Marshall Space Flight Center Research and Technology Report 2019

Today, our calling to explore is greater than ever before, and here at Marshall Space Flight Centerwe make human deep space exploration possible. A key goal for Artemis is demonstrating and perfecting capabilities on the Moon for technologies needed for humans to get to Mars. This years report features 10 of the Agencys 16 Technology Areas, and I am proud of Marshalls role in creating solutions for so many of these daunting technical challenges. Many of these projects will lead to sustainable in-space architecture for human space exploration that will allow us to travel to the Moon, on to Mars, and beyond. Others are developing new scientific instruments capable of providing an unprecedented glimpse into our universe. NASA has led the charge in space exploration for more than six decades, and through the Artemis program we will help build on our work in low Earth orbit and pave the way to the Moon and Mars. At Marshall, we leverage the skills and interest of the international community to conduct scientific research, develop and demonstrate technology, and train international crews to operate further from Earth for longer periods of time than ever before first at the lunar surface, then on to our next giant leap, human exploration of Mars. While each project in this report seeks to advance new technology and challenge conventions, it is important to recognize the diversity of activities and people supporting our mission. This report not only showcases the Centers capabilities and our partnerships, it also highlights the progress our people have achieved in the past year. These scientists, researchers and innovators are why Marshall and NASA will continue to be a leader in innovation, exploration, and discovery for years to come

Mediation Model of Digital Technology Factors Affecting Health Care Service Performance

Healthcare technologies have become a crucial component of healthcare providers' daily operations. Hence, healthcare innovation technologies are being promoted worldwide. Healthcare service technologies are constantly improving necessitates ongoing research to show how these technologies affect healthcare services. Hence, current study investigating the state of innovative digital healthcare service practises in the UAE. It examining the effect of innovative technology on healthcare service performance in the UAE and modeling mediating role of organisational learning capacity in the relationship between innovative technology and healthcare service performance. A structural equation model was developed in SmartPLS software using the data collected of the questionnaire. The model showed that the factors system development, digital services, process integration, and IT base innovations have strong relationship effect to the health care performance. Also, the organisational learning capacity has strong mediation effect on the health services relationship. This research has contributed to current state of literatur regarding digital service innovations related to health service performance in the UAE. The results exphasized a critical need for practationners for promoting developments in digital services impacted the performance of health services

Enhancing Software Project Outcomes: Using Machine Learning and Open Source Data to Employ Software Project Performance Determinants

Many factors can influence the ongoing management and execution of technology projects. Some of these elements are known a priori during the project planning phase. Others require real-time data gathering and analysis throughout the lifetime of a project. These real-time project data elements are often neglected, misclassified, or otherwise misinterpreted during the project execution phase resulting in increased risk of delays, quality issues, and missed business opportunities. The overarching motivation for this research endeavor is to offer reliable improvements in software technology management and delivery. The primary purpose is to discover and analyze the impact, role, and level of influence of various project related data on the ongoing management of technology projects. The study leverages open source data regarding software performance attributes. The goal is to temper the subjectivity currently used by project managers (PMs) with quantifiable measures when assessing project execution progress. Modern-day PMs who manage software development projects are charged with an arduous task. Often, they obtain their inputs from technical leads who tend to be significantly more technical. When assessing software projects, PMs perform their role subject to the limitations of their capabilities and competencies. PMs are required to contend with the stresses of the business environment, the policies, and procedures dictated by their organizations, and resource constraints. The second purpose of this research study is to propose methods by which conventional project assessment processes can be enhanced using quantitative methods that utilize real-time project execution data. Transferability of academic research to industry application is specifically addressed vis-à-vis a delivery framework to provide meaningful data to industry practitioners

Architecture and Information Requirements to Assess and Predict Flight Safety Risks During Highly Autonomous Urban Flight Operations

As aviation adopts new and increasingly complex operational paradigms, vehicle types, and technologies to broaden airspace capability and efficiency, maintaining a safe system will require recognition and timely mitigation of new safety issues as they emerge and before significant consequences occur. A shift toward a more predictive risk mitigation capability becomes critical to meet this challenge. In-time safety assurance comprises monitoring, assessment, and mitigation functions that proactively reduce risk in complex operational environments where the interplay of hazards may not be known (and therefore not accounted for) during design. These functions can also help to understand and predict emergent effects caused by the increased use of automation or autonomous functions that may exhibit unexpected non-deterministic behaviors. The envisioned monitoring and assessment functions can look for precursors, anomalies, and trends (PATs) by applying model-based and data-driven methods. Outputs would then drive downstream mitigation(s) if needed to reduce risk. These mitigations may be accomplished using traditional design revision processes or via operational (and sometimes automated) mechanisms. The latter refers to the in-time aspect of the system concept. This report comprises architecture and information requirements and considerations toward enabling such a capability within the domain of low altitude highly autonomous urban flight operations. This domain may span, for example, public-use surveillance missions flown by small unmanned aircraft (e.g., infrastructure inspection, facility management, emergency response, law enforcement, and/or security) to transportation missions flown by larger aircraft that may carry passengers or deliver products. Caveat: Any stated requirements in this report should be considered initial requirements that are intended to drive research and development (R&D). These initial requirements are likely to evolve based on R&D findings, refinement of operational concepts, industry advances, and new industry or regulatory policies or standards related to safety assurance

Influence of differentiation strategy on performance of hotels: the moderating role of environmental munificence

This study investigates whether environmental munificence directly and indirectly predicts the relationship between differentiation strategy and performance.A total of 83 managers from hotels in Kano state were participated.A questionnaire was administered to collect information on socio demographics and on differentiation strategy, environmental munificence, and performance. Results revealed that differentiation strategy, environmental munificence was positively associated with performance. Environmental munificence fully moderates the relationships of differentiation strategy and performance.This article, apart from its contribution to the business strategy research, has meaningful implications for managers and policy-makers, the future research directions are discussed

Human Factors Influencing Contractors' Risk Attitudes: A Case Study of the Malaysian Construction Industry

Malaysia is one of the most rapidly developing countries among developing nations. The construction industry has played a major role in Malaysia’s rapid economic growth. Among the major sectors in Malaysia, the importance of the construction industry is unique regardless of the level of the country’s development. However, the attitude of the construction industry in Malaysia towards managing contractors’ risk attitudes is very weak. The introduction of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1994 by the Malaysian government made all industries in Malaysia to identify risks, conduct risk assessment and control risk. In addition, the Malaysian construction industry simultaneously implemented an integrated system to ensure consistency and better performance of projects. To identify the factors influencing contractors' risk attitudes, relevant literature was reviewed, and a questionnaire survey was conducted. This study focused on the G7 contractors operating in the Malaysian construction industry. One hundred and nineteen copies of a structured questionnaire were analysed with a response rate of 85%. Structural equation modelling was utilized to test the hypotheses developed for the study. Results showed that government policies played a moderating role in enhancing the relationship between human-related factors affecting contractors’ risk attitudes in the construction industry

Web Acceptance and Usage Model: A Comparison between Goal-directed and Experiential Web Users

In this paper we analyse the Web acceptance and usage between goal-directed users and experiential users, incorporating intrinsic motives to improve the particular and explanatory TAM value –traditionally related to extrinsic motives-. A field study was conducted to validate measures used to operationalize model variables and to test the hypothesised network of relationships. The data analysis method used was Partial Least Squares (PLS).The empirical results provided strong support for the hypotheses, highlighting the roles of flow, ease of use and usefulness in determining the actual use of the Web among experiential and goal-directed users. In contrast with previous research that suggests that flow would be more likely to occur during experiential activities than goal-directed activities, we found clear evidence of flow for goal-directed activities. In particular the study findings indicate that flow might play a powerfulrole in determining the attitude towards usage,intention to useand, in turn,actual Web use among experiential and goal-directed users

Mechanism for Leadership Development and Effectiveness: The Relationship between Followership, Leadership, and Psychological Capital

Research supports the strategic role of a leader in improving individual and organizational performance (Day et al., 2009; Kaiser & Curphy, 2013). Developing leadership and enhancing leadership effectiveness remains at the forefront of organizational strategic plans (Day et al., 2009; Kaiser & Curphy, 2013). However, a majority of leadership development efforts fail in their purpose, which causes a leadership crisis in many organizations (Fernández-Aráoz, Roscoe, & Aramaki, 2017; Gurdjian, Halbeisen, & Lane, 2014; Kaiser & Curphy, 2013; Madanchian, Hussein, Noordin, & Taherdoost, 2017; Pfeffer, 2015; Wakefield, Abbatiello, Agarwal, Pastakia, & van Berkel, 2016). Neglecting the role of followership and using inappropriate measures of leadership effectiveness are among the reasons of ineffective leadership development programs. This study examined a mechanism for leadership development and effectiveness consisting of the relationship between followership, leadership, and psychological capital. The study examined followership as a predictor and psychological capital as an outcome and measure of leadership effectiveness. The study also examined the relationship between followership behaviors and leadership behaviors that bring the greatest positive variance in psychological capital. Employing a non-experimental, predictive, cross-sectional research design, this study used partial least squares structural equation modeling to examine the research objectives. The data were collected using a convenience-sampling method from a sample of 92 students enrolled in a university. The study finds active engagement dimension of followership a significant predictor of transformational, transactional, and passive/avoidant leadership. The independent thinking dimension of followership did not show a significant relationship with leadership. The study provides empirical evidence about followership behaviors and transformational leadership behaviors as predictors of followers’ psychological capital. The study empirically tested and confirmed the mediation of transformational leadership in the relationship between active engagement and psychological capital. The study also provides empirical evidence that active engagement, independent thinking, and transformational leadership jointly bring maximum variance in psychological capital. The results of the study provide information regarding potential benefits to leaders, instructors, higher education institutions, and scholars of leadership, followership, and psychological capital

Moderating Effect of Organizational Capability on the Relationship Between Business Intelligence Capability and Performance Among Public Listed Firms in Kenya

Business Intelligence remains a primary focus in many organisations and it naturally attracts significant investment. Existing literature is nebulous and fragmented on the real impact and how well the insights induced by this technology have been transformed into successful business learning. Consequently, this paper focuses on determining the influence of organizational capabilities on the relationship between Business Intelligence capability and firm performance. The study employed interdisciplinary theories to realize the research objective, namely Information Systems Capability theory and Organizational Learning theory. In addition, the study was conducted using mixed methods research methodology and a crosssectional approach. The study used structural equations modeling technique (Partial Least Squares approach- SEM-PLS) to analyse quantitative data and validate the developed research model. Thematic analysis aided by Atlas.ti version 8 software was applied to analyse qualitative data. Findings of quantitative and qualitative strands of the study were triangulated at the data analysis stage based on convergence model. Results revealed that organizational capability has a positive and significant moderating impact. The findings provide fresh enlightenment into current Business Intelligence literature and opportunities for future research with implications for management, policy makers, and academia

Testing effort dependent software reliability model for imperfect debugging process considering both detection and correction

This paper studies the fault detection process (FDP) and fault correction process (FCP) with the incorporation of testing effort function and imperfect debugging. In order to ensure high reliability, it is essential for software to undergo a testing phase, during which faults can be detected and corrected by debuggers. The testing resource allocation during this phase, which is usually depicted by the testing effort function, considerably influences not only the fault detection rate but also the time to correct a detected fault. In addition, testing is usually far from perfect such that new faults may be introduced. In this paper, we first show how to incorporate testing effort function and fault introduction into FDP and then develop FCP as delayed FDP with a correction effort. Various specific paired FDP and FCP models are obtained based on different assumptions of fault introduction and correction effort. An illustrative example is presented. The optimal release policy under different criteria is also discussed