50 Years of Electronic Check Out and Launch Systems at Kennedy Space Center

When NASA was created in 1958 one of the elements incorporated into this new agency was the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) in Huntsville, AL and its subordinate Missile Firing Laboratory (MFL) in Cape Canaveral. Under NASA, the MFL became the Launch Operations Directorate of the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, but expanding operations in the build up to Apollo dictated that it be given the status of a full fledged Center in July, 1 962[ 1]. The next year it was renamed the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KS C) after the president whose vision transformed its first decade of operation. The ABMA was under the technical leadership of Dr. Werner Von Braun. The MEL was run by his deputy Dr. Kurt Debus, an electrical engineer whose experience in the field began in the early days of V-2 testing in war time Germany. In 1952 a group led by Debus arrived in Cape Canaveral to begin test launches of the new Redstone missile [2]. During the 50's, The MFL built several launch complexes and tested the Redstone, Jupiter and Jupiter C missiles. This small experienced team of engineers and technicians formed the seed from which has grown the KSC team of today. This article briefly reviews the evolution of the KSC electronic technologies for integration, check-out and launch of space vehicles and payloads during NASA's first 50 years

Development of Algorithms and Error Analyses for the Short Baseline Lightning Detection and Ranging System

NASA, at the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), developed and operates a unique high-precision lightning location system to provide lightning-related weather warnings. These warnings are used to stop lightning- sensitive operations such as space vehicle launches and ground operations where equipment and personnel are at risk. The data is provided to the Range Weather Operations (45th Weather Squadron, U.S. Air Force) where it is used with other meteorological data to issue weather advisories and warnings for Cape Canaveral Air Station and KSC operations. This system, called Lightning Detection and Ranging (LDAR), provides users with a graphical display in three dimensions of 66 megahertz radio frequency events generated by lightning processes. The locations of these events provide a sound basis for the prediction of lightning hazards. This document provides the basis for the design approach and data analysis for a system of radio frequency receivers to provide azimuth and elevation data for lightning pulses detected simultaneously by the LDAR system. The intent is for this direction-finding system to correct and augment the data provided by LDAR and, thereby, increase the rate of valid data and to correct or discard any invalid data. This document develops the necessary equations and algorithms, identifies sources of systematic errors and means to correct them, and analyzes the algorithms for random error. This data analysis approach is not found in the existing literature and was developed to facilitate the operation of this Short Baseline LDAR (SBLDAR). These algorithms may also be useful for other direction-finding systems using radio pulses or ultrasonic pulse data

Paper Session III-A - Commercialization of KSC Instrumentation Developed to Improve Safety, Reliability, and Cost Effectiveness of Space Shuttle Processing, Launch, and Landing

The top priority at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is safety of the flight crew and Shuttle vehicle. This priority is followed by safety of the personnel and physical assets of KSC, and reducing the costs associated with processing the Shuttle and other flight components, driven by budget and down sizing pressures. The KSC Instrumentation Laboratories, managed and staffed by both civil service NASA personnel and by I-NET, the Engineering Support Contractor, help ensure the accomplishment of these priorities by adapting or developing technologies to improve operational safety and decrease processing costs. The Laboratories are organized by technical discipline into nine laboratory teams, each being generally self contained with highly skilled scientists, engineers, and technicians providing the skills necessary to conceive, develop and test innovative technical solutions. The laboratories are the Hazardous Gas Detection Laboratory specializing in the detection of cryogenic propellants using mass spectrometer-based instruments; the Toxic Vapor Detection Laboratory providing very low level detection capabilities for highly toxic hypergolic propellants and other chemicals; the Landing Aids Laboratory which develops navigation and positioning systems to calibrate Shuttle landing guidance systems; the Optical Instrumentation Laboratory specializing in development of low cost optical and ultrasonic instruments; the Transducer Development Laboratory which provides sustaining engineering for the KSC inventory of process measurements; the Contamination Monitoring Laboratory which develops and tests clean room monitoring systems; the Special Instrumentation Laboratory and Special Development Laboratory which each develop and support instruments for non-destructive inspection; and the Data Acquisition Systems Laboratory which provides and develops data acquisition, analysis and recording systems for special tests and permanent installations. These laboratories support all functional areas of KSC and each other in accomplishing a wide range of projects which are improving the techniques involved in processing and testing the flight systems to ensure that the Shuttle remains the prime human space flight system well into the next century

Paper Session III-A - Advanced Development of Ground Instrumentation as a Key Strategy in Improving the Safety and Efficiency of Space Shuttle Checkout and Launch

This paper describes some of the advanced technology instruments produced by the Instrumentation Development Laboratories at Kennedy Space Center. These systems contribute to the realization of the goals of “better, faster, cheaper” set by the NASA Administrator and provide a steady stream of inventions which benefit the commercial marketplace through NASA’s Commercialization and Dual Use Programs. The paper discusses advanced sensors and systems developed in the technical disciplines of cryogenic and toxic gas detection, leak location, hydrogen flame detection, data acquisition, navigation and positioning, payload contamination monitoring, non-destructive inspection, and the specific contributions made to improve safety and efficiency of the Space Shuttle checkout and launch process. These technologies are government programs or for technology transfer to the commercial sector

Two-dimensional Inductive Position Sensing System

A two-dimensional inductive position sensing system uses four drive inductors arranged at the vertices of a parallelogram and a sensing inductor positioned within the parallelogram. The sensing inductor is movable within the parallelogram and relative to the drive inductors. A first oscillating current at a first frequency is supplied to a first pair of the drive inductors located at ends of a first diagonal of the parallelogram. A second oscillating current at a second frequency is supplied to a second pair of the drive inductors located at ends of a second diagonal of the parallelogram. As a result, the sensing inductor generates a first output voltage at the first frequency and a second output voltage at the second frequency. A processor determines a position of the sensing inductor relative to the drive inductors using the first output voltage and the second output voltage

Commercialization of Kennedy Space Center Instrumentation Developed to Improve Safety, Reliability, Cost Effectiveness of Space Shuttle Processing, Launch, and Landing

Priorities and achievements of the Kennedy Space Center (KSF) Instrumentation Laboratories in improving operational safety and decreasing processing costs associated with the Shuttle vehicle are addressed. Technologies that have been or are in the process of technology transfer are reviewed, and routes by which commercial concerns can obtain licenses to other KSF Instrumentation Laboratory technologies are discussed

Mass Conservation in Modeling Moisture Diffusion in Multi-Layer Carbon Composite Structures

Moisture diffusion in multi-layer carbon composite structures is difficult to model using finite difference methods due to the discontinuity in concentrations between adjacent layers of differing materials. Applying a mass conserving approach at these boundaries proved to be effective at accurately predicting moisture uptake for a sample exposed to a fixed temperature and relative humidity. Details of the model developed are presented and compared with actual moisture uptake data gathered over 130 days from a graphite epoxy composite sandwich coupon with a Rohacell foam core

Kennedy Space Center Applied Physics Lab: NDE and SHM Activities

No abstract availabl

Alternating Magnetic Field Forces for Satellite Formation Flying

Selected future space missions, such as large aperture telescopes and multi-component interferometers, will require the precise positioning of a number of isolated satellites, yet many of the suggested approaches for providing satellites positioning forces have serious limitations. In this paper we propose a new approach, capable of providing both position and orientation forces, that resolves or alleviates many of these problems. We show that by using alternating fields and currents that finely-controlled forces can be induced on the satellites, which can be individually selected through frequency allocation. We also show, through analysis and experiment, that near field operation is feasible and can provide sufficient force and the necessary degrees of freedom to accurately position and orient small satellites relative to one another. In particular, the case of a telescope with a large number of free mirrors is developed to provide an example of the concept. We. also discuss the far field extension of this concept