NASA continued

The CAIB report may not have encouraged more reflective and fundamental learning to occur. It sent an inconsistent message about the need for public debate about national space policy and NASA s mission. On the one hand, it aimed to open up such a debate. On the other, it recommended that NASA continue flying shuttles. Questions about the need for NASA and the human space program to engage in routine operations rather than in space exploration are central to the debate about national space policy and to the issue of human safety (Klerkx, 2004). 

Figure 8.1 Overview of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Continuous Risk Management Process.

Why, in the years preceding the Challenger launch, did NASA continue launching with a design known to be flawed ... 

Polyimides (PI) were among the eadiest candidates in the field of thermally stable polymers. In addition to high temperature property retention, these materials also exhibit chemical resistance and relative ease of synthesis and use. This has led to numerous innovations in the chemistry of synthesis and cure mechanisms, stmcture variations, and ultimately products and appHcations. Polyimides (qv) are available as films, fibers, enamels or varnishes, adhesives, matrix resins for composites, and mol ding powders. They are used in numerous commercial and military aircraft as stmctural composites, eg, over a ton of polyimide film is presently used on the NASA shuttle orbiter. Work continues on these materials, including the more recent electronic apphcations. 

How can scientists collect experimental evidence about possible life on another planet Sending astronauts to see for themselves is impractical at our current level of technology. Nevertheless, it is possible to search for life on other worlds without sending humans into space. In the late 1970s, NASA s Viking spacecraft lander collected a sample of dirt from Mars, the planet in our solar system most like Earth. The sample showed no signs of life. Nevertheless, speculation continues about Martian life. 

Kim, B., Zupan, J., Hillebrand, L., and Clifford, J., Continuous catalytic decomposition of methane, NASA Contractor Report, NASA CR-1662, NASA, Washington, 1970. 

The NASA organization was highly complex and several parts of the project were contracted out to private consultants whose livelihood depended on the success of the project. Production objectives emphasized the importance of the launch date for each mission. In light of the safety concerns and potential setbacks, work continued on the project. Had the... 

NASA has formally invited its European counterpart to work on a continuation of the HST and the ESA has accepted. This in no way compromises its own cryostatic project, FIRST (the Far InfraRed Space Telescope). Designed to supersede the highly successful ISO (Infrared Space Observatory), this new space observatory will probe the Universe in the far infrared and submillimetre ranges. It should be recalled that the ESA contributed some 15% of the costs... 

Figure 17.7 Tubers from cv Norland plants grown in nutrient film technique (NFT) for 105 days at NASA s Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA (source Wheeler et al., 1990). Nutrient solution was pumped continuously to the back end of the trays and flowed to a drain at the front for return to the reservoir. NFT proved more successful for producing good tuber yields and allowed easy harvesting.

Closed environments in space will require continuous control of atmospheric composition and pressure, including the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (CO2). At the beginning of NASA s... 

Helioseismic waves are detected by measuring the Doppler shift of lines in the solar spectrum due to vertical motion of the Sun s surface along the line of sight. With appropriate data-reduction techniques, the frequencies for global oscillations can be determined to an accuracy of 5 ppm. This extreme accuracy requires long-term, continuous observations that are best done by spacecraft such as the joint ESA/NASA SOHO spacecraft, which observes the Sun from the Lagrangian point where the Earth gravity balances that of the Sun. 

Acknowledgement. The authors would like to thank the Dow Chemical Company for its continuing support and encouragement in the development of the benzocydobutene technology. Many of the people cited in the references have contributed significantly to the results reported in this review. K.J.B. would like to thank NASA-Langley for their support in the development of much of the AB... 

The numerical technique for the determination of vertical profile information was also studied for the determination of total ozone in the atmosphere by NASA (Dave and Mateer, 1967 Mateer et al., 1971). The development of this retrieval technique has continued up to the present (Bhartia et al., 1996). 

Although most solid propellants are manufactured in a vertical mixer batch process, a continuous mixing process has been used successfully in the production of the first stage A-3 Polaris propellant and in the NASA 260 inch demonstration motor program. The use of a continuous mixing process, in which propellant chemicals are metered into a helical kneader, offers considerable benefit in terms of safety and cost for large-volume propellant production. 

Kepler Space Telescope a NASA-built optical space telescope that monitors 170000 stars continuously for four years to search for transiting exoplanets. The goal of the Kepler mission is to determine the frequency of Earth-sized planets around other stars. 

Is it time to rethink the manned space program Despite the Columbia, Challenger, and Apollo disasters, NASA has called for the shuttle program to continue. President Bush s January 2004 initiative for a moon base and manned flights to Mars has led to much discussion about cost, safety, and priorities. 

For the purposes of this chapter, carbon/carbon (C/C) composites consist of carbon fiber preforms which are surrounded by a carbon matrix. Development of these materials began in the late 1950s, and was continued under a variety of U.S. Air Force, NASA, and other federal government programs.7 They currently find use in structures such as the space shuttle nose cone and leading edges, and brake materials, and have the potential to be used in many... 

Haberbusch, M. and McNelis, N. (1996) Comparison of the Continuous Freeze Slush Hydrogen Production Technique to the Freeze/Thaw Technique. NASA Technical Memorandum 107324. 

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