From: yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee)
Newsgroups: sci.space.news
Subject: NASA selects 31 ACTS Program experiments [Release 92-134] (Forwarded)
Date: 17 Aug 92 19:33:39 GMT
Followup-To: sci.space
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Apparently-To: sci-space-news@ames.arc.nasa.gov

Barbara E. Selby
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                           August 17, 1992
(Phone:  202/358-1983)

Linda S. Ellis
Lewis Research Center, Cleveland
(Phone:  216/433-2900)


RELEASE:  92-134

NASA SELECTS 31 ACTS PROGRAM EXPERIMENTS


	NASA has selected 31 experiments from the public and private sectors
for inclusion in the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS)
Program.  Scheduled for launch in early 1993, this national communications
facility will operate as an orbiting testbed for the next generation of
commercial communications satellites.

	Planned for a 2-year experiment period, the ACTS program offers a
unique opportunity for commercial, governmental and academic organizations
to experiment with and validate new communications satellite technologies.

	"The ACTS program is a successful relationship in which industry,
academia and government have joined together to lead America's innovation
in unprecedented communications technologies," said John G. Mannix, NASA
Assistant Administrator for Commerical Programs.  "Such initiative restores
this country's preeminence in an increasingly competitive world market."

	Developed to support future high-risk communications needs which fall
outside the sponsorship capability of the private sector, the ACTS is
pioneering technology developments that will provide better service, lower
cost, greater convenience and improved reliability.

	The ACTS system incorporates advanced technologies such as a
baseband processor which acts as an onboard computer providing memory
and processing aboard the satellite.  This device electronically sorts and
routes traffic from points of origin to points of destination without the
necessity of going through a ground station.

	Another feature is an onboard microwave switch matrix that can route
high volume traffic at much higher data rates than current communications
satellites, thus allowing communications between supercomputers or the
distribution of high-definition television signals.

	The satellite's electronically hopping spot beams will focus narrow,
high-powered beams on isolated locations.  These spot beams are useful for
linking geographically dispersed areas and make it possible to reduce the size
and substantially lower the cost of the ground station.  The satellite also
will use radio components at Ka-band, a new and uncrowded frequency band for
commercial use in the United States.

	Experiments in the ACTS program will test a variety of applications.
American Express plans to transmit and receive data at high speeds through
the ACTS small ground stations testing the technology for possible use in a
future operational system.

	In other experiments, the Mayo Foundation will use ACTS to
demonstrate medical support to remote communities and to transfer high-
definition imagery.  The National Science Foundation's Palmer Station in
Antarctica will transmit data and images used for scientific research.
Georgetown University is creating a high-speed, interactive education
network in South America.

	The ACTS experiments program is sponsored by NASA's Office of
Commercial Programs, Washington, D.C., with project management provided
by NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland.

	Selected from 50 proposals submitted in response to an August 1991
Experiment Opportunity Announcement, the experiments are:

  o "Video and High Definition Television Transmission (HDTV)," C. V. Girod,
The Public Broadcasting Service, Alexandria, Va.

  o "Georgetown Hemispheric Intercultural Network for Knowledge (G-
Think)," Rev. Harold C. Bradley, S.J., Georgetown University, Office of Federal
Relations, Washington, D.C.

  o "Hopping Beam Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) Operation
Observations," Robert Ridings, COMSAT Laboratories, Network Technology
Division, Clarksburg, Md.

  o "Application of the NASA ACTS Satellite System to the Practice of
Medicine in an Integrated Group Practice," Dr. R. R. Hattery, M.D., Mayo
Foundation, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Rochester, Minn.

  o "Prototype Intelsat Operations," A. M. Goldman, Jr., COMSAT World
Systems, Washington, D.C.

  o "High Bit Rate Modem Evaluation," Kerry D. Lee, Motorola, Inc., Strategic
Electronics Division, Chandler, Ariz.

  o "Low Bit Rate Transmit Window Characterization," Kerry D. Lee, Motorola,
Inc., Strategic Electronics Division, Chandler, Ariz.

  o "Coding Gain Evaluation," Kerry D. Lee, Motorola, Inc., Strategic
Electronics Division, Chandler, Ariz.

  o "ACTS Mobile Terminal (AMT)," Tom Jedrey, NASA Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

  o "Disaster Recovery, Backup and Communications Augmentation
Experiment Using ACTS," Don Flournoy, Institute for Telecommunications
Studies, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

  o "Public Switched Network Restoration," Frank Dixon, National
Communications System, Arlington, Va.

  o "Public Switched Network Trucking," Frank Dixon, National
Communications System, Arlington, Va.

  o "Isolated User Access," Frank Dixon, National Communications System,
Arlington, Va.

  o "Secure Mobile Communications," Frank Dixon, National Communications
System, Arlington, Va.

  o "Quantify ACTS End-to-End Communication System Performance," Robert
D. Cass, National Telecommunications and Information
Administration/Institute for Telecommunication Studies, U.S. Department of
Commerce, Boulder, Colo.

  o "Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) Via ACTS," Lt. Col. Mick
Hanratty, AIRMICS, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Ga.

  o "Army ACTS Experiments," Maj. Mary Kaura, USARSPACE, Colorado
Springs, Colo.

  o "Applications of Small Earth Stations in Conducting Telescience and
Telemedicine," Gerald R. Taylor, Ph.D., Johnson Space Center, Pace
Biomedical Research Institute, Houston

  o "Real-Time, High-Bandwidth Data Links," Dr. Stephen Horan, New Mexico
State University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Las
Cruces, N.M.

  o "Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) Experiments," Moorthy
Hariharan, COMSAT Laboratories, Network Technology Division, Clarksburg,
Md.

  o "Direct-To-Premise ACTS Based Video Services," Dr. Vason P. Srini,
Dataflow Systems, Division of Innovative Configuration Inc., Berkeley, Calif.

  o "ACTS Experiments Proposal," Frederick Weber, Orion Satellite Corp.,
Rockville, Md.

  o "Supercomputer Networking Applications," Dr. Burton I. Edelson, The
George Washington University, Institute for Applied Space Research,
Washington, D.C.

  o "Protocol Evaluation for Advanced Space Data Interchange," Quoc T.
Nguyen, The MITRE Corp., McLean, Va.

  o "Traffic Modeling, Channel Characterization, Coding and Modulation on
ACTS," Y. Bar-Ness, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, New
Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.

  o "Low-Cost Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Network," Dr.
Kermit Reister, Center for AeroSpace Technology, Weber State University,
Ogden, Utah

  o "Availability Comparison Between Ku and Ka Satellite Technologies," Allen
R. Neely, American Express, Phoenix, Ariz.

  o "Satellite Communications for Transmission of Corrections to GPS Users,"
Sally L. Frodge, U.S. Army Topographic Engineering Center, Fort Belvoir, Va.

- "Advanced Applications to Validate ACTS Technologies," Dr. David Y. Y. Yun,
University of Hawaii at Manoa, Information Technology Division, Honolulu,
Hawaii.

  o "Testing of ACTS Onboard Technologies for Selected Hybrid Networking
Applications," Dr. John S. Baras, University of Maryland Center for the
Commercial Development of Space.

  o "Scientific Research on the Antarctic Peninsula," Raymond C. Smith,
National Science Foundation Division of Polar Programs.
Newsgroups: sci.space.news