Space Shuttle Flight Experiment Research Articles

The fungicidal and phytotoxic properties of benomyl and PPM in supplemented agar media supporting transgenic arabidopsis plants for a Space Shuttle flight experiment.

Fungal contamination is a significant problem in the use of sucrose-enriched agar-based media for plant culture, especially in closed habitats such as the Space Shuttle. While a variety of fungicides are commercially available, not all are equal in their effectiveness in inhibiting fungal contamination. In addition, fungicide effectiveness must be weighed against its phytotoxicity and in this case, its influence on transgene expression. In a series of experiments designed to optimize media composition for a recent shuttle mission, the fungicide benomyl and the biocide "Plant Preservative Mixture" (PPM) were evaluated for effectiveness in controlling three common fungal contaminants, as well as their impact on the growth and development of arabidopsis seedlings. Benomyl proved to be an effective inhibitor of all three contaminants in concentrations as low as 2 ppm (parts per million) within the agar medium, and no evidence of phytotoxicity was observed until concentrations exceeded 20 ppm. The biocide mix PPM was effective as a fungicide only at concentrations that had deleterious effects on arabidopsis seedlings. As a result of these findings, a concentration of 3 ppm benomyl was used in the media for experiment PGIM-01 which flew on shuttle Columbia mission STS-93 in July 1999.

Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) on Space Vehicles: A Space Shuttle Flight Experiment

Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) on Space Vehicles: A Space Shuttle Flight Experiment

Flight Results from the Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE)

The middeck active control experiment (MACE) was designed as a Space Shuttle flight experiment to demonstrate high authority active structural control in zero-gravity (0-g) conditions based on analysis, ground testing, and on-orbit control redesign. MACE is a multidisciplinary project that is at the forefront of flexible structural control. MACE was first flown on STS-67 in March 1995, and a summary of the program objectives and mission experimental results is provided.

Ground Command Experiment of Arbitrary Viewpoint Reconstruction Onboad Space Shuttle.

In this paper, the authors discuss a way of supporting ground-based teleoperation using texture mapped lifelike images, and show some results of a flight experiment conducted as part of the Manipulator Flight Demonstration (MFD) space shuttle flight experiments operated by NASDA on the STS 85 mission launched on July 17, 1997. In the experiment, the quality and the time needed for generation of the virtual multiple view images were actually evaluated, and the results showed an improvement, in comparison with existing teleoperation human interfaces, in the ability to interpret the real time status of a remote manipulator system during operation.

Derivation of zero-gravity structural control models from analysis and ground experimentation

The Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE) is a Space Shuttle flight experiment that flew on STS-67 in March 1995, to demonstrate high-authority active structural control in microgravity conditions. Because no experimental on-orbit data were available before flight, the model used to derive these controllers was obtained from a combination of analysis and openand closed-loop ground testing. A modeling approach to obtain this 0-g model is presented along with its application to the MACE test article. This approach starts with a 1-g model, which includes gravity and suspension effects. This 1-g model is improved using ground test results in a process called updating. Once updated, it is verified through a combination of structural perturbation and closed-loop control. Finally, the gravity and suspension effects are removed to arrive at a prediction of the 0-g behavior of the structure. Flight data are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach.

MACE: Anatomy of a Modern Control Experiment

The Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE) was designed as a Space Shuttle flight experiment to be used to demonstrate high authority active structural control in zero gravity (0-g) conditions based on analysis, ground testing, and on-orbit control redesign. MACE is a multidisciplinary project which is at the forefront of flexible structural control. MACE was flown on STS-67 in March 1995, and this paper introduces a session devoted to the results of the mission.

NASA's space life sciences training program

The Space Life Sciences Training Program (SLSTP) is an intensive, six-week training program held every summer since 1985 at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). A major goal of the SLSTP is to develop a cadre of qualified scientists and engineers to support future space life sciences and engineering challenges. Hand-picked, undergraduate college students participate in lectures, laboratory sessions, facility tours, and special projects: including work on actual Space Shuttle flight experiments and baseline data collection. At NASA Headquarters (HQ), the SLSTP is jointly sponsored by the Life Sciences Division and the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs: it has been very successful in attracting minority students and women to the fields of space science and engineering. In honor of the International Space Year (ISY), 17 international students participated in this summer's program. An SLSTP Symposium was held in Washington D.C., just prior to the World Space Congress. The Symposium attracted over 150 SLSTP graduates for a day of scientific discussions and briefings concerning educational and employment opportunities within NASA and the aerospace community. Future plans for the SLSTP include expansion to the Johnson Space Center in 1995.

Twenty-five years of aerodynamic research with infrared imaging

A review is presented of the commercial introduction of IR imaging systems in the midsixties that has opened the possibilities to visualize viscous interactions between a body and the surrounding airflow by mapping the surface temperature distributions on configurations of interest. The capability of IR imaging systems to produce in real-time thermograms, which can be interpreted both locally and globally, makes them useful for heat transfer and skin-friction aerodynamic studies. Attention is given to IR systems and data processing, supersonic and hypersonic studies, Space Shuttle flight experiments, subsonic and transonic studies, and propulsion studies.