The NASA Space Processing Program was initiated to develop uses of space flight that will support research efforts and manufacturing operations on the ground by processing materials in space. It is expected that the unique conditions that are available in space will provide a basis for a wide variety of economically beneficial services to science and industry in fields such as metallurgy, electronic materials, glass technology, fluid physics and chemistry, and in biological material preparation as well. Plans are described for developing payload equipment to implement materials processing experiments on the missions of the space transportation system (STS). This equipment is intended to support a diversified program of NASA-sponsored materials processing experiments by all classes of scientists, as well as pilot activities by non-NASA sponsors

Bredt, J. H.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

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NASA' s SPACE PROCESSING PROG 
By James H. ~redt, NASA Office of Applications, Washington, D.C. 
ABSTRACT 
The primary goal of NASA's Space Processing Program is to initiate 
utilization of space flight capabilities for economically beneficial 
activities in all branches of materials science and technology. 
It is expected that the condition of virtual weightlessness obtained in 
space flight will permit unprecedentedly precise control over many known 
processes and development of many novel processes to manipulate and pre- 
pare biological materials intended for use on the ground. This expecta- 
tion has already been verified in the case of electrophoretic separation 
of living cells through a sequence of experiments performed on the 
Apollo, Skylab, and Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) missions. It is 
believed that further applications will be found as well, and that future 
reductions in the costs of space operations will make a large increase 
in the scope of space experimentation possible. 
Plans are now being made for payload equipment to implement materials 
processing experiments on the missions of the Space Transportation System 
(STS). This equipment is intended to support a diversified program of 
NASA-sponsored materials processing experiments by all classes of 
scientists, as well as pilot activities by non-NASA sponsors. It appears 
feasible to organize payload systems that can implement a wide variety 
of activities without undue constraints from spacecraft resources, and 
on this basis we expect that STS payloads can begin to provide supporting 
services for research and applications more or less routinely fairly 
early in the 1980's. 
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https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19770010735 2020-03-22T10:37:25+00:00Z
'Phe NWSA Space processing Program i s  conducted by the Office of 
Applications to  develop uses of space f l i g h t  t ha t  w i l l  support 
research e f fo r t s  and manufacturing operations on the ground by 
processing materials in  space. I t  i s  expected t h a t  the unique 
conditions t ha t  are  available i n  space w i l l  provide a bas is  fo r  a 
wide var ie ty  of economically benef ic ia l  services t o  science and 
industry i n  f i e ld s  such as metallurgy, e lect ronic  materials ,  g lass  
technology, f lu id  physics and chemistry, and i n  biological  material 
preparation as well. 
The primary advantage t h a t  such applications w i l l  seek t o  exploi t  
i s  the condition of v i r t u a l  weightlessness obtained in  a f ree ly  moving 
spacecraft during unpowered f l i gh t .  In low Earth o rb i t ,  which has 
been the usual s e t t i n g  fo r  materials  processing experiments i n  space, 
the  gravi ta t ional  f i e l d  in tens i ty  is only a l i t t l e  l e s s  than it i s  
on the Ear th ' s  surface. However, i n  unpowered f l i g h t  a spacecraft  
and everything in  it a re  f ree ly  accelerated by the force of gravity,  
and these accelerat ions are  a l l  equal with an accuracy of the order 
of one pa r t  i n  ten million. Therefore, gravi ty  e f f ec t s  cannot produce 
appreciable r e l a t i ve  ve loc i t i es  between objects  in  the spacecraft.  For 
example, a lump of lead t h a t  was released very careful ly  so as t o  avoid 
imparting any impulse t o  it  would typical ly  d r i f t  a meter o r  so  from 
i t s  o r ig ina l  s t a t i on  and then return during the  o r b i t a l  period of 
approximately 90 minutes, because i t s  o r b i t  would d i f f e r  s l i g h t l y  from, 
t h a t  of the spacecraft  unless the  two bodies'  centers of mass happened 
t o  coincide. The forces needed t o  hold the lump of lead i n  a constant 
posi t ion r e l a t i ve  t o  the  i n t e r i o r  of the  spacecraft would be very small, 
and i n  f a c t  they could be provided eas i ly  by a i r  currents ,  acoustic 
radia t ion pressure, o r  electromagnetic in teract ions .  
In l iquid  media the r e l a t i v e  ve loc i t i es  t ha t  can be produced by gravity 
e f f ec t s  are  much smaller,  because the very small forces t h a t  a r e  involved 
have t o  ac t  against viscous drag forces tha t  are  typ ica l ly  a hundred times 
as great  as those found i n  gases. For a l l  p rac t ica l  purposes, therefore,  
the driving forces f o r  thermal convection, sedimentation and other 
buoyancy e f f ec t s  are completely removed from l iqu id  systems in  space. 
This i s  a factor  of considerable signif icance fo r  chemical and biological  
procedures, because it becomes possible t o  work with heterogeneous chemical 
systems under experimental conditions where the only heat  and mass trans- 
por t  e f f ec t s  t o  be considered are  heat  conduction and chemical diffusion.  
Since both of these e f f ec t s  are precisely calculable according t o  a 
r e l a t i ve ly  simple mathematical theory, it should be possible t o  apply 
extremely precise techniques of control and measurement t o  experiments 
with such systems i n  space. 
The e f f ec t s  of weightlessness have been exploited t o  study a var ie ty  
of processes i n  so l i d i f i ca t i on ,  c rys ta l  growth, f l u id  physics, and 
physical separation methods i n  space f l i g h t  experiments conducted over 
the pas t  f ive  years. Pl ights  tha t  have carr ied  space processing experi- 
ments are indicated i n  the top section of the schedule chart  shown i n  
Figure 1. They include the Apollo 14, 16 and 1 7  lunar missions, the 
four f l i gh t s  of the Skylab program, and l a s t  yea r ' s  Apollo-Soyuz Test 
Project (ASTP) mission. These f l i g h t s  have carried a combined t o t a l  
of 41 experiments and demonstrations re la ted t o  materials  processing. 
In order t o  continue experimentation through the r e s t  of the  1970's, 
the Space Processing Program has undertaken a se r ies  of rocket missions 
tha t  w i l l  carry payloads on b a l l i s t i c  f l i g h t s  t h a t  each afford between 
f ive  and ten minutes of experiment time. This project  i s  cal led the 
Space Processing Applications Rocket (SPAR) project ,  and it is  planned 
t o  conduct three f l i g h t s  per year u n t i l  the project  i s  superseded by 
experiment operations using the Space Shutt le  and Spacelab. The f i r s t  
SPAR f l i g h t  was carr ied  out on December 11, 1975. It carr ied  nine 
experiments, thus bringing the t o t a l  fo r  the  whole program t o  50; the 
d i s t r ibu t ion  of experiments and demonstrations among the missions flown 
t o  date is given in  Table I. 
Five of the  program's experiments have been directed toward developing 
new methods fo r  biological  preparations. In these experiments, e lec t ro-  
phoretic separations have been performed i n  aqueous media t h a t  were 
s tab i l i zed  against convection by weightlessness ra ther  than by porous 
supports o r  laminar flow, and protracted separation runs have been 
accomplished on pa r t i c l e s  t ha t  would have sedimented very rapidly on 
Earth. These ear ly  experiments have mainly served t o  es tab l i sh  the 
technology needed for  more advanced work in  the future,  but t h e i r  r e su l t s  
indicate  t ha t  fur ther  development can be expected t o  r e s u l t  i n  refined 
and powerful separation methods t h a t  should be capable of quant i ta t ively  
predictable resu l t s .  
A s  the second section of Figure 1 indicates,  the development (Phase C/D) 
of the  Space Shut t le  was i n i t i a t e d  a t  about the time of the Apollo 16 
f l i g h t ,  and the Pxeliminary Design Review (PDR) was held shor t ly  a f t e r  
the ASTP mission. The f i r s t  Shut t le  Orbiter is scheduled t o  be ro l led  
out  toward the end of t h i s  year and w i l l  be f l i g h t  t es ted  within the 
atmosphere during 1977. Thus the design phase of the  Shutt le  project  
has been going forward concurrently with the experiments tha t  NASA has 
been performing t o  ver i fy  the  promise of materials processing i n  space. 
During the  design work on t h e  S h u t t l e ,  t h e  Space Processing Program 
has  performed s u b s t a n t i a l l y  continuous s t u d i e s  of p o t e n t i a l  modes 
of  S h u t t l e  and Spacelab u t i l i z a t i o n .  However, it has  been necessary 
t o  wai t  u n t i l  t h e  experiment r e s u l t s  from the  manned missions of t he  
1970 ' s  were a v a i l a b l e  and t h e  S h u t t l e  design was s u b s t a n t i a l l y  complete 
before  embarking on f i n a l  d e f i n i t i o n  of Space Processing Appl icat ions  
(SPA) payloads f o r  t h e  S h u t t l e  missions.  
Phase 1/11 payload d e f i n i t i o n  s t u d i e s  a r e  now i n  progress  and a com- 
p e t i t i v e  procurement w i l l  be he ld  i n  t he  l a t t e r  p a r t  of 1976 f o r  payload 
design and development work which w i l l  begin i n  t h e  f i r s t  q u a r t e r  of  
1977. The development of s p e c i f i c  equipment i t e m s  w i l l  be phased t o  
provide f o r  d e l i v e r i e s  a t  t h e  approximate p o i n t s  shown i n  t h e  t h i r d  
s e c t i o n  of Figure 1, comprising two i n i t i a l  payloads compatible with  
t h e  t e s t  f l i g h t s  of t h e  S h u t t l e  and two payloads f o r  ope ra t iona l  f l i g h t s  
with  t h e  Spacelab i n  1981. 
In  de f in ing  payload equipment f o r  t h e  Space S h u t t l e  and Spacelab we 
have followed approaches intended t o  g ive  experimenters easy access 
t o  space and maximize t h e  s c i e n t i f i c  ou tput  of t h e i r  experiment 
whi le  minimizing t h e  c o s t s  of ope ra t ing  them i n  space.  ~ y p i c a l  payload 
conf igura t ions  t h a t  have been der ived  t o  implement t h i s  design phi loso-  
phy a r e  i l l u s t r a t e d  i n  Figure  2 .  In  genera l  space process ing  payload 
systems w i l l  be  b u i l t  up of modular, reusable  equipment taken from a 
s tandard  inventory of apparatus  and support ing equipment, s o  t h a t  each 
i tem of  equipment can se rve  many i n v e s t i g a t o r s  and l i t t l e  apparatus  w i l l  
need t o  be developed s p e c i f i c a l l y  f o r  i nd iv idua l  experiments. The usua l  
mode of opera t ion  w i l l  be t o  f l y  space processing payloads on missions 
shared with  o t h e r  d i s c i p l i n e s ,  and t h e  modular n a t u r e  of t he  equipment 
w i l l  make it poss ib l e  t o  t ake  advantage of  a wide v a r i e t y  of  shared 
mission oppor tun i t i e s  because each payload w i l l  only need t o  inc lude  
t h e  equipment necessary t o  i t s  mission.  
Payloads w i l l  a l s o  be organized f o r  maximum produc t iv i ty ,  so  t h a t  t h e  
u n i t  c o s t s  of p rocess ing  m a t e r i a l  samples w i l l  b e  minimized. The 
system is be ing  designed t o  t h a t  a l l  of t h e  equipment i n  a given payload 
can be operated dur ing  a l l  of  t h e  t i m e  it spends i n  space. Since t h i s  
concept r equ i r e s  many experiments t o  opera te  a t  once, t h e  space pro- 
ce s s ing  equipment inventory w i l l  inc lude  an Auxi l iary Payload Power 
System (APPS) t h a t  provides  power from S h u t t l e  type f u e l  c e l l s  and h a s  
a r a d i a t o r  t o  d i spose  of  t h e  r e s u l t i n g  hea t .  The system w i l l  be capable  
of  supplying 15 kw of e l e c t r i c  power, and it i s  expected t o  f r e e  space 
processing experiment operations substant ia l ly  from constraints  
due t o  l imitat ions on the resources of the Shutt le ,  
Investment and operating cost  questions are c r i t i c a l  for  materials  
processing in  space because one of NASA's goals i s  t o  introduce 
ac t i v i t y  sponsored by other government and pr ivate  sponsors in to  space. 
This w i l l  be possible only i f  the  costs  of performing space experi- 
ments a re  within the range t ha t  such sponsors are  accustomed t o  pay 
for  research. The r e su l t s  of the  Space Processing Program's current  
payload def ini t ion s tudies  indicate t h a t  t h i s  may be achieved i f  the  
number of invest igators served on each mission i s  large enough, and 
therefore the program is planning for  payloads t h a t  w i l l  be capable 
of processing l i t e r a l l y  hundreds of samples fo r  a d ivers i f ied  community 
of users on every f l i g h t .  
This type of operation i s  unprecedented in  space experimentation, and 
it w i l l  obviously provide f l i g h t  opportunities fo r  larger  than usual 
numbers of invest igators.  ~ n i t i a l l y  these invest igators w i l l  perform 
the i r  experiments un e r  NASA's sponsorship t o  develop experimental 
methods and demonstrate t h a t  space f l i g h t  provides capab i l i t i e s  for  
fresh approaches and new discoveries i n  t h e i r  f i e ld s .  The Space 
processing Program i s  employing a var ie ty  of means t o  engage the  i n t e r e s t s  
of qual i f ied  experimenters and define worthwhile applicat ions;  among 
these means a re  meetings such as the present one, working group a c t i v i t i e s  
i n  support of the  payload planning e f f o r t ,  and par t ic ipat ion i n  the 
SPAR project .  In the ear ly  years of space processing experiments on 
the Shut t le  and Spacelab, we expect of the order of 100 invest igators 
t o  conduct research projects  t h a t  use space a c t i v i t i e s  t o  achieve t h e i r  
objectives.  Among these w i l l  be projects  dealing with the f e a s i b i l i t y  
of b iological  and biomedical applications of space f l i g h t ,  some of which 
may be based on ideas brought out by t h i s  Colloquium. Assuming t h a t  
these projects  are  as f r u i t f u l  and inexpensive as planned, we believe 
t h a t  the  invest igators w i l l  soon find other sponsors wishing t o  support 
t h e i r  work as well. I f  t h i s  i s  the case, then by the l a t e  1980's we 
can expect t o  f ind tha t  space experiments w i l l  have become a more o r  
l e s s  routine resource i n  the kinds of b iological  and other work for  
which they o f f e r  substant ia l  advantages. 
-- 
APOLLO FLTS SKYLAB FLTS 
C/D SIGNED SRR 1 ST MOF 2 NO M O F  
DEVELOPMENT 
4 -a, 4 
C I D A W A R D  PRR SRR PDR CDR DEL E/M 1 ST FLT  ITEM 
DEVELOPMENT 
Figure 1.- Overview schedules f o r  Space Transpor ta t ion  System, Space Processing Applicat ions,  and Spacelab. 
FURNACE AND BIOLOGICAL 
AUXILIARY PAYLOAD 
POWER SYSTEM (APPS) 
SUPPORT STRUCTURES 
ELECTROMAGNETIC 
Figure 2.- Space processing of Spacelab payloads. 


NASA's space processing program

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