Intelligent control of a planning system for astronaut training

This work intends to design, analyze and solve, from the systems control perspective, a complex, dynamic, and multiconstrained planning system for generating training plans for crew members of the NASA-led International Space Station. Various intelligent planning systems have been developed within the framework of artificial intelligence. These planning systems generally lack a rigorous mathematical formalism to allow a reliable and flexible methodology for their design, modeling, and performance analysis in a dynamical, time-critical, and multiconstrained environment. Formulating the planning problem in the domain of discrete-event systems under a unified framework such that it can be modeled, designed, and analyzed as a control system will provide a self-contained theory for such planning systems. This will also provide a means to certify various planning systems for operations in the dynamical and complex environments in space. The work presented here completes the design, development, and analysis of an intricate, large-scale, and representative mathematical formulation for intelligent control of a real planning system for Space Station crew training. This planning system has been tested and used at NASA-Johnson Space Center     

在尘埃中诞生的新太阳系

我们的太阳系可能不是孤独的,两位观察到环绕着几颗年轻恒星的尘埃环的美国天文学家说.这些环有“缝隙”,两位天文学家声称这是沿这些恒星规道运行的类似于木星的行星造成的.     

选择空间运输系统助推发动机的方法学

在设计方案评定应用中以参量性寿命周期费用(LCC)为主要的评估标准.阐述了最近研究并成功地应用在对未来重复使用的空间运输系统助推火箭的液体火箭发动机评估上的方法学.讨论了用以LCC为基础的原理评估的定量方法,并考虑了所有的次要评定因素和费用评估关系(CER).讨论了研制工作中的技术、费用和进度,及操作和维护寿命期中的风险对LCC的影响.最后,严格地研讨了将这一以LCC为依据的定量评估方法论用作决策支持工具的优缺点,并将它与作者过去用于相似用途的纯定性评定方法作了比较.本方法学虽是一项具体应用,但也可以作为一类决策模型用于其他的机械和电子系统上,例如运输、空间站和高级武器系统用的这类系统上.     

NASA's global reach

The editorial examines opportunities for change in NASA's paradigm for international partnerships in space exploration.     

Eye light flashes on the Mir space station

The phenomenon of light flashes (LF) in eyes for people in space has been investigated onboard Mir. Data on particles hitting the eye have been collected with the SilEye detectors, and correlated with human observations. It is found that a nucleus in the radiation environment of Mir has roughly a 1% probability to cause an LF, whereas the proton probability is almost three orders of magnitude less. As a function of LET, the LF probability increases above 10 keV/micrometer, reaching about 5% at around 50 keV/micrometer.     

Does the centre of mass remain stable during complex human postural equilibrium tasks in weightlessness?

In normal gravity conditions the execution of voluntary movement involves the displacement of body segments as well as the maintenance of a stable reference value for equilibrium control. It has been suggested that centre of mass (CM) projection within the supporting base (BS) is the stabilised reference for voluntary action, and is conserved in weightlessness. The purpose of this study was to determine if the CM is stabilised during whole body reaching movements executed in weightlessness. The reaching task was conducted by two cosmonauts aboard the Russian orbital station MIR, during the Franco-Russian mission ALTAIR, 1993. Movements of reflective markers were recorded using a videocamera, successive images being reconstructed by computer every 40ms. The position of the CM, ankle joint torques and shank and thigh angles were computed for each subject pre- in- and post-flight using a 7-link mathematical model. Results showed that both cosmonauts adopted a backward leaning posture prior to reaching movements. Inflight, the CM was displaced throughout values in the horizontal axis three times those of pre-flight measures. In addition, ankle dorsi flexor torques inflight increased to values double those of pre- and post-flight tests. This study concluded that CM displacements do not remain stable during complex postural equilibrium tasks executed in weightlessness. Furthermore, in the absence of gravity, subjects changed their strategy for producing ankle torque during spaceflight from a forward to a backward leaning posture.     

Measurements of radiation exposure in civil aircraft

The radiation exposures on 12 flights of German airlines were measured with an active dosemeter based on two silicon semiconductors. The dependence on the date, altitude and route of the flights was studied. Measured dose rates and preliminary dose equivalent rates of the individual flights are given and compared with model calculations.     

The Kinelite Project: a new powerful motion analyser for Spacelab and space station

The goal of the Kinelite Project is to develop a space qualified motion analysis system to be used in space by the scientific community, mainly to support neuroscience protocols. The measurement principle of the Kinelite is to determine, by triangulation mean, the 3D position of small, lightweight, reflective markers positioned at the different points of interest. The scene is illuminated by Infra Red flashes and the reflected light is acquired by up to 8 precalibrated and synchronized CCD cameras. The main characteristics of the system are: Camera field of view: 45 degrees; Number of cameras: 2 to 8; Acquisition frequency: 25, 50, 100, or 200 Hz; CCD format: 256 x 256; Number of markers: up to 64; 3D accuracy: 2mm; Main dimensions: 45 cm x 45 cm x 30 cm; Mass: 23 kg; Power consumption: less than 200 W. The Kinelite will first fly aboard the NASA Spacelab; it will be used, during the NEUROLAB mission (4/98), to support the "Frames of References and Internal Models" (Principal Investigator: Pr. A. Berthoz, Co Investigators: J. McIntyre, F. Lacquaniti).     

在火星上如何分辨时间

2012年8月6日“好奇”号火星车登上火星后，特制的火星表、戈达德研究所网站上的Mars24……这些让火星时间走进了人们的视线。     

信标监视可减少地面与航天器的通信和相互作用

信标监视是这样一种设想：当航天器需要与地面相互作用时，为其提供通知地面的一种简单途径。历来，航天器必须向地面操作人员发送大量的系统状态数据，这就需要可靠的通信链路、冗长的数传时间和复杂的数据接收与检测设备。操作专家必须监视和分析这些数据，并确定何需与航天器进行进一步的相互作用。将来，许多航天器都有分析自身状态数据的智能，因而确定地面与航天器之间何时需进行相互作用的任务将转移给航天器。信标监视方案不