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News Archive
Columbia Used to Validate Ares I-X Test Vehicle Configuration
Computational models of the Ares I-X test vehicle configuration run on the Columbia supercomputer will help NASA's Constellation Program meet their 2009 launch target.
How NASA's Future Spaceship Will Beat the Heat
The new Orion spaceship will endure heat in excess of 4,800 degrees F as it returns from the moon or the ISS. The Space Technology Division is leading NASA's development of the Orion heat shield.
Analysts Search for Impacts on Space Shuttle Wing
The Intelligent Systems Division's "Wing Leading Edge Impact Detection System" (WLE IDS) Data Analysis team members supported the STS-115 Shuttle mission by providing tools to examine WLE sensor data for evidence of any impacts during ascent. They also supported the STS-121 mission in July.
Avionics Magazine Features NASA Autonomous Aircraft Technologies
In the article "See and Avoid in IMC" (Avionics Magazine, July 2006), Victor Riley featured the Human Systems Integration Division's
3-D Cockpit Situational Display (CSD) with "automated flight conflict look ahead probe" capability.
Personal Satellite Assistant on Wired "Best Robots" List
The Personal Satellite Assistant (PSA), designed and built by researchers in the Intelligent Systems Division to assist astronauts in weightless environments, was named as one of the "50 greatest robots ever" by Wired Magazine.
Fault Management Concept Tested for Crew Exploration Vehicle
A cooperative human-machine fault management concept for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) has been developed and tested in the Intelligent Spacecraft Interface Systems (ISIS) Lab, developed and supported by the Human Factors Research & Technology Division.
Stardust Successfully 'Takes the Heat' of Fastest Re-Entry Ever
Researchers in the Space Technology Division invented, developed, and provided key support for the design and certification of the Stardust PICA (Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator) heat shield, which protected the Stardust sample return capsule as it plunged back to Earth at a blazing 29,000 mph (the fastest entry ever of a human-made object into Earth's atmosphere).
NASA Opens Columbia Supercomputer to U.S. Researchers
The NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division has extended access to Columbia, its premier high-end computing system, to include high-impact, computationally intensive research projects of large scale, with no requirement of current NASA sponsorship. Four of Columbia's nodes have been linked to form a unique 2048-processor shared memory environment that is currently the world's largest single-system-image configuration, called NASA's National Leadership Computing System (NLCS).
Spatial Standard Observer Draws Licensing Interest from Industry
Dr. Andrew B. Watson, of the Human Factors R&T Division, has recently provided multiple briefings for industry representatives interested in licensing the Spatial Standard Observer, which allows simple predictions of the visibility of spatial pattern targets. It is now being applied to a wide range of aerospace problems, including visibility of UAVs, legibility of fonts, discriminability of cockpit symbols, and detecting artifacts in the manufacture of LCD displays. NASA U.S. and foreign patents have been filed.
NASA Ties for Best Technical Paper Award at SC05
NAS Division scientist Michael J. Aftosmis co-authored the paper, "High Resolution Aerospace Applications Using the NASA Columbia Supercomputer," one of two papers selected for the prestigious Best Technical Paper award at SC05, the International Conference of High Performance Computing, Networking, and Storage.
Intelligent Systems Division Researchers Host Software Certification Workshop
Intelligent Systems Division researchers Ewen Denney and Bernd Fischer were two of the primary organizers of the Software Certificate Management 2005 Workshop (SoftCeMent 05) in Long Beach, CA, in November 2005. Software certification demonstrates the reliability, safety, or security of software systems in such a way that it can be checked by an independent authority with minimal trust in the techniques and tools used in the certification process itself.
Intelligent Systems Researchers Host Integrated System Health Engineering and Management Forum
Intelligent Systems Division researchers Serdar Uckun, Ann Patterson-Hine, and Irem Tumer were three of the primary organizers of ISHEM Forum 2005, the First International Forum on Integrated System Health Engineering and Management in Aerospace, in November 2005. ISHEM describes the discipline of health management for systems in general. It consists of the processes, techniques, and technologies used to design, analyze, build, verify, and operate complex human-machine systems with the goal of preventing failures or minimizing their effects.
Morning Report Honored at R&D 100 Awards Ceremony
The Aviation System Monitoring and Modeling (ASMM) Project Team received a prestigious R&D 100 Award from the editors of R&D 100 Magazine for the development of the Morning Report of Atypical Flights tool.
CDS Team Demonstrates Intelligent, Automated Technologies for Interplanetary Surface Exploration
The Intelligent System Division's Collaborative Decision Systems Project team demonstrated integrated capabilities that will allow a small team of humans, robots and mission controllers to simulate complex interplanetary surface exploration. The demonstration featured intelligent, automated technologies for single cycle instrument placement, robotic activity planning, human/robotic interaction, and work systems simulation as astronauts and intelligent agents interacted to carry out various science and maintenance activities.
