STI BULLETIN ONLINE 

A quarterly publication of the NASA Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Program produced by the NASA 

Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI) for the users of our information products and services. 

July 2005 

Featured Articles Departments

• Spinoff Staff ‘Springs’ to Colorado for 2005 Space 

Technology Hall of Fame Ceremony 

• Spinoff 2005 Coming Soon! 

• NASA CASI Hits the Road 

• From the Users

• From the Centers

• From the STI Program Office

Focus On... Physics

Publication News

• Current Topics

• NASA History

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Featured Articles 

Spinoff Staff ‘Springs’ to Colorado for 2005 Space Technology Hall of Fame Ceremony 

In April, the staff of NASA’s premier annual publication, Spinoff magazine, traveled to Colorado Springs as special guests

for the 21st National Space Symposium, an event hosted by the U.S. Space Foundation. This year’s symposium was 

attended by more than 6,500 registrants, exhibitors, members of the media, and guest speakers, including NASA Deputy 

Administrator, Frederick Gregory, who delivered progress reports on the Agency’s Return to Flight and Vision for Space

Exploration efforts. 

A major highlight of the symposium was the annual Space Technology Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The Space 

Technology Hall of Fame, managed by the Space Foundation in partnership with NASA, enters its 18th year of honoring

the innovators who transform space-based technology into commercial products and services that improve life on Earth.

Like Spinoff magazine, the program serves to increase public awareness of the benefits of space technology, and 

encourage further innovation. 
Four new technologies were inducted this year: The InnerVueTM Diagnostic Scope System 

(Spinoff 2004), Outlast Smart Fabric Technology (Spinoff 2004), NanoCeram Superfilters 

(Spinoff 2004), and Portable Hyperspectral Imaging Systems (to be featured in the 

upcoming edition of Spinoff 2005). Representatives from 7 key innovating organizations as

well as 23 innovating individuals were honored at a private induction ceremony on the

veranda of the luxurious Broadmoor Hotel, overlooking the breathtaking landscape of

Colorado Springs. A special awards dinner followed. 

The InnerVueTM Diagnostic Scope System was one of four technologies inducted at this year’s

National Space Symposium. 

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Spinoff 2005 Coming Soon! 

The highly anticipated release of Spinoff 2005 is scheduled for early fall. To

receive a complimentary copy of the new issue upon release, please contact 

the National Technology Transfer Center at 1-800-678-6882 or go to the online

order form at http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/spin_order_form.html. Spinoff 2005

will also be available on an interactive CD-ROM, complete with Web links and 

multimedia features. Please check the Spinoff Web site 

(http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/) for more information on the CD-ROM release 

date. 

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NASA CASI Hits the Road 

From left to right: CASI Outreach Specialists Kurt McIntyre and Chris

Stark along with Sue Butts of the Glenn Publications Office at the display

in the Glenn cafeteria. 

CASI Outreach Specialists Michelle Mariano, Chris Stark, and Kurt 

McIntyre hit the road to NASA Glenn Research Center and NASA

Stennis Space Center in April to promote the NASA Aeronautics 

and Space Database and spend some quality time with the library 

and publications staffs at the centers. 

First on the agenda was Glenn Research Center in Cleveland from

April 12 -14, 2005. On day one, McIntyre and Stark attended the 

Glenn Library open house hosted by Susan Oberc. The day was 

packed full of events such as a lunch-time presentation by Glenn

Physicist, Bruce Banks. Attendees included center director, Dr. 

Julian Earls as well as Deputy Director, Rich Christiansen. The 

day was a significant success for the Glenn Library and CASI

benefited by having the opportunity to introduce the NA&SD to several Glenn employees, including Deputy Director 

Christiansen. 

On day two, McIntyre and Stark coordinated efforts with the Publications Office headed by Sue Butts (pictured above). In

the morning, the CASI duo had a brief meeting with the Publications Staff and after the meeting “set up shop” promoting
CASI and the NA&SD in one of Glenn’s cafeterias to capture employee lunchtime traffic. In the afternoon, McIntyre gave 

a database training presentation before calling it a day and wrapping things up. 

At NASA Stennis Space Center (SSC), on April 26-27, Mariano and McIntyre teamed up with Colby Albasini and the SSC 

STI Office. The first day began with promoting the NASA Aeronautics and Space Database in the cafeteria at Stennis 

where Mariano and McIntyre had the pleasure of meeting the center Director, Tom Donaldson, and SSC’s chief engineer, 

Shamin Rahman. On day two, Mariano and McIntyre conducted an onsite training session for anyone interested in 

learning more about the NASA Aeronautics and Space Database, which was well attended and well received. 

The Outreach Team at CASI would like to send a special “thank you” to everyone at the NASA field centers who helped 

coordinate and welcome CASI representatives to their centers. Back to Top
STI BULLETIN ONLINE 

Focus On ... ... Physics 

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World Year of Physics 

The World Year of Physics (WYP) is a worldwide celebration of the science of physics. 

Physics societies all over the world, as well as international organizations such as UNESCO,

support this commemoration of the importance of physics. Physics is the basis of many new

technologies, as well as being important in our everyday lives. The year 2005 was selected

because it is the 100th anniversary of the year when Albert Einstein published three papers 

that revolutionized the study of our world and the universe. (For more about Einstein’s

discoveries, see http://universe.nasa.gov/.) 

WYP is being observed throughout 2005 at many events hosted by various organizations all

over the world. This issue of the STI Bulletin joins the celebration by highlighting some

aspects of physics at NASA. 

A Push From Light 

One of the challenges of traveling long distances in space is the problem of fuel. Most fuels are heavy and bulky, so it is 

hard to carry enough with you for the long distances of space exploration. One solution would be to use energy from a

distant source rather than from an engine on board. 

In an artist’s rendition, a concept design for an interstellar probe driven by a solar sail propulsion system travels

through space on its way out of the solar system. 

The solar sails now being tested at NASA Glenn Research Center’s Plum Brook facility in Sandusky,

Ohio, do just that. The sails reflect light from the sun. The light, which arrives as particles called 

photons, provides pressure on the sails to move the spacecraft. The light power provides enough thrust not only to travel, 

but to maneuver and hover in space. 

Einstein used the idea of light acting as particles to explain phenomena that were mysterious in 1905. Today, NASA is 

putting this insight to work. For the latest on the testing program for solar sails, see the In-Space Propulsion Technology 

Program’s Web site at http://www.inspacepropulsion.com/. 
Looking Back 

This microwave sky image from the WMAP mission shows the 

variations in temperature of the oldest light in the sky. The red

areas are relatively warmer and the blue areas are cooler. 

The Big Bang model of the universe, in which the universe

began with an explosion and has been expanding ever 

since, arose from Einstein’s theories. (For more on this, 

see http://universe.nasa.gov/.) 

NASA has mounted several missions to look for evidence 

of the universe’s beginning and events that followed. The 

latest is the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe

(WMAP), which measured the oldest light in the universe. 

The latest data from the WMAP mission tell us that the universe is 13.7 billion years old, and matter makes up only 4 

percent of it. These new findings will help physicists understand more about the origin of the universe and possibilities for 

its future. For more on the WMAP findings and what they mean, please see the Web site at http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/. 

Listed below is a sample of material on the topics above that were found in the NASA Aeronautics and Space Database. 

The listing is limited to recently published, publicly available information in full-text Portable Document Format (PDF) files 

that can be viewed online and downloaded free of charge. For those who would like to obtain hardcopies, the documents 

are also available for online purchase or by contacting the STI Help Desk (301-621-0390 or help@sti.nasa.gov). Please

use the Document IDs listed below. You can also get quick access to all full-text documents that are relevant to the topics

below by clicking on the Physics at NASA subtopic links in the Featured Topics section on the Basic Search page of the 

database. 

Solar Sails 

Bladt, Jeff J.; and Lawrence, Dale A. [2005]. Solar Sail Attitude Control Performance Comparison. 

Document ID (CASI): 20050137595. 

Adams, Charles L. 2004. Solar Sail Propulsion Technology Readiness Level Database. Document ID 

(CASI): 20040161451. 

Black, Jonathan T.; and Pappa, Richard S. [2004]. Photogrammetry and Videogrammetry Methods for 

Solar Sails and Other Gossamer Structures. Document ID (CASI): 20040068123. 

Black, Jonathan T.; Leifer, Jack; DeMoss, Joshua A.; Walker, Eric N.; and Belvin, W. Keith. [2004]. 

Experimental and Numerical Correlation of Gravity Sag in Solar Sail Quality Membranes. Document ID 

(CASI): 20040066101. 

Canfield, Stephen L.; Beard, James W., III; Peddieson, John; Ewing, Anthony; and Garbe, Greg. 2004.

Similarity Rules for Scaling Solar Sail Systems. Document ID (CASI): 20040161547. 

Ewing, Anthony; and Adams, Charles. 2004. Solar Sail Models and Test Measurements Correspondence 

for Validation Requirements Definition. Document ID (CASI): 20040161552. 

Garbe, Gregory; Montgomery, Edward E., IV; Heaton, Andrew F.; VanSant, John T.; and Campbell, Bruce 

A. 2004. NASA's Integrated Development of Solar Sail Propulsion Project. Document ID (CASI):

20040034018. 

Garrett, Henry B.; and Wang, Joseph. 2004. Simulations of Solar Wind Plasma Flow Around a Simple 

Solar Sail. Document ID (CASI): 20040111086. 

Gaspar, James L.; Mann, Troy; Behun, Vaughn; Wilkie, W. Keats; and Pappa, Richard. [2004]. 

Development of Modal Test Techniques for Validation of a Solar Sail Design. Document ID (CASI):

20040073458. 
Jenkins, Christopher H. M.; Gough, Aaron R.; Pappa, Richard S.; Carroll, Joe; Blandino, Joseph R.; 

Miles, Jonathan J.; and Rakoczy, John. [2004]. Design Considerations for an Integrated Solar Sail 

Diagnostics System. Document ID (CASI): 20040073180. 

Johnson, Les; Alexander, Leslie; Baggett, Randy; Bonometti, Joe; Herrmann, Melody; James, Bonnie; 

and Montgomery, Sandy. [2004]. NASA's In-Space Propulsion Technology Program: Overview and 

Status. Document ID (CASI): 20040075889. 

Johnston, John D. [2004]. The Role of Structural Models in the Solar Sail Flight Validation Process. 

Document ID (CASI): 20040171634. 

Laue, G.; Moore, J.; and Clayton, W. 2004. Innovative Structural Design Features for a 10 m Solar Sail 

Demonstrator. Document ID (CASI): 20040071006. 

Lichodziejewski, David; Derbes, Billy; Reinert, Rich; Belvin, Keith; Slade, Kara; and Mann, Troy. 2004. 

Development and Ground Testing of a Compactly Stowed Scalable Inflatably Deployed Solar Sail. 

Document ID (CASI): 20040071043. 

Mangus, David; and Heaton, Andy. 2004. Solar Sail Control Actuator Concepts. Document ID (CASI): 

20040161557. 

Matloff, Gregory L.; Taylor, Travis; and Powell, Conley. 2004. Saturn/Titan Rendezvous: A Solar-Sail 

Aerocapture Mission. Document ID (CASI): 20040171127. 

Montgomery, Edward E, IV; and Johnson, Charles Les. 2004. The Development of Solar Sail Propulsion 

for NASA Science Missions to the Inner Solar System. Document ID (CASI): 20040068126. 

Montgomery, Edward E., IV; and Johnson, Les. 2004. Development of Solar Sail Propulsion for Inner 

Solar System NASA Science Missions. Document ID (CASI): 20040085797. 

Montgomery, Edward E., IV. 2004. In-Space Propulsion (ISP) Solar Sail Propulsion Technology 

Development. Document ID (CASI): 20050000098. 

Murphy, David M.; Macy, Brian D.; and Gaspar, James L. [2004]. Demonstration of a 10-m Solar Sail 

System. Document ID (CASI): 20040068083. 

Pappa, Richard S.; Blandino, Joseph R.; Caldwell, Douglas W.; Carroll, Joseph A.; Jenkins, Christopher 

H. M.; and Pollock, Thomas C. 2004. Optical Diagnostic System for Solar Sails: Phase 1 Final Report. 

Document ID (CASI): 20050019542. 

Percy, Thomas K.; Taylor, Travis; and Powell, T. Conley. [2004]. A Study of Possible Solar Sail 

Applications for Mars Missions. Document ID (CASI): 20040086066. 

Sleight, David W.; and Muheim, Danniella M. 2004. Parametric Studies of Square Solar Sails Using Finite 

Element Analysis. Document ID (CASI): 20040074322. 

Tessler, Alexander; and Sleight, David W. [2004]. Toward Effective Shell Modeling of Wrinkled Thin-Film 

Membranes Exhibiting Stress Concentrations. Document ID (CASI): 20040075546. 

Wang, John T.; Chen, Tzikang; Sleight, David W.; and Tessler, Alex. 2004. Simulating Nonlinear 

Deformations of Solar Sail Membranes Using Explicit Time Integration. Document ID (CASI):

20040056019. 

Garbe, Gregory; and Montgomery, Edward E., IV. 2003. An Overview Of NASA's Solar Sail Propulsion 

Project. Document ID (CASI): 20030106650. 

Giersch, L.; Winglee, R.; Slough, J.; Ziemba, T.; and Euripides, P. 2003. Magnetic Dipole Inflation with 

Cascaded ARC and Applications to Mini-Magnetospheric Plasma Propulsion. Document ID (CASI):

20030106130. 

Hollerman, William Andrew. 2003. The Physics of Solar Sails. Document ID (CASI): 20030093608. 
Johnson, Charles L.; and Matloff, Gregory L. 2003. Combination Solar Sail and Electrodynamic Tether 

Propulsion System. Document ID (CASI): 20030068300. 

Montgomery, Edward E., IV; Heaton, Andrew F.; and Garbe, Gregory P. 2003. Places Only Sails Can Go. 

Document ID (CASI): 20030065927. 

Taylor, Travis S.; Moton, Tryshanda T.; Robinson, Don; Anding, R. Charles; Matloff, Gregory L.; Garbe, 

Gregory; and Montgomery, Edward. [2003]. Solar Sail Application to Comet Nucleus Sample Return. 

Document ID (CASI): 20030106568. 

 

WMAP 

O'Donnell, James R., Jr.; Davis, Gary T.; and Ward, David K. [2004]. Restoring Redundancy to the 

Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe Propulsion System. Document ID (CASI): 20040035760. 

Moskalenko, Igor V.; Strong, Andrew W.; and Reimer, Olaf. [2004]. Diffuse Gamma Rays Galactic and 

Extragalactic Diffuse Emission. Document ID (CASI): 20040037787. 

Georganopoulos, Markos; Kazanas, Demosthenes; Perlman, Eric; and Stecker, Floyd W. [2004]. Bulk 

Comptonization of the Cosmic Microwave Background by Extragalactic Jets as a Probe of their Matter 

Content. Document ID (CASI): 20050123866. 

Bennett, Charles; and Oegerle, William. [2003]. First Results From the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy 

Probe (WMAP). Document ID (CASI): 20030053182. 

Wanjek, Christopher. [2003]. A Polarized Universe. Document ID (CASI): 20040010572. 

Wanjek, Christopher. [2003]. Mapping the Baby Universe. Document ID (CASI): 20040010579. 

Markley, F. Landis; Andrews, Stephen F.; O’Donnell, James R., Jr.; and Ward, David K. 2003. The 

Attitude Control System for the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. Document ID (CASI):

20040034039. 

Bar-Itzhack, Itzhack Y.; and Harman, Richard R. [2003]. The MAP Spacecraft Angular State Estimation 

After Sensor Failure. Document ID (CASI): 20030020821. 

Truong, Son H.; Cuevas, Osvaldo O.; and Slojkowski, Steven. 2003. Orbit Determination Support for the 

Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP). Document ID (CASI): 20030032176. 

Enciso, Marlon L.; and Ahmad, Anisa. [2003]. Recent GSFC Space Power Systems Flight Experience. 

Document ID (CASI): 20030053201. 

Hinshaw, G.; Barnes, C.; Bennett, C. L.; Greason, M. R.; Halpern, M.; Hill, R. S.; Jarosik, N.; Kogut, A.; 

Limon, M.; and Meyer, S. S. [2003]. First Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 

Observations: Data Processing Methods and Systematic Errors Limits. Document ID (CASI):

20030053390. 

Hinshaw, G.; Spergel, D. N.; Verde, L.; Hill, R. S.; Meyer, S. S.; Barnes, C.; Bennett, C. L.; Halpern, M.; 

Jarosik, N.; and Kogut, A. [2003]. First Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 

Observations: The Angular Power Spectrum. Document ID (CASI): 20030053431. 

Bennett, C. L.; Hill, R. S.; Hinshaw, G.; Nolta, M. R.; Odegard, N.; Page, L.; Spergel, D. N.; Weiland, J. L.; 

Wright, E. L.; and Halpern, M. [2003]. First Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 

Observations: Foreground Emission. Document ID (CASI): 20030053451. 

Bennett, C. L.; Halpern, M.; Hinshaw, G.; Jarosik, N.; Kogut, A.; Limon, M.; and Meyer, S. S. Page, L. 

Spergel, D. N. Tucker, G. S. [2003]. First Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 

Observations: Preliminary Maps and Basic Results. Document ID (CASI): 20030053453. 

Harman, Richard; and Bar-Itzhack, Itzhack Y. [2003]. Implicit Spacecraft Gyro Calibration. Document ID 

(CASI): 20030093636. 
Glazer, Stuart D.; Brown, Kimberly D.; Michalek, Theodore J.; and Ancarrow, Walter C. [2003]. WMAP 

Observatory Thermal Design and On-Orbit Thermal Performance. Document ID (CASI): 20030093646. 

Bar-Itzhack, Itzhack Y.; and Harman, Richard R. [2003]. The Effect of Sensor Failure on the Attitude and 

Rate Estimation of MAP Spacecraft. Document ID (CASI): 20030102150. 

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STI BULLETIN ONLINE 

Departments

• From the Users

Back to Main

From the Users 

Q: I'm trying to locate a copy of the following NASA RP document: 

Ippolito, Louis J. “Propagation Effects Handbook for Satellite System Design,” 5th Edition, NASA 

Reference Publication, 1999/2000 

A: We've had requests for the 5th edition of this publication before. We've done some investigating, and we discovered

that the publication was not released. We spoke to the author who stated that he does not have a copy. He referred us to 

the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). We were informed by JPL that the report was never released. So, we have not been

able to obtain a copy. If you have further questions about the 5th edition, you should contact JPL directly at (818) 354-

4321. 

Q: I have an idea that I would like to submit to NASA. 

A: The following Web sites will offer you hints on how to approach NASA with your idea. 

 

If you are proposing a project to be funded by NASA, please start by reviewing "Guidance for the Preparation and 

Submission of Unsolicited Proposals," available at the following Web address: http://ec.msfc.nasa.gov/hq/library/unSolProp.html. 

If you are interested in a joint project with NASA, please refer to the programs listed on the following web page:

http://ipp.nasa.gov/. 

 

To investigate business opportunities with NASA, please access the following URL: http://www.nasa.gov/about/business/

index.html. 

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STI BULLETIN ONLINE 

Departments

• From the Centers

o News From the Goddard Space Flight Center Library

o News From the GSFC Technical Information Services Branch

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From the Centers 

News From the Goddard Space Flight Center Library

This year, the Goddard Space Flight Center library hosted a series of events in celebration of the World Year of Physics. 

On May 11, Dr. Nick White spoke about the Constellation-X Mission at the conference, Beyond Einstein: From the Big

Bang to Black Holes. The program was a huge success, with a final count of 122 attendees. The team's efforts brought 

an exciting talk to the Center's community and brought some new faces to the library. For more information on the

program, please consult http://universe.nasa.gov/. 

On April 26, the Goddard library hosted a special collaborative meeting called Taxonomy Tuesday. Many of the library 

staff participated in some way to arrange or conduct the meeting. Librarians attended from around the Washington, DC,

area in person and via live computer connection. Robin Dixon (Branch Head), Gail Hodge (Senior Information Scientist), 

Nikkia Anderson (Computer Programmer), and Jonathan Lorig (Digital Librarian) delivered presentations that described

taxonomy development and implementation efforts. Those efforts were presented in the context of overall library 

operations, knowledge management initiatives, digital asset system development, coordination with specific GSFC 

projects, and development of the Goddard Core Metadata Element Set. Feedback from the session was extremely 

positive, including the following from a Government Printing Office employee: "You folks put on a great session today. 

Thank you for making this available to us. It opened up some excellent discussions internally for us." 

In a separate development, Andrea Japzon and Nikkia Anderson received notice that their paper, "Wallops Island Balloon

Technology: Can't See the Repository for the Documents" will be published in the summer 2005, Vol.1, Issue 2, of The

Grey Journal: An International Journal on Grey Literature. Japzon presented the paper at the Sixth International

Conference on Grey Literature, in New York City, on December 6, 2004. 

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News From the GSFC Technical Information Services Branch 

• The Goddard Publications group, in partnership with the library, is working on implementing an automated, trackable

Document Availability Authorization (DAA) form. Currently, a team is examining the tools that exist to determine the 

best way to proceed and the obstacles that may be in the way. When in place, this tool will save considerable routing

time and collect important data that is now gathered manually and only periodically. 
• Permanent Home for Goddard's STI Functions 

o Photography and publications staff, along with a major portion of the Technical Information Services Branch, 

have moved to a permanent location. The groups have spent 2 years in various temporary quarters as a result 

of flooding in April 2003, which destroyed many branch offices in Building 8. They now reside in very nice 

accommodations in Building 28, Room 280. “It is with relief that we hope to regain some sense of normalcy and 

concentrate on program improvements, rather than just struggling to maintain our customer services,” said one 

STI staff member. 

• Molly McDonough, Technical Editor, has left Goddard employment for another agency closer to her home. 

• Terri Randall, Assistant Branch Head, has been selected for a 4-month detail to the Information Services Division, 

Code 290, to research, benchmark, and propose the establishment of a customer service operation for the 

Management Operation Directorate, Code 200. She is slated to return to Code 293 at the end of September. 

• A major restructuring of Code 290, the Information Management Division, has resulted in all IT related functions, such 

as network, LAN, phone, mission signal, etc., going to a new organization in Code 700, directly aligned with the 

Goddard CIO. Code 290 will continue to exist and will consist, for the moment, of Technical Information Services/293 

and the Library/292. The new Division Chief is Verron "Ron" Brade. The Deputy Chief position will be posted shortly. 

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STI BULLETIN ONLINE 

Departments

• From the STI Program Office

o Alliance for Innovation in Science and Technology Information

o New! NASA Acronym Listing

o Persistent Unique Identifiers Being Added to NASA STI

o STIPO Creates Technology Infusion Team

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From the STI Program Office 

Alliance for Innovation in Science and Technology Information

The Alliance for Innovation in Science and Technology Information (AISTI), http://www.aisti.org, held its annual miniconference on May 25 and 26, 2005. The majority of conference attendees were librarians and information professionals. 

The title of this year’s meeting was, “Seeds of Transformation for Digital Libraries.” The conference included subject 

specialists in data visualization, bibliographic analysis, interoperability standards, and scientific exploration of Mars.

Although each speaker provided a unique perspective on his topic, a common theme among speakers was how Internetbased and communication technologies, such as blogs, instant messaging, cell phones, and text messaging, create social 

networks of scholarly communication external to the traditional modes of scholarly communication through journals, 

conference papers, and technical reports. The challenge for librarians is to find ways to become a part of these social 

networks to remain relevant to their user community. JoAnne Calhoun of the STI Program Office attended this

conference. 

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________________________________________________________________________________

New! NASA Acronym Listing 

If you are not sure what HAD stands for (by the way, it is Hubble Data Archive), or other NASA acronyms for that matter, 

then try the new product recently released by the NASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI), the NASA Acronym 

Listing. This listing contains acronyms from text analyzed by CASI abstractors/indexers, as well a list submitted by NASA 

Goddard. The listing comprises over 9,000 acronyms in alphabetical order with correlating definitions and is available on

the STI home page at www.sti.nasa.gov under the “Highlights” section and from the publishing link under the

“Tools/Products/Services” section, or use the following URL http://www.sti.nasa.gov/acronym/main.html.

If you have any questions or would like more information about the Acronym Listing, please contact Kurt McIntyre at 

kmcintyre@sti.nasa.gov or by telephone at 301-621-0205. 

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Persistent Unique Identifiers Being Added to NASA STI 

NASA STIPO is implementing persistent unique identifiers for our public full-text documents. Why is STIPO bothering to 

do this? The reason is that the current locator / identifier system for documents and objects on the world-wide-web is 

flawed. The Uniform Resource Locator, or URL, while an effective resource locator is ill suited for maintenance of 

persistent links because it relies on directly addressing a resource by its storage location. URLs specify the location of a 

resource by including a protocol, domain name and the actual name of the file within which the resource resides. When 

location changes are not maintained, “link rot” sets in and the resource is un-locatable. In addition, links to the resource 

that are embedded in other documents or databases also become obsolete. Although URLs have been serving the 

combined purpose of identifying a resource and describing its World-Wide-Web location for some time now, they are not a 

satisfactory means of persistently identifying a digital resource. What is needed is a persistent and unique identifier that 

will preserve access to that resource regardless of its location. 

Much of the value of online digital resources for research and technical communication lies in enabling resources to be 

cited reliably with actionable links over long periods of time. A DNS (Domain Name Server) registers machines [with 

domain names], but STIPO’s new Handle System registers digital objects, thus, giving the information both persistence 

and location independence. The digital object architecture associated with persistent identifiers, such as Handles, is a reconceptualization of the Internet to deal with specific information objects1

. Bob Kahn, who is one of the founders of the 

Internet, envisions a new Internet in which content is emphasized: 

A digital object is anything that can be stored on a computer: a web page, a music file, a video file, a book or 

chapter of a book, your dental x-rays - you name it. Similar to the way a host name is resolved to an IP 

address, the handle will be resolved into information the computer needs to know about the object. Only since 

the information is now about the object, the location of the object is just one of the bits of information that is 

important. The handle record will also tell the computer things like what kind of file the object it is, how often it 

will be updated and how the object is allowed to be used – whether there are any copyright or privacy 

protections. The record can also have any industry-specific information about the object, like a book’s 

International Standard Book Number (ISBN) code. 

There are two other benefits to using Handles to identify objects on the Internet. First, each handle can have 

multiple objects associated with it – allowing multiple copies of the same information to be stored at different 

locations. Second, handle records are updateable by the owner of the information, which means changing the 

location of an object is all but seamless. No longer will object owners have to wait days for a new IP address 

to be updated in the DNS server by central repository companies like Network Solutions.2

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__________________________________________________________________________________________

STIPO Creates Technology Infusion Team

STIPO recently chartered a Technology Infusion Team to evaluate and assess the application/technology areas of 

potential interest to the NASA STI Program. This team will identify technology with the potential ability to provide cost 

savings, automate processes, or enhance operations. 

A few of the areas currently being looked at are: 

• More automated ways to extract metadata from large collections via XML 

• Managing complex objects, such as MPEG-21 Digital Item Declaration Language and Metadata Encoding and 

Transmission Standard (METS) via Open Archival Information Systems 

• Better methods of federated searching, such as through clustering of PCs to improve indexing 

• Open Archives Initiative (OAI) linking services, which provide the user with a list of references for additional 

information. An example would be for a user to access a record and have the choice to search for all records 

citing this record or all records cited by this record. 

• Collection-based, persistent archives using Grid technologies. The Grid is an emerging technology for 

infrastructure that enables the integrated, collaborative use of high-end computers, networks, and databases 

owned by multiple organizations. This might distribute the cost of harvesting to one entity and the cost of 

maintaining the federated search to another entity. 

 

1

 Release 1.0, Online Registries: The DNS and Beyond, page 12 

2

 Internet pioneer urges overhaul: www.doi.org/news/msnbc_rkahn_interview-1.pdf

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Based on the results of the evaluation, the application/technology areas will be identified for further research and 

development. The Technology Infusion Team consists of members from: STIPO, NASA CASI, Langley contractor 

personnel from the ConITS contract, and personnel from Old Dominion University (ODU). For further details, please 

contact JoAnne Calhoun (Joanne.r.Calhoun@nasa.gov or Calvin Mackey calvin.e.Mackey@nasa.gov). 
STI BULLETIN ONLINE 

Publication News

• Current Topics

• Upcoming Events

Back to Main

Current Topics 

To celebrate the World Year of Physics, numerous conferences, exhibits, and events are being held around the world. A 

list of some of those events is provided below. For more events, please visit the World Year of Physics Events Web site

at http://www.physics2005.org/cgi-bin/wyp_events.cgi. 

The subject of physics is also covered extensively in journals. Literature searches will provide more information on 

physics. Your local library can assist you with those types of searches. 

________________________________________________________________________________

Upcoming Events 

Please note that these events are not sponsored or endorsed by NASA. 

“Physics of Atomic Nuclei (PAN) Summer Science Program,” in East Lansing, MI; July 18-29, 2005 

For more information, please visit 

http://www.nscl.msu.edu/pan 

“A Century of Discovery,” in Manchester, NH; September 1 -- December 31, 2005 

For more information, please visit: 

http://www.physics2005.org/cgi-bin/wyp_events_dtl.cgi?wypid=69213

“Einstein’s Annus Mirabilis -- One Hundred Years Ago,” in Chapel Hill, NC; September 19-26, 2005 

For more information, please visit: 

http://www.physics.unc.edu 

“Warped Spacetime, Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, & the Accelerating Universe,” in Pasadena, CA; November 16, 

2005 

For more information, please visit: 

http://events.caltech.edu/events Back to Top
STI BULLETIN ONLINE 

Publication News

• NASA History

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NASA History

NASA Image eXchange (NIX) is a Web-based search engine for searching one or more of NASA’s online media 

collections. Using keyword searches, NIX returns thumbnail-sized images, textual descriptions, image numbers, links to 

higher-resolution images, and links to the organization that stores each image. 

Following are samples of space images from both NIX and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Web site

at http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/. 

________________________________________________________________________________

Solar Sails 

The NACA Plum Brook Station dedication in Sandusky, Ohio on September 26, 1956. 

An exterior view of the Plum Brook Reactor

Facility on May 31, 2001. 

Solar Sail Testing at the Plum Brook Space Power Facility on July 28, 2004. 
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 

The COBE spacecraft is the predecessor of WMAP. It was launched in 1989 to make a full-sky map of the microwave

radiation leftover from the Big Bang. 

An enhanced photo of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). 

The WMAP Delta II rocket launch on June 30, 2001. 

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