Caution, contention, and consolidation

The Washington Watch column provides an overview of NASA's cautious approach to the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery STS-114, contention between the Air Force and administration about production of the F/A-22 Raptor aircraft, and consolidation among U.S. airline companies.     

"Escape" velocity

An astronaut reviews crew escape systems used in the NASA Shuttle Program and explores options for upgrading crew safety on future Shuttle missions.     

Astronaut-induced disturbances in microgravity

This Note describes the dynamic load sensors (DLS) spaceflight experiment that measured middeck astronaut-induced disturbances during the 14-day STS-62 Space Shuttle mission in March 1994. The DLS experiment was flown in conjunction with the reflight of the Middeck 0-Gravity Dynamics Experiment (MODE). The objective of MODE was to investigate effects of the microgravity environment on large space structures. Where Skylab experiments focused on measuring the forces exerted during vigorous soaring activities, the DLS experiment quantified the reaction forces and moments exerted by the crew going about their normal on-orbit activities. The objective of this Note is to present DLS force data and frequency analysis that characterize astronaut-induced loads during spaceflight.     

Hubble's new view of the cosmos

Since the December 1993 repair of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope's (HST) optics by the crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, the rapid-fire scientific achievements have brought a new era of discovery to the field of astronomy. Hubble has confirmed some astronomical theories, challenged others, and often come up with complete surprises. Some images are so unexpected that astronomers have to develop new theories to explain what they are seeing. The HST has detected galaxies out to the visible horizon of the cosmos, and has made an attempt at pinning down the universe's expansion rate. Both of these key research areas should ultimately yield answers to age-old questions: What has happened since the beginning of time, and will the universe go on forever?     

密布多孔构件的低周疲劳寿命予测和试验研究

一、多孔构件应力场有限元分析　　为了计算多孔的涡轮叶片和燃烧室等构件的应力应变 ,我们编制和开发了壳体弹塑性有限元分析程序。用退化方法从三维单元推导出的曲壳单元。这种单元直接离散连续介质力学的三维方程 ,避免了由一般壳理论带来的复杂。曲面等参元具有独立的转角自由度和平移自由度 ,三维应力应变就退化为壳体情形。本文编制的这种退化壳单元程序还可进行各向异性材料的应力应变分析[1 ] 。涡轮叶片因开有很多孔而使结构强度大大降低 ,由于孔间的相互影响 ,应力场相当复杂。我们用下列三种简化模型作计算分析。三种平板尺寸为 …     

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence and the Nasa High Resolution Microwave Survey (HRMS): Historical perspectives

The modern era of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), which began with the paper of Cocconi and Morrison in 1959, reached a landmark with the inauguration of NASA's High Resolution Microwave Survey (HRMS) in 1992. SETI programs stand in the tradition of humanity's quest for its place in the Universe, and seek to test whether cosmic evolution results in widespread intelligence in our Galaxy. This paper reviews the history of the modern SETI era, with emphasis on the development of the NASA SETI program.     

Flying the Desk

The terminology ``flying the desk' has had a bad connotation for aviators over the years, inferring that a pilot has been relegated from the aircraft cockpit to an earthbound office. A unique advanced transport flight station design, described in this paper, could change that implication. The Lockheed-Georgia Company, in a joint project with NASA, has designed, developed, and fabricated a high fidelity flight station simulator for researching issues pertaining to transport aircraft of the mid-1990s and beyond. Early in the program the need and operational requirements for an advanced transport were identified, operating environments were forecast, and technologies available for application to future aircraft were projected. The flight station and all crew systems were designed and initially tested in a full scale mockup by operational line pilots. The refined design was then incorporated into three identical full-mission flight station simulators located at NASA's Ames and Langley Research Centers and at Lockheed's plant in Marietta, Georgia. These simulators contain the unique Pilot's Desk Flight Station design, a radical departure from traditional transport cockpits. The desk design resembles an office or laboratory workstation.     

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.     

Life sciences

Space life sciences research activities are reviewed for 2003. Many life sciences experiments were lost with the tragic loss of STS-107. Life sciences experiments continue to fly as small payloads to the International Space Station (ISS) via the Russian Progress vehicle. Health-related studies continue with the Martian Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE) aboard the Odyssey spacecraft, collecting data on the radiation environment in Mars orbit. NASA Ames increased nanotechnology research in all areas, including fundamental biology, bioastronautics, life support systems, and homeland security. Plant research efforts continued at NASA Kennedy, testing candidate crops for ISS. Research included plant growth studies at different light intensities, varying carbon dioxide concentrations, and different growth media. Education and outreach efforts included development of a NASA/USDA program called Space Agriculture in the Classroom. Canada sponsored a project called Tomatosphere, with classrooms across North America exposing seeds to simulated Mars environment for growth studies. NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research released an updated strategic research plan.     

低周疲劳/蠕变交互作用下构件的寿命预测

通过寿命预测与试验研究,对材料性能到构件的特异性、循环蠕变的分析和平均应力的影响,提出了处理的办法。对交互作用规律进行了深入的分析,提出了预测寿命的途径。      

Aircraft health management network: A user interface

Network management is one of the most discussed topics in the networking fraternity. The efficiency of the network management suit is measured by the number of parameters/components handled by the application while making decisions. In the case of internet-enabled aircrafts, along with network security, even aircraft safety needs to be considered as a factor while designing the Network Management suit. This requires the Network Management suit to monitor/analyze the aircraft-related data (avionics data, physical security parameters, etc.) while determining the proper functioning of the overall system. Herein, these authors present a framework for Network Management suit that, along with network health, monitors inputs from avionics, video surveillance system, weather monitoring system, and manual pilot alarms, and based on the situation, reconfigures the on-board networking devices to stream appropriate flight-critical data to the ground station. The proposed framework attempts to provide a comprehensive user interface for the flight health monitoring crew with all relevant data.     

Bumpy ride back to space

Plans for U.S. return to the International Space Station via STS-114 are described with emphasis on safety of flight hardware and safety of the space station and the space shuttle.     

飞机谱载荷下裂纹扩展的三维约束效应

研究裂纹端部三维应力约束、塑性约束和位移约束等对谱载疲劳裂纹扩展的影响。用适于三维应力状态的修正条带屈服模型 ( Modified Strip Yield Model)计算与裂纹扩展有关的三维约束因子。利用所得约束因子的理论解改进 NASA多年来发展的 FASTRAN-II寿命预测软件 ,使其避免了依赖经验确定的约束因子进行寿命预测的局限 ,仅利用一组常幅疲劳裂纹扩展数据和材料的常规机械性能便可预测飞机谱载下的裂纹扩展寿命。对多种谱型、应力水平、过载比和材料的组合情况进行了分析 ,预测寿命与试验结果吻合很好 ,证明本文方法和改进软件可以用于实际结构的寿命预测。     

SIR-C/X-SAR: A multifaceted radar

The multifaceted Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) was successfully flown twice in 1994 aboard the Shuttle Endeavour as part of an international imaging radar mission. The United States SIR-C operated at L- and C-band, each with multiple polarization, utilizing an active phased array antenna. The German/Italian X-SAR operated at X-band with a single polarization. SIR-C and X-SAR operated synchronously to collect data over common sites. Data were collected for repeat-track interferometric processing at all three frequencies. A total of 143 hours (93 terabits) of SAR data were digitally recorded on tape over the two flights for subsequent processing in the U.S., Germany, and Italy. This advanced multifrequency/multipolarization system has produced a rich radar data set for Earth scientific investigation and demonstration of spaceborne radar remote sensing capabilities     

Elliptical vibration cutting of large-size thin-walled curved surface parts of pure iron by using diamond tool with active cutting edge shift

Large-size thin-walled curved surface parts of pure iron are crucial in aerospace, national defense, energy and precision physical experiments. However, the high machining accuracy and surface quality are difficult to achieve due to the serious tool wear and deformation when machining the parts with conventional cutting tools. In this paper, an elliptical vibration cutting (EVC) with active cutting edge shift (ACES) based on a long arbor vibration device is proposed for ultra-precision machining the pure iron parts by using diamond tool. Compared with cutting at a fixed cutting edge, the influence of ACES on the EVC was analyzed. Experiments in EVC of pure iron with ACES were conducted. The evolutions of the surface roughness, surface topography, and chip morphology with tool wear in EVC with ACES are revealed. The reasonable parameters of ultra-precision machining the pure iron parts by EVC with ACES were determined. It shows that the ACES has a slight influence on the machined surface roughness and surface topography. The diamond tool life can be significantly prolonged in EVC of pure iron with ACES than that with a fixed cutting edge, so that high profile accuracy and surface quality could be obtained even at higher nominal cutting speed. A typical thin-walled curved surface pure iron part with diameter ∅240 mm, height 122 mm, and wall thickness 2 mm was fabricated by the presented method, and its profile error and surface roughness achieved PV 2.2 μm and Ra less than 50 nm, respectively.     

空天飞行器整体式救生座舱的稳定减速与分离特性数值模拟

整体式密闭救生座舱方案将座椅与驾驶舱进行整体设计，弹射后具有独立的气动型面，在包含亚声速、跨声速、超声速甚至高超声速等非常宽广的速度范围可以更好地保护飞行员免受高速气流的吹袭，是空天飞行器救生系统设计的重要途径之一。针对整体式救生座舱，首先开展基本静态气动性能数值模拟评估；之后采用一种刚性减速伞增稳方案（整体式座舱+减速伞）对其稳定性和减速效率进行改进；最后采用动态重叠网格方法，对整体式座舱+减速伞构型的近机弹射轨迹特性开展动态数值模拟计算，从而获得该构型在抛投过程中的稳定性和安全性。研究结果表明，单独整体式救生座舱难以具备静稳定性；减速伞方案可大幅改善座舱的稳定性能，使座舱在Ma=0.3~4.0范围内均具有静、动态稳定性，并呈现亚声速时随马赫数升高而增强、超声速时随马赫数升高而减弱的变化规律，且高马赫数（Ma=4.0）工况可通过降低飞行高度以增加动压的方式进一步提升座舱的动稳定性；在宽速域范围内，整体式座舱+减速伞构型经过弹射力和火箭推力的辅助作用，能够实现与机体的安全分离，并且分离后其俯仰振荡姿态均具有收敛特性。     

民用飞机驾驶舱应急逃生出口设置适航要求研究

民用飞机驾驶舱逃生出口设计是飞机设计的一个重要方面,其中应急出口设置的合理性对机组人员的逃生有着极大影响,受到适航当局的普遍关注。结合FAA(Fedral Aviation Administration)相关咨询通告,研究了CCAR(Civil Aviation Administration of China)关于民用运输类飞机驾驶舱应急逃生出口的最新适航要求,总结了相关条款的变化内容及相应的适航符合性方法,并就关键注意事项进行解析,对民用飞机设计适航验证有一定的借鉴意义。     

For aerospace programs,the crises continue

The Legislative Update column reports on President Bush's supplemental budget request for the war in Iraq, the formation of a defense caucus in the House of Representatives, stabilized funding for airport security, the Department of Homeland Security budget, NASA's budget request, funding for NASA's aeronautics program, and NASA's new authorization. NASA's FY04 budget request is $15.47 billion, less than 1% more than FY03. The aeronautics program budget request for FY04 is $959 million, a decrease of 8.5% from FY03. Congress is working to introduce a multiyear authorization for NASA during the 108th session.     

压气机叶片受外物损伤的剩余振动疲劳寿命

采用电磁涡流激振的振动疲劳试验,对TC4材料制成的平板叶片受外物损伤后的剩余振动疲劳寿命进行了研究。结果表明,叶片的外物损伤程度取决于撞击能量E和几何标度S,对于一定的叶片,存在不影响疲劳寿命的极限损伤。对叶片损伤处进行修复和适当减小叶片振动应力水平是提高叶片抗外物损伤能力的的有效途径。通过钢钛叶片试验分析表明,由于设计叶片稳态应力水平通常以抗拉强度为参考基点,那么钢制叶片的疲劳强度的富裕程度相对要高些。      

The LES model's role in jet noise

Problem definition, near wall modeling and other factors, including grid structure along with its implications on filter definition, are suggested to be of potentially greater importance for practical jet simulations than the LES (large eddy simulation) model. This latter element in itself can be theoretically questionable. When moving to realistic engine conditions, it is noted that disentangling numerical influences from the LES model's appear difficult and negates the model value with its omission potentially being beneficial. Evidence cited suggests that if using an LES model for jets, choosing the numerically best conditioned or the one the code has or, for a dissipative solver, even LES model omission seems sensible. This view point precludes combustion modeling. Tensors of additional derivatives, used in non-linear LES models, when expanded, can yield potentially several hundred interesting derivatives. It is suggested that the MILES (monotone-integrated LES) and LES communities should move towards seeing where modified equation derivatives connect with derivatives that appear in more state of the art non-linear LES models. Then the best features could be combined to form mixed MILES–LES models or even mixed MILES–LES–RANS models. Combustion modeling also presents hybridization potential but in a different context. Most MILES-modified equation analysis focus on the spatial discretization and not the temporal. However, with some codes the spatial discretization terms are deliberately constructed to cancel temporal truncation error terms. Hence, the two things work in harmony and the temporal discretization can make a strong impact on resolved scales.