N O T I C E 

THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED FROM 

MICROFICHE. ALTHOUGH IT IS RECOGNIZED THAT 

CERTAIN PORTIONS ARE ILLEGIBLE, IT IS BEING RELEASED 

IN THE INTEREST OF MAKING AVAILABLE AS MUCH 

INFORMATION AS POSSIBLE 
i

NASA

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

Lvriv .i B. Johnson

Center

+ .. ston. Texas

Research

and

Technolog

Annual Report

FY-1981 n1,fi:5/4

Ej, if

(NASA-'TM-t41`i9) uEliIAKL +ICU 7EC.HirL1LUY 7

ANNUtiL Ubi-Uui FY- l y dl (t.... n) IOJ

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63/0-j 17170

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cif

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cc:

NASA Headquarters

A

ADB

AEM

B

C

D

E

H

K

L

M

N

0

R

S

T

W

ARC/Director

GSFC/Director

JPL/Director

KSC/Director

LaRC/Director

LeRC/Director

MSFC/Director

NSTL/Director

^r

^SS'r

d.:

National Aeronautics and

Spacf: Administr:ttiopLyndon B. Johnson Space Center

HUUSton Texci.,

77058

Ply" „ n!rn r'( AT2

CIE I () 1981

Dr. Hans M. Mark

Deputy Administrator

National Aeronautics

and Space Administration,

Washington, DC 20546

Dear Hans:

Enclosed are two copies of the 1981 Johnson Space Center R&T Report prepared

in accordance with your instructions. The report covers significant RTOP

activity sponsored by the Office of Space Transportation Systems, the Office

of Aeronautics and Space Technology, the Office of Space Sciences and the

Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications. Although the funding of these

activities is small in comparison with mainline programs, I view these investigations as a key to continued future mission success. They are closely

coordinated with the 5-year plan.in order to provide a balanced technology

base for the 1980's new initiatives.

Sincerely, ,

^4-1 -

Christopher C. Kraft, Jr.

Director

Enclosures

Ib

t
Research

and

Technology

Annual Report

FY-1981

JSC-1784

C

4

s

Space Transportation Systems

Aeronautics and Space Technology

Space Sciences

Space and Terrestrial Applications

M

Prepared by

Program Planning Office

Technical Planning Office

Code: AT

November 1981
Preface This report is prepared on an annual F basis for the purposes of highlighting

the fiscal year research and technology (R&T) activities. Its intent is to

better inform the R&T Program Managers of significant accomplishments

i that promise practical and benehnial

program application. The report is not

inclusive of all R&T activities.

This document will be updated

November 1 of each year.

The JSC Annual R&T Report is compiled by the Technical Planning OfTice, Office of the Center Director. The

personnel listed below have coordinated the technical inputs for their

respective sections of the report,

Detailed ques!ions may be directed to

them or to the technical monitors

listed in the Significant Task indices.

K E. Goodhart/Code AT2 Space Transportation Systems 

713.483.2703

L, C. KrchnaklCode AT2 Aeronautics and Space Technology

713.483-2703

Dr. J. L. Warner/Code SA Space Sciences

713-483-2781 

J. W. Harris/Code SD4 Space Sciences

713.483-4251

G. A. Nixon/Code SA Space and Terrestrial Applications

713-483-2539

For information or additional copies, contact

M. E. Goodhart/Code AT2, 713-483.2703

4

0
Index

L

 g 30'T, ANI " .% 44-

1 Office of Space Transportation Systems

27 Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology

49 Office of Space Sciences

79 Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications

v

Office of Summary

Space

Transportation

Systems

The mission of the Office of Space

Transportation System encompasses

the following three major long-term

activitiep.

1. To provide easy, low cost access

to, from, and in space for userdeveloped payloads to achieve their

space objectives.

2. To develop flight systems to

enhance the Space Transportation

System's unique capabilities and its

role in the use of space.

3. To develop more effective

capabilities for lean to live, work, and

explore in space for extended periods,

The goals for the continuing accomplishment of the space transportation mission objectives in the 1980's

Figure 1,-- OSTS long-range goals.

are outlined in figure 1. They are as

follows,

1. To complete the acquisition

and upgrading of the ShuttielSpacelab fleet, inertial upper stage

(IUS), spinning solid upper stage

(SSUS), and all required ground

facilities and to operate them on a

routine basis by the mid-1980's.

2. To develop a manned permanent facility for operations construction and research in low-Earth-orbit

and to routinely operate it by the end

of the 1980's.

3. To develop unmanned, multifunction, low-Earth-orbit, Shuttletended, free-flying Space platforms

and to operate them on a ro;ltcne basis

beginning in the mid 1980's,

4. To develop permanent manna

ble multifunction facilities in geosta

tionary orbit for operation by the late

1990's. This objective requires a majo

reduction in the cost of space

transportation.

The Johnson Space Center will be

a major participant In the developmen

and operation of all of these Space

Transportiation System initiatives dur

ing the 1980's, The two areas of cur

rent maximum emphasis include those

tasks required to bring the Spac

Shuttle into operational status and the

pursuit toward early initiation of a per

manently-occupied orbital Space

Operations Center,

A

1980's Objective, Permanent Manned Facility 1990's Objective: Permanent Mannable

in Low Earth Orbit 00, Geosynchronous Facility

bavolopment

of mart-tended tsortioi

multifunction facilities

In goostationary orbit

Development Development

of permanent of permanent

manned facilit ymannablo facilities

In low Earth orbit In geostotionary orbit

Development ofautomated,

rernotely-serviced facilities

In goostationary orbit

Development I

of Shuttle•tanded

multifunction

platforms

in low orbit

Routine operation

of Shuttle, Spacelab,

lus, ssu8

1980 1990 2000

OSTS 
Maneuverable

television Manned

maneuvering

unit

•

i

s

"r

t

Enhanced capability

zero-prebreathe

extravehicular activity

equipment

Cherrypicker

platform

STS Upgrading Activitiles

The Space Shuttle will provide, for the

first time a routine capability to repair,

service, or return satellites as the need

arises. JSC continues to Investigate

systems that will enhance and

upgrade the STS in the performance of

these tasks. The manned maneuvering unit has been reported in earlier

Issues of this document. Its design is

completed and awaiting final mission

assignment. Also awaiting project approval is the Power Extension Package

(PEP). The PEP is a lightweight foldup

solar array which will provide inFigure 2.—Satellite servicing aids.

creased power and/or extended shuttle mission durations of up to 20 days

in orbit. The Maneuverable Television

is another servicing device under inhouse development at JSC. Flown

remotely model-airplane style, with a

range of about 3 miles, this

Maneuverable Television system can

provide video and telemetry data back

tee the Orbiter prior to satellite servicing

or retrieval. Also in the development

stage is the Open Cherrypicker, a

movable work station controlled by an

astronaut on the tip of the remote

manipulator arm.

Turn studies are currently underway to identify other servicing requiremonts and the aids necessary io ace^ompllsh them. Also reported ill this

volume Is work toward a new ,;,.pace

suit that will greatly reduce cru^,Vman

prebreathing requirements. Finally,

upgrading investigations into piloting

aoe? ^t for proximity operations between

the Orbiter and free-flying satellites

ore being pursued In carder to minimize

propellant consumption and pilot

fatigue. The identification and

development of these and other STS

aids will be a continuing activity as orbital missions become more frequent

in the early 1980's. 

i 4 OSTS
Figure 3 —Space Operations Center interim configuration

E nerav

soctfon

r'

k ;^

com fnencl

Module - r

F fgure 5 — Advanced Life Support

Development Laboratory

OST ti 

Space Operations Center

the Johnson "4 - Center continues

to vigorously support the development

of a permanently manned low Earth

orbit facility as the agency focus for

the 1980's JSC also supports the con

current development of a space based

orbital transfer vehicle as a necessary

companion element of the Space

Transportation System The Space

Operations Center 1SC0 is intended

to provide it orbital facility for of satellites, space basing

of reusable upper stages, assembly of

large payloads and stage, and tot

ducting long duration manned

science and application endeavors

I f w Xx Program Off ice was re

cently formed to focus Johnson Space

Center managerial, technical, and

oudgetary efforts related to SOC and

to develop the plans and documenta

Lion necessary to support early agency

initiation Current activities are

focused on incremental buildup approaches for the SOC with a goal

toward early operations under a constiained hudget, while preserving the

capability for growth as functional

needs are developed

The current SOC related activity at

JSC involves a contingent of approx

imately 50 program office and direr

torate specialists The SOC is currently

targeted as it new initiative in 1985

with Initial operational capability i

1988 Figures 3 and 4 depict the rn

tenm ano gniwth cont 47urations of the

SOC as defined by the SOC Program

Offcce

Regenerable concepts that recove

oxygen and water from metaboli

wastes are being developed tot ex

tended duration Orbiler and Space

Operations Center applications The

Advanced Life Support Laboratory ha

been developed at JSC for evaluation

of the regenerable concepts The tes

program plan includes both unnanne

laboratory testing and long duratio

manned chamber evaluation testing o

regenerative environmental contro

and life support subsystems

Testing of it that recover

potable water from urine, using a vapo

compression and distillation tech

nique, has been completed

Electrochemical and catalytic pros

esses that accomplish the removal o

carbon dioxide and makeup of oxyge

, t it cabin atmosphere are now un

tergoing individual tests, then group

l igs of processes will be evaluated fo

•vstem-level effects.

A 20-foot diameter vacuum cham

her has been nxdified to accommo

date the Installation of the regenera

tive life support subsystems A system

configuration for air and water recover

that includes many of the processe

haselined for the SOC will be built an

'.ublected to extensive unmanned an

, tanned testing

s

•f

Figure 4 — Space Operations Center growth configuration

^c

Section

y 1 Logistics

,, r Ssctron ^ Modulus

f V .^^

^. w /j, Command

Module d`

Stage ,` r

Assembly , OTV

Facility w Hangar
a Space Platform - Space

Transportation System (STS ►

Integration Studies

The free-flying space platform will be

latiriched and serviced by the Shuttle.

Rendezvous with and berthing to the

Shuttle will also be required for

payload changeout and periodic maintenance. Although the Marshall Space

Flight Center (MSFC) has the responsibility for defining and developing the

space platform, JSC as the Shuttle

operator/integrator must conduct integration studies to insure that the safe

and technically-feasible servicing

operation can be performed by the

STS. In order to conduct these integration studies, a baseline reference mission (BRM) was first established. The

BRM described the general procedure

for the initial launch and deployment

mission of the space platform and

payload. Spacecraft functions, crew

tinielines, and consummables utilization were included in the resulting

BRM. This was done for all processes

including space platform deployment,

systems checkout, appendage opera•

tion, rendezvous, reboost, and payload

checkout. The results of the BRM were

then used in other subsequent integration and development studies by JSC,

Rockwell, MSFC, TRW, and McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company

(MDAC)

Deploying the space platform from

the payload bay, berthing it to the Orbiter, and berthing payloads to the

space platform will be done by using

the Orbiter's Remote Manipulator

System (RMS), The movement limitations of the RMS in doing these tasks

were studied and defined by the use

of a computerize,,' RMS kinematic

simulation syst6,,. The simulation

system also was further refined

through the conduct of these analyses.

A sample printout of the RMS movements is shown in figure 6.

The free flying space platform will

be launched by the berthed to the

Shuttle during times of maintenance

and payload changeout. While it is in

the berthed configuration, the space

platform may reflect thermal energy to

the Orbiter's payload bay door thermal

radiators from the Sun and also back

front radiators. Also, in the berthed

position, the power system may block

the Orbiter's communications antennas from transmitting to and/or receiving from the Tracking and Data Relay

Satellite System. Studies were conducted to define these blockage

effects at various orientations.

These are samples of the kind of

space platform-STS integration

studies that will need to be done and

refined for the space platform as it

becomes better defined. Additional

studies to be conducted in the future

will include structural analysis,

dynamic interaction, stabilization and

control, crew interface, RMS interaction, and space platform operations

analysis. JSC will provide this type of

analysis for all major new initiatives as

they evolve.

Figure 6.—RMS Kinematic Simulation System display.

6 OSTS
f figure 7 — Manned orbital transler vehicle crew module

11AA ;,,,

Geostahonary Orbit Activities

By the late 1990's, n,ulhfunchor

facilities In geosynchrcr(xis orbit wI

be routinely visited utilizing the Space

Operations Center as a staging and

logistics base For several years, JSC

has studied the systems tequrred for

manned geosynchtonous mission activities Flnure 7 depicts the crew

nx)dule Idcntlfled tot this class of ac

hvlty It Is envisioned that large set

vlceable platforms will require on orbit

construction from raw materials carried

to the site by the Space Transpottation

System Construction expel ments

have been defined to understand the

complex structure/Shuttle or struclure/JOIC Interactions and are reported

herein Additionally, the definition of

an au!omated-beam-fabrication

machine for construction of large

structures through a geodetic beam

approach shows great promise In this

era Figure 8 Illustrates the beam

machine that would be carle-1 Into or

bl! In the Space Shuttle.

r figure 8 — Gec letic beam fabrication machine

^17

GEODETIC

RF AM BUILDER

GFOOETIC

at AM

LACE COMTRUCTION BASE

V"TH GEODETIC BEAM BUILDER

OSTS 
Office of Space Significant Tasks

Transportation

Systems

11 satellite services System

Funded by; Major Systems Studies (UPN-906)

Technical Monitor: G. Rysavy'EW3

Task Performed by; Grumman Aerospace Corporation

Contract NAS 9-16120

Lockheed Missiles and Space Company

Contract NAS 9-16121

12 Manned Remote Work station Development

Funded by; Advanced 'Development (UPN-906)

Technical Monitor; W. VV. Lofland/EW

Task Performed by; Grumman Aerospace Corporation

Contract NAS 9-15881

13 Maneuverable Television

Funded by; Advanced Development (UPN-906)

Technical Monitor: R. H. Gerlach/ED4

Task Performed by; Lockheed Engineering and Management

Services Company, Inc.

Contraci NAS 9-15800

14 Power Extension Package Solar Cell Development

Funded by; Advanced Development (UPN-906)

Space Research and Technology Base (UPN-506)

Technical Monitor: J. L. Cion1/AT4

Task Performed by: Spectrolab

Contract NAS 9.16126

Applied Solar Energy Corporation

Contract NAS 9.16125

15 Power Extension Package Micro-Gravity Effects

Funded by: Advanced Programs (UPN-906)

Technical Monitor; J. C, Craig/AT4

Task Performed by: TRW

Contract NAS 9-15870

Lockheed Missiles and Space Company

Contract NAS 9-15595

16 Zero Prebreathe System

Funded by: Advanced Development (UPN-906.75)

Technical Monitor: M. Rodriguez/EC2

Task Performed by: Hamilton Standard

Contract NAS 9.15150

17 Piloting Aids for STS Proximity Operations

Funded by: Supporting Studies (UPN-906)

Technical Monitor: R. W. Becker/FM2

Task Performed by: TRW

Contract NAS 9-16275
18 Automated Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

Funded by: Supporting Studies WIDN-906)

Technical Monitor: R. W. Becker/FM2

Task Performed by: LINCOM Corporation

Contract NAS 9.16310

10 Space Operations Center Systems Analysis Study

Funded by: Major Systems Studies (UPN-906)

Technical Monitor: S. H. Nassiff/EB

Task Performed by: Boeing Aerospace Company

Contract NAS 9-16151

Rockwell International

Contract NAS 9.16153

20 Vapor Compression Distillation Urine Water Recovery

Funded by: Advanced Development (UPN-906)

Technical Monitor: C. D. Thompson/EC3

Task Performed by: Lyndon B, Johnson Space Center

21 Hyperventilation Wash Water Recovery System

Funded by: Advanced Development (UPN-906)

Technical Monitor: H. E. Winkler/EC3

Task Performed by: Carrie, Inc.

Contract NAS 9.16235

22 Ultra-Microwave Communications System

Funded by: Advanced Development (UPN-906)

Technical Monitor: J, S, Kelley/EE3

Task Performed by: McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company

Contract NAS 9-15617

23 Space Construction Experiment Definition Study

Funded by: Major Systems Studies (UPN-906)

Technical Monitor: L. M. Jenkins/EB

Task Performed by: General Dynamics-Convair

Contract NAS 9-16303

24 Manned Geosynchronous Mission Requirements and

Systems Analysis Study

Funded by: Major Systems Studies (UPN-906)

Technical Monitor: H. G, Patterson/EB

Task Performed! by: Grumman Aerospace Corporation

Contract NAS 9-15779

25 A Geodetic seam for Space Fabrication

Funded by: Advanced Programs (UPN-906)

Technical Monitor: T. J. Dunn/ES

Task Performed by: McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company

Contract NAS 9-15678
S

X

Figure 1. Servicing supper•

011GINM: PAGE

BLACK AND WHITE PHOT02RAPH

Satellite Services System

The operational Space Transportation

System (STS) will have onorbrt

satellite service capability using the

Orbiter Remote Manipulator System

(RMS) and extravehicular activity

crewmember for (1) payload deployment and retrieval; (2) payload support on sortie missions, and (3) limited

satellite support servicing within

and/or adjacent to the cargo bay The

STS satellite servicing capability can

be readily increased by the development of the proper servicing equipment items Considerations include

satellite user market, services needed

for satellites, and servicing modes

Anticipated capabilities include

resupply of expendable !ems such as

propellants, or raw materials for processing, checkout/maintenance ;jnd

repair/replacement of comporenr;

reconfiguration of sensors, and component exchange.

Satellite mission models were

developed to identify onorbrt service

concepts compatible with the satellite

user communr!y needs The mission

mode' data base was derived primarily

from NASA, the Department of

Defense and commercial mission

plans, but data from available

literature were also included

Emphasis was placed on Orbiter and

near-Orbiter operations in the 1981 to

2000 time period The approach used

to develop satellite services concepts

was to analyze servicing scenarios associated with the selected satellite

mission models and then derive the

appropriate service equipment requirements The equipment selections

were guided by the following

groundrules: (1) attempt to standardize onorbrt service operations; (2)

maximize the use of existing equipment and those under development:

and (3) enhance the utilization of the

S IS to the satellite user community.

Contracted and in-house studies hav

defined an overall plan for implemen

ing a Satellite Services System an

have identified the required servicin

equipment The plan is based on th

timely development of "generic

types of service equipment that a

essential for the majority of the antic

pated servir o? functions. The plan i

cludes four equipment categories a

follows

1 Inherent equipment - Equipme

that is inherent with the STS system

such as the Remote Manipulato

System, extravehicular mobility un

and manned maneuvering unit

2. Generic equipment - Equipme

which integrates with the inhere

equipment and has growth potentia

namely, the manipulator foo

restraint/open cherrypicker, wo

restraint unit used in conjunction wi

the manned maneuvering un

maneuverable television, holding an

positioning aid, fluid transfer, an

tools

Unique equipment - Equipme

ur , ,que to special mission require

ments such as hand tools, equipme

stowage, payload handling dPvice

and special purpose remote manipul

tor end effectors

4 Advanced equipment - Equip

ment potentially needed to fulfill futu

mission model requirements such a

tow tug, sun shield, dexterou

manipulators, lighting enhancemen

and deorbit propulsion package.

Full-scale test models of the ope

cherrypicker, maneuverable telev

sion, and work restraint unit have bee

constructed and evaluated unde

simulated zero-gravity conditions. 

detailed design of the holding an

positioning aia has been complete

and is available for the fabrication of 

test model Results of addition

studies 'lc;.-,g conducted for the ec

nomic aspects of satellite servicin

will be available in March 1982. Fisc

year 1982 studies will define th

satellite design features and inte

laces required for onorbit servicing.

11111

OSTS 
Flnurti 2- I)anetinsllnllm tit stelrllllr :eel

vlcing with flit, MI la

BLACK ANU WHITE PHOTOGRAPH

Manned Remote Work Station

Development

A plume ntt1wivi vii Is that the olwi,l

Norval spat-v Shuttle will haw , flit,

t ,11 ►.lclly to selvle t , s,Itt,lllles ,tlached

In the payl(val fitly and detached In it

lire flyln4l nkK1e' Studies have Ideal

Ilhed flit , sp1.cllic 11.11dwalt, deve lt-41

ment necessary fix Itie , extravehicular

activity (I VA) aslnlri.ut to Incle,Ise or

hllal plotluctwlty for satellllt , servlculll

and IIuilnlen,Ince, Inspocll(m, and for

IketenNal rep,lu of 1111 . Orhller One

ul1.ntlhed need Is to plovlde 111e astio

n,u11 with ,1 stable plalleernl Ilonl which

hit can t1e14a111 it of work lutk:-

t1(1ns coilpled with Iht , callabillly to

Nanst) al wI11,IC1.neenl nkklult,s to and

Noel flit , Oltlllt,l Itit , nl,inn1.d lemott,

work station "open cht,tryplcket"

(O('I i) Is ,I versatile System that can

provide these cap,ItbhNes IN , cherry

plckel Is allached to flit , end of the Of

bltt • r INttllkilet M,Inlpul,tor System. and

both ,uw ctxlUollt,d and tylel,tt,d by

Ihet I VA astronaut lo(;ted oil OCT

W-14k platl(1rm lht, chertyplcLel will

not only enhance S11,Ice Shuttle

ovelahons In flit , ne,u tol m fol s,tellltt,

Servicing, but It will ,tso plovide flitcapatilllty to denklnsN.te lech Ilk )tws

and opt,I ' lliorls that caul ho used tie op

tumlte constnu'Non of futwe )illge

system proleds

A piogi m that ulclu(kts develt gmit-nl

test •utwIt". has twee formulated tier

evalll.IN(m ,!Fief (ktvel(111nx tnt of flight

hardware ► r(pmenletnts I Ills appukk'h

tll0kidt's en4 lule1.nn41 snnulatiolls and

lest(r141 till the,IS(' WeI i l11lless 1 n

vrronnlenl Iesl F aclllty and M,uupilla

till Ikweloliment I acillty A swkilatiotl

pr141r,un fus foam (levelc111e td aei

used to ev,11(r.Ite Oct, systems an(1

(lenxmSirale s.rlelllle servicing IN,

(X'I t Is shown servl('u141 it %aft'llltt , ,11

lactled to flit , 01bter tlayltlad tray ill

li4lure 1

I wee lull scale. (XT lest ,Itn'les Have

twee built for evaluatkm Ill the (inrm

elan Aerospace Corporation I arge

Ampldu(kt Spike Sunulalix and the

,IS(' tok-IlItles During flit, 1 alge

Ampitu(kt Space SunuLtor Iesis (fig

?), the hasi ' o1 efation.11 tr,1t of the

(XT known as the nlanlpulator loot

WS1131rlf. (MI la) 11,1 1. N'ttn evalt►.ted

I he y MI It, pI(><klsed fife early fhghts,

consists of the sIlOdIg utck suptkxl

sU1K'ture, ,1 IoLtable standard toot

restlanit, and a Io1,ILtile h,Indfxlld/1(x11

caddy Positioning of flit , Mt R is con

trollcte r by the Ienk ett, nkutlpulalol

0110.1101 1 he anclll,uy e(Iuipillenl.

such its tht , payl(1ad handling device.

can be added I,Iler to plod e flit , hilly

(1Iu •I,Ihonal ( 1('l i Ihc, (1(T Mt 14 It,SI

,11110t , will be Inte4lrafed Willi flit- .ISC

Manipulator Develt4wiletnt I dclllty In

198 * and used In S1rnI11,Ihons with the

Shuttle NenkHe M,Inllelll,ttel on flit , all

twaillig floor I iosslblt, future • appllc,l

lions of the lrlanned renkelet work st'l

Non lnclude closed pressun: ed cabal

velslons. I,Illed work slata(ms, and

he ft, flyln41 woke statums

t Iourr I thole ctxltrypIckal seelvlrmg

1? OSTS
r,

F ogure T — The M4vieklvel11l}le- Ialevotion udenml view

Flguro 2 — Satellite m%t4ection t)v Ihr M.Inputr &,.- Twoi,,xitm

13LACK AND WHITE PH0TC , .R,%PH

Maneuverable Television

flit, pr i T 1. v y task of the Stxlce Shuttle

will tie to carry pavltmads Into txhlt and

service Imvloads that are ill orbit this

function of SMI'lllte servi ces rncoxn

Imsses nmuny tkjY)loymlenl and retrieval

OVelatitxis that will require stlee• lall; ed

t(x)ls to assist flit- Orbiter In cmiplet

trig Its mission One identified need 1s

the capabillty to renxTlt-ly observe

lmav lood t44b iations and to instinct

satellites Iaax to final appraich t 1V the

Otblte' Another need will tie' to pro

vide assistance to a small or unstable

satellite to L'oelplement t he retrieval

by the Orbltt-r Ht-nxTte hiampulattx

System The Maneuve ,ible 1 elevlsion

WTVI is under develofmvient ill JSC to

prwuk' these capahllillt-s in support of

salt'Ilite' se'rvlt'e's

A study was Initc. tted in fiscal year

1 9 78 to uk► n11fy the type of ^ethlcle

that could provide suplxxl to one Or

biter In close proximity when peilotm

Ing satellite services T he study

defined a small suhsatellltt' Itiat will

pei,lty In the near field of flit, Orb11er

"iving a fu„ six oleilrees of fivedom

Ind drTected by a c rewmember from

'toe aft station of the 0ibiter The sub

.itelllte, the Marietivetable Televisi(n,

will function su1111alIV to a 101101ely

piloted vehicle The NITV is rt-nxTlely

ontiolled by the Orbiter stew and,

Met imtkx'king lion) the flight suptxxt

•tation In the oft)[Iei payload taay, is

I iected to maneuver to the desired

inspection of assistance tx)mt The

NITV is approximately 1 meter tin each

tie. uses clean nitrogen gas for tiro

,'ellant, and carries several lelev:sltn

amleris Video of the object under ob

servatitn along with telemetry infix

matron is transmitted to flit' Orbiter

closed circuit television system The

MTV plovlek's its own battery txower

and lights for tpetating in 110111llurlll

rated areas. Figure 1 1s an xjtllne of

'!)e MTV and its subsystems SubVsterlls were tk'signed to utillje off-

"ie-shelf hardware as much as possi

:'le Figure 2 depicts a satellite inUeOW Mission utihling the MTV

1 he effotts of fiscal years 1980 and

1 981 resulted in the labiwatior, of a

'kill-scale engineering model that will

be ('perated on the JSC air bowling

facility This Tlllxkll represents the

end to-end electronic systems. power

system. ill glv:i: ,'rl ,,S'em, and tkx,k

Ing systc. StOic let- r ing of flit4 r, weto W :c'II systems of

the M i V "av: t>. •f1 . t, Oral- t1 with

saltsrl► ; I ;ul ►, lanla, testing

on the jX all ot,

(,r 'IC111TV 'Nell t)e'

r l litre l

CONTROL hl'

ASU A+n r

rowlR 31 * UNS T Rise/ T ION

UNIT

IR'

TRANSMIITIR

ANIINNA +`

TtltA Bitty

coxlducted during fiscal year 1982 

t-valtlate flit , perttxnlance with thre

tk'glet-s of llerokxn, to evakiate th

t're'w Model Intelfaces. and th

Ielenitllty requlrerile ills

TV t ANt RAS

TV IK:NTS I?)

rtRS

SRN! RS)

►RO/:l( SK)N

1ANR S obeli

RtcervtR

RA Tit R*S

ITCX 41NU

iN1IMA(t 1j

RAl'Av

\ I(` .

1^ ANTINNA

`I►

OSTS 1
F IgurtV t P,iwor E 0111311"1 Pickago

rttlll^ ellw^r reefa^r

Figure ? PUwer EMens1on Pickige imlat ccIl development

I .."p. I,aw ­w cell If) 9 cin2)

2 % 4 ifirlectrlc way/ nuund cell 2 ♦ 4 curiventituiel 11% It,w ell

BLACK AND v_ I•E_ PHOTOCRAPH

Power Extension Package

Solar Cell Development

The Pa v, ­ Extensleal Packatle • 011,11

current ^ waiting phase C/d ItiltIdtioll

will reai"Il, ,1 la,t:ty number of sol,11

cells. Inure • Ih,1n any prevlexls sluice

pFUlect (tit) 11 The current Cost ed

space solar cells. appmx1/11,1tely S11U

Ile, watt. Is prohibitively expensive fix

a pngect of the magnilucle of PEI'

Sllxlies coodtit'led Owing the PEP ac

levity at ,ISC have shown the

tklssibillty tie reducing this cost to $30

pet wall The cost reduction Can be

accomplished fly Int-wasing the site

of the II 1 divikkkll solar cells, s;nlpllfy

Intl the tell spe t,ificatlwls, and increaSnitt the'' n, tine prla T ess control to

Ieduct . end of line desinrcteve lesting

the basic piol)lem addressed In the

PEI' solar cell develo4unenl activity Is

to ".1 tenlu,le whether or not the pu,sult

Of retie COST reduction Ica hnlelues Is

Ipp1t4111ale for the PEP application

The apprcklch has been to corullUCt a

two phase pnitlram at two space soUt

Bill suppliers. Applied Solar Energy

t'tNp and Spect(olati The teem of

plisse I wa., to venfy that Lille area

,,lac cells con tit , fabncaled to yield

l ie same pe'to(mance its the nkxr

"Ilventional small solar cells (See

duce 1 In addition, phase I was to

lelernrne It the lmoe cells are ap

'Ilcatae In the I It P am► y designs

Ievelojivo by TRW and tockhefid

Missiles and Sluice Company

Phase 11, to begin In early FY 1992,

will provide several thotisand cells for

e1u,111f ICA110n

(wring 1981, both ASEC and

Oe t"folah coliipleted phase I of the

oltu cell development program.

s everal hundred ;arse area solar cells

,vrfe pnieluc:•ei all, It-Alid by NASA

and the array venders Candidate cell

type~ were iadlation-tested by Lewis

Ql i • ,rch Center to aid In the selection

,wrieric cell type for the PEP ap

nun Solar cells prtxkx ed dunng

I are also under evaltklton at

TRW and kvkheed Missiles and

Space CotilImily to cletermine If the`

are con,4iatible with their particular ai

ray designs

F

I

' 1 OSTS
OSTS 15

Power Extension Package

Micro-Gravity Effects

The Power Extension Package (PEP)

shown in figure 1 is a mission kit

designed to provide the Space Shuttle

usage with added power and incfeased mission duration

The dynamic environment in which

the PEP solar array must exist is not

purely zero gravity Orbiter attitude

corrections, maneuvers, and -they

operations produce various loads on

the array assembly In addition, the

array must be capable of deployment,

retraction, and Sun tracking under a

wide variety of Orbiter mission

requirements The movements of the

array and its various suhassemblies,

which are necessary to meet these

requirements, present a number of

unique design requirements The

design of the panel hinges, substrates,

and guidewire system must provide

supFort and control of the array

blanket at all times to prevent damage

of the solar cells and other

components

Test articles were built that represented the two basic array design con

cepts of TRW and Lockheed Missiles

and Space Company These test articles were flown in NASA's KC-135

aircraft and subjected to piedeteimined gravity levels ranging from 0 to

03 g During the inflight testing, the

array test articles were deployed and

retracted to determine the sensitivity

of the various design parameters to

performance iequiremn_nts Various

characteristics such as hinge and

panel stiffness and guidewire tension

ar,d location were tested Figure 2

shows the actual test configuration for

the LMSC design

Under the test conditions, both

designs were shown to function

satisfactorily at gravity levels of 0 2 to

0.3.

Figure t.— Orbiter Power Extension

Package Figure 2—KC-135 micro-gravity test of LMSC baseline configuration.

•— a..
Zero Prebreathe System

The current baseline in support of

operational Shuttle Extravehicular Activities (WA) requires that EVA be

conducted at 4.1 psia from a 14.7-psia

cabim To preciudo the "bonds", a

painful and potentially dangerous

physiological condition resulting from

bub0le formation when dissolved

nitrogon in body tissues is driven out of

solution by exposure to reduced ambient preSSUM", Space Transportation

System crewinombers prebreathe

PLIM oxygen for 3 hours to denitrogenate prior to an EVA. However, the

crew considers the Portable Oxygen

System used for prebreathing excessively restrictive prior to Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) donning, Additionally, denitrogenation

can 

be significantly reduced by accidently taking one or two breaths of air,

considerably increasing the likelihood

of bends.

in order to avoid the encurnberances

related to probireathing, a study Was

instigated to establish how to best

eliminate prebreathing with minimum

hardware impacts. The variables that

could be altered to effect the desired

results were cabin pressure and EMU

pressure.

Factors considered in the determination of a solution were life support

system impacts associated with

greater operating pressures, Orbiter

impacts related to decreased cabin

pressure, materials compatibilities at

higher oxygen pressures, effects of

pressure variations on payloads, and

crewman physiological constraints.

The investigation of the relevant study

issues defined an allowable pressure

band for reduced cabin pressure and

an increased EVA pressure band that

together could eliminate prebreathing

requirements. When Orbiter cabin

pressures of 11.0 to 12.0 psia are

properly balanced with EVA operating

pressures of 4.8 to 5.8 psia, there will

be no need for prebreathing prior to

each EVA. However, it will be necessary for the crewman to equilibrate

himself with the cabin atmosphere

before the initial EVA. This can be accomplislied'4s a function of time or by

a short one-time prebreathing with

100 percent oxygen. However, the

cabin oxygen partial pressure must always remain above the 4000-foot

alveolar equivalent to avoid the effects

of hypoxia.

A more detailed evaluation to determine the specific Orbiter and EMU impacts associated with different operating pressures is currently in progress

so that the optimum Orbiter and EMU

pressures can be selected.

Figure 1,-- Zero probroathe extravehicular mobility unit.

_,linproved

shoulder

convolute

improved

elbow joint

---High tactility

glove

4,8 to 5,8 PSIA

Z operating

pressure

Zero prebreathe

EMU

16 OSTS
Piloting Aids for Space

Transportation System Proximity

Operations

During Shuttle Orbiter proximity operations such as stationkeeping it is

difficult for the pilot to visually determine whether the apparent motion of a

free-flying payload is "real" (requiring

a translational correction on his part)

or simply the result of the Orbiter's

rotation. One solution is to set narrow

deadbands for digital auto pilot attitude control but this consumes

Reaction Control System propellant

and magnifies the problem of unwanted translational accelerations

caused by uncoupled thrust from the

attitude control jets.

The pilot's task can be made easier by

superimposing a computer-generated

reference pattern on a television image of the payload. In its simplest

form, the Television Image Compensation (TIC) System generates cross

hairs whose position and orientation

on the television screen are driven by

guidance system — sensed attitude

errors. To justify its development, it

needs to be verified that TIC would

significantly reduce pilot fatigue, propellant consumption, and stationkeepIng position errors. Obtaining such

data requires many hours of real-time

man-in-the-loop simulation. Because

of its low operating cost, the JSC

Desk-Top Flight Simulator has been

chosen as the tool for preliminary

evaluation of TIC effectiveness.

The Desk-Top Flight Simulator (DTFS

has been modified to incorporate 

conceptual model of the TIC system

The fidelity of the DTFS models of th

environment, payload and arbite

dynamics, and the digita

autopilottReaotion Control System

have also been upgraded so that th

TIC effectiveness data will be repre

sentative of on-orbit operations. An ex

tensive series of real time simulation

are scheduled during the next fisca

year. A spinoff of this initial effort i

that the upgraded DTFS will be availa

ble for general use in the design and

evaluation of Proximity Operations

techniques.

Figure I.— Television Image compensation system.

t 0 t ¢ 30 sec t 60 sec

Q

, .

Apparent translative motion

Q^I^7 N

Compensated image

OSTS 1
W,

Automated Rendezvous and

Proximity Operations

Future STS missions will require

routine rendezvous with orbital objects

for the purpose of servicing, docking,

retrieval, or inspection. Many of these

satellites requiring services will be in

orbits not attainable by the Space

Shuttle, Others will be obtainable only

through use of expensive additional

orbital maneuvering propellant kits.

A potential solution to this problem

would be through the use of a Shuttlebased free-flying satellite. The solution approach includes the analyses of

hardware, software, and operational

requirements for "free-flyer", rendezvous, and proximity operations.

The definition of generic automated

rendezvous missions is necessary for

considering scenarios, system concepts, and existing documentation,

From a subset of these candidate missions, detailed analyses will be performed to develop operational techniques and flight profiles to meet the

known and assumed satellite requirements. The results will be used ,,.o

delineate specific requirements for

hardware systems, software systems,

profiles, and procedures.

Results, to date, include the near completion of the generic mission definition phase, startup of the selection and

evaluation of the candidate mission

subset and a continuing effort to integrate the NASA technical activities

relating to automated rendezvous and

proximity operations.

Figure t,--Automated Rendezvous Command and Control System,

18 OSTS
_LACK f. -

PHOTCCRAPH

Space Operations Center

System ,n, - Study

The first true Space Transportation

system that intrxltx^es reusability and

opeidluxnal flexit)-MV has been dent

onstrated by the first successful flight

of the Space Shuttle During the

1980'x, subsequent Space Shuttle

flights will be used tot con-orbit

placement and retrieval of satellites

Spacelat) nxxlules and pallets will ex

tend the capability to conduct scien

Mx and engineering operations The

Shuttle will also be used tot satellite

maintenance and repair and to

develop methods of space construction for various operational systems

Many mission payload concepts now

being proposed are large, cortnplex

space systems that require on orbit

capabilities fit deployment. assembly,

and cortsticK1 tiorn which will severely

tax the capability of the Space Shuttle

The logical next step in manned space

flight is the creation of permanent

manned operational presence in

space to expand our capabilities for

space (operations heyo nd that practr

cal with the Space Shuttle The Space

Operations Center (SOC) has been

proposed as the operational orbital

facility to satisfy these needs The

Space Shuttle will compliment SOC

operations by providing SOC assembly and builchrp, k ogistic supply flights.

crew rotation and rescue capability

The initial phase of the SOC System

Analysis Study pe► futmed by Boeing

Aerospace Company was completed

in July 1981 The 12-month study provided concepts f(x growth SOC con

figurations, including missrtxt model,

subsystem requirements. and associated development costs and

schedule SOC technology identification was provided that will tie incorpcxaled into in overall technology

development plan A companion

SOC/Shultle interaction study by

Rockwell International was completed

in March 1981 It addressed the issues

of Orbiter t)oxcking,'Berthing with SIX;.

SOC assembly and buildup, propellant

transfer, and SOC flight support facility

iequirements Both contracts have

been extended tot 5 nxonths for further

refinement of SOC support of the

Space Transportation System g(Ws

The contract extensions will further

analy,•e flight St44xtrt facility handling

and servi c ing re(1u p rentit-ols for upper

stat tes, SOC/Shuttle Assembly Operations, Shuttle f le git Utilization,

methods for Shuttle propailanl

scaveng,ng and transfer, mission tequitenients and configuration updates

These analyses are requited to reduce

^ost and schedule uncertainties prior

to initiating future development activities

f rgure 1 shoiws it lxossible initial

four ratan SOC configuration composed of a service mxxtule, habitation

mxxtule, and logistics nWule Frcnne

shows an eight man configuration and

how mission needs are accomm -

dated by the addition of a service

nxxlule, habitation nxxiule, constiuc

tiorn supfxott equipment, and flight

supGxat facility ftor Ofbitei Transfer

Vehicles

^ gure 1 — Four man SOC confrgurahsan t igule 2 —!right man SOC Configuration

OSTS 19
Figure 1 — Vapor compression distillation process

BLACK AND WHITE P Of&. ,PH

Vapor Compression Distillation

Urine Water Recovery

As manned miss„rn regonrenaents increase (i e . larger crew size. longer

onorbit stay time, higher power

usage), the need for inflight water

recovery will become acute This will

be particularly true as solar px)wer

replaces fuel cells as the

ou 

pmmary vehicle power source, as planned tot the

Space Opeiahons Center Water fox

drinking and evapxtative coding previously produc^d by the fuel cells must

then be supplied either from stored

water (resupplied by Shuttle) or tro m

water recovered from _'rew urine,

humidity condensate, and wash wi..et

Trade-off studies indicate that water

recovery can be justified p ot Space

::huttle missions longer than 50 manclays and is the only practical option

for missions aimed at providing a permanent manned presence in space

such as the Space Operations Center

A phase change process Vapor Com

pression Distillation has been demon

strafed to be the most efficient and

technically mature process for

recovering potable water from urine

and flush water The basic Vapor Com

pressron Distillation process involves

the reduced pressure evaporation of

water hom a feedstock of treated

urine, followed by compression and

condensation of the water vapor

Evaporation and condensation occur

on opposite surfaces of a rotating

cylinder, allowing the transfer of the

latent heat of condensation back to

Me evap ofatoi, thus nkrking the process highly energy efficient No heat input is required by the system other

than that provided by friction and the

mechanical work done by the compressor in transpxtting the water vapor.

The cylinder is rotated to provide an

artificial gravity field The process has

been automated and adapted for

Space Operations Center apr;ication

and has progressed through several

develop menta, stages

Two Vapor CaripreSSion Distillation

subsystems of prepiototype design are

undergoing extensive test programs in

the Advanced Life Support Development Laboratory at the Johnson Space

Center One subsystem has completed 1800 hours of testing while

processing over 3700 pounds of urine

feedstock The test progiarn has dem

onstiated a water recovery efficiency

of 96 percent and a low specific

energy of 55 watt hours per rxumd of

water recovered As many as 19 consecutive days of testing were accumulated without it problem requiring shutikiwn This particu

lar subsystern currently is being

modified for evaluation of design improvements identified during the

development test program and will be

used to evaluate the integration of

water and air recovery systems The

second subsystem has completed 145

hours of a 1200-hour endurance test,

which is currently underway A water

recovery efficiency of 9ti percent is

presently being obtained.

The preprototype test program has

identified and incorporated many improvements in design concepts and

materials that will lead to increased

component life and system relia ility

Testing in 1982 will continue with the

evaluation of these design improvements and assessing the ability of the

vapor compression distillation process

to recover water from a wash water

feedstock Analysis of recovered water

has verified that only limited post

treatment steps are needed to meet

potable water quality standards

20 JSTS
W

Hyperfiltration Wash Water

Recovery System

Spacecraft that will provide for a permanent manned presence in spaco,

such as the Space Operation`- ^Pnler,

will probably include a she jr and

handwash for crew hygiene, and

possibly laundry and dishwater

facilities, For an 9-man system with

these features, over 400 pounds of

wash water would be required each

day, On-orbit reclamation of wash

water would be mandatory to minimize

the makeup water supplied by the

Space Shuttle.

Hyperfiltratiort is a pressure-driven

osmotic separation process employing

a semipermeable membrane which

selectively permeates nearly-pure

water while rejecting suspended and

dissolved s pecies at the membrane

surface. A module containing a

dynamically formed membrane represents the heart of the hyperfiltration

wash water subsystem. Dynamically

formed membranes are characterized

by high permeate fluxes and moderate

solute rejection levels. The dual-layers

of the membrane, polyacrylic acid over

zirconium oxide, are deposited on

porous stainless steel tubes. Wash

water feedstock at pasteurization temperature (166° F) is batch processed

using a single pass design, At a

system pressure of 1000 psia and feed

velocity of 2 feet per second, the

membrane module provides a water

recovery rate of 90 percent. Permeation through the membrane is Inversely proportional to the molecular size of

the solute in the feed, Urea and ammonia are removed by adding sodium

hypochlorite to the permeate

downstream of the module, The concentrated brine from the module is

further processed along with the urine

in the vapor compression distillation

subsystem.

A preprototype Hyperfiltration subsystem capable of processing the

wash water from a shower and laundry

for a crew of six persons is currently

undergoing extensive checkout and

parametric testing. An improved hyperfiltration module, which contains a

single 200-foot long porous stainless

steel tube will be evaluated with the

subsystem.

i

1

x

^i

.'^"

i

i3

Figure 1.-- Hyperfiltration Wash Water Recovery System.

N2

Wash water

storage

Feed pump Flow

controller

Hyperfiltration

Heater t^

membrane module

Concentrate

.Q.

Solids filters Out

Wash water Heater N2

in

IF

Hypochlorite

storage

Charcoal

sorbent bad Metering

Reaction pump

tank

Permeate out

OSTS 21
:L

BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPH

Ultra-Microwave Communications System

The Space Transnortatlon System

(Space Shuttle) has the capability to

revolutionize space operations In the

very near future. payloads can be eco

notrncally and routinely carried to and

from low Earth oro5t Full exploitation of

this capability will require a similar

revNulron in space communications

Many space-lo-space communoca

lions links will be required, and

severa l of the links will be nepded to

carry massive data rates For example.

the Space Operations Center (SOO is

projected to require wide band (high

data rate) communications links to

several Free-Flyers in addition to

medium bandwidth links to several

Orbital Transfer Vehicles (OTV) Similar communications requirements can

be envisioned for large space construction exper -ments and eventi.Ially

In actual space construction and industrialoz ltion.

The vast communication requirements must be accommodated whole

maintaining freedom from interference

among themselves, with Earth communications, and with Earth-satellite

communications

The frequency spectrum from 100

to 200 gigahertz holds enormous

promise for fulfilling these requirements The bandwidths (data rates)

are conceptually almost unlimited.

small antennas produce narrow beam

radiation patterns which help in

spacial isolation, many carrier frequencies can be assigned to ~'ain

frequency isolation, frequencies can

be selected for high atmospheric attenuation, thus, providing isolation

from Earth-communication p inks and

from Earth-satellite links.

This communications problem was at)

proached from the aspect of ' systei,

development" The arm was to aeter

nine it component and device technology was available to support the

design and assembly of a cor ► xnunica

hens system at these frequencies In

the absu -,ce of adequate con ►por► ent

technology, particular areas of compo

nent development iequiremerth would

be pinpointed A systems oriented

contractor was selected to perform the

required research project. It was deter

mined that. whole Iaboratory devices

and subassemblies were available at

several frequencies in this band, ade

quate component technology was

available only at the low end

Therefore. 105 gigahertz was selected

for the system design The system was

designed to transmit digital data with

a 1?1 ' megahertz bandwith

Figure 1 — Prototype WO-giQaherit receiver

A wide band. 105 gogaheriz, com

rnunications system was successfully

designed and assembled Two 5.

megahertz television signals have

been successfully transmitted in a

laboratory bench test Additional test

mg will be completed at JSC later this

year Whole a lab r►►o del corm unica

loons system has been swessfully assembled and is operating quote well, it

was determined that adequate com

wient and subassembly technology

Is not now available in the 100

gogahertz and above frequency range

Reliability Is an unknown at these fie

quencies because of the very limited

number of devices that are being fabn

cated and tested It was also deter

mined, due primarily to small num

bets, that repeatability ;in this case

conformance to ven(.,cx specifications)

is very poor External isolators and

tuners were required extensively to

make the system work, and the prime

oscillator stability is such that frequent

adjustment of Its frequency is required

The lack of subassembly Integra

tion at this lane makes it Impossible to

take advantage of the potential small

packaging which this frequency range

should provide The basic devices and

components are available to provide

wideband communications at the 100

gigahertz frequencies However, ex

ploitat:on of this potential requires additional development in the areas of

device reliability. subassembly integration, and subassembly performance repeatability

22 OSTS
Space Construction Experiment

Definition Study

Future space program plans include

spacecraft with size and weight that

exceeds the 'pace Shuttle singlelaunch capability. Implementation of

any of these programs will require the

capability to assemble or construct

large systems in space, Although such

construction would eventually be the

function of a Space Operations Center,

the initial space construction projects

must be assembled from the Orbiter,

Before the ability to construct or assemble large space systems has been

demonstrated, users will be reluctant

to employ large space structures concepts. An appropriate construction experiment can provide significant data

bearing on the cost and risks of space

constructidn. Several complex and

ambitious demonstration projects have

been studied. Generally, these

domonstration projects have not integrated desired objectives into a simple flight experiment of a practical size

and cost.

The problem has been approached in

a study to define an Orbiter-based

flight experiment that will provide fundarrmental data on construction in

space and the potential to evolve into

a series of experiments related to construction issues, The experiment objectives address three principal

issues: dynamic characteristics of a

typical deployable structure, construction operations, and structurelcontrol

interaction, The experiment would be

focused on a typical deployable structure that represents the dynamics of a

low-frequency structure In space.

Construction operations would evaluate and demonstrate f indamental

Shuttle capabilities involving the

Remote Manipulator System and the

crew extravehicular activity (EVA). The

ability of the Shuttle digital auto pilot

to control a large low-frequency structure attached to the Orbiter would be

evaluated.

The initial phase of the study has been

completed with the preliminary design

of a basic flight experiment, During

this phase, there were trades and

evaluati on of experiment concepts

and construction issues. Ten candi

date deployable structures were

evaluated resulting in the selection o

a diamond truss configuration. The

selected truss material was a graphite

fiberlepoxy matrix to reduce therma

Interactions, The basic experimen

concept is a bou:m deployment from a

support structure in the cargo bay. The

deployment is incremental to permi

evaluation of the digital auto pilot per

formance in a safe manner. The

Remote Manipulator System and EVA

are used to aid in the deployment and

to attach equipment modulus.

Computer simulation of the configuration uncovered an interaction

with the digital autopilot state estimator filter that will be examined in

greater detail during phase 2 of the

study,

Figure 1.— Beam deployment from cargo bay support structure.

I i

I

I

I

i

i.

I I

i^

i

1

F

r I F J

r^

Control Construction operations Structural dynamics

OSTS 23

i p

z ^ i
BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPH

Manned feosynchronous Mission Requirements and Systems

Analysis Study

The sixxc:.s ul the first Orbiter flight

heralds the start of a new era in which

manned missions to low Earth orbit

will be commonplace The extension

of regular manned operations to other

high energy orbits. including geo

synchronous. is a logical extension of

this capability Activities potentially

requiring manned participation in both

low Earth orbit and geosynchronous

Earth orbit cons,.;t of construction, inspection, servicing, repairing, and

operation of large space systems such

as communications, solar power, and

Earth obs E?rvalion satellites To exploit

the capab, v ies of the Space Transportation r,,;em and to develop the full

potential of space operations, it is essential that development planning of

Orbital Transfer Vehicles be expanded

to include m=anned capability.

The main objective of this effort is

to establish mission and systems opportunities and capability options for

various levels of manned activity requirements, and to synthesize crew

module and/or other manned system

support necessary for extension of

manned mission capability to geosynchronous orbit This study emphasizes manned geosynchronous orbit

sortie missions and associated crew

system components

In Phase 1 of the study a broad range

of generic missions was selected from

which manned Orbital Transfer Vehicle (MOTV) requirements were

derived These missions were divided

into five categories as follows inspection, service, and repair, operation of a

large space system, debris removal,

construction, and unmanned cargo

transport The missions range from

short duration, low weight to long

duration missions with heavy missionhardware weight to orbit The main objective was to develop a versatile

MOTV concept that would encompass

most of these generic missions with a

minimum of modifications The concept that was selected was an all-propulsive MOTV using a 1 -1 /2-stage propulsion system and a 25 0 cubic

meter crew capsule

In phase 2 of the study, a communications satellite servicing mission

was selected as the design reference

mission In this mission. four communications satellites, all using the

standard Multimission Modular

Spacecraft DAMS) Pot subsystem sup

port functions, are routinely serviced

by the MON The satellites are

assumed to be located 90° apart in

geosynchronous Earth orbit.

Periodically, the MON visits each of

these satellites and services the MMS

subsysters

The primary focus of phase 3 was

centered on the selection of a preter ► ed MON configuration and mis

sion mode to pertofm the generic missions identified in the main study

Twenty genetic missions were originally defined for MON but, to simp,ify

the selection process, five of these

missions were selected as typical and

used as additional Design Reference

Missions Systems and subsystems requirements were reexamined and sensitivity analyses performed to determine optimum point designs Turnaround modes were considered to

determine the most effective combination of ground-based and spacebased activities With these inputs, a

preferred concept for the crew capsule

and for the mission mode was

developed Figure t depicts the

selected vehicle and shows the 1 -1 1 2-

stage propulsion system and the

''functional minimum" crew capsule

Figure 1 — Manneri Orbital Transfer Vehicle

with 1-1 2 stage propuis on system anti

'functional mmirrium Crew capsule

Significant results relateo to the crew

cabin design are as follows

1 Two man crews and a mission

of up to 30 days duration will accomplish 85 percent )f the Orbiter

Transfer Vehicle missions

2 A two man geosynchronous

Earth orbit sortie mission will require a

total weight of approximately 5000

kilograms. including 500 kilograms of

up and back dedicated cargo

3 A capsule length of 3 5 meters

and a diameter of 3 meters allows rnis

sfon equipment to be nxwnted exter

nally and is comoatible with the Space

Transportation System cargo bay

Radiation protection require

ments indicate that the capsule wall

should be approximately 1 1 -r,entimeteis of aluminum equivalent thickness

5 Protection aginst ,olar proton

storms will require returr to an orbit of

3-Earth radii or less for events of sufficient magnitude

6 A single-deck crew module is

preferred over a two-deck crew

module for crew habitability.

7 Accommodations for a twocrewmember, 30-day mission can be

adequately provided by a crew capsule that has a free volume of 3 cubic

meters for each crewmember

8 Internal operation is preferred for

routine service and repair tasks with

extravehicular activity capability for

emergency and contingency operalions

24 OSTS
BLACK AND WHITE PI;OTOGRAPH

A Geodetic Beam for

Space Fabrication

Large stationary structures in space

will require very low density structural

members because loadings are expected to be relatively low However,

attitude and configuration control requirements are expected to demand

that the structures be highly rigid and

Inert to thermal distortion Studies

have shown that It Is more cost effective to fabricate large numbers of very

low density structural members in orbit

rather than transporting Earth-fabricated members from Earth. For this to

be feasible, It Is necessary that the

structure be simple, efficient, and require very little time and energy to

fabricate

JSC has adopted a geodetic approach

to automated beam fabrication. Coils

of composite wires are loaded into a

beam-fabrication machine that

deploys the wires In longitudinal and

opposing helical patterns and loins the

wires together at their cross-over node

points to form a cylindrical beam having a triangular grldwork surface. The

machine should require a relatively

small amount of power, mostly consumed by the node joint encapsulation

system. The wire material is a composite consisting of materials having

positive and negative coefficients of

thermal expansion proportionally mixed so that the wire has a zero coefficient of thermal expansion.

The bears fabrication machine concept and geodetic beam structural

feasibility were developed In FY -1978

In FY 1980, engineering design and

analyses, material properties, and

parametrical test data were developed

as well as a beam-end-closure demonstration article. A complete beam

having a length- to- diameter ratio of 10

will be fabricated using a graphite/plastic composite wire (fig 1) A

demonstration beam segment made

with a graphite/metal composite wire

will be fabricated Figure 2 shows the

geodetic beam end closure and

cylinder test structure successfully

compression-tested to P — 2000

pounds

Figure 2 — Geodetic beam end closure and

cylinder test structure

•u+r... -.

1

25FT

MATERIAL

ROD DIAMEITR:

NUMBER OF LONGITUDINALS

AXIAL COMPRESSIVE FAILURE LOAD:

CYLINDRICAL SECTION WEIGHT

TOTAL WEIGHT (CYLINDER, END CLOSURES,

RING FRAMES, )G:NrS, FITTINGSI

NO AIERAL LOAD 29 LATERAL LOAD

HMSIE-GLASSIP1700 HMSM CLASS/P1700

0.077 IN. 0.136 I%.

30 30

3000 3000

0.28LBF1 0.81 LB 17

13.0 LB 21.1 1B

Figure 1 — Geodetic verification test beam

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Office of Summary

Aeronautics

and Space

Technology

The ac livitres at Johnson Space

Center (JSC) funded by the Office of

Aeronautics and Space f e chnology

(OAST) rtivolve aeronauh ill, space,

and energy research and technology

development These research and

technolixay areas eurcxnpass autos

devel(>tonienls of all NASA pitigiam of

tices as well as (other Govem ment

agencies T he use of the Space Shuttle c)rbiter as an expotimental vehicle,

the electrolysis cell fuel cell obital

energy storage systems, the advanced

onb oaid propulsion technology and

the large space systems technology

are areas of continuing JSC interest

and activity.

The major achvilies in space

, esea► ch and technology al JSC during

tiscaI year 1981 were (1 ) support to

the Oibilei b xpenmtenls Program for

which JSC continues to provide overall

integration management and program

planning, technical development for

specific expetinlents (including

development of supporting equip

Anent), and integration of expennnents

into the Orbiter, (2) large capacity or

bital energy storage systems research

and technology, which include fuel

cell development, development of ad

vanced thermal management systems

for space use, laboiatotV Axxieling of

spare plasma environmental inleracpons of large high voltage solar arrays

in the large vacuum chamber, and

development Of a large area, low Cost

solar cell array for with the Shuttle

Orbiter Power Extension Package and

other spacecraft using solar arrays, (3)

advanced unbooaid propulsion technology. (4) multifunction synthetic

aperture radar, (5) large space

systems technology to lower cost of

space assembly, fabrication, deploy

ment, of servicing of large space

Systems. (6) concept deihnition of a

Shuttle Launched Research Vehicle

(SLRV) to support the OAST research

programs in advanced space transpo

Cation systems and planetary research

technology, and (7) ► esean'h rrt

materials that includes the design and

fabrication of it Carlton stand

oi' oanel to replace the Orbiter reusable surface insulation between the

nose cap and nose landing gear (Wi,

ieseatch on the separation of mineral

concentrates from lunar materials, and

continuing research ion fife resistant

maleuals with low toxic enussions for

aircrall sp-weciah use

Experimental Programs

The Orbiter Expe wiients Program use:.

the Space Shuttle Orbiter as it

research vehicle to obtain intllght data

over it flight SI)eCtrun for a

variety of technology disciplines (fig

1) As the lead center for over-all

project, JSC is responsible for project

management and integration of

vario,s Orbiter experiments These ex

penmtents are designed to augment

Me research and technology data

base fix design venticatun of current

and future vehicles by collecting Shuttle flight data in related technology

disciplines and to verify corelate, and

extrapolate o> ata derived f ► orn ground

based facilities with the flight data

The Aeiodynamw Coefficient Iden

lnccation Package (ACIP) experiment

WAS SUCCeSSfullY flown in STS-1

Integrated Orbital Energy

System

Advances i) critical space power

research and technology at JSC in fis

cal year 1981 Include (1) low-cost,

large area solar cells in supj.xrt of the

Orbiter Power Extension Package, (2)

high-capacity energy storage based

on the Solid Polymer Electrolyte

membrane fuel cell, (3) lhemi al man

agement of onorbit energy systems.

OAST 29
OF POOR QUALITY

and (4) modeling of space plasma en

vacinrnental Interaction of large, highvoltage solar arrays

The development of the large area

solar cell Is jointly sponsored by the

Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST) — through a

subauthorization from Lewis Research

Center — and the Office of Space

Transportatior, Systems (OSTS) An

article covering the solar cell Is included In the OSTS section of this report

The fuel cell has been the primary

electrical power source for all United

States manned space programs (except Mercury) because of superior

flexibility, weight, and cost factors. As

manned orbital activity Increases with

the advent of the Shuttle, extended

Shuttle missions using The Power Extension Package (PEP) and space

work stations such as the proposed

Space Operations Center, the fuel cell

and Its counterpart, the electrolysis

cell (for a regenerative system), will

become Increasingly Important.

The regenerative fuel cell Integrated energy system Involves development of technology with many applications With Shuttle-launched

water as the resupply commodity for

Irrecoverable losses, It is a prime candidate for any extended duration

manned or unmanned orbiting

spacecraft. Shuttle-supplied water can

also be used in this system for orbital

manufacture of propellants for orbital

transfer vehicles. It Is ideally suited for

space platforms In which experiments

could draw power and/or hydrogen

and oxygen for propellants, for

feedstock for space manufacturing

processes. or for life support use as required

The expendables for a nonregenerative system requcr;;d for

electrical power, propulsion, life support, and thermal control for long-duration manned space missions would

become a substantial portion of the lift

capability of launch vehicles, thereby

greatly Increasing costs In contrast

the Integration of the various functions

of an orbital facility (electrical power,

thermal control, life support, and attitude control propulsion) based upon

the regenerative fuel cell concept with

hydrogen, oxygen and water as the

working fluids, reduces operations

costs by continuous recycling of the

working fluids For the orbital

manufacture of propellants from water,

the simplicity and safety of transporting and storing water will also reduce

operations costs

The 11-cell, fuel cell module (fig.

2) scheduled for use In the breadboard

system to be delivered In 1982 is now

undergoing a series of operational and

performance tests prior to being integrated Into the breadboard system.

The responsibility for this technology development is shared by JSC

and the Lewis Research Center

(LeRC) JSC has the acidic technology

with the solid polymer electrolyte

membrane ar.0 LeRC has the alkaline

technology that Is derived from the

Shuttle capillary matrix fuel cell previously developed by JSC

Research and technology In integrating thermal management concepts for onorblt power systems was

originally Initiated by the Office of

Space Transportation Systems Joint

funding was subsequently provided by

the Office of Space Transportation

Systems and Office of Aeronautics

and Space Technolog! . The Office of

Aeronautics and Space Technology

sponsored the effort in fiscal year

1981 A preliminary study Indicated

that the key to an onorblt thermal management concept Is the creation of a

centralized thermal utility system

analogous to municipal public utilities,

where basic "trunk" lines (buses) are

provided and Into which Individual

customers can be integrated With

such a centralized system, reduced

operational and payload integration

costs as well as reduced cost for all

Figure 2 — The 1 1 -cell fuel cell stack

payload users would be possible by

permitting common thermal Interface

designs

The large vacuum chamber at JSC

was used as a Space Plasma

Laboratory (SPL) to obtain data concerning "leakage" currents through

the plasma surrounding large

spacecraft surfaces at high voltage In

low-Earth-orbit plasma environment A

computational model was developed

to generate the trajectories of currents

from sharp outer edge to collecting

panel It provides a detailed accounting for the remarkable Curren!-focu -

Ing patterns first observed by the low

light television system developed for

the SPL on the surfaces of the 1 - by

10-meter high voltage panel. These

effects for full-scale space systems

must he understood to define the

des,gn criteria needed to build and

operate large high voltage power

systems for space.

An Important result was obtained

from the measurements of current

emission during the High Voltage

Plasma Interactions experiment conducted In the Space Plasma Laboratory The hollow cathode device

employed to complete the electric circuit between the current emittmd by

high voltage panels and the ambient

plasma proved to be a more efficient

motor/generator ''brush" than previous

concepts. This increased efficiency

has revived Interest In orbital motion

power supply concepts using the

geomagnetic field-Induced voltage

and a very long conductor. Further

analysis of this concept for use In attitude control and station-keeping for

large structures as well as for added

onorblt electrical power Is war-anted.

Space experiments to validate this

concept may also be justified

Advance) Onboard Propulsion

Technology

The advanced onboard propulsion

technology project will develop technology for a reusable spacecraft propulsion system using nontoxic and

noncorrosive propellants The fiscal

year 1981 effort at JSC has Indic 'ed

that a pump-fed liquid oxygen/

hydrocarbon system with integrated

Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS)

and Reaction Control System (RCS)

tankage provides the most efficient

System for propellant packaging, ther10 OAST
mal control, and propellant feed. The

integrated OMS and HOS concept provides the potential to increase system

peri ormance (delta velocity

capZlity) within the current pod

volume constraints or to increase the

Shuttle payload by several thousand

pounds.

Shuttle Launched Research

Vehicle

The Shuttle Orbiter will provide a

recurring capability to carry advanced,

unmanned aerospace vehicles into

Earth orbit. Research and technology

demonstrations in many related dis

ciplines will be performed while thes

Shuttle Launched Research Vehicle

maneuver, enter, and fly in the uppe

atmosphere before initiating a land

based recovery (see fig. 3).

Multifunction Synthetic Aperture

Radar Technology

The Multifunction Synthetic Aperture

Radar Technology project is designed

to develop a low-cost automated

capability to perform active (radar)

sensing in mullifroquenews and

mu I tipolariza t ions for multi-incidgrice

angles. Such a System Would enable

multimission execution at a substantial

cost savings. The technology areas to

be addressed include antenna

development, calibration, high power

transmitter, broad band receiver, and

control logic for inultimission use.

Joint efforts with the United States

Air Force and Defense Advanced

Research Procurement Agency will be

initiated through Memoranda of Understandi%, to realize significant cost

and time savings in fabricating

multimission synthetic aperture radars.

Large Space Systems

Technology

A large space system technology prograin has been initiated to develop

techniques for space construction. To

capitalize on the Shuttle's capability to

provide space construction and

satellite services, a Holding and Positioning Aid (HPA) is required. The HPA

is used to hold a satellite or structure in

a safe, stable position close to the Orbiter for construction or servicing activities, working in concert with the

Remote Manipulator System and

crewmen. During fiscal year 1981, two

types of HPA's were conceptualized.

The articulated arm-type of HPA was

selected after a comparative evaluation following detailed design of the

development test article.

Figure 3.— Shuttle•launched research vehicle,

OAST 3
PRECEDING PAGE BLANK NOT FILMED

Office of

Aeronautics

and Space

Technology

r-'a

Significant Tasks

35 Orbiter Experiments Project Support and Integration

Funded by: Space Research and Technology Base (UPN-506)

Technical Monitor: D. G. Wiseman/ED

Task Performed by: Rockwell International

Contract NAS 9-14000

L(;^.kheed Engineering and Management

Services Company, Inc.

Contract NAS 9-15800

36 Aerodynamic Coefficient Identification Package

Funded by: Space Research and Technology Base (UPN-506)

Technical Monitor: D. G. Wiseman/ED

Task Performed by: Bendix Aerospace Systems

Contract NAS 9-15588

37 Electrochemical Orbital. Energy Storage Program

Funded by: Space Research and Technology Base (UPN-506)

Technical Monitor: H. McBryar/EP5

Task Performed by: General Electric Company

Contract NAS 9-15831

38 Holding and Positioning Aid

Funded by: Spacecraft Systems Technology (UPN-542)

Technical Monitor: W, S. Beckham, Jr./EB

Task Performed by: Grumman Aerospace Engineering Corporation

Contract NAS 9-16276

39 Thermal Management for Onorbit Energy Systems

Funded by: Space Research and Technology Base (UPN-506)

Technical Monitor: J. G. Rankin/EC2

Task Performed by: Grumman Aerospace Corporation

Contract NAS 9-15965

Vought Corporation

Contracts NAS 9-14907 and NAS 9-16321

40 High Voltage Plasma Interactions

Funded by: Space Research and Technology Base (UPN-506)

Technical Monitor: J. E. McCoy/SN3

Task Performed by: Lee Parker, Inc.

Contract NAS 9-15934

Multiple additional contractors

41 Advanced Manned Vehicle Onboard Propulsion Technology

Fended by: Space Research and Technology Base (UPN-506)

Technical Monitor: R. W. Polifka/EP2

Task Performed by: A-arojet Liquid Rocket Company

Contracts NAS 9-15958 and NAS 9-16282

McDonnell Douglas Corporation

Contract NAS 9-16305
42 Multifunction Synthetic Aperture Radar Technology

Funded by: Space Research and Technology Base (UPN-506)

Technical Monitor: K. Krishen/ED3

Task Performed by: Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Contract NAS 7-100

Multiple additional contractors

43 Advanced Carbon-Carbon Stand-Off Panel

Funded by: Space Research and Technology Base (UPN-506)

Technical Monitor: D, M. Curry/ES32

Task Performed by: Vought Corporation

Contract NAS 9-16330

44 Nonterrestrlal Materials for Space Ilse

Funded by: Space Research and Technology Base (UPN-506)

Technical Monitor: R. J. Williams/SN7

Task Performed by: Lockheed Engineering and Management

Services Company

Contract NAS 9-15800

45 Shuttle-Launched Research Vehicle

Funded by: Space Research and Technology Base (UPN-506)

Technical Monitor: J. T. Visentine/ED3

Task Performed by: General Electric Company

Reentry Systems Division

Contract NAS 9-15977

46 Fire-Resistant Low-Smoke-Generating Thermally Stable

End Items for Aircraft and Spacecraft

Funded by: Aeronautics Research and Technology Base (UPN-505)

Technical Monitor: D, E, Supkis/ES5

Task Performed by: Multiple Contractors

47 Toxicity Testing and Evaluation of Candidate

Aircraft Materials

Funded by: Aeronautics Research and Technology Base (UPN-505)

Technical Monitor: H. Schneider/SD4

Task Performed by: Southwest Foundation for Research

and Education

Contract NAS 9-14743

Northrop Services, Inc.

Contract NAS 9-15425

48 Space Operations Center Technology Assessment

Funded by: Space Research and Technology Base (UPN-506)

Technical Monitor, R. C. Kennedy/EA13

Task Performed by: Boeing Aerospace Company

Contract NAS 9-16151
t figure t — Orbiter Experiments Program

BLACK V >.vI l l t PHU 1 ,..,

APH

Orbiter Experiments Project

Support and Integration

As a pioneer oatinch W Iandingl space

vehicle, the Space Shuttle Orbiter has

the potential of providing cost effec

live research and technology data

needed for the development of a

broad spectrum of future aerospace

vehicle designs or enhancements

Althoxigh the Orbiter includes instrumentation necessary to perform

design verification and to wioni;.x

select operations functions, the

baseline Orbiter flight test and operations program does not include plans

to collect specific research and technology data relevant to the design of

future vehicles

To capitalize on the opjxxtunity to use

the Space Shuttle as a means of acquiring flight data for a wide variety of

technology disciplines related to vehicle design, the Office of Aeronautics

and Space Technology has established the Orbiter Experiments Progiann which uses the Orbr!er as a flight

research vehicle (fig 1) JSC continues to support the Orbiter Experiments Program by providing (1) overall

integration management ana program

planning, (2) technical development

for specific experiments, and (3) integration of experiments into the Orbiter The C, :^iler experiments are

designed 11) to augment the research

and technology base for verification or

enhancement of the operational efficiency of c:,!rrent and future aerospace

vehicle design by collecting Orbiter

flight data in all related technology

disciplines, and (2) to correlate

ground-hased data with flight data by

developing procedures to accurately

extrapolate ground-based facility

results to flight conditions

All experiments in the Phase I repertoire of Orbiter experiments are in

various stages of final development,

delivery, and installation Five Orbiter

Experiments have been installed,

checkout completed, and will fly on

STS-2 These include the Aero

dynamic Coefficient Identit,cation

Package (ACIP) reported separately in

the document, Tile Gap Healing

Effects (TGH). Catalytic Surface

Effects (CSE), Dynamic, Acoustic, and

Thermal Environment (DATE). and Infray ed IfTmgery of Shuttle (IRIS) See

figure 1

Two thermal protection system ex

peoments, Tile Gap Heating Effects

and Catalytic Surface Effects, are in

stalled on the Orbiter for flight on

STS-2 The results of these expert

ments will enable improvements in

reusable element thermal protection

systems (1) by optimizing the design

in tile gap and edge radii thus ieduc

ing turbulent airflow and (2) by improving convective healing rates by increasing surface catalytic efficiency.

Hardware for these experiments is

scheduled to be flown on six flights

The Dynamic, Acoustic, and Thermal Environment (DATE) expermient

is installed in the Orbiter for STS 2

This expennent makes measure

ments within the payload and on the

Orbital Flight Test payloads to collect

information on the payload bay environment. This will be used by

payload planners to accurately predict

the payload environment to facilitate

payload development

The final Orbiter expenment planned for STS-2 is the Infrared Imagery

of Shuttle (IRIS) experiment This ex

penment is not an integral part of th

Orbiter vehicle but involves an under

flight of the Orbiter by an instrumente

C 141 ancratt during the descen

phase of the flight The objective is t

obtain infrared imagery of the lowe

(windward) and side surfaces of th

Orbiter Thus, aerotheirmodynami

data is provided that cannot be dupl

cated at ground-based facilities

Three additional phase I Orbiter ex

perrnoents include the Shuttle Infrared

L ee :ide Temperature Sensing

(SILTS), Shuttle Upper Atrrxisphei

Mass Spectrometer (SUMS), and the

Shuttle Entry Air Data System

(SEADS) These experiments hav

been approved tot flight and will b

delivered to the Kennedy Space

Center !or final checkout and installa

tion

Phase II of the Orbiter experiment pro

gram includes nineteen new experi

ments from the following disciplines

aerodynamics/ aeiotheinxodynamics,

materials and structures, and

electronics and human factors.

OAST 3
i

;; 3

36 OAST

Aerodynamic Coefficient

Identification Package

The Orbiter Program presents an

unprecedented and continuing opportunity to obtain fuliseale flight environ..

niont data for winged reentry vehicles

(as differenti ate(i from ballistic-type

vehicles) throughout the aerodynamic

regime. The duality of data produced

by the Aerodynamic Coefficient Identification Package (ACIP) will provide

valuable information concerning relative uncertainties associated with the

extrapolation elf wind tunnel tests to

full scale Ifighl tests. The objectives of

(lie ACIP are to collect aerodynamic

data in the hypersonic, supersonic,

and transonic flight regimes, regions

in which there has been little oppora

tunity to gether data; to establish an

extensive aerodynamic data base for

verification and correlation of groundbased test data, and to provide flight

dynamics data to support other technology experiments,

The ACIP experiment will benefit

tine Space Shuttle Program because

tho precise data obtained through the

ACiP will enable earlier attainment of

the full operational capability of the

Orbiter and contribOe to the design

and development of luture spacecraft

and aircraft.

The exponment consists of an instrument package and baseline Orbiter

data that will provide flight dynamics

data for the determination of noro.

dynamic coefficients from Orbiter

flight data. The oxpenimrit utilizes Orbiter-provided power, time correlation,

environmental support, and is

mounted oil the wing box carrythrough structure on the center line of

the Orbiter. See figure'l. Data are

recorded on the Orbiter Experiments

(OFXY supplied recorder.

Tile ACIP hardware, designed,

fabricated, and qualified at JSC, incorporates three triads of angular accolorometers and rate gyros. The gyro

power conditioners, power .,ontrol

system, and housekeeping componentrc are all self-contained in the

ACIP.

TheACIP operates through the

launch and ascent phases of the flight

and subsequently through entry interface, descent, and landing. The internal instruments continuously sense

the dynastic X, Y, and Z attitudes and

performance characteristics of the Orbiter through these critical flight

phases. The ACIP also receives the indications of position of the control surfaces and converts these indications

into higher orders of precision before

recording them with the attitude data.

The ACIP is installed on the 0ibiter

"Columbia" and flow on STS , 1. The

data gained were of the highest

quality and naet all expectations of the

experiment designers and lechm

nologist. The acceleration and rate

data depicted in detail ttae major

events of launch, reentry, and landing.

Utilization of this information with that

gathered from subsequent flights will

further enhance the aerodynamic data

base of reentry technology.

Planned modification to the .ACIP

includes adding a High Resolution Accelerometer Package MOM to the

existing ACIP. This supplement will

provide accurate determination of

aerodynamic coefficients at near orbital altitudes (up to 700 Qgg ft)

herotofore unobtainable. future plans

also include the installation of the

ACIP1HiRAP package on the next Orbiter vehicle (OV-099).

Figure i Location or rile ACIP

ACIP

PCM SIAVE

1. .tom MINI DHE

MOUNTING PCM MASTER x^

SNEIr a4

NTEREACE

CONNECTOR

BRACKET

1

y"
Electrochemical Orbital Energy

Storage Program

1 ho I!Ioll of water Into hydr o[jrcn

' 11111 • , jt ,n by thr, passage of an

rile-^ cuirenl through an aqueous

,mdi(nn is essentially the reverse

lion of a fuel cell The fuel cell has

i n the primary electrical power

v,rce for all U S manned space pro-

• is (except Mercury) because c f

ono► flexibility weight. and cost

ors and continues to be the most

viable candidate fill 1 to 2 week mns-

, .ICxts to he conducted using the ShiltAs manned orbital activity in

^ ,ies, such as with extcnded Shuttle missions and work stations (Space

Operations Center), the fuel cell and

Its coxunletWit, electrolysis r.ells (for a

twileratrve system), will 'uecome In-

,singly important

In a regenerative fuel .*ell system configuration, the role of fuel cells — in

addition to Its primiary function of providing electrical power to the vehicle

and to the experiments on the (aa► k

ice of the orbit — Is to provide pota-

)le water for the crew and for certain

thermal control requnenients The role

I t L,ectrolysis cells is to recycle fuelproxluced water, metabolic water,

makeup water by using solar-

, produced power on the light side

"ne ,obit Thus, energy storage is

-^ded for Indefinite orbital stay

t rimes

Recycling of water in a regenerative

system is an increasingly important

consideration in space missions In

addition to regenerating the hydrogen

and oxygen required for the fuel cell,

anticipated propulsion system propellants are almost exclusively hyArogen and oxygen, and space

nanutacturing may use large quantities of hydrogen and oxvgen tot

.arious prox;esses Thus. metabolic

,vaste water that may be undesirable

for recycling for metabolic use may be

diverted to propulsion and/or to

manufacturing requuements yielding

• mullipic uses from a single commodity

The expendables for a nonregenerative system required for

electrical power. propulsion, and life

support and thermal control tot longduration manned space missions

would become a substantial portion of

the lift capability of launch vehicles

thereby greatly incieasinu costs In

co ntiast• the integiahon , i the various

functions of an orbital .dcility (electri

cal power, thermal control, life SUPport, and .attihu o control propulsion)

h ased upx)n the tege^neraUve fuel cell

concept with hydrogen, oxygen, and

waiter as the working fluids should

minimize operations costs by conllnuoous recyo ling of the working fluids

F or the orbital manufacture of propellants irony waiter. the simplicity and

safety of transp ottiog and storing water

will also economize operations costs

A helu lest of an engineering model

test article is planned fox 1986 The

technology should be available fox or

hrtal use in the late 1980's or early

1990's

The responsibility lox this technology development is shared by JSC

and the Lewis Research Center

(LeRC) JSC has the acidic technology

with the solid polyn►ei electrolyte

membrane and LeRC has the alkaline

technology that is derived from the

Shuttle capillary matrix fuel cell previously developed by JSC

In May 1979, a potential multiyear

technology program was initiated by

NASA to bring to maturity the solid

polymer electrolyte electrochemical

cell technology as a candidate for lowearth-orbit energy storage applications Objectives of this program are to

(1) advance the technology of dedicated electrolysis/fuel cells and reversible cells for basic improvements of

efficiency and life, a2) deliver

development model nodules for interim breadboard testing of cyclic

electrolysis and fuel cell operation.

and (3) deliver engineering model

modules, based upon breadboard

evaluation and technology development, for a technology readiness demonstration test is 1986.

A start of the-art technology

assessment and system optimization

study was completed, including identification of goals for advancements in

fuel cell and electrolysis cell technologies Laboratory cells have been

tested under typical operating conditions to demonstrate the feasibility of

designing the system using either a

single electrochemic,ii module operating reversibly to provide both fuel cell

and electrolysis functions, or to use

separate (dedicated) fuel cell and

electrolysis modules, each optimized

for its own function However, the

System study showed that the dedi

cated me dules resulted in a lower

overall system weight, higher efficiency, and greater operational flexibility

Therefore, subsequent efforts have

been directed toward that type of

system

A 6-cell stack of full size (32-

square inch active areal electrolysis

cells (see fig 1) has been tested in a

microprocessor controlled subsystem

installation fax approximately 1500

hours (1630 simulated orbital cycles)

during the past year A 3-cell (158-

square inch active area cells) fuel cell

subsystem will soon be added to complete an integrated test system used

to evaluate overall system operation

and perfor mance and becomes a test

bed fox evaluating components and

controls for the breadboard system

scheduled for delivery to NASA in

1982

The 1 1 -cell fuel cell module

scheduled fox use in the breadboard

system is being tested in a separate

facility A series of operational and

performance tests will be performed

before it is integrated into the breadboard system

In a parallel effort, advanced technology development is underway to

achieve the weight and performance

improvement goals. Laboratory cells

incorporating a unique oxygen

electrode support configuration are

performing near the desired level.

figure 1 — Six -cell electrolysis stack

OAST 37
Holding and Positioning

Aid (HPA)

in addition to its basic, role as a space

transportation system, Ilie Space

Shuttle will trovido the capability for

space conilfwtion and satellite services that were not previously availa-

[)to. One basic requirement 10 Use this

capability Is system called the Holdingand Positior'-ing Aid ::HPA) that can

bo used to IlZ a satellite or structure

in a safe and stable position near the

Orbiter for construction or servicing,

The HPA will be used in conjunction

with the Remote Manipulator System

(RMS) and EVA crewmen and needs

tc, be capable of indexing the construction or servicing needs within the

reach envelope of the RMS. The

syste*lii should provide sufficient stiffness and strength to hold large

masses near the Orbiter under various

induced load conditions.

To define the design envelope, a

series of potential missions was

postulated. These missions included

large space structures fabrication,

berthing of Orbiter to satelli t

es of varying masses, and servicing of existing

and proposed satellites. The mission

roquiroments established the design

requirements for the system. Conceptual designs for flight systems were

developed and analyzed. The

selected flight system concept was

used as the basis for detailed design

of a Development Test Article (DTA)

(fig, 1), The DTA will be fabricated in

the next year and be installed in the

Manipulator Development Facility

(MDF) at JSC for evaluation and testing.

During fiscal year 198., the requirements analysis was completed. Two

types of the HPA were conceptualized

that mot ail mission requirements: a tilt

table and an articulated arm. Both use

a lightweight cradle mounted in the

payload bay using a single keel-fitting

and four longeron attach fittings. In the

tilt-table version, a cross beam is installed with a choice of several docking interfaces mounted on the cross

beam. This system was estimated to

weigh 1080 pounds. In the articulated

arm version, 5-dogrees of freedom are

provided, 2 at the shoulder, 2 at the

wrist, and one at the elbow. Inner and

outer arms are of equal length (110 inches). The articulated airii is mounted

oil the same cradle used for the tilt lable and is estimated to weigh 1760

pounds in the flight version.

The articulated arm-type of HPA

was selected after a detailed comparative evaluation, and the detailed

design of the development test article

(DTA) was completed. Fabrication of

the DTA is scheduled for fiscal year

1982 and development tests will be

initiated in fiscal year 1983.

Figure i.— HPA development test article.

OUTBOARD ARM 1 DOF (0,35 m DIA x 2.8 m LONG) ELBOW INBOARD ARM __4

(0.5 m DIA x 2,8 m LONG)

*,--,DEPLOYED

ARMS

2 DOF SHOULDER

BASE FRAME (REF)

2! DOF

WRIST BERTHING FIXTURE (REF)

38 OAST

V
Figure 1.-- Advanced thermal management system concept.

Instrument instrument source thermal Gus f ^^

instrument or

payload modules

Instrument heat sink `^^ (tYpicol)

Capillary pumped

cold p late Heat acquistion Potential

^^ equipment

source

Heat source Potential Heat source Heat source

Pump hoot source

augmented

heat pipe Canventionai heat pipe Constant

Thermal storage Equipment temporatura

thermal bus (phase change) Heat sink coldpiate

tDual•passage high-performance

heat pipe

Space constructable

radiator modulo V,_

Radiator fin

(typical)

OAST 3

Thermal Management for

Onorbit Energy Systems

For the next generation of space

missions, much longer lifetimes and

much higher power levels will be required than in any previous missions.

Efficient thermal management is mandatory because generation, transfer,

and storage of the electrical energy

needed for these future space missions will result in the dissipation of

huge quantities of waste heat. A low

cost, reliable orbital thermal management system does not currently exist

and must be provided for major future

orbital operation systems. Such a

system would need to overcome the

previously discussed limitations of

current system designs. Therefore,

ways to increase energy capacity, reject waste heat, extend the operating

capability of Shuttle, and provide

power for a bread range of space applications will require an entirely new

effort in thermal management.

the thermal management technology

base to provide simpler, more reliable

systems.

A schematic representation of a

candidate thermal management

system concept is shown in figure 1.

The system consists of a central twophow fluid transport loop that is thermally connected to a variety of heat

sources and sinks. As vhown, the

sources can be individual pieces of

equipment or smaller versions of the

central system, each transporting heat

to its own variety of interfacing hardware. in keeping with the "utility"

concept, not all of the potential interface locations would necessarily be

filled during a particular mission

phase. The location of the heat

sources in relation to each other in the

loop would not be critical (as it is in

current pumped-fluid systems) since

all the heat transfer is taking place at a

fairly constant temperature via

evaporation or condensation of the

working fluid.

A preliminary study to screen cand

date concepts for the centralized the

mal bus began in fiscal year 1981. T

results of this study. due to be com

pleted in December 1981, will b

utilized in establishing the specific

tions for development of a thermal b

system concept from the initial desig

phase through hardware fabrication 

thermal vacuum testing. Plans al

call for the design, fabrication, an

checkout of a prototype constructab

radiator test article, followed by Che

mal vacuum testing at JSC in mid

-1983. These subsystem-level effor

would be followed by a svatem lev

integration and test phase iri whic

the thermodynamic performance an

operating procedures for the comple

thermal management system wou

be investigated.

The key to the thermal management

concept lies in the creation of a thermal "utility" system, analogous to municipal public utilities, where basic

"trunk" lines are provided and into

which individual customers can be integrated. The system must be

designed so changes in location or

load of individual customers have

minimal effect on the utility's

capability to serve loads of the remaining customers. Such a centralized

system would allow reduced operational and payload integration costs,

as well as reduced cost for all payload

users by allowing common instrument

thermal designs. Reduction in thermal

management system costs can be

achieved through system modularity;

subsystems integration; stepwise

growth capability to very large

satellites; volume and weight reduction; extended life by maintenancelreplacement, materials compatibility, and insensitivity to environmental conditions; and expansion of
Nigh Voltage Plasma

interactions

Interactions between the space

plasma in low Earth orbits (LEO) and

icarge spacecraft surfaces at high

voltago+are capable of carrying significant "leakage" currents through the

surrounding plasma The complex

physical processes operating to limit,

or multiply, these effects for lull-scale

spacer systems must be explored and

understood to develope large power

systems for space

To address this problem, the program

at JSC has employed large-scale experiments in the unique 20 9 by 30-

meter Space Plasma Laboratory (SPQ

operated in Chamber A. together with

devokapmont of computer programs, to

allow numerical simulation of the

space charge sheaths around large

high-voltage arrays.

The SPL test program provides a

direct experimental link between

smaller scale experiments, analytical

models, and much larger space flight

systems. This is important to reduce

the large errors often encountered in

scaling hypothetical plasma behavior

beyond an existing data base. The

large size of the facility at JSC allows

two critical experimental parameters

to be obtained — low plasma temperature and adequate plasma volume

for free-space development of the

high-voltage plasma sheaths.

Several significant results were obtained from the large chamber expenmonts. The total plasma leakage currents for a 1- by 10-meter high-voltage

panel were much lower than earlier

estimates. The space-charge limited

sheaths around the panel, observed

directly for the first time, show rather

sharply defined outer boundaries confining their electric fields and limiting

current collection. This led to the

adoption of a basically different model

(Sharp Sheath Edge Model) for

plasma current-leakage calculations

than that generally used by NASA to

date.

This model accounts for the observed ineffectiveness of surface insulation in reducing plasma leakage

currents. Reducing the exposed conductor area on a given array was

shown by several experiments to be

ineffective, and sometimes counterproductive in reducing current drain to

the plat ni a Similar rest,ills were ob•

twined by using 1 by t 0-meter panels

and actual flight prototype Power Extension Package (PEP) solar arrays.

The PEP solar array was tested under

full space-solar Illumination while

generating 40 to 80 watts power output. In all cases, insulation of more

than 00 percent of the originally exposed conductor surface area resulted

in less than 40 percent reduction in

plasma leakage current. Above 200

volts, plasma current drain was actually multiplied by the added insulation

The computer effort has been

greatly advanced by adoption of the

sharp sheath edge model, which

allows a great reduction in computer

time required for a rigorous solution.

The new software (CLPM) uses relaxation of an approximate solution to a

selfconsistent equilibrium. Two

breakthroughs have resulted from use

of the CLPM. The trajectories of currents from sharp outer edge to collect1W

r

fJ) ^

i

J9sT ' ^ Y

,da vxi van v,a ,m *•A 1W

Ing panel c,av t1(' nijppedto praavde a

detailed accounting of the doOnr,t current-focusing patterns on the ;;Urface

of the highvollage panel (first til)-

served by tht tow light television

system developed for the Space

Plasma Laboratory) Response by the

sheath to attempts to measure it by external probes has also been calculated

to involve very significant self-disturbance (see fig 1),

The results indicate the Importance

of future application of both experimental and computational techniques

in a coordinated iterative manner, to

verify results or reveal errors in each

The computation routines can be used

in past-experiment analysis to account

for anomalous results of variations in

actual plasma conditions or expertment configuration from those expected. in effect, repeated computer

""experiments x " can be conducted,

varying only one parameter at a time,

until either a match to the actual result

is obtained or all known explanations

for the unexpected result are ruled out.

nab.-: = r f

di fi

„

Figure 1, Computer program plot of plasma sheath solution.

(a) Plot showing cross-section view in a (b) identical system as (a) wiih addition of

plane perpendicular to 1- by 10-meter 1/2-inch Langmuir probe at * 100 V in-

(simulated solar array) panel at -3000 V serted 0.5 meter from the 1- by 10-meter

surface potential. The i -meter panel width panel surface at -3000 V. Note the radical

is oriented left to right at center of figure change in internal sheath potential contours

with voltage contours plotted In space and current paths And resulting distribution

below the panel and corresponding current on surface of panel.

trajectories from plasma to panel plotted In

space above panel. Plots extend out from

panel until reaching location of sharp sheath

edge (at assumed potential of 1 volt).

40 OAST 

it
.N OAST 41

Advanced Manned Vehicle

Onboard Propulsion Technology

The present man-rated spacecraft pro•

pulsion systems use a toxic, corrosive,

and expensive hypergolic propellant

combination of nitrogen textroxidelmonomethyl hydrazine. For future

mighty reusable manned spacecraft

propulsion systems, such as a secondgeneration Space Shuttle auxiliary

propulsion system, the hypergolic propellant combination will probably be

phased out in favor of a noncorrosive,

nontoxic, and less costly propellant

combination. Preliminary studies indicate that the liquid oxygen/

hydrocarbon propellant family provides the most attractive alternative

and that an increase in system complexity will be unavoidable with these

cryogenic propellants.

The present spacecraft auxiliary

propulsion technology data base is too

limited to allow selection of an optimum system and propellant combination. The objectives of this effort

are to identify viable auxiliary propulsion system designs and propellant

combinations to replace hypergolic

propellant systems and to develop the

technology base that will allow an orderly and cost-effective selection and

subsequent development of a secondgeneration Shuttle auxiliary propulsion

system. Results will also have applicability to other advanced

spacecraft systems with similar duty

cycle requirements.

Analytical and subscale experimental

efforts are being conducted over a

wide range of operating conditions to

provide basic propellant combustion

and thrust chamber cooling characteristics for promising propellant combinations. Preliminary system design

and trade studies are being conducted

to (1) determine the inherent design,

performance, and operational characteristics of promising propellant combinations and system conce pts, (2)

provide a common basis to compare

the weight, mission performance, cost,

and operational characteristics of

promising propellant combinations

and system concepts, and (3) identify

critical areas where full-scale component level technology efforts would be

most beneficial.

High-speed color photography of

single element combustion hij^ been

used to qualitatively characterize the

basic combustion trends of different

propellant combinations and injector

element designs over a wide range of

operating conditions.

Resistance-heated tubes that

simulate actual engine operating conditions have been used to characterize

the thrustchamber regenerative cooling capability of propane,

Subscale injectors of approximately

1000 pounds force are being tested to

characterize the combustion performance, stability, and gas side heat

transfer characteristics of promising

propellant combinations.

An overall systems study is being

conducted to compare candidate liquid oxygen/hydrocarbon auxiliary propulsion system concepts.

Testing of unlike spray and unlike

coherent jet impinging element injectors with liquid oxygen and propane at

a nominal pressure of 300 pounds per

square inch has substantiated trends

Figure 1.— Study approach

identified in the previous single-element combustion photography effort.

That is, the magnitude of propellant

spray pattern striation (reactivestream

separation) associated with unlike

spray impinging element injectors

results in significant performance

losses. The coherent jet impinging

element injector did not suffer significant performance losses for the conditions tested. Future efforts will include

testing of other promising fuels as well

as measurement of gas side heat flux,

'rhe overall system design and concept selection study approach is outlined in figure 1. The candidate propellant combinations being evaluated

are oxygen/propane, oxygen/methane,

oxygen/ammonia, and oxygenlethyl

alcohol. The design options to be considered in Phase I will include: pump

versus pressure feed; helium versus

boost pump; cryogenic versus ambient

propellant feed, foam/fiberous versus

multi-layer insulation; and degree of

orbit maneuvering and attitude control

system integration.

Future efforts will include completion of the systems design stud y and

the initiation of an experimentalrignition and pulsing thruster program.

motf$o It .10-9IA, N7£

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^i

Multifunction Synthetic

Aperture Radar Technology

The present state-of-the-art

capabilities of spaceborne imaging

radars include single-frequency,

single-polarization combination, and

swaths up to 100 kilometers, Technclogy advancement is needed to

enable the development of multimission, multifunction, wide-swath synthetic aperture radars (SAR's) with

selectable functional parameters, The

multimission, multifunction SAR's will

satisfy multimission objectives at

substantial cost savings; e.g., Earth

resources and Oran surveys in the

same mission.

The planned and potential NASA

synthetic aperture radar (SAR) missions for the 1980's include: Shuttle

advanced microwave experiment

(SAMEX), free-flying imaging radar

experiment (FIREX), aircraft imaging

radar experiment (AIREX), Venus orbiting imaging radar (VOIR), and the

U,S./Canadian SAR mission (fig. 1).

The NASA Active Microwave Remote

Sensing Research Program Plan identifies SAR functional parameter requirements for remote sensing in the

geology, agriculture and forestry, water

resources, oceans and polar ice application areas that include the following:

Wavelengths of

SAR operation: L- to Ku - bands

Polarization

combinations: HI-I, VV, and cross

Resolution: 10 m to 300 m

Swaths: 100 Km to

500 Km

Incidence angles: 150 to 60°

Calibration:

Amplitude: 2 dB accuracy,

1 dB precision

(1 (r variation)

Spatial: 10 m to 300 m

accuracy (1 (r

variation)

During 1980 NASA developed a conceptual SAR design that could operate

at selectable frequencies (L- to Xband), selectable polarization combination, and selectable angle of incidence, This study identified key technology areas needing further development to enable the fabrication of

multimission and multifunction SAR's

for space applications. During fiscal

year 1981, a program was initiated to

address the designated antenna,

high-power SAR transmitter, SAR

calibration, and wide-swath SAR technology development. The program

element objectives are as follows,

1. Develop design approaches and

demonstrate antenna system technology for multifrequency,

multipolarization, wide-swath SAR

systems (fig, 2).

2. Identify approaches, develop

the necessary subsystems, and demonstrate calibration for Earth observation SAR systems,

3. Develop a high-power, reliable,

and efficient microwave transmitter to

meet the needs of future spacecraft

SAR's.

4, Develop multibeam wide-swath

SAR concept and demonstrate the

design using ground-based subsystems.

5. Develop design approaches for

potential Earth observation SAR's that

incorporate designs/techniques identified through this technology development program.

Figure 1.— Some potential SAR missions.

FIREX

SAMEX

AIREX

s

^ 4

00

Fiscal year 1981 accomplishments on

the multifunction SAR technology program include (1) Specifications and

fabrication plan for advanced

multimission antenna designs for

laboratory demonstration, (2) Plan for

systematic approach to SAR calibration technology development, (3) SAR

sensor error analysis procedure for

calibration, (4) Design approach for

high power combining architecture in

vacuum, and (5) Computer-verified

multibeam squint-mode SAR design

concept. Based on the fiscal year 1981

effort, specific subsystems will be

fabricated to develop and demonstrate

the technology, This effort is planned

to continue to FY1986, Joint efforts

with U.S. Air Force and Defense Advanced Research Procurement Agency will be initiated through Memoranda of Understanding to realize significant cost and time savings for both the

Department of Defense and NASA.

Figure 2,— Candidate SAR antenna technology areas.

SHAPED REFLECTORS

qqqq \I\I^ I\

qqqq

MICROSTRIP WAVEGUIDE SLOT

CORPORATE FED

PRINTED DIPOLE

ARRAYS

42 OAST
Advanced Carbon-Carbon

Stand-Off Panel

The Shuttle Orbiter thermal protection

system (TPS) around doors, hatches,

interface regions, and various penetrations consists of densified reusable

surface insulation (RSI) and gap fillers.

This current baseline TPS is subject to

step/gap problems and damage induced by manufacturing operations,

impacts from debris, et tetra. Further,

this installation is difficult to inspect

for installation quality. It is anticipated

that selective RSI areas on the Orbiter

could be retrofitted with advanced carbon stand-off panel at no weight increase. The panel would provide a

more durable and impact resistant surface, reduce step and gap problems,

provide greater margin in high load

regions, a more reliable attachment

system and good maintainability with

minimum turnaround.

The contractor will design, perform

analytical studies, and fabricate a carbon stand-off panel using the advanced carbon-carbon material. This

material will replace the RSI tiles between the nose cap and nose landing

gear door and extending transversally

to approximately the nose gear doors

outboard trim line. The prototype panel

will be delivered to NASA/JSC for fullscale testing by using the nose cap

test article (T-5) as the test bed,

During fiscal year 1981, panel concep

tual design studies were complete

and selection of a concept for installa

tion on the nose cap lest article wa

made that provides for adjustmen

along the leading edge and sides t

maximize retrofitabillty on the Orbiter

Parametric thermal analyses wer

conducted to optimize the basic in

sulation mix and to provide guidanc

on supporting fitting design. Three

dimensional thermal model construc

tion is underway.

Finite element static analysis ha

been conducted providing an indica

tion of acceptability of the thin skin

ned concept. Methods for proving

panel stability for crush pressure ar

being evaluated.

A finite element dynamic analysi

is in progress. Mode shapes and

response frequencies have been com

puted. Preliminary examination o

panel stresses indicates that the com

bination of static and dynami

stresses will be manageable with th

selected concept.

c 2 ;

Figure i.—ACC chin panel candidate concept.

Trniling edge

I nose clip sat

Xcm 72.24

A

Note pear

doors

A

Tz"7' ACC chln

panel assambly 4

^^ ansion J

t IML

seal, Q°q

ACC seal strip--- p"^^?ed ids!„ t ^` .+ f I

°°^t^ine^'^. J ° ;°q `' I ^AA

ACC chin panel

eyrns`ieriQ4

f

/ '`^.,^

OML .,\\

OAST 4

- 
BLACK AND 111 A1L Pi iv1 OL;1?AP1i

Nonterfestrial Materials for

Space Use

I tiler, .i'.1, , 111i, I 1 1ay Involve tilt,

consht it' II( w rt'n : -oe structures in

space 14c, . , .e :mlccantly less

enertiy Is rt',luue'd l,' lAillich maleflals

twill the A0ra1 91,111 from the I arlh,

These larllt' scale , space activrhes may

be11eht hone the development of

lanutacluung 111dust11es 11) space that

MaIr1 then law malenals tom the

I,x , ks and minerals of the mtxm

this `c ..u'hvilies ti,I,t' been 01111

haled t l ^ I change In loe'us Of ,cell ,h'

hvities away 11,1111 the che11ucdl prole,

essrmg sludles, which have been the

ceilhal thmc t of this effoll tell the last

lcxn yeafs. toward the sepmatiom of

nelner,ll concentiah", twill Iunal

malofla!s

N1uuv ral separation Will he Impor

LtiII because IN , raw nlalt'mal dvaNd

ble, the lun,ti ItIp lllh, IS it ,'tertlt/lex

nurture of rtx,k. mineral, andylass

flagments If setlaullolls can he pef

tiur11ed, It should he possib l e Io

Sm111bly tloih the co111p101(fly and SI: t'

of chemical tuer•essing lilt' lunar

regollth materials present challenlles

to technology because they ,ire

physically complex and becaust' they

,tie very tIIV tlfauu'd utvel,eile ^lraul

sl: e less sham till p 111 ► In a0dilron,

Iht're Is ,1 shong motivation to use

lluldless ;ep,:ratlon tec.ttnitlues

hecaust' of the vacuum envnonmlent of

space C011secluenlly, JSC efforts were

duetted t oward foul 111aμ11 kkails

( 1 ) 1 tie establishment of a

latotualoty with nunerai separation and

h,Indliny facilities c,ipable of ctttalnintl

the clo;rtlifless sl,tildards re(ltlned lot

actual lunar sample use

I") Iht' desit ir and coilshuction of

elct'llostallk , anal elechonutc11101c sell

illation systems, with Capabilities tot

list' In dry nlirogen and in vacutnll

(3) The tao(Iltiction of mlatenals

helm which m inet.0o llc and grain sl: e

SIMOIA 11S to lunar samples would he

made

(4) lesting of solixahons using

plototvptl e(lurpment

Diving the Veal, it laboratory ,vtm

was established and refitted with

slandaid equipment to meet test 1t'

quiremenls The lest system was

designed and fabricated Sevetal

rtx*s and minerals (olivine, pyloxene,

ihnenite, and anofthositic gabbro)

have been cniShed, ground, and

sieved Into file seven standard size

fractions used to chmaclewe h omf

soils In ,addition, it Synthetic glass of

the composition of lunar basalt has

been treated to Introduce font granted

metallic non By combining these

mlalenals In various pro4xmtions, they

can he used to construct a variety of

.Imulants to lunar regc o lith malenals

i he mineralogit , composition. the

amount of glass, rand the grain size of

the snnulant can be controlled.

1 tar last phast' of this veal's w(olk In

volved lusts using a prototype

electio%t,Itic separation system

(Vibrating leede l With a flateplale

electrodO A lute timine d 14 `. 1 it) :K)

1 , 111) nuxtufe of olivine and Ihnenlle

Ifn 1 1,11101 wits used Ill lilt' tests 1 he

best separations (lig 1 ) Wert' oblauled

With the t'lerll0de vertical, ,a Cm

separation betwe e n feeder and

eleclnafe. ,Intl the t'lectiode biased

;X>,Sltivt' ,N !)001 volts with respect to

the lee,lei under these Conditions,

110111 MMVIAIS ,tit' ,11INI Ted to Iht'

elt'ctrode, tin the t'lech,att , lilt' 11

nit'nite, Which is an elt't'llik%il conduc

ti l l account's a positive charkle and Is

lapelled homl the 0,01" tilt , ollville

adheres to the electrode and drops

vertically As judged toy the colcx of the

resultant na leflal separalt's, the sepa

rations ,ore tluNr clean ,Ind the II

mertilt' appeals to tit' sorted with

respecl Ito 111.1111 silt` With tilt' tult'st

g► ,11110d 111a1enals woelled the talthesl

tom fiat' pl,Ne

These results are twang inted ,Ned

rill% , iht' test plans and tests With ,I

new systt'nl will ht' conducted this

tall Vanotls srntulant 11llxtun's will he

tested. he(lrrinlng With Simple

snlnllanls and pfogressul k l to 1110re

Iunal like mixtuieS.

I Igure 1 I aboralur y result of eleciro

niagneli,, seepeerethun (11 lun:u malellal

Olivine illghl i olurl Is rono enll.iloal duecliv

henealh the vertical flat plate electrode

Tile ilmenito Iblack) fiulhest hum the olivine

is Inner giamod than that Immediately adia

g ent to the olivine

:O

44 OAST
OF PO

Q

Shuttle - Launched Research

Vehicle

The initiation of operational Space

Shuttle flights in the 1980's will provide the aerospace community with

many unique opportunities to demonstrate and evaluate advanced space

vehicle design concepts, The narrow

entry corridor of the Orbiter and the inherent limitations of ground-based

laboratories to simulate entry and

aerothermal flight environments dictate a need for a separate category of

entry research vehicles. The frequency of flights into space by the Orbiter

will provide a recurring capability to

carry advanced, unmanned aerospace

vehicles into Earth orbit and perform

research and technoloy demonstrations in many related disciplines

while these vehicles maneuver, enter,

and fly in the upper atmosphere before

initiating a land-based recovery.

The Shuttle-Launched Research

Vehicle (SLRV) program will enable

the NASA flight research centers to expand their knowledge in entry and hypersonic technologies for future

developments in the Earth and planetary space programs, and will provide

principal investigators with a dynamic

flight research facility that will lead to

new generations of operational space

flight vehicles.

The SLPV would be used to demonstrate new technology concepts in hypersonic flight environments that lie

outside the operational envelope of

the Shuttle Orbiter. These concepts

include aeromaneuvering systems for

reusable orbital transfer vehicles and

planetary orbiters, advanced thermal

protection system materials for planetary entry probes and future generations of Earth-to-orbit transport vehicles, and control-configured designs

for heavy-Lift launch vehicles,

The SLRV program uses the Orbiter's

payload capability for advanced technology research and development and

extends the aerodynamic and aerothermodynamic research that will be

conducted from the Space Shuttle during the Orbiter Experiments Program.

The SLRV concept provides a common electronics "core system to

which various aeroshell or fuselage

configurations can be attached. This

"core" will provide all normal avionics,

control, data, communications, power,

and maneuvering capability for unmanned subscale reentry vehicles. Experiments selected for these vehicles

would be designed to provide

research data to support the Office of

Aeronautics and Space Technology

research programs in advanced space

transportation systems and planetary

entry technology. Aeroshell and

fuselage configurations would satisfy

specific experimental objectives and

would fall into three categories;

ballistic, medium lift-to-drag (L/D)

ratio lifting bodies, and high L/D ratio

lifting bodies.

The SLRV development program is

designed with primary emphasis

directed toward cost-effectiveness.

This program employs a phased programmatic approach whereby

development of the flight vehicles will

be initiated on a modest scale, Major

decisions for subsequent growth will

follow technical advancements made

during earlier phases of the flight

research program, These decisions

will also consider the research data

obtained from the Orbiter Experiments

Program.

Significant program activities accomplished this year at JSC include

completion of a SLRV applications and

cost-benefits study and initiation of

vehicle design concept studies. The

purpose of the applications study was

to identify "high-yield" technology

TRANSMITTER AND

SIGNAL CONDITIONER

POWER N TANK CONDITIONER ^I r 2

M

HELIUM TANK

BALLAST, 

demonstrations that would signifi

cantly benefit the development o

future generations of space transporta

tion vehicles and planetary spacecra

and to propose various configuration

of SLRV vehicles to accommodat

these demonstrations. The dosig

concept studies will consider the mo

promising SLRV designs in more deta

and will identify subsystem perfo

mance requirements.

The applications study has resulte

in the identification of 28 research an

technology experiments and two can

didate vehicle configurations for th

SLRV. These vehicle configurations in

clude ballistic and variable-trim

biconic.

The variable-trim vehicle (fig, 1

provides the greatest versatility. Th

vehicle will use split windward flaps 

fly at various angles of attack durin

entry. It will flight test both windwar

and leeward advanced thermal pro

tection system design concepts an

advanced flight control system with

reentry environments and flight co

ridors that are unattainable using th

Shuttle Orbiter.

Discussions were held betwee

NASA and the Air Force to determine 

a joint synergism exists. The SLR

could be used to obtain initial perform

ance data and develop a data base f

Air Force hypersonic flight test expe

ments.

• PARACHUTE PACKAGE

• DROGUE CHUTE AND MORTAR.

• DECELERATION CHUTE

• MAIN CHUTE

(DROGUE CHUTE AND MORTAR

ROCKET I

MOTOR I- • OECEL CHUTE

I MAIN CHUTE

ROCKET

FLAPS IN NOMINAL

POSITION

FLAPS IN 25', MAX

EXTENDED POSITION

ATTITUDE CONTROL NOZZLES

-PITCH AND ROLL, 4 PLACES-.

VEHICLE PROPERTIES

WEIGHT- 2298 LDS

W,CLA, 138 AT9 c 20°

LENGTH: 10OIN,

BASE DiA! 751N.

RN! 5.6 IN.

OAST 

Figure 1 Maneuverable Shuttle-launched research vehicle (split windward flap configur

tion).

L- CPS RECEIVER L FLAPS IN MAX L RETRACTED

AUTOPILOT POSITION

MULTICODER 4 ATTITUDE CONTROL NOZZLES

-YAW, 2 PLACESDATA RECORDING.

SYSTEM

FLAPS SHOWN AT MAX.

EXTENDED. POSITION .
Figure 1 Post-crash external reel rue aircratt seat flammability test

BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPH

Fire-Resistant Low-SmokeGenerating Thermally Stable End

Items for Aircraft and

Spacecraft

I he general objectwe 1 the program,

called the F uemen Pfogiam, are to

develop and apply fire resistant

nialenals technology to the survivable

crash and ramp tires in conxneicial

aircratt ,find to conduct systems testing

of new and modified file resistant

materials ;n conligurations such as

aircraft, will and floor panels, seats,

fuselage sections, and the overall

cabin area The detailed objectives of

the pnxlram are the following -

I To demonstrate That the inIroduction of fire Narner materials in

the exterior wall will prevent in exler

nal "design" lire lint entering closed

habitable areas for the minimunn 5

minute period needed fix p•issenger

evacuation

2 To denxonstrale that a closed

cabin will not reach it of

400" F (considered it temperature for humans) nor generate

sim*e or toxic gases at tempetaluies

Up to 400" F during a specified

"design" file

3 To demonstrate that a "design"

fire in the area of it cabin opening will

riot phx>;igate throughout the cabin

area during the minimum 5-minute

period

Under these general objeCIWS, three

specific tasks were undertaken in a

phased appr UCh

1 Polyimide Developments (a)

Resilient Foam Continued development of nontlanrnt.ole resilient foam

lot seat cushion use (b) Sena-Rigid

,end Rigid Roani Continued development of these nonflammable fo anis fox

general applications Ic) Foam Production Completed pilot plant demonstration of lxilyimide foam pioduc

Iron

2 Aircraft sidew,il' burnthrough

evaluation (a) Conducted burnthrough

tests on configuiations representative

of Boeing 721, Douglas DC 10, and

LockheedL-1011 sutewalls (b)Compleled manufactuit, of imtproved

panels for future testing

3 Wall and Ceiling Panels Currently developing Fltxxel (Iluorocarbon

elastomei) paneling material fix use in

wall and ceiling panel

NASA development of polyimide

toanis was initiated several years ago

based on technology produced for fur

p ine engine inSUlation The developments have produced it seat

cushion hktm that has excellent fire

resistant characteristics The

polyimide foams have been produced

at pilot plant capacities and have been

tested for flammability characteristics

in two NASA study contracts, as well

as rn a full scale Federal Aviation Ad

ministration (FAA) test conducted at

I AA Technical Center I figure 1 is a

post test photograph showuntl mnnnril

tonnage To the Ixtlyrrmde foam in the

I AA hull scale test All results indicate

Ih,U the foam is basically nonflame

pl(4)agating, in direct contrast to the

Cunent polyurethane foam whi c h acts

as it fuel in full-scale fires

The lxNynnide loam has also been

tested by major seat manufacturers fix

seating characlenstics Based on the

seating evaluation results and flan

mability characteristics, one company

is manufacturing seals tot flight

evaluation and marketing demonstrations The toan) has it

advantage over current sealing

cushions in it savings of 40

pewee' Commercial tluanlilles up to

1 million pounds per year will be

availab!e starting in December 19131.

A version of the polyimide semi

rigid-foam including ceramic fibers

shows promise as an aircraft sidewall

insulation. This material can withstand

a higher heating environment than the

current glass insulation and, therefore,

may be it good fire barrier sidewall

candidate. Panel tests of this niatenal

are planned.

The aircraft panel bunthrough test

program has produced burnthrough

characteristics tot three baseline

sidewall configur;itions These

baseline configurations are for the

Boeing 727, Douglas DC 10 and

Lockheed L 1011. Each contained inSUlation, insulation flogging, interior

wall panels, metal frames, and exterior

aluminum skin All three of these configurations had burnthrough times in a

JET A-1 fuel fire of 90 seconds Improved configurations are being

developed fox testing.

Rigid polyimide foam also was incorporated into honeycomb to fabricate two high traffic floor panels

These panels have face sheets with

improved adhesion to the honeycomb

core to minimize any delamination

problem. T here two panels have been

installed in two United Aircraft 747

airplanes for flight tests.

An aircraft manufacturer and an

aircraft materials supplier are optimizing the Fluorel laminates with regard

to the Fluorel core thickness in relation

to the various weights and types of

face skins. The objective of the program is to obtain lighter weight wall

and ceiling panels without sacrificing

any of the acoustical properties.

46 OAST
100

80

V^ GO

N

QJ

u

za o

40 -

0 0 Polymide

O•- — -0 Polyurethane

20 1 1^__

cont 4350 6050 775° 940°

Test temperature

Figure 1,— Mean percent shock escape (ii 1 standard error) as a function of pyrolysis ter

peralure and test materiel.

Figure 2.-- Percent shock escape as a function of test time and test material.

OAST 4

Toxicity Testing and Evaluation

of Candidate Aircraft Material

As a part of NASA's fire retardant

materials engineering program (FIREMEN) at JSC, the applicability of procedures commonly employedin

behavioral pharmacology research to

material toxicity tests has been investigated. These procedures are

based on techniques developed in

operant behavior technology. The advantages of these techniques to

material fire tests are that objectively

quantifiable changes in behavior can

be monitored during tests and related

to Oianges in the off-gassed products

produced during material pyrolysis

and/or combusion. in addition, these

techniques allow the sensitivity of

different behaviors as test biological

tend points to be compared and evaluated. Per instance, laboratory tests at

JSC have shown that rodent operant

bar pressing for shock escape is more

resistant to carbon monoxide induced

incapacitation than is ambulation in a

rotating wheel. Such results indicate

that conclusions about the absolute

behavioral toxicity of materials would

vary with the particular biological end

point employed in the test procedure.

The results ofa JSC material toxicity

test in which operant shock escape

behavior served as the biological end

point is illustrated in figure 1. The

materials tested were a conventional

fire retarded polyurethane foam and a

recently developed polyimide foam, At

each of three temperatures, the effects

of the pyrolysis products of the two

polymers were determined. As the

figure indicates, behavioral toxicity

varied with test temperature and toxicological rankings of the materials

based on either the higher or lower

test temperature alone would have

differed.

In addition to laboratory tests of

polyimide and polyurethane foam, fullscale tests of materials were conducted in the JSC 737 fuselage. Two

indices of material toxicity were

gathered during these tests: (1) 24-

hour mortality tabulations and (2)

changes in operant shock escape performance. The materials tested included seating forms and upholstery,

wall and ceiling panels, storage bins,

and passenger service units, The

volume of fuel used for material ignition and fuselage ventilation rates

were varied during these tests to help

determine the contribution of these

variables to cabin fire toxicity. The

results of these tests indicate that

larger fuel volumes and polyurethane

seating foams significantly increase

the toxicity of a cabin fire.

Figure 2 shows the operant

behaviora! data from full-scale tests of

contemporary polyurethane seating

foam, ceiling and wall panels, and

new state-of-the-art polyimide foam

and paneling, These results are en

couraging for the increased safety pro

vided by the new materials. At no

point during the test of the state-of

the-art materials was behavioral in

capacitation evident, Indicating a sig

nificantly reduced toxicity hazard fo

the new materials, Based on thes

tests, the new polyimide foam appear

to hold great promise as a fire retarde

seating material for use to publi

transportation vehicles.
BLACK AND ^' ^Cf E pHOTOGRA

Figure 1 ':pace Operations center teChnoiogy dssessment dred5

Space Operations Center Technology Assessment

The Sp,,, Operations Center (SOC),

in its total concept, will provide the

•e ►eans to accomplish space enteavors well heyond the technical

apability and experience now existing in the United States space pro-

'Uam The SOC. from its initial permaiently manned capability through its

evolutionary growth to a large space

system construction facility and space

vehicle servicing facility, presents a

number of technological challenges

and (4)poiturnties

The acceptance of the SOC as a

credible program demanded that a critical assessment be made of the application of state-of the-art technologies and the benefits to be

derived from technology improvements In the latter category would be,

tor example. closed-loop life support

systems to reduce dependence upon

resupply of expendables, high voltage

power systems to reduce weight, and

optical information transfer busses to

reduce weight and minimize

electromagnetic interference problems While the initial SOC configuralion cotild be developed by using conventional technologies, improvements

such as those cited could potentially

provide a more capable facility and

avoid built-in obsolescence.

With the identification of potential

technology improvements, it is then

necessary to develop an overall technology advancement plan which,

when implemented in the early phase

of the program, will assure that

development and schedule risks are

minimized

T he appio ach taken was to structure it

technology assessment task to be

placed with the prime study contras

for The task was to be treated and

analyzed as an integral hart of the

overall study and concept defintion

activity with the necessary iterations

and interactions with the overall concept definition .and analysis tasks The

end product of the task would be used

as supporting data to tie integrated

with it SOC technology advancement

plan to he developed at JSC

I he contractor examined 11 technoloyy assessment areas (fig 1) in the

course of the study Individual assessments were made for both the initial

operational configuration and the

growth configuration with capabilities

fir lai4,° space-system construction

and orbital transfer vehicle servicing.

While no technology ''breakthiox ► ghs" were identified as required,

it of 54 specific technology impiovemenl items were identified. For

each item the contractor assessed the

snhcality/prionly level. the current

technology level, and the technology

readiness level the specific item

should attain prior to the preliminary

design review of the detailed design

and fabrication phase of the program.

The contractor data are now being

integrated into the SOC technology

advancement plan at JSC Formal

publication is expected late in calendai year 1981

48 OAST
Space Sciences 

o

V

,r

{

tl 

1

. .

c

n ,n 
PRECEDING PACE UANK NOT FILMED

Office Summary

of Space

Sciences

Lunar and Planetary Sciences

During fiscal year 1981, planetary

sciences at the Johnson Space Center

(JSC) continued a broad range of experimen,al and theoretical investigations. Different investigations focused

on virtually every class of planetary object that displays a solid surface, During 1981 as in previous years, the

overall thrust of planetary research

projects at JSC was unified in sampleoriented research, The ability to properly store, prepare, and analyze samples of planetary interest is what sets

JSC apart from other NASA centers in

planetary studies.

Great advances were made at JSC

during the past year in several areas of

interest to planetary scientists. Some

of the most outstanding contributions

are summarized in the following

paragraphs, and others are described

in the section of this report on significant tasks.

Technology

Technology is discussed first in this

summary because of the significance

of the new cosmic dust collection

system that is now in operation.

Development of a new cosmic dust

collector has been in progress for

several years. A new set of collectors

itas been completed and is now flying

and collecting cosmic dust. The new

collectors have the potential to incioase the world's collection of cosmic dust by orders of magnitude. The

availability of this new, greatly

enlarged collection of cosmic dust

grains will surely open the way to

fascinating new research on these

materials. Future analytical investiga

tions of these materials may well pro

vide insights into the early condensa

tion of the solar system.

Another technolgoy thrust concern

direct analysis of cometary dust b

spaceborne instrumentation. A stud

of the feasibility of collecting cometar

dust and performing isotope dilutio

by mass spectrometry of the collecte

materials is being performed. Th

research plan is to consider the poten

tial instrument, one component at 

time, and develop a functional desig

for each component, In the past year, 

new design was developed for a sam

ple canister (fig, 1), The sampl

canister is now in fabrication. Afte

fabrication, each component wil b

laboratory tested in an end-to-en

mode to determine if the componen

operates properly.

Figure 1.-- Design concept for the sample canister. Material to be analyzed is collected on the millipore sample collection material. That mate

al Is carried on the carrier strip with the microporous membrane that is used for liquid-vapor phase separation. The diaphragm is manipulate

with GNP pressure to control liquid in the sample canister.

membrane

CSS 5
a.

A third inalot loc'hnology thrust in

planetary studir? ,, concorns an ion

microtrrobo mrt rt7analyzer This type of

instruniont, whon developed and

operating, will make it possible to

analyze planetary materials for a wide

range of major and trace elements for

isotope abundances and ratios. The

instrumant allows those analyses to be

performed with a spatial resolution of

10 micrometers or lass. It is essential

to recognize that minerals and other

planetary materials are not

homogeneous on the 10-micrometer

scale, and the differences from

homogeneity contain information on

the history of the planetary materials,

This technology may bring about a

great leap forward in understanding

planetary materials and hence planetary history. During this past year, JSC

has advanced toward obtaining a new

ion microprobe mass analyzer by

defining achievable, state-of-the-art

specifications.

Lunar Studies

As in provious years, lunar studies accounted for about one-third of the

planetary research performed by JSC.

Many of these studies concerned individual lunar samples and details of

each rock's mineralogy, petrology,

geochemistry, and/or isotopic composition. Such studies w^,!re performed

on soil and racks from the lunar highlands. One particularly comprehensive

study involved Apollo 15 core sample

15008. This sample was opened, disected, and distributed to investigators as part of a continuing project to

systematically open all returned

Apollo gores. Numerous samples of

15008 were studied in the laboratories

at the JSC. Whereas in previously

opened cores there have been distinct

layers with a range of mineralogy,

chemistry, exposure age, and maturity,

the data for 15008 displayed very little

change in parameters as a function of

depth.

An observation that received much

attention at the recent Lunar and

Planetary Science Conference was

that the suite of lunar plutonic rocks

differs from one Apollo landing site to

another. This observation was recognized and published by JSC scientists

in the mid 1970's. Their data showed

that anorthosites are common at the

Apollo 16 site and that norites and

troctolites are common at the Apollo

17 site. The idea was not well

received at that time because the current model of the Moon was that it

consisted of shells. But in the past

year iunar science had advanced so

that models with lateral heterogeneity

were being considered. Thus, the

differences between the Apollo 16

and 17 landing sites became supporting information for the concept.

Asteroid Studies

The proper interpretation of reflectance spectra obtained from asteroids

and other planetary objects is one of

the studies at JSC. The approach is to

obtain laboratory spectra of likely

planetary materials. These model

spectra will then be available to interpret planetary spectra obtained

telescopically. The great advance this

year was totally unexpected. Laboratory spectra collected on materials as a

function of grain size demonstrated

that grain size is a major parameter in

determining the final reflectance

spectra. It was demonstrated that

grain size is a more important

parameter than admixtures of

"lightening" or "darkening" agents

(i.e., minerals) such as plagioclase

and ilmenite. Laboratory experiments

demonstrated that the absorbtion

bands in pyroxenes became less deep

with decreasing grain size (fig. 2).

This effect is so strong that grain sizes

less than 30 micrometers yield spectra

that are almost flat, especially cornpared with spectra obtained on samples with grain sizes over 150

micrometers.

Earth's Ancient Crust

Studies of the rare-Eailh-element

isotopes of samarium (Sm) and

neodymium (Nd) have been conducted on terrestrial anorthosites from

Bad Vermillion lake (Canada) and

Adirondack Mountains (N.Y.). The

techniques developed for planetary

sample analysis allow these rocks to

be dated for the first time. They are ancient (2700 million years and 1200

million years, respectively) and were

derived from a source material

different from that of the chondritic

meteorites (a solar system standard).

The application of new techniques at

JSC can significantly improve our understanding of the development of the

Earth's crust and mantle for comparison with the other planets.

There are two significant tasks that

focus on 3300 million-year rocks from

the Beartooth Mountains in Montana

and Wyoming, One described the age

and geochemistry of the supracrustal

Figure 2.— Laboratory reflectance spectra curves for mixtures of 15 percent z limenite with 85

percent enstatite. The absorbtion band near 1.0 micrometer is due to an Fe +2 transition In the

enstatite. Decreasing grain size may cause the absorbtion band to lose Its intensity.

2

1508 m

-^. 30/rm

v

1

o

45um

0

0.7 0.9 111 1.3 1.5 1.7

Wavelength, micrometers

52 OSS
Figure 3.— Idealized soil profile from the Dry Valleys of Antarctica which is applicable to the

Martian regolith. Most of the chemical alterations and secondary mineral formation occur within

or above the active zone. The vertical scale or depth may vary depending upon the local environment

Aoollan Zono Log Gravel or Moraine Debris

.. _

n

v S

Salt Formation Zone

_--_-------

c

*". ^'pd ^c

o

Salts

Q° P p C)

Active Zone ° o

e o, 0

0 ^, °— , -- o --- Frozen Ground Table

Seasonally Frozen O .° ° cO `

Ground

—^ SL- _•=

9' l o O

Permolrost Table

Permanently Frozen

Ground

'Q p', 0 0'.

O

O O

ii sequence of volcanic and sedimentary

rooks that were dated. The second described the metamorphism of those

rocks as taking place at 650 to 750° C

and between 5 and 7 kilobars. The

result demonstrated significant thickness of continental material already

separated from mantle at 3300 million

years. To be metamorphosed at 5 to 7

kilobars directly implies a depth of

burial of between 16 and 22

kilometers. And since the volcanic and

sedimentary sequence was deposited

and derived in part from pre-existing

continental material, there must have

been significant thickness of continental material in the form of continents. Thus, the ideas of some scientists that the early Earth could not support thick continents must be incorrect,

Mars and Venus

The major research this past year was

weathering on Mars, The dry valleys in

Antarctica continue to provide martian

weathering analog materials. These

materials have been analyzed for

mineralogy, petrology, bulk chemistry,

and volatile gases, The model for an

ideal Antarctica weathering profile

(fig. 3) developed from JSC research

has greatly aided in the interpretation

of Viking data from the Mars surface.

High contents of chlorine and possibly

sulfur in the Viking analysis of Mars

soil may be understood in terms of

enrichments due to weathering. In addition, the duracrust on the surface of

Mars may be due to a surface layer of

cemented soil as a natural weathering

phenomenon. This research, combined with the JSC investigation of the

effects of ultraviolet (UV) and infrared

OR) on the weathering of martian

minerals reported last year (tests indicate that IR is important but UV is not)

is causing a major change in the understanding of weathering on Mars.

This understanding is particularly important for any future landing mission

to Mars. The nature of the surface must

be understood to properly plan surface

activities of sample collection (for

return to Earth) and of in situ analysis.

Comets

One investigation of comets during the

past year indicated a 29-year

periodicity for falls of H-chondrite

meteorites with 3- to 5-million year exposure ages. A 29-year periodicity is

suggestive of a comet-type origin for

the parent body of the H-rhondrites.

This is interesting and important

because the H-chondrites with 3- to 5-

million year exposure ages represent

about 20 percent of all known

meteorite falls. If all the investigat

H-chondrites have a similar orbit 

their parent body, perhaps there is b

a single parent body for these 20 pe

cent of all known meteorites. This i

plies that very few parent bodies a

represented in our meteorite colle

tions, and their parent bodies are 

comet-type orbits and not in astero

type orbits.

Basaltic Volcanism

The basaltic volcanism project is n

completed. Several JSC sciontis

participated in this program deJicat

to writing a book on the role of aasa

volcanism in planetary developme

As an important portion of the proje

hundreds of major and trace eleme

analyses of selected suites of bas

samples from around the world we

performed in our laboratories. The

samples were selected to represe

numerous types of bar-alts -'- both te

tonic types and compositional type

These analyses will form the basis 

much statistical research in futu

years.

Cosmic Dust

Cosmic dust was only recently ide

tified and verified as being extrate

restrial. As noted in the section of th

summary on technology, the Curato

Office at the JSC recently initiated 

program of cosmic dust collection. T

first samples of the newly-collect

cosmic dust should be in our labora

ries at this time. The electro

microscope laboratory at the JSC 

newly-instrumented with a transm

sion electron microscope specifica

designed to study the mineralog

petrology, and crystallography of the

cosmic dust particles.

Icy Satellites and Asteroids

Studies of photography obtained 

Voyager spacecraft are being co

ducted at JSC. Large, multiring

basins on these icy objects, such 

the Valhalla Basin on Callisto, the 4

satellite of Jupiter, show morpholo

cal features similar to structur

known on Earth from glacial and ic

covered regions. Specifically, t

Valhalla Basin has been modeled 

an ice cauldron due to internal c

lapse.

OSS 
low

1141l \

Figure 4 — Photomicrographs of fluid inclusions in meteorites The scale bar in each photo is

10 micrometers long In a b c. d and e. a single fluid inclusion is shown in several views In

each view a vapor bubble may be seen in the inclusion The vapor bubble is in a different loca

Lion in each photograph The difference in the location of the vapor bubble is evidence that the

material in the inclusion (the host of the vapor b,bble) is a liquid Views I g and h illustrate

different inclusion shapes

Meteorite Studies

Meteorites front Mars and fluid inclusions In meteorites were two studies

that received public attention the past

year An additional study sets out a

new model for chondnte formation

Meteorites from Mars Is highlighted

as one of the significant tasks A group

of nine known achondrtte meteorites

have characteristics best explained by

the Idea that they originated on Mars

The most direct evidence Is that these

meteorites are Igneous rocks that

crystallized about 1300 million years

ago This means that their parent

bodies had to be heated to melting

1300 million years ago or about 3000

million years after formation of the

parent bodies Not understanding how

an asteroid could stay hot so long, attention was directed to the planets In

the search for a parent body The

geochemtcal characteristics of these

nine meteorites do not match either

Earth or Moon, so those planets are not

the parent bodies On the basis of the

high density of impact craters on Its

surface. Mercury was not volcanically

active at the proper time Venus was

considered but It is so large that It Is

difficult to remove the rocks from Its

surface. So Mars Is the best candidate

for the parent body Its gravity Is low

138 percent of Earth's) so It Is less

difficult to account for the removal of

rocks, and there are volcanoes on

Mars that appear to be geologically

young The Identification of these

meteorites from Mars allows speculation about the mantle of Mars as well

as Its thermal history

Fluid Inclusions In meteorites Is a

new field, and there are only two or

three previous reports about them.

Scientists at JSC have Identified fluid

Inclusions In an achondrlte inpiecrlte

Ifig 41 An analysis of the fluid contained within the Inclusion Is important

In determining the chemical compost•

lion and density of the vapor phase

that was present during formation of

the host mineral Because volatlles are

so Important In rock formation, these

direct samples of ancient fluids provide Important constraints In the history of planetary samples In the case of

this meteoorite. the fluids are high density aqueous solutions of sodium

chloride and Indicate that the

meteorite formed on a very large

parent body — perhaps a very large

asteroid or even Mars

A new model for chondntes

received much attention during the

annual Lunar and Planetary Science

Conference This model, by a JSC

scientist, suggests that chondntes

form by accumulation of chondrules

that formed through collision of partially molten planetoids This model

accounts for the textures of chondntes

as well as for the peculiar sh? de and

texture of chondrules The purpose of

the new model Is to Identify energy

sources for the formation of

chondrules Specifically, the new

model Is In accord with surface tensions recently measured In our

laboratories for silicate liquids

BLACK

.- - ' 

PH

54 OSS
Figure 5 — Cell image enhancement

BLACK ANJ Will! (E PH070GRAPH

Life Sciences

During fiscal year 1981 with the successful Space Shuttle mission(s). Life

Sciences has rrx)ved from a strictly

research mode as experienced during

the interval from the last manned U S

flight to the STS 1 flight, to a d,ml

research and operations mode JSC

conducts a broad range of medical

research and operations activities in

support of the following Life Sciences

Program goals

1 To ensure the long-term health,

well-being, and performance of

humans in space, to characterize the

medical constraints of space flight.

and to enable participation by a

broader segment of the population

2 To use the space environment

as a laboratory !or furthering funds

rnc•ntal knowledge in medicine and

biology

3. To conduct the research and

technology development necessary to

maintaining life in space on a self-sustaining basis to long periods of time

4 To understand the origin and

early evolution of life on Earth, its relationship to its habitat, and the potential tot the occurrence of life

elsewhere in the universe

To accomplish these goals, activities at JSC, funded by the Office of

Space Sciences. involve research and

technology development The major

activities In research during fiscal year

1981 were directed to the goal of en

sunng the long-term health, wellbeing, and performance of humans in

space An in-house JSC effort has produced a Medical Information System

to provide medical operations personnel, supporting laboratories, and management timely methods to collect,

store, retrieve, manipulate. summar

ize. and status all elements of medical

information on each crewperson In

addition, research has be n con

ducted into the effectiveness of

denitrogenatlon procedures on space

crewmernbers to avoid the hazards of

decompression A microprocessorbased physiologic Instrument has

been developed to provide a bedside

arrhythmia monitor The system Is

capable of receiving electrocar

diographic Input from a human subject

and categorizing each beat as normal

of abnormal The system does not

replace the need for a human monitor

but it does provide precise quanhta

hon and data storage A skijor tech

nology effort to apply Image Enhance

ment techniques to evaluate damage

to human cells was completed during

fiscal year 1981 This techrnquic will

enable scientists to examine and

quantitate heretofore undetectable

cellular changes

Activities in technology development include the following

1 An anlhropometnc measurement system incorporating a com

puter-aided design system has been

developed for designing work stations

and living quarters for use in space

Design problems previously requiring

expensive mock-ups can be avoided

by using this system that can access

descriptions of the astronaut popula

tion and make them available to

design engineering from the preliminary design stage to final stages

2 Six Degree-of Freedom tland

Controller feasibility of testing is un

derway for the development of a sixdegree of-freedom hand controller

system Previously. spacecraft

crewmembers had to use two three

degree-of-freedom controllers that re

quired the use of both hands to corer

ate The new six degree of-lreedorn

controller will free cmc hand for other

necessary operations

3 Wash Water Renovation a

breadboard system has been

developed and tested to renovate

used wash water for

missions, thereby minimizing the

water storage requirement

4 Biucidal Ion Exchange - a bioci

dal ion exchange system has been

developed to provide positive control

of microorganisms in spacecraft potable water systems without the involvement of crewmembers

OSS 55
Office of Significant Tasks

Space Sciences

61 Cosmic Dust Collection

Funded By: Planetary Materials (UPN-152)

Technical Monitor: U. S. Clanton/SN6

Task Performed by: Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

62 Evidence About The Early Earth's Crust

Funded By: Planetary Materials (UPN-152)

Technical Monitor: L, A. Nyquist/SN7

Task Performed by: Lockheed Engin ering and Management

Services Company, Inc,

Contract NAS 0-15800

63 Shock Induced Melting in Dense Verus Porous Media

Funded By: Planetary Geochemistry and Geophysics (UPN-153)

Technical Monitor: F, Horz/SN6

Task Performed by: Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

64 A New Model for the Origin of Chondrites

Funded By: Planetary Geochemistry and Geophysics (UPN-153)

Technical Monitor: 1-I, A. Zook/SN6

Task Performed by: Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

65 Metamorphic Petrology in Archean Supracrustals

Funded by: Planetary Geochemistry and Geophysics (UPN-153)

Technical Monitor: J. L. Warner/SN7

Task Performed by: Lyndon B, Johnson Space Center

66 Spectra of Minerals and Planetary Remote Sensing

Funded by: Planetary Geochemistry and Geophysics (UPN-153)

Technical Monitors W. W. Mendell/SN6

Task Performed by: Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

66 JSC Extraterrestrial Microanalytical Facility

Funded by: Planetary Instrument Development (UPN-157)

Technical Monitor: C, Meyer/SN7

Task Performed by: Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

69 Experimental Trace Element Geochemistry

Funded by: Planetary Geochemistry and Geophysics (UPN-153)

Technical Monitor: G. A. McKay/SN7

Task Performed by: Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
70 Medical Information Systems

Funded by: Life Sciences (UPN-199)

Technical Monitor: E, C. Moseley/SD

Task Performed by: Ford Aerospace and Communications

Corporation

Contract NAS 9-15014 

71 Decompression Hazards in Space Crews

Funded by: Life Sciences (UPN-199)

Technical Monitor: D, J, Horrigan/SD3

Task Performed by: USAF - School of Aviation Medicine

Contract T-82170

72 Image Enhancement Techniques Used to Evaluate Damage

to Human Cells

Funded by: Life Sciences (UPN-199)

Technical Monitor: G, R. Taylor/SD4

Task Performed by: Northrop Services, Inc,

Contract NAS 9.15425

73 Bfocidal [on Exchange

Funded by: Life Sciences (UPN-199)

Technical Monitor: R. L. Souer/SE3

Task Performed by: UMPG'JA Research Company

Contract NAS 9-15709

74 Water Recovery System for Spacecraft

Funded by: Life Sciences (UPN-199)

Technical Monitor: H. E. Winkler/EC3

Task Performed by: Hamilton Standard

Contract NAS 9-15471

75 Six- Degree-of-Freedom-Hand Controller

Funded by: Life Sciences (UPN-199)

Technical Monitor: M. M. Thomas/EW5

Task Performed by: Lyndon B, Johnson Space Center

C
76 Anthropometric Measurement System

Funded by, Life Sciences (UPN•199)

Technical Monitor: 5, Woolford/EW5

Task Perforrnod by: Southwest Rosenicti Institute

Contract NAS 9-16158

71 Microprocessor Based Physiologic Instrumentation

Funded by: Life Sciences (UPN-199)

Technical Monitor: M. W. Bungo/SD3

Task Performed by, Beth Israel Hospital

Contract NAS 9.14618

78 Regenerable Carbon Dioxide kCO2) Removal for

Portable Life Support Systems

Funded by: Life Sciences (UPN-199)

Technical Monitor: N. Lance/EC3

Task Performed by: Life Systems, Inc.

Contract NAS 9-15218
Figure 1 — Photorn,crographs obtained with a scann qg electron microscope of Iwo cosm

dust particles Particle 0034 is a chondritic aggregate Particle 0035 is a FSN crystal tragmen

Scale bar is I 0 N m long

SLANK NOT FILM,:., 0MGIPt

,C PAIT

Cosmic Dust Collection

Although scientists have been trying

to collect extraterrestrial particles in

the atmosphere for many years by

using sounding rockets and balloons,

it has been demonstrated that aircraft,

flying above 60 000 feet (20 km)

altitude, can collect sufficient quantities of extraterrestrial particles to

warrant a serious scientific program At

this altitude the Incoming extraterrestrial particles are slowed (50 μ m

particle has a 19 cm/sec fall velocity at

20 km altitude) and concentrated 1 18

x 10" particleslm 1 ) making it posse

ble for high altitude aircraft to en

counter approximately 0 2 particle/m./sec (size ­-4 pi m diameter)

Some of these particles may be

altered by heating during the entry

process as they slow dowo Particles

between 5 and 100 micrometers entering at 15 km/sec may reach temperatures between 500' to 1000° C,

but only for a few seconds Fortunately, most particles do not experience the melting and vaporization

that occurs with the larger meteoroids.

Although particles collected from

the stratosphere Include sulfate aerosols formed in the stratosphere, ,ocket

exhaust, material uplifted from large

volcanic eruptions, and debris ablated

from meteoroids, in additon 'o pristine

and altered cosmic dust. It has not

been to difficult to recognize cosmic

dust because It apparently predominates in the > 10-micrometer size

range It is more difficult to recognize

In the < 10-micrometer size because

rocket exhaust predominates between

the 1 to 8-micrometer size, and

stratospheric aerosols (sulfates) predominate below 1 micrometer

The morphology of cosmic dust is

diverse and Includes fluffy aggregates,

dense mineral grains, spheres,

platelets, crystals, etc Sufficient

quantities have been analyzed to

recognize five different groups based

upon elemental and mineral compose

t ion

1. Chondritic aggregate — These

particles are the predominating type

and consist principally of many sub

micron crystals in aggregate form

Each aggregate has a typical elemen

tal content of Iron, magnesium, silicon,

carbon, sulfur, calcium, and nickel In

d• (easing abundance The minerals

iuentified in this group are olivine

BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPH

enslatite, (magnetite, pyrrhotile, and a

hydrated silicate having a 7A d spacing The chond► Itic aggregates are so

named because their elemental content is very similar to the bu lk composition of type C1 carbonaceous

chondrites (a group of primitive

meteorites that best represent solar

system abundances of the elements)

2. FSN --- These particles occur as

spheres, platelets, octahedra, and irregular crystals Each has a typical

elemental content of Iron, nickel, and

sulfur. The minerals commonly identified In this group are magnetite,

troilite, and pentlandite.

3 Mahc silicates — These particles occur as single dense crystal

grains with a typical elemental content

of (magnesium, Iron, silicon, calcium,

and chromium The minerals commonly identified in this group include

olivine and pyroxene

4. Iron-nickel — these particles

occur as spheres and irregular crystals

whose elemental content Is typically

iron, nickel, and sulfur The sulfur content is low and no sulfide minerals

have been identified, although taenite

and wustite (product of ablation processes found in spheres) are common.

5 Others — This category Is for

particles with unusual textures and

shapes. Some of these particles have

nickel, iron mounds adhering to a

mafic silicate or chondritic aggiegate

particle.

Although limited quantitive analys

shows that much of the cosmic du

material resembles the volatile-ric

type C1 carbonaceous chondrites, 

small fraction, perhaps 10 percent, ap

pears to have no known meteorit

analog

Johnson Space Center has begun 

systematic collection and curation o

cosmic dust Collect , is are made a

60 000 feet by mea s of two pylon

holding four collectors each mounte

under the wing of a W857F airplane

At 60000-feet altitude the impacto

plates are extended Into the ambien

airstream with the collection surfac

normal to the air flow To prevent part

cle bounce off, the impactor plates ar

coated with a film of 5 by 10' , cen

tistokes silicone oil When not collec

ing, the impactor is shielded by 

canister to prevent contamination A

handling and preparation of the co

lection surfaces is in a class 10

laminar flow clean tunnel Sample

will be available for Investigator

beginning in January of 1982

OSS 
Evidence About the Early Earth's

Crust

The ea. diest planetary development of

the Earth is larguly a mystery because

no rocks have been found that were

created during the first 0.6 AE (I AE -

101 years) of Earth history. In fact,

rocksdating from the first 1.5 AE of

Earth history are relatively rare. 'File

paucity of these, oldest terrestrial rocks

call in general be attributed to the

numerous geologic processes that

have been active on the Earth

throughout its history that either

destroy or greatly modify any rocks in

the Earth's crust. Much information

about the early Earth, however, can

only be obtained by careful examination of the rocks created during its first

1.5 AE of development, During the last

10 years, in an effort that was greatly

stimulated by finding 4.5 to 3.9 AE old

crust on the Moon, the older crustal

sections of the Earth have been

searched for the remains of the

earliest terrestrial rocks. One of the

areas that has been investigated is the

Boartooth Mountains which are located along the Montana-Wyoming

border just north of Yellowstone National Park,

Figure I - Rb-Sr systematics of the oldest

Identified Boartooth rocks. The ripproximato

3.36-AE age of those may represent the

time of their origin and/or the time of a high

grade metamorphic event. The scatter of

some of tho data away from the 3,35-AE line

Is interpreted as the result of the 2.8-AE

Beartooth Intrusivo-metamorphic event.

samples from a single outcrop on HellroarIng Plateau (triangles) appear to have been

rehomogonized at about 2,8 AE and show

an elevated Initial Sr ratio.

Recent g e o c h e m i c a I and

goochronological investigations of the

Beartooth Mountains have revealed

that the dominant rock typos are

several series of lonalitic to granitic instruives that.were emplaced 2.6 to 3.0

AE ago. The volurne of took emplaced

between 2.6 to 3.0 AE ago was so

great that the pro-existing crustal

rocks in the Beartooth area were left as

only widely separated remnants.

These remnants vary from less than a

meter to a few kilometers in size. The

types of rocks found in ([lose remnants

or inclusions are quite variable and include quartzite, ironstone, metagraywacke, amphibolite, schist, and

metamorphosed felsic volcanic, and

voicaniclastic rocks. All these rocks

show the effects of a much more complicated metamorphic and deformational history than the 2.8 to 3.0 AE old

intrusive granitic rocks. The 2.6 to 3.0

AE rocks have experienced variable

grades of metamorphism but no higher

grade than lower amphibolite facies.

Recent petrologic work on the older

crustal inclusions indicate that they

have experienced an upper

amphibolite-granulite grade

metamorphic event that occurred at 6

to 8 Kilobars of pressure. Since the

rock types found in these inclusions

require an origin on or close to the

Earth's surface as sediments or

volcanics, then at some time before

2.8 AE ago, these rocks must have

been transported from the surface to

depths of 20 to 25 kilometers in the

lower crust.

Rubidium/strontium dating of these

older inclusions indicate that they are

a minimum of 3,35 AE old (fig. 1). This

age 

is Supported by samarium/

neodymium model ages of 3.33 to

34b 4, lilt, interpretatiol) of the

rubidiumtstrontitim and samarium/

neodymium viotopic (1, ta a is difficult

because tho.-io rocks have exporiencod it complicated geologic

history involving at lvaat two and pro.

bably three periods of deformation,

metamorphism, or intrusion. On 

an

outcrop scale, some of the inclusions

had their rubi d Willis Iron tiurn

systematics either reset or

rellonlogenizod at about 2,13 AE ago

(fig, 1), The present interpretation of

data is that about 3.35 AL is the time

of the upper amph ibolite-granul tie

metaniorphism or IN founation Yage of

1110 original voloani l,,-sedimentary asseinblago. The timing of these two

events may not differ by more than

0.05 AL and thotel'oto not be resolvable with the strontium and neodymium

isotopic data available now. The initial

strontium ratio of O 700 at 3.35 AE suggests that those rocks are not significantly older than 3,35 AE or that

radi000nic " Sr was lost at that time

(this may be possible during granulite

facies event ).

The minimum ago of 3,35 AE for these

rocks makes them the oldest rocks

presently Identified in the western

United States Precambrian terrain.

They are among ill(,, oldest rocks

known in North America being oxceeded in ago only by the 3.6 to 3,8

At- old rocks (if Greenland and

Labrador and the 3.5 to 3.6 AE old

rocks of the Minnesota River Valley, If

the 3.35 AL age is a formation age, it

would indicato that crustal growth during the 3.8 to 2.6 AE period was continuous rather than episodic, The

geochemistry of the oldest Bearlooth

rocks is poorly known at present but is

sufficient to show that highly evolved

granitic rocks ate present with trace

element patterns more like those of

modern island arc rocks than those of

the typical low potassium, silicic, early

Precambrian rocks. The tectonic setting of the oldest Beartooth rocks is

unknown but requires shallow seas

and mixed mafic and felsic volcanism.

The Beartooth rocks also indicate that

the planetary scale proc,,esses operating on the Earth L-.,;,,ore 3.0 AE ago

were highly evolved, capable of producing a wide range of rock types, and

generally capable. of producing

geologic environments similar to those

that exist today.

1,00

0.90

0i

2800

1000 M.Y.

0.80 3350 m.y.

0.7000

0.700 2 4 6

S?Rb/86S(

62 OSS
Figure I ­Production of melt, identified In petrographic thin section, as a function of s

pressure,

80

70

PARTICULATE TARGETS

60 -

(145% POROSITY)

14 so L) -

45-75 # rn

/--100-150 /tin

0

X

LL

 40 -

0

<45 km

Z 30 -

W

20 -

JT8ARGET

)JAY ^—OENSE

Iq

1pf"41

G T

Shock Induced Melting In Dense

Versus Porous Media

During metew onte Impact occuuing vir

tually on every planet surface photo°

graphed. the kinetic energy of the inipact is transferred into 0 shock wave

that engulfs the entire meteorite and

propagates into the planet's WrfaQ. o.

Generated and associated peak pressures increase 

in 

internal energy of a

given meteorite volume, are a strong

function of impact velocity as well as

density contrust between planet and

inoteonte materials. Natural impacts in

the Inner solar system have typical encounter velocit i es between 15 and 25

k 

I 

loi neters- second, that are Sufficient

to ionize, vaporize, and niolt fract i ons

of the excavated crater. Prom theoreti

cal arguments about and pract i cal experience gathered from nuclear or

chemical explosions, it is known that

overall shock attenuation and deposition of thermal energy is a strong function of target porosity. Much energy is

expended 

in 

closing the void space

and collapsing pores Consider in

detail the interface of a solid grain and

a void space: shockwave reflects at

the grain's free SLI tfaCO(S) and may

reverberate multiple times in a single

grain; the grain finally fails, and its

fragments fill the pore space. The

target will 130 at elevated temperature

by 

the 

t i

me an 

initially porous

meteorite. is compressed to its zeroporosity density Due to highly

localized stress concentrations (or

lack thereof), thermal energy distribution is highly heterogeneous because

of detailed grain•grain boundaries and

grain-void geometries. Melting is initiatod at such grain boundaries with

relative easo. This melt concept was

used by industry to sinter metal

powders into specific. shapes such as

gears.

Little experimental data on the shock

behavior (it dense versus porous rocks

exist. However, planetary Surfaces are

often composed of porous, fragmental

materials, swell as chaotic impact

ejecto, of the lunar soil. Therefore, a

dense, nonporous lu= basalt was

subjected 

in 

the laborav)ry to maximum shock ballistic stresses of 80

gigapascals (11 Gila - 10 Ktiars ^; 1.8

x 

10 psi), A complimentary series of

experiments were conducted employing powders of various identicat basalt

grain sizes. Production of melt, , dentified in petrographic thin section, azn

function of shock pressure is illustrated in figure 1. The onset of melt i ng

requires less shock pressure in the

porous materials. At any given pressure, significantly more melt is present

in the porous targets, and there seems

to be little of feet of absolute grain size.

These data will be useful in un

standing the evolution of planetary 

pact deposits and their impact 

contents. The experi ments den

strale that lunar impact molts req

collision velocities in excess 

km/sec, even in porous lunar soil. T

in turn, rules out the formation of 

pact melts by secondary impact

ballistic crater ejocta, because ej

velocities must be less than the 

escape velocity ( < 2.2 kmfsec).

0 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

SHOCK PRESSURE (GPa)

OSS 
A New Model for the Origin of

Chondrites

Near the end of the eighteenth century, a positive connection was made

between certain atmospheric fireball

phenomena and some rather peculiar

iron or stone objects that were occasionally observed nearby. These solid

objects had been picked from the

ground shortly after, and close to, the

occurrence of the associated fireballs,

These space-derived objects are now

called "meteorites" after the shooting

star or "meteor" phenomena associated with them.

Because scamp (,f the meteorites

t were of nearly pure nickel - iron composition, it was thought that they might

be fragments from the metallic core of

some previously broken-up planet. I Some of the stony meteorites displayed evidonce that they had been

derived via fractional crystallization

from a rnolten silicate liquid. This evidence was also consistent with

derivation from a fragmented planet.

The general view that many

meteorites originate as pieces of fragmented planets continues to be

widely accepted today. The main uncertainties concern the size of the

planet(s) (or planetoids) involved and

the dynamics of the fragmentation

process.

A particularly interesting class of

meteorites are the "chondrites,"

Nearly )It members of this class of

meteorites contain numerous small,

spheroidal bodies called "chondrules." It is the chondrules (which

range from 0,1 to 5 millimeters in

0imeter) that gave rise to the name of

this meteorite class, Chondrites represent about 85 percent of all meteorites

actually observed to fall. The origin of

the chondrules, however, and the

mode of their assemblage, together

with some fine grained materials into

the chondrite parent bodies, continues

to remain a matter of much theorizing

and speculation.

A major feature of chondrites requiring explanation is the voluminous

evidence that nearly all of the

chondrules were once isolated, hot,

molten droplets of silicate liquid. Neary all known theories of chondrule for-

,4

mation include, as their centerpiece,

an explanation of this feature. These

theories include: (1) condensation of

nebular gases directly to silicate liquid

;caplets; (2) melting of isolated dust

balls by lightning bolts in the early

nebula; (3) planetary volcanic fire

fountaining creating glassy spherules;

(4) impact shock melting and dispersing of silicate solids caused when

planets, planetoids, or dust balls

mutually collide at very high velocities;

(a) melting of nebular dust balls via

heating from the surrounding,

adiabaticaly collapsing, local nebula;

(6) melting of dust balls caused by a

sudden metastable-to-stable chemical transformation; (7) melting of ^;;I,Jst

balls via magnetohydrodynamic

effects in the early solar system, A

number of variations of the above

theories have been revealed,

Problems remain with each of the

above theories. Some require high

early solar system nebular pressures

and temperatures that cause most

astrophysicists an uncomfortable feeling. Others have dill ie,,ulty explaining

the high volume fraction of chondrules

(up to about 70 percent). And some do

not lead naturally to the observed

chondrr_ile chemistry.

A new model for chondrite formation

has been defined at the Johnson

Space Center. The model contains the

following assumptions.

1. That, very early in the solarsystem-formation process, large numbers of planetoids a few kilometers in

diameter had already formed

2. That the interiors of many, if not

most, of these planetoids were very

hot and were molten

3. That the mutual collision rate

between these planetoids was high

4.That each collision gave rise to

both fragmental debris and to

numerous small molten droplets (see

fig. 1) -- that then quickly cooled to

become chondrules

5, That the chondrules and other

collision debris reaccreted to form the

parent bodies of chondrites, Later

fragmentation of these parent bodies

produced the chondrite meteorites

that we now observe.

A model, or theory, of chondrite formation serves two purposes, One is

that it represents an exercise, in imagination, to devise a scenario of a

group of processes that could have

been at work to form the chondrites

that we now observe, Such a scenario

should not, of course, be strongly contradicted by actual observations on

meteorites. A successful scenario,

therefore, represents our best present

view as to what was occurring very

near to the time of origin of the solar

system. The second purpose served

by a good model is that it will usually

predict certain experimental consequences that are not yet observed.

Thus, a model stimulates new experimentp t meteorite research to test the

model.

The model of mutually colliding, partly

molten, planetoids leads naturally to

the formation of molten silicate

droplets that cool relatively quickly, to

a high volume fraction of chondrules

relative to other fragmental debris, and

to certain other observed chondrite

features, Some expectations of this

model are continuing to be explored,

The importance of the Interaction between theory and experiment in testing this model can hardly be overstated,

Figure 1.— A schematic representation of a

collision in interplanetary space between

two internally melted planetoids,

V f

Y (MEAN VELOCITY)

64 OSS
Figure t — Photomicrograph of a nelavolcanic with the diagnostic granulite assemblage 

persthene • hornblende + ala.nandme - plagioclase • quartz

BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPH

Metamorphic Petrology in

Archean Supracrustal$

r.nuwledge ut the t-hemical and

petrologic development of some of the

oldest terrestrial continenta l crust can

greatly improve the understanding of

processes which took place during the

early evolution of the earth An area

that has promised to yield such information is the Archean terrain of the

Beartooth Mountains of Montana and

Wyoming

The Beartooth Mountains represent

one of several Precambrian basement

blocks which were uplifted during the

Laramlde orogeny (60 million years

ago) exposing a terrain composed primarily of granitic and lonalitic

gnersses, migrmatites, and lesser

amounts of supracrustal hthologres It

is the supracrustal hthologres that

have the greatest potential for providing information on the history and

development of this Archean terrain

The supracrustal hthologres from

several areas In the eastern Beartooth

Mountains have been examined,

however, most of the initial work has

been directed toward the

supracrustals of the Quad Creek area

The Quad Creek area contains

supracrustal hthologres including

ironstone, quartzite, metavolcamc,

pep tic and semipin lncc schist, and

meta-ult ► amatic which are in fault contact with the surrounding 2800-

million-year-old granites and trondjhemific gnersses. The mineral assemblages present in these h ithologies are

consistent with lower granulite grade

metamorphism These assemblages

include hypersthene + chnopyroxene

almandrne + hornblende (metaironstone), hypersthene +

hornblende + brotrte + almandrne

(fig. 1) (metavolcanic), cordiente +

sillimanite + biotite (metapellte),

brotrte -+ almandrne + hornblende

(semipelite), and enstafite + olivine

+ hornblende (meta-ultramafrc) Textural information suggests that these

rocks may be polymetamorphic with

granulite grade assemblages being

preserved in most samples Careful

application of several mineral geothermometers indicate that the granulite

grade metamorphism took place at

650' to 750' C with some minor reequilibration during a subsequent

amphibolite grade metamorphism at

1600° C Several geobarometers indicate trial the pressure of the graiiulite grade metamo(phism was 5 to 7

kilobars.

Rubidium strontium whole rock

isotopic data for the supracrustal rocks

indicate an age of 13400 million

years with art "SO"Sr ratio (R,)

of 0 700 This age and R, suggest little

isotopic disturbance since the time

the granulite assemblages formed

Because of the pervasiveness of the

granulite grade metamorphic assemblages in those rocks, the 3400-

million-year age can be reasonably

taken as the time of the granulite

grade metamorphism This is the

oldest documented granulite facies

assemblage in the Wyoming Pro-,rnce

and suggests a geothermal gradient of

40° to 50° C/km during the early

Archean in this area

These initial finding; die imps uta

because they indicate that the ea

continental crust was relatively th

(greater than 16 km) in this area 

thick cont y--3nlal crust will have ma

implications on the style of tecton

early in the Earth's history Furth

refinements of early crustal mod

can be made as more in formation 

obtained from these early Arche

rocks

OSS 
The exciting photographs returned to

Earth by spacecraft exploring the solar

system are examples of one type of information obtained by utilizing

reflected sunlight frorn a planetary surface. Tile spectrum of the reflected

sunlight also can yield compositional

information. This latter resource has

been exploited through a collaboration

` among geologists and astronomers

over the past decade.

Sunlight can be absorbedpreferentially at certain wavelength by common rock-forming minerals found in

` basalts. The key to the absorption is

the content of the transition metals,

G

iron and titanium. Tile wavelength

position and the intensity of the

k spectral bands is determined ^hy the

kind of transition metal, its valence

state, and its molecular environment in

the crystal lattice.

Spectra of Minerals and Planetary Remote Sensing

Reflectance spectra taken of the Moon

and of Mars were examined first for

these effects. Both planets exhibited

subtle absorption features that could

be correlated with bands found in

laboratory Samples. Then the

spectrum of lunar soil returned by

Apollo 11 was found to match

telescopic measurements of the landing site at Tranquillity Base. An absorption band at a wavelength of approximately 1 micrometer was traced

to the mineral ciinopyroxene as predicted from the astronomical data.

The success of the lunar observations generated an explosion of scientific activity which continues to the

present day. Improvements in observing techniques have permitted reliable

detection of ever more subtle features

in the spectra, and the new data have

encouraged more detailed laboratory

studies. Planetary astronomers

specializing in lunar spectrophotometry can map such geologic parameters

as clinopyroxene abundance, olivine

content, titanium dioxide percentage,

and soil maturity from Earth-based

telescopes. Observations of Mars, the

asteroids, and satellites in the outer

solar system are multiplying. These

new spectra are not as well understood as the lunar data, but many

features have been identified.

Progress in this field has come from

the interaction between astronomical

observation and laboratory experiment

with very little recourse to the theory of

diffuse reflectance. As experimental

sensitivity increases, previously

neglected second order processes

become detectable and must be taken

into account in the data reduction. The

effects of Fresnei reflection, particle

size variation, and changes in observation phase angle must be studied by

a combination of theory and experiment.

Particle size effects have been explored by application of diffuse reflectance theory to the spectrum of an

orthopyroxene powder where the particie sizes fall into a narrow range,

Using equations from the KubelkaMunk theory, the reflectance at each

wavelength was converted to a ratio of

the bulk absorption coefficient of the

powder to the bulk scattering coefficient. This ratio is ca?led the remission

function. To a first approximation, the

magnitude of the scattering coefficient

can be assumed to correlate withpartrcle size and to be independent of the

wavelength of the scattered light.

Thus, the wavelength dependence of

the remission function is attributed to

the bulk absorption coefficient. New

remission functions can be calculated

from the experimental result by changing the magnitude of the scattering

coefficient by a constant factor along

the spectrum. The Kubelka-Munk

transformation can be applied to the

remission functions to create a suite of

reflectance spectra that represent the

effects of particle si ze on the

spectrum. Figure 1(a) shows the

model or the pyroxene spectra. The

curves have been normalized to unity

at a wavelength of 1.02 micrometers to

emphasize changes in the absorption

band structure. Figure 1(b) is a

similarly normalized set of experimental spectra from various particle size

fractions of an enstatite. The remarkable similarity between the two sets

demonstrates the predictive power of

this simple theory.

In a further elaboration, the scattering coefficient was assumed to exhibit

a power law dependence on

wavelength. As the exponent is varied

from 0 (wavelength independent) to

64 (Rayleigh scattering), the

spectrum of the orthopyroxene

develops a negative slope with

wavelength. The near infrared

spectrum of the dark regions of Mars

also shows a negative slope. The

feature initially puzzled planetologists

who had not seen such behavior in

lunar spectra. The infrared falloff has

been reproduced using particles of

basalt with oxidized coatings. The

model spectra provide a caveat

against overinterpretation of the experimental data, The negative slope is

consistent with wavelength dependent scattering, a phenomenon that

can be produced by a variety of

mechanisms.

As planetary surfaces are observed

at longer infrared wavelengths, the

energy available from reflected

sunlight diminishes, and the planet's

own thermal radiation becomes detectable. At the longest wavelengths, all

of the detected radiation is emitted by

the planetary surface. For the Moon at

the subsolar point, radiant energy from

the two regimes becomes equal at a

wavelength of approximately 3

micrometers. Here, the term "thermal

infrared" will be used to describe ra-
diant energy at wavelengths longer

than approximately 6 micrometers.

All common rock forming minerals

possess significant absorption bands

in the thermal infrared. The spectral

structure arises from molecular vibrations in the crystal lattice of the

mineral. Since the vibrational

spectrum does not require special

compositions, the thermal infrared

spectrum is inherently richer in diagnostic mineralogic information than

the visible. Nevertheless, successful

exploitation of infrared remote sensing

has been precluded by two kinds of

experimental difficulties.

The first problem is associated with

the intrinsic particulate structure of

most planetary surfaces. The uppermost surface particles, which emit the

detected radiation, tend to be approximately the some size as the

wavelength of that radiation. The

natural vibrations of the lattice

molecules are affected by acoustic

vibrational modes of the particle as a

whole, and the resultant emission

spectrum changes subtly from the

"pure" spectrum of the perfect crystal,

The emission spectrum is also altered

by the presence of nearby particles in

a complex electromagnetic interaction. Particle size effects, nearest

neighbor interactions, and thermal

gradients in the particulate layer all

combine to broaden infrared bands

and reduce the spectral contrast.

Interpretation of thermal emission

spectra has been difficult. The problem has encouraged intense theoretical development, in contrast to the

situation in the field of reflectance

spectroscopy. The theoretical models

are not yet entirely satisfactory, but a

current infusion of concepts from solid

state physics has generated optimism.

The second experimental problem

is the difficulty of obtaining good observational data from Earth-based

telescopes. The terrestrial atmosph

has only a few "windows" 

transparency in the thermal infrar

Additionally, the low spectral contr

of the thermal-emission spectrum 

quires observational data with a v

high signal-to-noise ratio. Attempts 

measure the lunar infrared spectr

from high altitude balloons or fro

ground-based observatories have r

with only limited success, Recently

rapid scan Michelson interferome

has been used to obtain spectra wit

500 to 1 signal-to-noise ratio on pho

metric nights. Although only a sm

number of spectra have been c

lected to date (fig. 2), spectral str

ture is clearly seen, and there is r

promise for learning more about t

mineralogy of the Moon's unexplor

regions.

Figure t • Reflectance spectra normalized to unity at a wavelength of

1.02 micrometers tat The curve labeled c, c. 1.0 is experimental

data for an orthopyroxeno: the rest were calculated from it by using

Kubelka-Munk theory (b) Experimental spectra for four sievo fractions Figure 2 ­ Comparison of calculated feldspar ratio spectrum with 

of enslalile observed Tycho ratio spectrum in the thermal infrared.

2.0

Cl/C2 0.5

1.0^*

4.0 ..

W 40

1.0 nsay, r

»».. ISO..l.,s n

400 nnsf111. .ts». ....»

t,

0.5 n#0

fat 0

3.0

a r: SIEVE FRACTION

a. 150 - 250 μm

w 2.0 b b. 45 - 108 4m

W ~` .., r.. 30 45 μm

*

c ,, d. 30 μm

h; 1,0 f

0

0.6 1.0 1.4 1.8 2.2 2.6

(b) WAVELENGTH ( 14M)

1.10

1.08 i

3

H

1.061

I,

a

1.04 .'1 !

^ p

C

Z 1,02 I

o

1.00 J

i,,r—TYCH0

W 98 CENTRAL

U. PEAK

0

96 APOLL61

O

.94

CALCULATED,

.92 FELDSPAR

APOLL011

.90

750 850 950 1050 1150 125

WAVENUMBERS, cm "1

OSS 
Figure 1 Schematic of ion optics for the ion microprobe

mass analyzer.

JSC Extraterrestrial

Microanalytical Facility

Since the Apollo lunar landing missions, great emphasis has been

placed on the analysis of lunar samples. Broad scope but state-of-,,ne-ort

capabilities have been established in

the areas of analytical geochemicai instrumentation for these purposes. One

has been the direct application of the

ion-microprobe technique by using a

modified commercial ion-microprobe

mass analyzer.

Recently, samples of meteorites

and cosmic dust particles have

become important to this laboratory.

Ian-microprobe instrumentation of increased resolution and sensitivity are

required for planned scientific investigations in at least six general

areas.

1. Age determination of small

rocklets from lunar soils and breccias.

These include pieces of the original

lunar crust.

2. Age determination of clasts in

brecciated meteorites, which are

thought to be samples of asteroids.

3. Trace element analysis of

stratispheric must, which is thought to

contain pieces of comets.

4. Isotopic analysis of lithium,

magnesium, calcium, titanium,

barium, and other elements in small

refractory inclusions in primitive

meteorites. The inclusions are thought

to ba presolar grains.

5. Elemental and Isotopic analysis

of surface coatings of micrometeorile

craters on the surface of artificial

satellites returned by Space Shuttle.

6. Experimental determination of

distribution coefficients for trace elements between silicate phases and

melts. The results of the laboratory experiments are used to interpret compositions of basalts and the interiors of

many planetary systems.

Microscopic analyses of geological

specimens using ion prnes represent

an advanced, still evolving, analytical

technique. Fundamentally, an area of

a few microns in an area of a geologic

samples is bombarded with accelerated, focused (primary beam) ions.

Sample atoms are ionized and sputtered from the target resulting in an

electromagnetically focused secondary ion beam. A mass spectrometer

then analyzes the secondary beam according to charge-to-mass ratio for

counting by all detection system.

Ion probes are 10 to 100 times more

sensitive than electron microprobes

used for similar studies. Instrumentally

difficult areas in the development of

ion probes include precise control of

the electric and magnetic fields used

to focus and steer theprimary and

secondary ion beams, and the ion discrimination and counting systems. For

the past several years, JSC has successfully operated a commercial ion

probe. During this period, both useful

scientific results and ion probe

engineering improvements have been

accomplished by JSC and visitors from

other institutions.

This research team has now established technical specifications for an

improved ion probe system for the JSC

Microanalytical Laboratory. A new instrument that is properly confipred,

adjusted, and operated should provide

more than an order of magnitude improvement in resolving power --- the

ability to distinguish closely-spaced

ionic species in the secondary beam.

The spot size will be as small as 3

microns or as large as several hundred

microns. Depth resolution during

depth profiling should be as stood as

0.2 microns. Detection limits on small

spots (i.e., '1 10 um) must be lower than

1 part per million for elements that are

easy to ionize (e.g., lithium, magnesium, calcium), and isotopic

analysis should be as precise as 1 part

per thousand.

Unique capabilities of the required instrument include the following:

1. Direct ion imaging with high

spatial resolution

2. High transmission combined

with high mass resolving power

3. Energy filterirq to suppress

molecular-ion interferences

4. Surface analysis and depth

profiling

5. Ultrahigh vacuum operation

6. Ultrastable electronics for

routine operation at high resolving

power.

7. Versatile, computer-controlled

data collection

g. Reproducible and uniform intensity ratios from anywhere on the

homogeneous sample with less than

0.1 percent variation.

TABLE 1.— ANALYTICAL

SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE ION

MICROPROBE MASS

ANALYZER.

Ion Beam: 140' at 15 KeV

Spot size: 3 to 300 microns

Spatial resolution: 0.5 microns

Depth resolution: 0.2 microns

Mass resolution: up to 15,000

Unique capability: Direct ion images,

Energy filtering,

High transmission,

Stable electronics

68 OSS
Experimental Trace Element

Geochemistry

Igneous processes involving the production, migration, and crystallization

of silicate melts are known to have

been important in the formation of

planetary crusts on Earth, the Moon,

Mars, and some meteorite parent

planets, and probably were important

on Mercury and Venus as well. Such

processes leave distinctive signatures

in the chemical and isotopic compositions of the rocks they produce. One of

the goals of planetary geochemists is

to try to reconstruct the history of these

processes by deciphering the chemical signatures found in rocks from

- planetary crusts. Some particularly

useful signatures are carried in the

abundances of elements that are present in most rocks in concentrations of

a few hundred parts per million or les8.

The abundances of these "trace" elements are strongly influenced by their

"partitioning" between silicate melts

and rock-forming minerals in contact

with these melts. Some trace elements may be preferentially incorporated into one mineral, others into

another mineral, and still others

strongly excluded from all minerals,

and instead partitioned into the melts.

Hence, a record of the history of meltmineral interactions will be retained in

the trace element abundances of

resulting rocks.

One approach to using trace element

abundances to unravel the history of

these melt-mineral interactions is

through mathematical modeling. In

this approach, a plausible history of

melt-mineral interactions leading to a

particular sample is postulated, the

effects of this history on trace element

abundances are modeled, and the

resulting calculated abundances are

compared with observed abundances

for that sample. This approach often

allows certain postulated histories to

be ruled out as incapable of producing

samples with observed trace element

abundances, and focuses attention on

other postulated histories which result

in good matches with observed abundances.

For use in such mathematical

models, trace element partitioning

between minerals and melts must be

quantified. This is generally done by

defining a partition coefficient, D, for

each element and mineral-melt pair. D

is usually defined as the weight ratio

of the concentration of an element in

the mineral to its concentration in the

adjacent melt, In practice, distribution

coefficients for many elements and

minerals have not been measured.

Moreover, distribution coefficients are

affected by many variables in nature,

such as temperature, pressure, and

the compositions of the mineral and

melt. The only hope of making sense

of these effects, and hence of obtai

ing values which can be applied 

model histories of individual planeta

samples, is through study under co

trolled conditions in the laboratory.

Recently, a program of distributio

coefficient studies was started in th

JSC experimental petrology laborat

ry. The experimental approach co

sists of equilibrating pertinent sy

thetic rock compositions at variou

near-liquidus temperatures and pre

sures, quenching the equilibrate

charges to room temperature, an

measuring the concentrations of th

elements of interest in the resultin

crystals and surrounding glass. Thes

measurements are currently made b

using special electron microprob

techniques with sensitivities of 'L1

parts per million. The proposed ne

JSC ion probe facility will be used f

this project in the future.

Initial work has focused on the pa

titioning of rare Earth elements (REE

between olivine and lunar mar

basaltic melts. Results of this study a

compared in figure 1 with literatu

values obtained from isotope dilutio

analyses of physically separate

olivine phenocrysts and basalt

matrix. The present results for the lig

REE are much lower than the earli

ones, by a factor of 110 in the cas

of the extrapolated cerium value. Th

discrepancy is attributed to the pr

sence of `L 1 percent matrix con

tamination in the olivine phenocry

separates in the earlier study. Ap

parent distribution coefficient value

which would result if olivines havin

as true distribution coefficients th

values determined in the presen

study were contaminated with 1 pe

cent matrix and analyzed in bulk, 

also shown in figure I. There is ve

close agreement between these "sy

thesized” contaminated values an

the earlier phenocrysttmatrix value

supporting the idea that the earli

values are strongly influenced by co

tamination,

Future work on this project will includ

measurement of distribution coeff

cients for other elements and minera

pertinent to the history of lunar mar

basalts, lunar highlands rocks, and i

neous meteorites, and use of thes

coefficients in mathematical mode

to evaluate proposed histories fo

these samples.

Figure t .— Olivine/liquid partition coefficients for rare Earth elements.

J

C 001

O

70

O This study

k This study Plus

percent " conta,nineuon"

aa11

5chnatrler and

PhlPotis„'70

Ce Nd $in Od PY Cr Yh

OSS 
Management information System I

Medica l Life Sciences

Preflight,

inflighand t

Evaluation Medical Postflight

and -q—^ operations '^"^' Medical Training Computer Operations Support Support

Crew Noise

Nutrition

Toxicology

Water/Waste Management

Food Handling

Microbiology

Breathing Gas

Radiation Safety

Blood and Urine Analyses

Vestibular Function

Environmental Assessment

Inflight Exercise

Anti g Suit

Operational Bioinstrumentation

Emergency Medical Service

Crew Medical Exams

Crew Certification

Key Personnel Exams

JSC1MOCR Exams

Medical Consultants

Training:

Flight Crows

Emergency Medical Service

Mission Operations

Control Room

Support Personnel

Medical Information Systems

The advent of mature Shuttl,% opera

tions will result in a significant increase in the number of flights, more

and different types of crewmen, and

varied workloads in space activities.

These changes will make it difficult, if

not impossible, to handle medical

operational problems without increased autornation. With these considerations in mind, the JSC Medical

Sciences Division has been involved

in impfementahng an automated

system for assuring that all elements

of medical support are available for

each mission,

The objectives of medical opera.

lions data management are to provide

medical operations personnel, supporting laboratories, and management

with timely methods for collecting,

storintj, retrieving, manipulating, sum•

marizing, and statusing all elements of

inedical support for a mission both

from and to local and remote locations.

To aeeompliSh these objectives. a

ce rrtralized time-sharing computer

system — called Life Sciences Medical operations Computer (bSMOC) --

has been Implemented along with ap,

propriate microcomputers. remote terminals, generalized systern software,

and special application software. Appropriate raw and d erived data, facts.

Impressions, and judgments are en,

toted into this sytem for mission managernent. Ageneralized flowof this information is shown In figure 1,

About 10 microprocessors and 32

remote terminals collect the required

medical Information and forward it to

the centralized minicomputer (VAX

11170) This central system consists of

storage capability (disks and tapos),

printing capability. and telecommunications, In addition to the

manufacturers' timesharing programs

(software;), the system contains software packages to stare, update, and

retrieve information; complete statistical analysis, plot variables; and write

special application programs. Computer programs are also available to

control the access to any part of the information so that privacy of the medical recorda can be assumed.

The results of this system should

enabler NASA to provide quality and

quantity of medical care with a

minimum expansion of flight surgeons

to meet the changes associated with

many Shuttle flights.

Figure I -- Information flow for OFT medical operations.

Report Support System

Schedule and Status System

Medical Information Tracking System

Archival System

Johnson

Space Center ,Johnson Kennedy Dryden

Mission Space Space Flight

Operations Center Center Research

Control Room tBldg.3'.i Cantor

70 OSS
OWN r

^y

k *—woof*"

%46

'Nf

BLACK AND WHITE PHOTUc;RAPH

Decompression Hazards in

Space Crews

NASA has been successful in preventing all forms of decompression sickness in space crewmembers in the

past U S space programs This success is considered to be due to adequate nitrogen elimination before

decompression. a crew in excellent

physical condition, and moderate ex

ercise levels during extravehicu:ar activities During the Shuttle Program.

the atmosphere of the spacecraft will

be at sea level pressure 114 7 psial

with 21 percent oxygen and 79 percent nitrogen as compared to the

Apollo atmosphere of 5 psis and near

100 percent oxygen For this reason,

procedures have been developed to

provide nitrogen Qliminalion from the

body tissues of the crewmembers in

flight immediately before extravehicular activity as compared to Apollo

When it was done by breathing pure

oxygen before launch

The approach taken to avoid the

halards of decompression is to conduct research into the effectiveness of

denitrogenation procedure, and to

propose appropriate inflight experimentation into the possible effects of

null gravity on the nitrogen washout

rates From an analysis of the data as

well as that from other laboratories.

optimum inflight procedures are

worked out All such decompressions

rue tested in altitude chambers before

bung used in space Figure 1 illustrates a nitrogen elimination measurement system in the Environmental

Physiology Laboratory This system

provides mass flow data on the sub

sect's rate of nitrogen elimination A

similar system is included in a flight

experiment propc,sed for the first life

sciences- dedicated spacelab mission Any changes observed in flight

will be used to refine the bends protection procedures for future missions

Figure 1.— Nitrogen elimination measurement system

r

OSS 
BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPH

Image Enhancement Techniques

Used to Evaluate Damage to

Human Cells

It - enhancerv*l , a computer

assisted technique that allows scien

tists to observe and accurately

measure previously undistinguishable

characteristics or changes in an ob

jec:t An image is divided into thousands of tiny squares, and each square

is given a discrete numerical value

This process has been used by the

NASA to transmit pictures frorn distant

planets Scientists in the Cell Image

Analysis Laboratory at the Johnson

Space Center have adapted image

enhancement techniques to measure

subvisual changes in the physical

characteristics of human cells

By using epithelial cells from lungs of

cigarette smokers, a computer

assisted method of evaluating the

degree of cell damage has been

developed This technique permits

detection of minute responses to toxic

fumes, particulates, or other irritants,

and affords a refined method for

evaluating space crew exposure to

noxious substances The procedure

provides the opportunity for inflight

sample collection and retrospective

analysis upon return to Earth

Cell Image Analysis combines light

microscopy and electro-optical digitizing with computerized data processing This results In a unique quantitrve

characlerization of biological material

that can be applied to individual cells

or to a cell population The process

can be divided into four phases (1)

Preprocessing - Specimens are collected and microscope slides are prepared and previewed The cells to be

studied are selected and their location

on the slide recorded, creating a cell

map Preprocessing can be ac

cornplished in any research or diagnostic facility having a compatible terminal and microscope The slide and

the cell map can be mailed to the Cell

Image Analysis Laboratory for study

(2) rmagt, ,u qulslhon Each subject

cell is then relocated on an online

microscope and is displayed on a

monitor where the cell image is

divided into tiny squares called picture

elements or pixels Each pixel is given

a discrete value resulting in digitiza

Lion of the image (3) image process

rnq - Each cell is edited (removal of

ext ►acellular debris) and the resulting,

clean digitized image is stored on

magnetic tape for future analysis. (4)

Image analysis - Cell data are

transferred to the master-computer

where complex data analyses take

place

Cell Image Analysis employing

computer-assisted image enhancement techniques, overcomes many of

the limitations of standard cytological

methods such as viewer subjectivity

and differences in visual perception

In this way. heretofore undetectable

cellular changes may be seen and

quantitated This has opened new

dimensions to cellular analysis in the

areas of biomedical research, to medi

cal diagnosis in general, and to space

medicine in particular For example,

muscle mass loss following space

flight has been precisely measured in

rats showing a 20 4 percent loss in fast

muscle fiber size and a 34 7 percent

loss in the slow muscle fibers It has

been demonstrated that animals ex

posed to ''sub-toxic" levels of the toxicant chlordane sustained chromatin

alteration which could only be

qualitatively verified by image

analysis Because of its unique ability

to measure subtle change. image

analysis provides a way to use human

lymphocytes to measure radiation

Very small amounts of radiation can

effect the normal blastogenic

response of lymphocytes to mitogenic

stimulation Image analysis can also

be used as a research tool to quantity

inth-th; changes in cell morphology

IN.: are not detectable by standard

microscopic methods Such techniques were used following the Apollo

series to help study the inflight loss of

red blood cell mass The technigluc

was used to help study the effect of

space flight on human embryonic lung

cells during the Skylab mission.

Figure 1 — Cell Image processing

M M 1 • ♦ • 11 11 11 . 1

N 11 r I I r A N 11 11 11 N r '

u ^ n r r n n n n u u 11 r

I N N ^1 N / N II M N li i^ •

1 N M N ^I 11 N r N 11

/ r 11 N/ M• r Y w ^ y 11 N 1♦ N 11

I r N M r r 1. • \w • r u r N

r ' M r r u N I r n u

it • •1 N • 11 .' ^ . ^• 11 11

r r M r M 11 r w w 3 • ^•

• n r • 11 r r •

• N N N r. • w w w

` I I r M N

n • r w

• r

^_

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1. .. Y a ^ 11

u n w M w p

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N V M M I

72 OSS
BLACK AND WHITC PHU rcGFAP4

Brocidal Ion Exchange

Positive control of micro-organisms in

spacecraft potable water systems has

been a continuing concern since the

advent of manned space flight.

Through the vanrxus space programs,

systems of varying complexity have

been developed to provide this control Tnese systems include both

passive and active procedures and

equipment. Passive measures include

those measures taken before flight to

initially disinfect the water system

The active measures involve the additiorr, of disinfectants to the water as it

is p,oduced from fuel cells during the

flight

It 13 to the latter requirement that the

developinent of the biocidal ion exchange system was directed This

device is being used on the Space

Shuttle for potable water treatment.

Different than any of the previous disinfectant additive systems, the biocidal ion exchange device does not require any crew involvernent The

device incorporates an anion exchange resin that is treated with

iodine as water passes through a bed

(column) of the resin elemental iodine

is introduced into the water. This

iodine serves two purposes — it prevents the transfer of viable organisms

through the bed and imparts a residual

iodine level in the product water This

latter feature precludes the growth of

micro-organisms downstream of the

bed. Initial results from the Space

Shuttle indicate that the resin device

is wc,rking well.

A study is being conducted to deter

mine the vuuc:idal effectiveness of the

device Future studies will be conducted to determine the applicability

of the device for use in spacecraft

Nater reclamation systems involving

the recycling of waste water, including

urine, for potable and wash water purposes The objective of this further

study is to demonstrate the ability of

the device to control organisms under

characteristic operating conditions of

spacecraft water reclarnition systems.

Figure I Microbial check valve

OSS 73
Water Recovery System for

Spacecraft

I ong duration nmoinod spaaco opera

titans, such at, that of a Spaco Operations Center (SOC), will requae vast

quantities of water supplier; for crew

cOnt-unaptron, hygiene, and extravolliculaar activity Transporting this

water to orbit tan a regular basis would

bo vefy costly. An ostim atod 43,000

pounds of lau11011 weillht could be

saved oath 3 months by recycling

water for this 800 having an eight

mart drew.

In considoratlort of tho potential save

ing)s, J8C has it method under

devoloprment, to r(Tovor wetter front

crew w astos, such as unno, washwater, and humidity condonsato.

In Januaty 1x)1!3, an offortwas Initiated

for tlovoloping ,a unno water recovery

process that wtnald br a an alternative to

tho biasolinod procoss, vapor com

prossion distillation, which uses

oentnfugtal face for water separation.

This procoss, thormoolectrically in,

togtrated moni crane evaporation urine

water rocovor system tTIMUR utilizes

a hollow fitter niontbrane evaaporalor

and is porous plate condenser to

recovor potable water front and

rather sources by distillation.

Initially, tho wastewater is treated

with a chemical agent to prevent

carryover of volatile contaminants. The

wastewater is thon heated to 160° F,

passed through the hollow fiber

rnombrano ovaporator where the water

vapor diffuses through the membrane

walls to a redueod pressure steam

plenum. Tho steam is then condensed

c1 11 a ptS raus plate condenser. Thernataeleclnc heall pumps tare used to

transfer (teat front the condenser to the

wastewater, thus saving the latent

heat of condensaliion and reducing the

system power penalty_ The distilled

product water is further treated by activatted carbon, ion-oxchange resins,

and is disinfected by the addition of a

biocide. Tho water, now of potable

quality, is stored in lanky for use on

doniand.

The TIMES system has been fabn.

csted and !tasted at the contractor's

facility. The system weighs ;300

pounds, occupies 21 cubic feet, requires 106 Whrilb of water, and produdes water at a rate of 2 lb/hr. The

system Is micreprocessor- con trolled

with a multicolored graphics data display. It has undergone 600 hours rat

testing with unno and 260 houts of

testing with washwater. Currently, cor,

lain system components are being

design-optimized to improve performance and reliability. Contractor tesl^

Ing and improvements will continue

until the scheduled delivery to JSC in

early 1062. At JSG, extended tests will

be performed to evaluate overall

spacecraft applicability and identify

design weaknesses.

Overall, the TIMES water recovery

process offers promise for satisfying a

critical water supply need for extended manned space operations. Additional development will improve performance and reliability and should

qualify the water for spacecraft use.

Figuro I,— TIMES water rocovory systom.

Pretreat Section

Waste

Water Thermoelectric

In Heat Pump Porous

Plate

Waste Recycle Condenser

Pretreat Storage Tank

Unit

.c

waste

Water

Heater

and

Controller

Centro

a^ p onn ra n

Hallow

Fiber

Membrane Vapor

nog000r9n Evaporator "' Potable

Multifiitration Water

section

.Ii._. . _. sr ..._ ..

74 QSS
Six-Degree-of-Freedom Hand

Controller

Manual control tasks of space systems

in a zero-gravity environment are true

six-degree-of-freedom problems. For

this reason, all manned space control

systems to date, whether for

spacecraft, remote manipulator

systems, or maneuvering units, have

had two three-degree-of-freedom

controllers — one for translation anti

one for rotation. All of these contra,

systems have required the use of both

hands to provide full control capability.

Crew workload requirements make It

desirable that at least one hhnd be

available for othef operations. A long

proposed method for accomplishing

this goal has been a single Integrated

six-degree-of-freedom controller.

Designs for several controllers exist,

but none has ever been applied to

spaceflight. The intent of the research

and technology study is to determine

what problems have inhibited sixdegree-of-freedom applications in

spaceflight, attempt to solve those

problems, design a controller suitable

for space applications, and to deliver

preliminary design drawings and

specifications for a prototype controller.

The general approach for establishing

the preliminary design is to search for

previous six-degree-of•freedom

designs, review these existing designs

assessing their strengths and weaknesses, establish potential design

concepts Including new concepts,

conduct feasibility tests, recommend a

concept for design, and provide the

drawings and specifications for prototype construction. The study is being

conducted by CAF Electronics Ltd.

Figure 1.-- Six degree-of-freedom controller concept test jig.

The study has progressed to the point

that a voncc4pt has been developed

and is undergoing feasibility testing

(fig. 1). The Investigation of previous

designs resulted in the determination

,

)at there is currently very little work in

%

'

D six-degree of-freedom controller

field. Most past work has associated

with preliminary research in the Apollo

program or with helicopter research.

Manual controller design and evaluation is normally a minor task in vehicle

handling chmacteristics for a particular aerospace vehicle design. Procuralr,

managers are very reluctant to pioneer

new territory with their particular vehicfe, and pilot acceptance of new control techniques is low because of the

lack of full flight simulation or actual

flight evaluation. No completely documented previous research in sixdegree-of-freedom manual control

could be found. It is anticipated that

the design developed as a result of

this study could be evaluated and potentially utilized in the manned remote

work station (MRWS) or as an upgrade

to the Shuttle arbiter remote

manipulator . yslem (RMS).

Yaw Axis

C^ Pickoff

v .--- Adjustment

Adjustment

Handle Frame

/= -- Roll Axis

Pickoff

^r

n

Adjustment for

Angularity

of Rotational Head

to Translation Bed Pitch Axis

Pickoff

ZT Slide

~--XT Slide

YT Slide

OSS 75
.:,LACK AND WHiTE PHO tOGRAFH

Anthropometrrc Measurement

System

Designing ivoxk stations and iotig

quarters tot use In space requires

knowledge of the physical characteristics of the people using them

Size. posture. an(; reach capabilities

vary greatly between individuals

Finding ways to collect this information and to use it in the design process

Is a matter of some concern to NASA

Equipment that will collect these data

In realistic situations has been

developed by NASA.

Typical problems that face designers Include ''Can all crewmembers

reach a switch In this locatlon9",

''How much force can a crewmember

exert on this handle ? ", ''Can a person

fit through this access hatch ? " Traditionally, answers to these questions

have been obtained by building fL: ',Iscale mockups, putting people In the

mockups, and trying the operations.

This has been a costly, time-consuming procedure that could only be carried out after a design was nearly completed

Figure 1 — Lett-hand reach envelope for

suited astronaut (photographed during data

cellection process).

New design procedures are being

developed based on the power and

flexibility of a computer-aided design

system that can access descriptions of

the astronaut population and make

them available to design engineering

from the preliminary design stage to

final stages One important step In

these procedures Is to collect digital

data describing the region of space a

person can reach (reach envelope),

and how much force can be applied at

points within the envelope Many factors affect the shape and size of the

reach envelope These Include the individual's size, attire (shirt sleeves or

pressurized suits), and physical

restraints such as seat belt, shoulder

harness, foot restraints, etc. Ideally.

data for each situation would be collected for the entire astronaut population

In order to collect these data in a

minimum time with maximum ac

curacy, an automatic system that samples and records position and force

during subject motion was needed A

system, called a kineslrneter, was

designed by Dr William B. Thornton at

JSC The system consists of three

video cameras that view the subject

from different angles, a

microprocessor to synchronize the

camera scans and detect a bright spot

in the video signal, and a digital

recording device A small light is attached to the point to be tracked —

e g . a fingertip — and as it moves In

the field of view of the cameras. Its

position Is digitized and recorded

A person sweeping out a reach en

velope while wearing a pressurized

space suit Is shown In figure 1. The

elapsed-time photograph demonstrates the envelope marked by the

light The klneslmeter digitizes points

from that envelope. The prototype

klneslmeter uses standard video

cameras, with a scene- processing

t!me of 1160 of a second, and can

track, at most. two lights A highspeed klneslmeter, capable of tracking up to 30 lights at a total data rate of

10,000 points per second. is nearing

completion When this system is

available. It will be possible to collect

Information on arm and leg movement

patterns, for example, by attaching a

number of lights to the subject's arm

and tracking the position of wrist,

elbow, and shoulder as the person

performs typical space tasks

Simply collect,ng these numbers

would be of little benefit if they could

not easily be used in design and

evaluation However, the digital format

of the data enables graphic display by

a computer-aided design (CAD)

system in conjunction with work stations and proposed tasks. In many

ways. this Is the functional equivalent

of putting a crewmember In the work

area while it Is still on the drawing

boa, d. Data collected by the

klneslmeter have been used for

evaluating reach capablll!ies for

assessing the feasibility of proposed

extravehicular activities.

76 OSS
Figure t --A bedside arrhythmia monitor

OSS 

Microprocessor Based

Physiologic Instrumentation

Through the years. NASA has been in

the forefront in the need for and

development of remote and automated biological monitoring systems

A JSC contractor developed a bedside arrhythmia monitor This instrurnent (hg 1) is capable of receiving

electrocardiographic input from a

human subject and, through the use of

micro processor algorithms, categorizing each beat as normal or abnormal If

the heartbeat is abnormal, the unit

then decides whether a premature

beat is supraventricular or ventricular

in ofigm and quantifies it in respect to

coupling interval, frequency, or repetitive patterns Bradyarrhythmias and

tachyarrhythmias are treated with their

own fcxmats Data can be displayed as

hourly summaries or as line or bar

graphs

In the hospital setting, this technology

is being utilized to replace the trau

lional Holler monitoring, with the advantage of immediate recall of collected data The NASA units will be

placed on the Mission Control Console

at JSC for real time monitoring of the

astronauts during the second and subsequent Space Shuttle missions.

Although the arrythmia monitor d

not eliminate the need for hurn

overreading, precise quantitation 

assurance that data are not lost 

major advances of the system.
Regenerable Carbon Dioxide

(CO2) Removal for Portable Life

Support Systems

Carbon dioxide (CO2) control on the

portable l i fe support system for extravehicular activity (EVA) is presently

complished by the use of expundable lithium hydroxide cartridges, This

approach, while adequate for the few

;VA's anticipated for the early STS

missions, would represent a sizable

weight, volume, and logistics burden

on future planned programs where a

significant number of EVA sorties may

he needed to deploy and assemble

large systems 

in 

space.

A regenerable concept that will provide the CO2 control during EVA at a

fr,action of the weight and volume

penalty has been under development

for several years (fig. 1). The concept

basically involves absorbing the

metabolic CO2 in an absorber

cartridge similar to the present lithium

hydrogen cartridge and then

regenerating the spent absorbent

electroohemically onboard the

spacecraft- In the absorber eartr i dge. ,

anaqUeOUS hydroxide electrolyte is re

lained in hollow fiber membrane tube

bundles. As the 002'fladen air is

passed over 

the 

hollow fiber

membrane tubes, the CO2 is absorbed

by 

the 

electrolyte, reacting with the

hydroxyl ions to form carbonate ions.

At the conclusion of an WA, the ox,

pended electrolyte is transferred out of

the hollow fiber membrane 1Ub0S into

a processor module where it is

electrochemically regenerated. The

products of the regeneration process

are a "refreshed electrolyte" absorber

for EVA use and CO2 which may be

further processed by the spacecraft

system for reclamation of the On.

To daie, it has been demonstrated that

hollow fiber membrane tubes are

suitable for rolaining the aqueous

electrolyte and for allowing adequate

Wo diffusion Into the electrolyte.

Also, the regeneration process has

been demonstrated successfully at the

single-cell level. The next phase in

the development will involve fabrication of a full size absorber cartridge

and a 1111,1 11, 110 011 regenerator module.

Figura I.— Electrochemical rogenornble carbon dioxido nbsorbor assembly.

Coolant

Interfaces

Coolant

Inlet Air Assembly

Interface

Heat Exchanger

Care

Outlet Air

Debris Interface

Trap and

Clinrcoal

Filter

4

External

Housing

. \ p ^^".j

0

Absorbent

Interface

r° HFM Tube Bundle

Subassembly

78 OSS

Office of Space

and Terrestrial

Applications

Summary

MW r AC PM

'Joint Program of Research and Development of Uses of Aerospace Technology for

Agricultural Programs, dated February

1978,

8. Pollution detection and impact

evaluation.

While all seven are important to the

USDA, the first two—early warning

and commodity production forecasting—have been given emphasis

because of the immediate need for

better and more timely information on

crop conditions and expected production.

The technical program is structured

into eight major projects, as follows.

1, Early Warning/Crop Condition

Assessment

2. Foreign Commodity Production

Forecasting

3. Yield Model Development

4. Supporting Research

5, Soil Moisture

6. Domestic Crops and Land Cover

7. Renewable Resources Inventory

8, Conservation and Pollution

These elements (fig. 1) are interrelated through research, exploratory experiments, pilot experiments, USDA

user evaluations, and large-scale application tests.

Figure 1.— Component projects of AgRISTARS,

The Early Warning/Crop Cond

Assessment effort is focused on 

viding the technology required 

worldwide identification of envi

mental conditions that aff

agricultural production and s

veillance of resulting crop conditi

through remote sensing and envi

mental monitoring. A wide varie

tasks must be performed to prov

that technology: basic research 

crop response (both physiologic

and spectrally) to the environm

field observations to support 

research; extensions to or modifica

of the results of past research ef

and ongoing efforts both in and o

AgRISTARS; testing; and modeling 

results into a system that can ope

in a timely manner on available 

and can be easily adapted to spe

operational needs.

Early Warning/Crop Condi

Assessment is colocated at 

Johnson Space Center with the U

Department of Agriculture Fore

Agricuitural Service, Foreign C

Condition Assessment Division, 

AgRISTARS Program

The Agriculture and Resources inventory Surveys Thiough Aerospace

Remote Sensing (AgRISTARS) is a

continuing 6-year program of research,

development, evaluation, and applica•

i tion of aerospace remote sensing for

agricultural resources. It began in fiscal year 1980 and is a cooperative

effort of the U.S. Department of

Agriculture (USDA), NASA, the U.S.

Department of Commerce, the U.S.

Department of Interior, and the Agency

for International Development,

The goal of the AgRISTARS Program is to determine the usefulness,

cost, and extent to which aerospace

remote-sensing data can be integrated into existing or future USDA

systems to improve the objectivity,

reliability, timeliness, and adequacy of

information required to carry out USDA

missions. The overall approach is

comprised of a balanced program of

remote-sensing research, development, and testing that addresses

domestic resource management as

well as commodity production information needs.

The program specifically addresses

the seven information requirements

identified in the USDA Secretary's Initiative.

1. Early warning of change affecting production and quality of commodities and renewable resources

2. Commodity production forecasts

3. Land use classification and

measurement

4. Renewable resources inventory

and assessment

5. Lana productivity estimates

6. Conservation practices assessment

EARLY WARNING CONSERVATICN AND AND

CROP CONDITION ASSESSMENT POLLUTION

FOREIGN RENEWABLE ENEWABLE

PRODUCTION RESOURCES

FORECASTING INVENTORY

PROJECT

MANAGEMENT

SUPPORTING YIELD

RESEARCH MODEL

DEVELOPMENT

DOMESTIC .SOIL CROPS AND MOISTURE LAND COVER

OSTA 
responds to the research needs

defined by that operational group,

Much of the research is performed by

researchors tit Agricultural Research

Service sites or by university groups.

The molding of the research findings

into the quasi-operational procedures

i.; performed by the Early Warning/Crop Condition Assessment group

in Houston on the same computer

system used by the Foreign

Agricultural Service in making their

operational estimates of foreign production.

The Foreign Commodity Production

Forecasting activity addresses crops

and region combinations in the U.S.

and foreign countries (U.S.S.R., Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and Australia) for

small grains, corn, and soybeans. This

project will develop and test affordable procedures for using aerospace

remote-sensing technology to provide

more objective, timely, and reliable

crop production forecasts severai

times during the growing season and

improved preharvest estimates for the

crops and regions of interest. The

Foreign Commodity Production

Forecasting activity builds upon the

existing remote-sensing technology

base and extends this technology to

additional drops and regions.

Forest Resource

Information System

The prime goal of this application pilot

test was to demonstrate and transfer

satellite remote sensing technology to

a major forest product industry user. A

cooperative agreement was established with the Southern Timberlands

Division of the St. Regis Paper Company, and they also shared in the management and costs of the project.

NASA shared in the management and

provided the cost for the Laboratory for

Applications of Remote Sensing

(LARS); Purdue University was responsible for the technical demonstration

of using Landsat multispectral data,

the training of the St. Regis personnel,

and assisting in the technical design

of the system, When St. Regis made a

decision to implement the system,

NASA and LARS provided for the

transfer of Landsat processing and

classification software to their computer system, and this became a major

component of the Forest Resource Information System.

The adoption tit this to-chnology by

St. Regis into an operational environment was (wonomicaliy feasible in

terms of managing data and forestrelated resources and providing for

new efficiencies in operational tasks

with this advanced autoninted system.

A joint NASArSI. RegisiPurdue University Conference on Space Technology

and industrial Forest Management was

held in Jacksonville, Florida, in May

1981, to demonstrate the successful

implementation of tho system and pro.

vide the wood product industries users

an opportunity to evaluate the uses of

satellite technology for managing

forest resources,

Wildland Vegetation

Resource Inventory

The Wildiand Vegetation Resource Inventory Application Pilot Test (APT)

conducted jointly by JSC and the

Bureau of Land Management of the

Department of the Interior was completed in September 1981 with receipt

of final project documentation, The

purpose of the APT was to test and implement an interactive system based

on remote sensing technology to

assist in the inventory of public lands

under the jurisdiction of Bureau of

Land Management. The project was

planned as a three-phase effort in

Alaska, Arizona, and Idaho beginning

in May 1977. During the tenure of the

project, the Bureau of Land Measurement purchased a mini-computer

system and established a Branch of

Remote Sensing at the Denver Service

Center. The BLM demonstrated their

in-house capability by independently

accomplishing the Phase IIi Idaho test.

As a direct result of the APT, the

Bureau of Land Measurement has

operational projects using remote

sensing in four western states with additional projects on the drawing board

for fiscal year 1982 and beyond.

Texas Application System

Verification and Transfer

The JSC is participating with the State

of Texas in a joint Application System

Verification and Transfer Project to

develop, evaluate, and transfer techniques for applying Landsat and other

data to the needs of Texas natural

resources management agencies. The

major objectives of .he project are (1)

to update and integrate state-of-theart remote-sensing technology with

other information sources available to

the State to form a functional Texas

Natural Resources inventory and

Monitoring System, and (2) to test and

evaluate the utility and cost-effectiveness of natural resource information

derived from Landsat data and other

sources when applied in a total system

context to selected State agency management activities. The Texas Applications Project began in June 1978

and will continue for A years.

The remote-sensing component,

including technical cssistance in techniques development of the system, is

NASA's major responsibility. A prototype of the system is now operational on Texas facilities. The systern

is being tested and evaluated in support of application categories in the

areas of coastal zone management,

forestry, water resources, mineral

resources, and wildlife management.

i.

82 OSTA
Office of Significant Tasks

Space and

Terrestrial

Applications

85 Forest Resource Information System

Funded by! Resource Observation, Applied Research,

kv

and Data Analysis (UPN.677)

Project Manager, R. E. Joosten/SH2

Task Performed by., Purdue University Laboratory for

Applications of Remote Sensing

Contract NAS 915325

86 AgRISTARS: Scene Radiation Research

Funded by. Resource Observation (UPN•691)

Project Manager: W. E. Rice/SA

Task Performed by: NASA, U, S, Department of Agriculture,

and U. S. Department of Commerce

88 AgRISTARS: Pattern Recognition Research

Funded by: Resource Observation (UPN•691)

Project Manager: W. E. Rice/SA

Task Performed by: NASA, U. S. Department of Agriculture,

and U. S. Department of Commerce

90 AgRISTARS: Early Warning/Crop Condition Assessment Proje

Funded by: Resource Observation (UPN-691)

Project Manager: W. E. Rice/SA

Task Performed by. NASA, U. S. Department of Agriculture,

and U. S. Department of Commerce

92 AgRISTARS: Foreign Commodity Production

Forecasting Project

Funded by, Resource Observation (UPN-691)

Project Manager: W. E. Rice/SA

Task Performea by: NASA, U. S. Department of Agriculture,

and U. S. Department of Commerce

94 Wildland Vegetation Resource Inventory

Funded by: Resource Observation, Applied Research,

and Data Analysis (UPN-677)

Project Manager: K. J. Hancock1SH2

Task Performed by: ESL Corporation

Contract NAS 9-15740

95 Texas Natural Resources Inventory and Monitoring System

Funded by: Applications Systems Verification Test (UPN-658)

Project Manager: L. F. Childs/SK

Task Performed by: Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

Department of Water Resources

Contract T-3499H
96 Extended Scene Radar Calibration

Funded by: Resource Observation (UPN-677)

Technical Monitor: R. G. FennerIED6

Task Performed by: Lyndon B, Johnson Space Center

97 SIR-A Antenna Integration into Orbiter

Funded by: Resource Observation (LJPN•666)

Technical Monitor: H. A. Nitchske/ED6

Task Performed by: Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

Ball Brothers Aerospace Corporation

Contract NAS 9-15512

... ..... —7s'A,
O :

MAC PArVBLACK ^, ND 1r' AITE PHOTOGRAPR

Forest Resource Information

System

With the completion of the St, Regis

Paper Company/Purdue University

INASA Application Pilot Test Project in

December 1980, St. Regis has implemented a Forest Resource Information

System (FRIS) in an operational environment (fig. 1). The goal of FRIS

was to demonstrate the use of satellite

data for its contribution to a forest information system, both technically and

economically, and support operational

functions by the user.

This was accomplished by

developing specific quantifiable forest

resource information from Landsat

multispectral scanner data and correlating with forest inventory data on

specific test areas throughout the

southeastern United States (fig, 2).

(See FY-1980 Research and Technology Annual Report,)

The specific software developed by

the Laboratory for Applications of

Remote Sensing (LARS), Purdue

University, for processing Landsattype data was transferred to St, Regis

and is a major component of the total

system. As a result of the various project activities, several significant statements can be made.

1. Landsat satellite data have

made important contributions In

assessing and monitoring natural

resources.

2. Digital information from space

can help in carrying out a variety of

functions for forest management

operations.

3. Satellite data merged into an information system offer a more responsive means to meet the increasing information needs in managing forestrelated resources.

As a result of the successful completion of the project and the actual implementation of an information data

base system, St. Regis, LARS, and

NASA hosted a "Conference on Space

Technology and Indostrial Forest Management." The conference was held

in Jacksonville, Florida, on May 7.8,

1981, and provided a unique opportunity to demonstrate the value of the

system, why and how it was implemented, and its operational flexibility*

Presentations were made by St. Regis,

LARS. and NASA, and further augmented by speakers from private industry, universities, and government

involved In varioua aspects of remote

sensing, data acquisition, and technology transfer. A total of 130 indivir;tuals attended the conference

rep,,esenting 21 forest product compa0es, four Federal agencies, throe

staht governments, one foreign country, nine colleges and universities, and

six other private firms. The highlight

was the opportunity to observe operation of the FRI$ Center that was established by St. Regis early in 1980.

While the completion of the joint

APT project was successful In its demonstration and technology transfer, St.

Regis operational activities utilizing

the system have just starters. It is estimated that digitizing 2.3 million acres

of timberland they awn or control

throughout the six southeastern states

as input into the automated data base

will consume 2 to 3 years of intensive

activity. Upon completion, St. Regis

will have an operational system to

merge various types of information that

will be responsive to critical operational activities and provide greater

efficiencies in managing their valuable resources for the future.

Figure 2.— Land holdings of the Southern Timberland Division of thA

Figure 1. The four phases of the St. Regis Project St. Regis Paper Company.

.,PHASES T AND II-TECHNIQUES PHASE X PHASE lit

LAND HOLDINGS • 2 3 million avow

$^ DEVELOPMENT tIMPLEMENTATION I FOREST s^*

e I t RESOURCE

rT* LANDSAT I I INFORMATION 4,

v

^A TECHNOLOGY 1 t SYSTEM

• DEMONSTRATE I I TEXAS MissisSIPPI S GEORGIA

0 DESIGN I I in

SYSTEM I

I

t ` ALABAMA rt I LANDSAT DATA t x

. y' a EVA TATE I ANALYSIS 11 `

~

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OSTA 65
AgRISTARS:

Scene Radiation Research

Scene Radiation Research investigates crop stage development

models, the use of spectral/

meteorological variables to monitor

crop condition, and performs feature

selectiontextraction analysis in support of crop Identification and condition monitoring. Research is being

performed to develop a technology for

modeling and simulating Earth scenes

including atmospheric and sensor

effects.

A major goal of the Supporting

Research Project is to advance the

state-of-the-art technology in

agronornic remote sensing to quantitative rather than qualitative level. A significant accomplishment in Scene

Radiation Research in 1981 was the

development of a wheat stress index

model by AgRISTARS researchers that

predicts the daily crop moisture stress

of wheat and its phonological

development. The model was

developed by using improved thermal

and photothermal responses and

kidding a moisture stress index variable to account for the effect of

moisture on phonology. The model

also has the capability to accept data

as an input for planting date, leaf area

index, and soil moisture.

The wheat stress index model has

two main components: a biological

clack that generates the phenotogical

progression of the crop and the daily

crop moisture stress index (fig 1)

Crop phenology is modeled from tem^

petature and pholoperiod response of

the crop from emergence to

physiological maturity. The influence

of the crop . moisture- del ici I condition

on phenological development is an

important input parameter in the

model. Tho) model simulates the slowing down and hastening effects on

development due to moisture stress.

The crop moisture stress index is

derived from simulation of water relations in the soil-plant-atmosphere

continuum. The stress index reflects

the moisture deficit condition of the

crop relative to the available soil

moisture, the evaporative demand of

the environment, and the crop water

requirements at a given stage of

development.

Evaluation of the wheat stress index

model, including a comparison with

the Robertson Biometeorological Time

Scale model over independent data

acquired in the 1980 crop year from

the Northern Great P';-,:ns, has been

completed, Both modais were initiated

by using the ground-observed planting

date for each field and the same form

of predicating emergence dates. Each

model was found to be well correlated

with the ground emergence date for

each of the 204 fields with no indication of bias. Both models were well

correlated with -the ground-observed

estimates of growth stage from tillerIng through maturity.

Overall, the wheat stress model

provided signifivant improvement over

the Rot) prtsi n inudol nosed on a fieldby field gtowth 3jgo orror analysis.

Eighty percent of the wheat stress

model ca stinialob %, ore within 6 stage

of 

the 

ground ob.seived estimates,

while only 68 percent of the Robertson

model estimates were within 5 stage.

The improvement occurred primarily in

the heading and 6eed development

stages for spring wheat

High accuracy for these stages is

especially important for crop identification using re n iote ly- sensed data

and for yield estimation, since, stress

during these) -stages can reduce yield

by as much as 50 percent. The model

has been requested by USDA for

evaluation for use in their operational

system. Further improvements to the

wheat stress model are Puriticipated by

incorporating spectral data to estimate

planting date, leaf area index, and soil

moisture.

Simulation of spacecraft sensors

(anothei Scene Radiation Research

effort) is important in projecting the

performance of the thematic mapper

prior to launch, and it is also important

in evaluating the sensitivity of information extraction algorithms (e,g,, crop

identification, crop condition, and crop

stage) to the varying conditions under

which the data are taken. Using the

simulated data, selected variables can

be held constant, while the variable of

interest is changed, and the sensitivity

of the algorithm evaluated. For example, the impact of Impure pixels on

classification can be examined as a

function of registration error. Similarly,

the effect of acquisition loss on accuracy can be examined.

Simulation of spacecraft imagery

over agricultural areas requires the

field structure, sensor response, crop

reflectance distribution, atmospheric

characteristics, and cropping practices to be modeled. Two approaches

have been used for generation of the

simulated thematic mapper data. in

the first approach, an aircraft scanner

(NS-001), which is similar to the

thematic mapper, was used to collect

data over a corn and soybean area in

Webster County, Iowa, These data

were then scan-angle corrected,

calibrated, rectified, and resampled so

that the data closely approximate the

thematic mapper data (f ig. 2). This approach has the advantage of having

true agricultural field boundaries and

Figure 1 .— Simplified diagram of the flow of the wheat stress Indicator model.

LN1U11_ __ __ 11

Ii TEMPERAT UR E,

METEOROLOGICAL PRECIPITATION SOIL MOISTURE

DATAA 

5

BUDGET

W

TEMPERATURE

L _J

BI OLOGICAL

INDEX

[,I POTINTAIALTER CTOUAL

CLOCK INDEX

CROP W

CR

USE US

E P WATER

CROP MOISTURE

STRESS INDEX

86 OSTA
a^47

~. r= P (^I

Figure 3 – Simulated thematic mapper (T Ml scene of sprung wheat segment Blur green and

red channels TM-2 TM 3 and TM 4

Figure 4 -- Simulated thematic mapper (TM) scene of spring wheat segment with rrNrltrspectral

scanner resolution Blue green and red - channels TM-2, TM-3 and TM-4

OSTA 87

OR'C'MAL F,,.-.'

BLACK

true variability within and between

fields, but It has the disadvantages

that the aircraft data must be corrected

for scan angle etc . and that numerous

aircraft missions must be flown to

simulate a crop year The second approach involves modeling and slmula

Win based on held spectrometer data,

converting It to the thematic mapper

bands, calibrating the data and pafnttng a raster scan of the data at

thematic mapper and multlspectral

scanner resolution using realistic field

Nxindaries from aerial photography

Wwever, to use this approach, models

are required to develop realistic estimates of within and between field

variability Once such models are

available one can control the characteristics of the scene, such as the

spectral distribution of each crop. the

spectral distribution Of the boundary

for mixed) pixels, and the field size

distribution Acquisition dates can be

simulated to reduce the large number

of aircraft flights by incorporating a

temporal model of the crop reflectance F Igures 3 and 4 show images of

both thematic mapper resolution and

multlspectral scanner resolution for a

small grams/corn area In Kingsbury

County. South Dakota, generated by

using this technique The improved

resolution of the thematic mapper

shows much Improved field bound

apes especially for the strip fallow

fields In the upper right of the Image

Research has shown that 80 percent of

the crop pixels will be pure for

thematic mapper (I e , only one crop

per pixel). whereas with mulhspectral

scanner, 40 percent of the crop ptxPlE

will be pure

In the near future, these simulation

tools will be used to investigate the

effect of the boundary pixels on

classification performance, the temporal sampling effect on classification

performance, and the Improvements of

thematic mapper over the

multlspectral scanner in terms of

classification performance

Research Is also underway to

merge these two approaches to

slmulatlon with a third, which uses a

crop reflectance model (Suits) and a

crop development model or growth

model (Ritchie) This will allow even

more flexibility In performing sensitivity analyses of crop scenes since

the crop profile will be able to be

generated without assuming the applrcabrllty of an empirically derived

temporal model Sensitivity studies of

reflectance to leaf area index,

biomass. water stress. et cetera, will

then be feasible with only minimal

aircraft data and llald spectrometer

data

Figure 2 — Simulated thematic mapper

data
AgRISTARS;

Pattern Recognition Research

Pattern Recognition Research investigatPs automated information extraction approacl ies for crop identification, crop growth stage estimation, and

crop condition monitoring. It is

designed to develop accurate and efficient procedures for crop-area estimation being investigated at bath single

segment (5 by 6 nautical miles) and at

the large geographical region

(multisegment) level. Accurate identification of key crop development

stages and the assessment of the condition of the crop are important elements in the advanced-crop-acreageestimation research program. The pattern recognition research program is

integrated with scene radiation

research and receives a number of important inputs from that program,

In LACIE, registered multidate

multispectral scanner system (MSS)

data were provided by the Goddard

Space Flight Center LACIE processor.

This system provided registration at

the 1974 state-of-the-art technology.

AgRISTARS is now using data processed at Goddard Space Flight

Center and further refined by the JSC

registration processor, Preliminary

estimation of the registration accuracy

with this combined system is at or

below 0.5 pixels. Further improvements toward the goal of 0.2-pixel accuracy are in work.

Many crops appear spectrally similar in Landsat MSS data at a given

point in time; separation of these crops

are only possible by use of multidate

sequences of MSS imagery, which

allow individual crops to be recognized on the basis of their temporal

spectral development. Multidate sequence analysis does not produce 100

percent accuracy in crop recoc,tition

because of visibility of crop temporal

spectral development patterns (signatures) because of such factors as

planting date, variety, and weather.

The approach to this problem has

been predicated on the following

judgments:

1. The requirements to assess the

crop identity at a sufficiently large

number of locations to make an accurate estimate of crop proportions cannot possibly be done economically

unless it is automated.

2. The current lack of quantitative

understanding of how crop signatures

are affected by external factors requires the use of a human analyst to

adjust the parameters of the automated processing system to the local

conditions.

In practice, the analyst has to

manually Identify ("label") training

samples from the Landsat image to be

machine processed. An approach

called APEP (Advanced Proportion

Estimation Procedure) for estimating a

crop acreage not requiring manually

identified-training samples is being

studied. The estimates for this approach can be unbiased, which is a

consequence of abandoning previously used classification approaches

in favor of a "direct" method for

estimating crop acreage.

The major functional elements of

APEP are shown in figure 1. By using

models of crop growth, called profile

models, successive Landsat acquisitions of data over time are transformed

into a sequence of growth-variable

values. The primary function cf these

transformations is to remove extraneous effects of the data that are irrelevant for crop identification. A

statistical model, called a mixture

model, is then used to estimate the

proportions of the crops of interest in

the Landsat scene, To complete the

process, each proportion estimate

must be given a crop name which is

referred to as a labeling function,

Labeling is achieved by associating a

predicted growth curve for a given

crop, as derived from meteorological

data, with one of the growth curves

estimated from the mixture model,

Figure 1.— Advanced proportion estimation procedure (ADEP).

LANDSAT PROFILE

DATA MODELS

SIGNATURE CROP

ACREAGE MIXTURE ESTIMATES MODEL

PLAN I N G MET DATE/CROP

DATA CAL. MODEL

88 OSTA
BEST FIT

40 r CUR

30

BARE 5 RIP

20 SOIL 5 A j B

\TO B

LINE^-

J r 

5 `

5.._. .. ^ — _ _ ._ _. _ 

_

BA

10 CROP I

EMERGENC I ESTIMATION

DATE I DATE

T-ZERO--+^^

O 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 3

TIME (CALENDAR DAYS)

• CROP DEVELOPMENT STAGE IS LINEARLY RELATED TO

AREA A

AREA A AND B

20

VE-^% 5

GREENNESS

MEASURE OVER

5 FIELD NO. 5

i 5

1

/----STANDING

E

APOLATION

RE SOIL

Ctn.,ra 9 — D.f. M ­k nr ilr

OSTA 89

In the 1960 report, the Crop Spectral

Temporal Profile (fill 2) was reported.

The profile Is a mathematical representation of the Landsat multidate

data which is the key to any area

estimation procedure. This representation of the MSS data permits an extraction of agronomically meaningful

features of the crop such as planting

date, growing-,Season length, the rate

of greenup, and the senescence rate.

An area estimation procedure based

on these agronomic variables has

been developed for the separation of

corn, soybean, and others. it has been

Implemented and tested on data acquired in 1978 and 1979. Results of

the verification tests show a nearly-unbiased estimate of the three crop

categories.

Figure 3 shows a histogram of the

rate of greenup calculated from Landsat MSS data acquirer over an

AgRISTARS segment, 0882, in Iowa in

1978. This shows clearly the separation that is possible between the three

categories. Using various other variables calculated from the Landsat, the

analyst objectively marks 15 w 20 pixels per class in a very short time (less

than 1 hour). A lines ^ classifier is

trained on these pixels, and decision

planes for reporting the crop categories are determined. Each pixel is then

classified by using these planes. This

technique shows promise of complete

automation and indicates that area

estimation is possible about 60 days

after corn planting.

In summary, the 1981 effort in Sup0

0W

z

WW

m

porting Research has resulted in substantial technical progress andhas

placed the Supporting Research in a

good positon to initiate the work to be

pelfC,rmed in subsequent years.

Figure 2.—Spectral profile crop development stage estimation.
Figure I.— EW/CCA approach to alarm model development.

Select and/or

develop

Soil-water

models

Select anti/or'^ ^^ ' Mot driven . betermine crop develop `, models to screen

hazards and

0 ` for global crop crop establish limit stress conditions; calendar +ng conditions models

Establish

crop hazards

Met

or data

limiting

conditions

Corn and wheat Optimum conditions

modal status

?-C , Sarghum, hot-dry wind, :::.:;:;:: Hazard conditions

L^ .` I I harvest, disoase,

soybean model status

AgRISTARS Early Warning/Crop

Condition Assessment Project

The Early Warning/Crop Condition

Assessment Project of AgRIS PARS is

dedicated to development of a technology that will permit a timely

response to factors that affect the

quality and production of economically

important crops. This involves the

abilty to identify the growing factors

that influence crop conditions and to

determine the amount and condition

of the crops involved. Resources from

the Agricultural Research Service

(ARS) and Statistical Reporting Service (SRS) of the U.S. Department of

Agriculture (USDA), NASA, and National Envrionmental Satellite Service

(NESS) and Environmental Data and

Information Service (EDIS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAH) are integrated to

provide a comprehensive and efficient

approach to this multifaceted problem.

Project personnel are colocated with a

using unit of USDA, the Foreign

Agricultural Service (FAS) --- Foreign

Crop Condition Assessment Division

(FCCAD), to better insure relevance of

the resulting products.

has been made to provide means to

exploit remotely acquired data. Techniques developed in the course of

LACIE and by other AgRISTARS projects are not directly applicable to

many of the Early Warning Crop Condition Assessment applications, but

much of the past field research effort

and vegetative index research is pertinent and provides a firm foundation for

spectral data use (fig. 2). Several

tasks in progress rely heavily on

satellite-based observations. Flood

damage assessment, range condition

assessment, and native vegetation as

a crop stress indicator are specific examples of application of spectral data.

Because many Of the requirements

placed on the Early Warning/Crop

Condition Assessment project by the

user are of a broad-scale nature,

emphasis was placed upon regional

conditions instead of specific point

conditions. This project has served as

a pioneer in the application of environmental satellite data (NOAA-6 and -7

and GOES) as an agricultural surveillance tool (fig. 3). On a broad

scale, estimates of vegetative indices

based on data from these satellites

can be used to bridge the spatial and

temporal gaps in Landsat data. These

estimates can bemade daily (except

for clouds), with a pixel size of Q

kilometers on a side routinely available worldwide, 1 kilometer on a side

available on prior request. Tracking of

the progress of the seasons and surveillance of agricultural vigor are obvious applications that can be performed by using only environmental

satellite data after a reference base

has been established.

Some difficult problems remain to be

solved before full use can be made of

satellite data. While there is no question that crop stress of certain types

can be identified from satellite data,

noise originating from different illumination and viewing geometries,

atmospheric attenuation and cropping

practices can confuse the interpreter

unless procedures to account for these

are provided. These problems are

being addressed, and objective

repeatable estimates of vegetative indices are expected to become available during the coming year. It is clear

that the most efficient procedures

developed during the Early Warning/Crop Condition Assessment effort

will be based on a mixture of environmental and satellite data.

Products provided by Early Warning/Crop Condition Assessment represent improvements over existing technology (improved accuracy, more

timely performance, and extension to

other areas and crops). Initial

emphasis was placed upon the

upgrading of procedures in use by

FCCAD, Procedures to objectively

assess crop losses due to hot dry

winds and poor harvest conditions,

both major causes of reduction in

U.S.S.R. production of small grains,

were needed (fig. 1). Alarm models

that automatically track environmental

cond,tions and include soil moisture

budgets and crop calendars were provided to permit the analyst to concentrate on the areas needing more

attention. These alarm models have

been developed for small grains, corn,

and sort.°gum, and they are being

dfiveloped for soybeans, cotton,

sunflowers, and sugar beets. Stress

models that provide a relative measure

of severity of stress conditions are to

follow.

Parallel to this development and

improvement in this technology driven

by environmental data, a major effort

t 90 OSTA
BLACK. ' P/rcr:

,L

HESPUNSE OF NUAA AVHHH "IFIECTIVE CHANNtLS

1100♦ I

_ I

z. 

50%— » ......»

a 2b%--

o............

S SPECTRAL PLOTS FOR NUAA AVHRH III 1 LECTIVE CHANNELS

WfII *ATE RED,.•

WHEATn, /I .4 t/ f w•.

^ pl ^.

1'R\STRESSED WHIAT

CHANNEL IN IINSUFFICIENT WATIRt

W 3

U CHANNI I I--"

J

r; '

.. I r : ^ I r..^i

2 =

'• SOIL

r 1 'I

1 1 i

/ I

i

0 -1-

4 S S 7 .S 9 1.0 1.1 1.2

MICROMETERS

Figure 2 - Comparison of NOAA 6 and 7

advanced very high resolution radlome'ar V

(AVHRR) response (top) to reflectance of

selected surfaces (bottom) The response

of AVHRR Is well rutted to separate vegeta

Non from othe su iaces and healthy from

unhealth-; vegetation

04t1YUNSE OF NUM AVHRR REFLECTIVE CHANNELS

>1100%-

13 7b% I so.

4 o ^

S f SPECTRAL PLOTS FOR NOAA AVHRR

REFLECTIVE CHANNELS

I I

CONCRETE

I

j

I

CHANNEL ? SAND

CHANNEL

SOYBEANS

I

ASPHALT

/ /^^ I r

1 / 1

l'

MATER

---1-- --_--

4 6 S 7 S S 1.0 1.1 11

MICROMETERS

4; -

I^

OSTA 91

.4

VA 3

u

r

r

uW

J

V

Q

Ftgurl .I — Mouth of the Yangfse o, viewed

by NOAA-6 July 14 1981 (1 km resoluhonl

Blue is assigned to channel 1 and red to

channel 2 (the deeper the red the more

vigorous the vegetation) This scene was

, ecorded on a disk ready for analyst use on

July 16 1981
Figure I -- U.S. agriculture's contribution to balance of trade.

NET AdnICULTURAL

/

/— BALANCE OF TRADE,

/

TOTAL U$. VALANCC

Of TRADE

0 20

NET NONAGRICULTURAL2

3

BALANCE OF TRADE

30

40

V.S. FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL TRADE STATISTICS

40 REPORT, CALENDAR YEARS 1979, Iffa; USDA

ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS SERVICE

I

I I I

1970 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 7a 79 50

AgRISTARS: Foreign

Commodity Production

Forecasting

The Foreign Commodity Production

Forecasting (FCPF) project is building

upon the technical capability of previous research to further advance the

applications of remote sensing to

foreign production forecasting. It is

test-oriented toward resolving the remaining issues in observation of small

grains and extending the technology

to additional crops and regions.

The scope of this project involves

small grains over selected regions

within Canada, U.S.S.R., and Australia,

and corn and soybeans over selected

regions within Argentina and Brazil.

Area estimation technology will be

developed and evaluated for each

crop and region combination. Technique development and problem solving will be performed in "similar" U.S.

crop regions (where good ground truth

for evaluation is available) in parallel

with the foreign crop regions where independent data and statistics are not

as extensive, timely, or reliable. The

quality and availability of government

statistics vary from country to country

and from region to region within a

country. Assessment of achievable

performance in foreign regions will depend on the performance assessment

in similar U.S. regions, as well as comparison to independent foreign estimates and limited foreign ground data

available.

AgRISTARS activities in FCPF during

fiscal year 1981 were scaled down

from the major research and technology activities mentioned in the annual report for 1980 as follows. crop

regions now number 9, not 12; five

other countries, rather than six, are involved because India is no longer included; the wheat-barley study has

been reduced to a study of srnall

grains; and rice has been eliminated.

Budgetary considerations are the primary cause for these changes. JSC

has given the Environmental Research

Institute of Michigan and the University of California at Berkeley a major

role in improving area estimates for

corn and soybeans, while JSC has

concentrated on more accurate,

timely, and less costly estimates of

small grains area, as well as evaluating corn and soybeans methods,

Satellite-aided methods for making

improved crop production forecasts in

selected countries without the use of

ground observations remains the overall objective of I'CPF. Specific objectives for 1981 were (1) evaluating

methods for obtaining late season

figures on acreage of small grains,

corn, and soybeans, (2) continued

reduction of the time and costs of information extraction from satellite

data: and (3) initial research on extension to Argentina of U.S.-based a; ?a

estimation procedures.

The effects of improved timely estimates of global agricultural production

have so many ramifications that it is

difficult to determine an accurate

monetary evaluation figure. However,

billions of dollars in U.S. trade are involved (fig. 1). Decisions made by

businessmen, individual farmers, and

those who determine national policies

or procedures are certainly strongly influenced by information on worldwide

agriculture droduction. A little improvement is worth a lot. Studies of

global food and fiber for future generations indicate the noed for production

figures in order to promote increased

regional production to offset losses in

other areas.

Advances in the accuracy of

estimating the area of spring small

grains through applied research, using

aerospace to advantage, are illustrated

in figure 2. Note that differences between FCPF and the reference standard (USDA) have narrowed from 30

percent in 1975 to 9 percent or less in

1981, with deviations about the

average as shown, and support of

within 10 percent accuracy, 90 percent of the time.

Also, improvements have been

made in statistical estimation for the

proportion of a sampled area thal is

planted to summer crops (peak growth

in summer) and a further breakout into

corn, soybeans, and other crops. Summer crop areas were in agreement

with ground observations on 1978

data, and 2 percent high on 1979 data.

This level of accuracy, comparable to

the spring small grains area estimation, was accomplished in 2.5 years of

research through the use of experience gained in dealing with small

grains over the past 7 years. Analyses

tend to overstate the area of corn, and

understate that in soybeans, compared to ground observations, the

1981 analysis of crop year 1978 figure

for corn was 15 percent high, and

decreased to 6 percent high on 1979

data. Soybeans were 19 percent low

92 OSTA

LL_
F +10 +10 Accuracy for area of U.S. spring small grains/foreign similarity region 0

d ,3 0

w •xo .20

m •30 •30

.40 -40

CC :3 Efficiency for U.S. spring small grains/foreign

12 similarity region 16

O Anal yst time

A Segments/day M

E 4 9 1245

.. y O

>4 t

Mc G 8 omo

Indicative

E

k E

3 of currently 2

3 applied 4 Z a

research

1975 76 77 80 at

Figure 2; FCPF achievement of Increased accuracy and efficiency.

G'n, A — 1 W1U 4 QiMf f.,r 1. e1m11e liu ro 1i 1 Oqi

c

for 1978, and 3 percent low an 1979

data. Additional research indicates

improvements in these relative

differences,

Recent research was directed at

understanding and automating

analysis of aerospace data. In an effort

to reduce costs, the results of this

research, with additional refinements,

was brought into application during

fiscal year 1981, Evaluation of a procedure, which is almost totally automatic, indicates analysis can be

reduced to 0.5 hour per segment and

still sustain or even improve accuracy,

In 1975 it took 12 hours to process a

segment, as shown in figure 2. Currently the number of segments that

can be processed by one analyst in 1

day is 16, for a significant increase

without loss of accuracy.

A corn and soybean experiment in

Argentina is now planned for fiscal

year 1983, Ground truth has been collected from 16 locations in Argentina

during fiscal year 1981 and will be

digitized into a computer for development and verification tests (see fig, 3).

A similar area in the United States has

been designated for development of

procedures that, with modifications,

Figure 3.--- Argentina indicator region.

PROVINCES

(D SANTA FE

CORDOBA

Q ENTRE RIOS

BUENOSAIRES

BUENOS AIRES

LEGEND

Q INDICATOR REGION

I NCLUDES STATES

OF SANTA FE,

CORDOBA, ENTRE BIOS,

AND BUENOS AIRES

WHEAT, CORN, AND

SOYBEANS)

may be applicable to that country

(see fig. 4).

The basic significance of these factors

-A-- increased objectivity, accuracy,

and efficiency, and thus improved productivity •-- is that USDA, or any user,

may soon be able to process sample

segments from a country or region with

just a few analysts and obtain an accurate crop area estimate in about 1

week. When accurate';, timely crop

yield models are available, the area of

estimates can be combined with

these to produce accurate, timely crop

production estimates.

OSTA 9
BLACK AND WHITE PHO [OGRAPH

Wildland Vegetation Resource

Inventory

1 he Apput- alion Pilot Test (Ai 1 1 f was a

collateral venture between NASA and

the Bureau of Land Management

(BLM) of the Departmen! of the Interior

to test and implement an interactive

Wildland Vegetation Resource Inven

Cory System based on remotely sensed

data and oriented to BLM state and

district office management require

ments Planned in three phases with

test sites in Alaska. Arizona. and

Idaho, the project was initiated in May

1977 and completed in September

1981 with delivery of the final documentation by the NASA contractor

Training and experience gamed by

BLM during the first two phases, along

with then purchase of a minicomputer

system and establishment of the

Branch of Remote Sensing at the

Denver Service Center (DSC), provided BLM the opportunity to independently exercise their capability over

the Idaho Test Site Transfer of the

system to BLM and project documentation were completed during this third

and final phase of the APT

The interactive system and

capabilities developed by BLM as a

direct result of the APT has proven to

be very beneficial as an added

capability for inventorying and

monitoring the lands under their management BLM/DSC is applying Landsat remote sensing technology to prof

ects in four western states -- two in

Arizona, two in Idaho, two in New Mexico, and two in Wyoming These projects are in support of soils, vegetation,

and fife management studies Other

BLM state offices have requested

assistance and more than a dozen proposals are being evaluated for implementation in fiscal year 1982 and

beyond The final project review, originally scheduled for early 1981, has

been rescheduled for December 1981.

The ready acceptance c: this new

technology by the BLM and increasing

requests from their state and district

offices for assistance is evidence of

the success in using Application Pilot

Tests for dissemination of new technology

Landsat vegetatwn classification of the Arizona Test Site

ow

3

IL LANUSAT

`'EGEI A"HON

CLA."IFICATION

ARILII\ A +TRIP DIATkICT. AkWINA

I F'1?:I. 11 CLAS14IrICATION

MAPPI w t SIT Its ACkp

1 NEi TARL81

ACE DATA Al I-C! T 26. 1977

0

• i L%F. I D 21147 1707•

111111 i.« n ^11111M 11N 1111N Nt1.111 X1111 1 NI I^tll•

•111• •11• N• .H,Ittr,H x,111 til l 1.1N ,1

1«I I H 11 1 1 {. 1t 111111111

94 OSTA
Figure 1 A ratio image of Landsal band 5 over band 4 clearly shows a circular feature know

as Red Hill, located southwest of the Chinato Mountains in Presid o County. Texas

ORIGINAL PACE

BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPH

Texas Natural Resources

Inventory and Monitoring System

I tie purpose of this pfc;eLt is to

develop, test, and evaluate approaches and procedures for Integraing Landsat and other remote sensing

data with nxxe conventional data

sources le g. census, Wraps, and field

surveys) to augnwint and make nxxe

effective the existing Information data

base supporting Texas natural

resources management agencies The

malof goal is to integrate the use of

Landsat and other remote-sensing

data Into the day-to-day declsionniakIng processes of the Texas resources

management agencies To accomplish this goal, the utility and costeffectiveness of the information

derived front sensed data

must be evaluated in an operational

environment using ongoing management requirements of selected state

agencies as evaluation criteria.

This project is a joint effort of JSC and

consortium of 13 Texas agencies

known as the Texas Natural Resources

Information System. the project started

In June 1978 and Is expected to span

4 years. The project will develop, test,

and evaluate a Texas Natural

Resources Inventory and Monitoring

System based In part on Information

derived from remote sensing The

system will consist of three components a remote-sensing information

subsystem, a geographic Information

subsystem, and a natural resources

analysis subsystem Figure 1 illustrates a type of output product associated with geological exploration

The major responsibility of NASA Is

to assist Texas In upgrading its exist

mg experimental remote-sensing data

analysts capability and to Interface

this capability with other sources of

natural resources information available

to the state The software capability is

being developed in two parts The first

part was completed by NASA in early

fiscal year 1980 The major responsibility of Texas includes developing

the remaining remote-sensing software. expansion of the existing

geographic information subsyster,

development of the natural-resources

analysts subsystem. and preparation.

testing, and evaluation of output products

To carry out the responsibilities of

both parties, a Menxxandum of Understanding was Instituted Responsibility

tot management of the project Is

shared by a Texas Project Manager

and a JSC Deputy Project Manager

The technology developed for this

project will be documented tot transfer

to the public domain through NASA's

Regional Technology Transfer Centers

and the Computer Software Manage

ment and Information Center

(COSMIC) Texas will also furnish a

final report on the utility of the system

and a cost and accuracy analysis

study.

Accomplishments during the past year

are as follows

1. Acquisition of aircraft data over

the 5 major test sites was completed

by the NASA remote sensing aircraft

project This was a major program

achievement and permitted startup of

data analysis activities in the five major applications test and evaluations

projects

2. The remote sensing data

analysis system was completed with

the Installation of the MATRIX color

graphics camera and the refinement of

software procedures It Is now possible

for the operators to conduct Interactive

analysis and produce output products

In a real-time mode. The system is

capable of displaying raw or classifie

Landsat digital data and performin

data enhancements Including contra

stretching. band raltoing, and genera

ing false Wry composites

3 Data pertaining to the test sit

were Implemented on the Geograph

Information Subsystem 0S). Use 

this system In conjunction w-th the i

teractive analysis subsystem provid

a means tot Integrating and analyzi

remote sensing data and various oth

Information In support of specific a

plications

4 The research data facility, 

Austin, which serves as a data libra

and screening faculty. became fu

supportive to the project and vario

state and local government

organizations The data library wa

enlarged through continued acquis

tions of remote sensor and ancilla

data

5 Training courses In remote se

sing data Interpretation and Interacti

analysis on the state systems we

given to employees of the participa

ing agencies

6 While the project Is still a ye

away from completion, suitab

progress has been demonstrated In 

number of state applications and sta

support Is expected to continue at th

present level of nine full-time an

several part-time employees.

JSTA 9
Extended Scene Radar

Calibration

The extended s.;ene radar calibration

is an effcxt to verify the precision and

accuracy of scatterometers and irnag

ing radar systems used for remote sen

sing The precision and accuracy of

the airborne sensors must be verified

before quantitative radar backscatter

data can be gathered Quantitative

backscatter data are required for most

agricultural - related applications

The experiment approach is to

carefully measure the radii reflectivity

(on backscatter) of a urge

homogeneous test area (extended

scene) with a highly calibrated ground

scatte•ometer system This test area is

then overflown by the aircraft sensors.

and the two data sets analyzed with

respect to precision and accuracy

This provides a measure of calibration

to the aircraft sensors for extended

scenes Data sets are gathered at 1 6,

4.75, and 13.3 gigahertz.

This effort was initiated in 1977, with

data sets being gathered each year

thereafter Various types of terrain

have been used as tes' areas over the

years All test sites are located in an

and climate to minimize the effects of

surface and subsurface moisture

Initial testing was performed at

Northrup Step on the White Sands

Missile Range. New Mexico However,

this site proved unusable because of

subsurface moisture Testing during

the last few years has been performed

at the Joinada Experimental Range

near Las Cruces, New Mexico Test

sites of various degrees of surface

roughness were created for each dataga,hering sequence by plowing up the

ground During fiscal year 1981, an additional data set was gathered using a

test site with two degrees of random

roughness and another with a simulated row effect due to plowing

Figure 1 shows the JSC C-130

aircraft overflying the test site while

the ground scatterometer systein was

in operation.

ELACK t, '0IN iE PHOTOGRAPH

Figure 1 — JSC C-130 Aircraft overflying the test Site

1

46 OSTA
OR!GINAI PAGE

ACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPH

SIR-A Antenna Integration into

Ortlter

The Shuttle Imaging Radar (SIR A) —

developed to evaluate the potential of

spacetxxne Imaging radar as a tool for

geo;oglc exploration and, In general,

for mineral exploration, petroleum expkxation, and structural mapping — Is

part of the Office of Space and Ter

restrlal Applications (OSTA)-1

payload to be flown on the Space

Transportation System (STS) second

mission The SIR-A antenna was

developed by JSC to be used with the

SIR A electronics developed by the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The SIR A antenna, rTk3nufactured b^

Ball Aerospace Systems Division, con

slsts of seven mrcrostrtp array panels

rrx Jnted on a triangular supgxxt structure The antenna is attached to the

OSTA 1 pallet by an aluminum truss

structure The nondeployable 9 44- by

2 1-meter antenna Is mounted In the

payload bay In a fixed position at 47

Thermal protection Is provided by the

multilayer aluminized mylar covering

the support structure and by the Beta

cloth covering the total system

the 400-pound antenna system wa

reinstalled on the OS T A -1 pallet In th

cargo Integration test equipmen

(CITE) stand In the Operations and

Checkout building at Kennedy Space

Center In Januauy 1981 Final align

ment was successfully conducted In

the CITE to March 1981 Electrica

checks lcontlnulty, coupling, VSWR

wore successfully conducted In June

1981 The OSTA 1 pallet with the SIR

A antenna was Installed Into the Or

biter (fig 1) In July 1981, the align

ment was verified, and electrical test

were suc r :cssfully repeated The SIR-A

antenna system Is ready for the STS-2

mission

3,;'e i SIR A A-tt .... d ^uxrnted 1 Shuttle spacecraft

NASA-JSC 05ir j