＬＲＭ）中各国的指导思想和设计原则，分析世界在这一领域的发展动向。     

New ideas for affordable space missions

In September 1995, NASA-Goddard held a workshop on low-cost access to space for science missions. The workshop provided briefings on balloons, sounding rockets, Shuttle payloads, and low-cost free-flyer concepts, to provide options of getting experiments into space. This report is the result of a panel session organized with the aim of generating new ideas beyond those presented in the workshop. In addition to the authors, Orlando Figueroa and Paul Ondrus of NASA-Goddard and Richard Zwirnbaum of Computer Sciences Corp. participated in the discussions. The ideas presented do not necessarily reflect the current thinking of NASA managers. Although the panel discussion was focused on the kinds of science missions usually funded by NASA, most of the ideas that were generated are relevant to military and commercial missions as well.     

基于业务持续性的航空公司机务维修安全评估

为降低航空公司的事故率,提出基于业务持续性的航空公司机务维修安全评估方法。从人件、硬件、环境、应急救援和软件5个方面来建立风险评估体系,根据风险评估体系建立贝叶斯网络模型,利用能够反映航空公司安全维修状况的历史定量数据作为训练参数。在建立起评估模型的基础上,对航空公司的机务维修进行安全评估和敏感性分析。实验证明,方法能预测风险发展趋势,有效地降低事故发生率,为航空公司的安全运行提供科学依据。     

国外航天运输系统防热系统,结构和材料的总体分析研究

对近年来国外航天运输系统包括飞船、航天飞机和空天飞机等的防热方案的选用方向、防热结构和防热材料的研究与应用以及发展方向进行了高度概括与分析，采用了新的分类方法，介绍了各种新型的防热系统、结构和材料。     

Logistics Transportation for Space Station Support

Logistics support of a long duration space station will dictate a high degree of space flight activity to rotate personnel and transport supplies and equipment. Systems characteristics and mission requirements for space station logistics have been analyzed within the context of a broad spectrum of space missions. Preliminary concepts for a space shuttle system (space transportation) have been developed. This system can support not only a space station program, but a wide variety of space missions for both NASA and the DOD.     

James Webb Space Telescope: Project Overview

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) project at the NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is responsible for the development, launch, flight, and science operations for the telescope. The project is in phase B with its launch scheduled for no earlier than June 2013. The project is a partnership among NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The JWST mission team is fully in place, including major ESA and CSA subcontractors. This provides an overview of the planned JWST science, current architecture focusing on the instrumentation, and mission status, including technology developments, and risks.     

Psychological health maintenance on Space Station Freedom

The scheduling of crew rotations for up to 180 days on Space Station Freedom presents a special challenge for behavioral scientists who are tasked with providing psychological support for the crews, their families, and mission flight controllers. Preflight psychological support planning may minimize the negative impact of psychological and social issues on mission success, as well as assist NASA management in making real-time mission planning decisions in the event of a significant social event (for example, the death of a family member). During flight, the combined psychological, emotional, and social stressors on the astronauts must be monitored, along with other aspects of their health. The Health Maintenance Facility (HMF) will have the capability of providing preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic assistance for significant psychiatric and interpersonal problems which may develop. Psychological support will not end with the termination of the mission. Mental health professionals must be part of the team of medical personnel whose job will be to facilitate the transition--physical and mental--from the space environment back to planet Earth. This paper reviews each phase of mission planning for Space Station Freedom and specifies those factors that may be critical for psychological health maintenance on extended-duration space missions.     

NASA research and development for space telerobotics

The goal of this research is to explore and prevent robust concepts for telerobotic support of space servicing, assembly, maintenance, and telescience tasks. This goal is being addressed through a program of coordinated work in artificial intelligence, robotics, and human factors. The general research objective is the fusion of robot sensing and manipulation, teleoperation, and human and machine cognitive skills into an effective architecture for supervised task automation. NASA is evaluating results of this research program in a ground laboratory telerobot testbed under development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The testbed development activity includes integrated technology demonstrations. The demonstrations show telerobot capabilities to perform tasks of increasing complexity, and duration in increasingly unstructured environments. The first such demonstration is the ground-based grappling, docking, and servicing of a satellite taskboard. The author outlines this demonstration and briefly reports on some aspects of its implementation     

高温基线密封研究进展

介绍了高温基线密封的使用需求、结构和材料选择、设计、模拟分析以及试验装置的发展;并结合具体的使用背景,以Shuttle orbiters和X-38上使用的控制面基线密封件为例,介绍了NASA在研制高温基线密封金属弹簧管的过程中,高温金属弹簧管的材料选择、结构设计和性能测试.