SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL AEROSPACE REPORTS

A Biweekly Publication of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
VOLUME 43, ISSUE 18 - SEPTEMBER 09, 2006

14 GROUND SUPPORT SYSTEMS AND FACILITIES (SPACE)
Includes launch complexes, research and production facilities; ground support equipment, e.g., mobile transporters; and test chambers and simulators.

Also includes extraterrestrial bases and supporting equipment.

For related information see also 09 Research and Support Facilities (Air).

20050204139 NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH, USA

Operation of a Thin-Film Inflatable Concentrator System Demonstrated in a Solar Thermal Vacuum Environment

Wong,Wayne A.; Research and Technology 2001; March 2002; 2 pp.; In English; No Copyright;Avail: CASI; A01, Hardcopy

Thin-film inflatable solar concentrators offer significant advantages in comparison to stateof- the-art rigid panel concentrators, including low weight, low stowage volume, and simple gas deployment. From June 10 to 22, 2001, the ElectroMagnetic Radiation Control Experiment (EMRCE) Team used simulated solar energy to demonstrate the operation of an inflatable concentrator system at NASA Glenn Research Center’s Tank 6 thermal vacuum facility. The joint Government/industry test team was composed of engineers and technicians from Glenn, the Air Force Research Laboratory, SRS Technologies, and ATK Thiokol Propulsion. The research hardware consisted of the following: 1) A thin-film inflatable concentrator; 2) The hexapod pointing and focus control system; 3) Two rigidized support struts using two candidate technologies - ultraviolet-rigidized glass and radiation-cured isographite. Author

Space Environment Simulation; Test Facilities; Solar Simulation; Thermal Vacuum Tests

20050207343 NASA Kennedy Space Center, Cocoa Beach, FL, USA

STS-114: Discovery Shuttle Processing Overview Briefing

July 11, 2005; In English; 36 min., 39 sec. playing time, in color, with sound; No Copyright; Avail: CASI; V03, Videotape-VHS; B03, Videotape-Beta

This video of a briefing to representatives from the national media took the form of a slide show presentation by Jon Cowart, Manager of the Resident Office at Johnson Space Center. The presentation was an overview of ground maintainance facilities and procedures at Kennedy Space Center used to support Space Shuttle operations. The photographs in the slide show: Shuttle ground transport, maintenance, computers, and payloads, the Vehicle Assembly Building, ground operations, launch operations, crew boarding, liftoff, Pad A and Pad B, Solid Rocket Motor retrieval, crew procedures on-orbit, and landing. After the presentation is a brief question and answer session, in which reporters ask Cowart about Shuttle readiness, changes in Shuttle operations made for the Return to Flight, and how weather affects Shuttle operations. CASI

Space Transportation System; Space Shuttles; Spacecraft Maintenance; Space Vehicle Checkout Program; Cape Kennedy Launch Complex; Ground Support Equipment; News Media

20050207350 South Dakota State Univ., Brookings, SD, USA

Quickbird Geometry Report for Summer 2003

Darbha, Ravikanth; Helder, Dennis; Choi, Taeyoung; August 2005; 47 pp.; In English Contract(s)/Grant(s): NAG13-0323; No Copyright; Avail: CASI; A03, Hardcopy

Digital Globe provides for general use 2.4 m multi-spectral and 0.7 m panchromatic imagery acquired by the Quickbird satellite. This geometrically corrected imagery was obtained as standard and orthorectified products; the difference between the two products is primarily in the degree of geometric accuracy that Digital Globe claims. For both products, every image pixel contains estimated sets of Northing/Easting and lat/long coordinates accessible through an image display application such as ENVI. Ground processing was performed by Digital Globe using the ADP 2.1 version of their system. Analysis conducted at South Dakota State University attempted to verify the geometric accuracy of standard and orthorectified Quickbird imagery to determine if specifications for the NASA Science Data Purchase (SDP) were met. These specifications are in Table 1 of Appendix 1. In this analysis, we had approximately 90 Ground Control Points (varies depending on scene size on each date), uniformly distributed over the Brookings, SD, area, from 4 Quickbird scenes acquired August 23, September 15, and October 21 of 2003. Author

Geometric Accuracy; Imagery; Coordinates; Estimating; Ground Based Control

Source: NASA.