Aerospace energy systems laboratory: Requirements and design approach

The NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility at Edwards, California, operates a mixed fleet of research aircraft employing nickel-cadmium (NiCd) batteries in a variety of flight-critical applications. Dryden's Battery Systems Laboratory (BSL), a computerized facility for battery maintenance servicing, has developed over two decades into one of the most advanced facilities of its kind in the world. Recently a major BSL upgrade was initiated with the goal of modernization to provide flexibility in meeting the needs of future advanced projects. The new facility will be called the Aerospace Energy Systems Laboratory (AESL) and will employ distributed processing linked to a centralized data base. AESL will be both a multistation servicing facility and a research laboratory for the advancement of energy storage system maintenance techniques. This paper describes the baseline requirements for the AESL and the design approach being taken for its mechanization

Is H3+ cooling ever important in primordial gas?

Studies of the formation of metal-free Population III stars usually focus primarily on the role played by H2 cooling, on account of its large chemical abundance relative to other possible molecular or ionic coolants. However, while H2 is generally the most important coolant at low gas densities, it is not an effective coolant at high gas densities, owing to the low critical density at which it reaches local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) and to the large opacities that develop in its emission lines. It is therefore possible that emission from other chemical species may play an important role in cooling high density primordial gas. A particularly interesting candidate is the H3+ molecular ion. This ion has an LTE cooling rate that is roughly a billion times larger than that of H2, and unlike other primordial molecular ions such as H2+ or HeH+, it is not easily removed from the gas by collisions with H or H2. It is already known to be an important coolant in at least one astrophysical context -- the upper atmospheres of gas giants -- but its role in the cooling of primordial gas has received little previous study. In this paper, we investigate the potential importance of H3+ cooling in primordial gas using a newly-developed H3+ cooling function and the most detailed model of primordial chemistry published to date. We show that although H3+ is, in most circumstances, the third most important coolant in dense primordial gas (after H2 and HD), it is nevertheless unimportant, as it contributes no more than a few percent of the total cooling. We also show that in gas irradiated by a sufficiently strong flux of cosmic rays or X-rays, H3+ can become the dominant coolant in the gas, although the size of the flux required renders this scenario unlikely to occur.Comment: 60 pages, 22 figures. Submitted to MNRA

Premission and postmission simulation studies of the foot-controlled maneuvering unit for Skylab experiment T-020

A Skylab experiment was conducted to study the maneuvering capabilities of astronauts using a relatively simple self-locomotive device, referred to as the foot-controlled maneuvering unit, and to evaluate the effectiveness of ground-based facilities simulating the operation of this device in weightless conditions of space. Some of the special considerations given in the definition and development of the experiment as related to the two ground-based simulators are reviewed. These simulators were used to train the test subjects and to obtain baseline data which could be used for comparison with the in-flight tests that were performed inside the Skylab orbital workshop. The results of both premission and postmission tests are discussed, and subjective comparisons of the in-flight and ground-based test conditions are presented

An automated calibration laboratory for flight research instrumentation: Requirements and a proposed design approach

NASA's Dryden Flight Research Facility (Ames-Dryden), operates a diverse fleet of research aircraft which are heavily instrumented to provide both real time data for in-flight monitoring and recorded data for postflight analysis. Ames-Dryden's existing automated calibration (AUTOCAL) laboratory is a computerized facility which tests aircraft sensors to certify accuracy for anticipated harsh flight environments. Recently, a major AUTOCAL lab upgrade was initiated; the goal of this modernization is to enhance productivity and improve configuration management for both software and test data. The new system will have multiple testing stations employing distributed processing linked by a local area network to a centralized database. The baseline requirements for the new AUTOCAL lab and the design approach being taken for its mechanization are described

The aerospace energy systems laboratory: Hardware and software implementation

For many years NASA Ames Research Center, Dryden Flight Research Facility has employed automation in the servicing of flight critical aircraft batteries. Recently a major upgrade to Dryden's computerized Battery Systems Laboratory was initiated to incorporate distributed processing and a centralized database. The new facility, called the Aerospace Energy Systems Laboratory (AESL), is being mechanized with iAPX86 and iAPX286 hardware running iRMX86. The hardware configuration and software structure for the AESL are described

The foot-controlled maneuvering unit: Summary report on Skylab experiment T-020

Skylab experiment T-020 was conducted to study the maneuvering capabilities of astronauts using a relatively simple experimental self-locomotive device, referred to as the foot-controlled maneuvering unit, and to evaluate the effectiveness of ground-based facilities simulating the operation of this device in weightless conditions of space. The final results as presented of this experiment which includes comparison of the tests performed during missions SL-3 and SL-4 of the Skylab with those performed on the simulators. Some of the results of this experiment and those of Skylab experiment M509, which employed an experimental hard-controlled maneuvering unit, are discussed in terms of the development of a possible future operational maneuvering system

A knowledge based application of the extended aircraft interrogation and display system

A family of multiple-processor ground support test equipment was used to test digital flight-control systems on high-performance research aircraft. A unit recently built for the F-18 high alpha research vehicle project is the latest model in a series called the extended aircraft interrogation and display system. The primary feature emphasized monitors the aircraft MIL-STD-1553B data buses and provides real-time engineering units displays of flight-control parameters. A customized software package was developed to provide real-time data interpretation based on rules embodied in a highly structured knowledge database. The configuration of this extended aircraft interrogation and display system is briefly described, and the evolution of the rule based package and its application to failure modes and effects testing on the F-18 high alpha research vehicle is discussed

The Aerospace Energy Systems Laboratory: A BITBUS networking application

The NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility developed a computerized aircraft battery servicing facility called the Aerospace Energy Systems Laboratory (AESL). This system employs distributed processing with communications provided by a 2.4-megabit BITBUS local area network. Customized handlers provide real time status, remote command, and file transfer protocols between a central system running the iRMX-II operating system and ten slave stations running the iRMX-I operating system. The hardware configuration and software components required to implement this BITBUS application are required

The Destined Duke

The idea for what would become this fiction piece, The Destined Duke, occurred to me during my first graduate writing class at Hollins University with Professor Amanda Cockrell. I remember the first question she asked of us, her students, was in regard to what genre we loved to read and what we may be interested in writing. As I sat at the large class table about two-thirds around, I awaited my turn, listening to my fellow classmates and trying to determine if I was brave enough in a graduate writing class to admit that I love to read romance novels and historical fiction – both genres that some of my “literary” friends grimaced at and proclaimed to be “chick lit” – and, certainly not worthy to be considered literature. However, the more I sat and listened to my classmates and considered what I may like to write, I knew that I was going to be in trouble if I tried to say anything other than the truth – for working during the day as a technical writer for an engineering company and free-lance writing and editing pharmaceutical monographs pretty much left me spent and I knew in my heart that I just didn’t have it in me to spend any more time writing something that I couldn’t completely enjoy. So, when it was my turn to share my favorite genre, I trepidatiously found my voice and admitted that I loved romance novels and historical fiction. To my amazement, Professor Cockrell didn’t grimace or reject either as literature and even shared that she too enjoyed the genre. I knew that very moment that I was at the correct university, in the right class, and with the best professor for me. From that instant, I have never turned back, although I will say my characters and plot have evolved dramatically from where I started to where I now conclude my graduate project for submission. And while, my MALS essay is concluding, my efforts to improve my writing, as well as complete my novel, will continue – all thanks to Professor Cockrell, who has taught me that writing is a craft that takes a lifetime to develop and hopefully perfect. So, without further ado, I present the first chapters of The Destined Duke, a fiction piece that centers on the life of Nicholas Pierce, The Duke of Hastings, and Isabella Marie Wells

Pragmatics and the consequentiality of talk: a study of members' methods at a planning application meeting

This study explores how talk is consequential by examining the sequential and pragmatic phenomena in talk-in-interaction. Reflecting the work of conversation analysis (CA), the approach assumes that the consequentiality of a 'context' must be demonstrated by the informants' sequential practices (cf. Schegloff 1987, Boden and Zimmerman 1991). However, in this study a model of consequentiality is proposed, in which not only sequential phenomena but also pragmatic categories are included within the repertoire of members' methods. In this way, the indexicality of language as explained by pragmatic theory is seen to contribute to the account of talk as consequential. The data represent a meeting between an urban planning department and a national development company in which a planning application is discussed. As such, members' methods are seen to invoke the institutional nature of the encounter, in which the formality of the setting and the work-related membership of the interactants is systematically oriented to. The talk consists of a series of negotiated issues in which the developers and the planners propose different candidate outcomes reflecting each party’s professional aims and the constraints they consider themselves to operate under. In particular, the analysis shows that candidate outcomes are largely managed by sequential preference systems and pragmatically characterized face-address (Brown and Levinson 1978, 1987).The notion of reflexivity is also seen as a significant component in the study of consequentiality. While the concept is a basic assumption in a CA framework (Garfinkel and Sacks 1969) and is also recognized as fundamental in pragmatic inquiry (Lucy 1993), few studies provide a detailed analysis of members' reflexive awareness of the contexts they create. In this study, the interactants' metalinguistic and metapragmatic orientation, invoked by both pragmatic and sequential methods, is shown to be a prevalent members' resource for indicating awareness of consequentiality. Finally, observations of the kind made in this thesis, wherein pragmatic categories both work together and are systematically related to the sequential environment, contribute to a general re-analysis of pragmatic meaning. At the same time, the interaction of pragmatic and sequential features also represents a dynamic starting point for developing new methodological categories for investigating talk-in-interaction