Advanced Technologies: 1997 Year in Review
n 1997, Aerospace Technology Innovation presented stories demonstrating NASA's continuing efforts and success in finding applications for existing technologies that have been used in other ways. Many technologies have more than one market, and Innovation reports the continual transfer and commercialization of valuable and beneficial technologies to the nation's businesses and citizens. The following are examples of 1997 advanced technology highlights:
Marshall Space Flight Center signed an agreement with Horton's Orthotic Lab, Inc., of Little Rock, Arkansas, to license an innovative knee brace developed as a spinoff of space propulsion system mechanisms and material by a group of Marshall propulsion engineers. The brace allows knee function with support for recovery, and it provides quicker and less painful rehabilitation for patients who use it.
Significant scientific discoveries from experiments conducted on two recent Space Shuttle missions could greatly improve life on Earth. NASA researchers, astronauts and university scientists responsible for the space-based experiments outlined their discoveries at a conference at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. Their discoveries are expected to lead to better synthetic drugs, less expensive alloys and metal products, improved environmental cleanup, a greater understanding of weather and climate and a greater knowledge of how blood clots in the human body.
"Virtual reality in medical practice using computer technology" was the goal announced in late 1997 by NASA and the National Center for Biocomputation. This is soon to be established by NASA and Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, as stated in a letter of intent signed in 1997. The center will be located at Stanford to develop new medical technologies to improve the ability of patients and surgeons to see outcomes before surgery is done, create a digital library of computerized "virtual patients" to be used to teach medical students and help physicians share information on uncommon surgeries.
Future scientific space exploration missions to Antarctica, the Moon and Mars look promising after a four-wheel-drive roving robot explored the terrain of Chile's rugged Atacama Desert for 45 days. The rover, named Nomad, set travel records and exceeded expectations of scientists at Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, and at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Nomad traveled 133 miles, more than any remotely controlled robot has ever done over rough territory, driving 12 of those miles totally on its own—an important objective called autonomous driving. NASA and Carnegie Mellon are formulating plans to use Nomad to look for meteorites in Antarctica in 1998 and 1999.
Spacesuits specially designed using technology that protects astronauts in space helped two British youngsters enjoy a more normal life. A team at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston provided "suits" to 4-year-old Kyle and 2-year-old Ryan of Shotton Colliery, England, after being contacted by an English newspaper. The brothers suffer from Polymorphic Light Reaction Syndrome, an extreme allergy to light caused by a very rare genetic defect. Without the suits, the boys could venture outside only at night, avoiding bright light.
The frontiers of space exploration were brought to 15 U.S. middle school classrooms via the World Wide Web. KidSat is a 3-year pilot education program that uses an electronic still camera aboard the Space Shuttle. The program, a partnership among the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the University of California at San Diego and the Johns Hopkins University's Institute for the Advancement of Youth, was launched for the second time on an Atlantis mission.
Skies and roads may be safer with a modification to a filter NASA engineers already developed for current use with agricultural goggles to help pilots and drivers see better during daytime hours. A new sunglass filter, designed by Optical Sales Corporation in Portland, Oregon, was adapted from a filter originally developed to help farmers identify diseased plants by enhancing the human eye's capacity to detect other colors in the visible spectrum. The original filter, a low-cost, brownish, plastic material called the passive chlorophyll detector, was developed in 1991 by Dr. Leonard Haslim of NASA's Ames Research Center.
NASA is preparing the most advanced spacecraft artificial intelligence software for launch aboard the New Millennium program's Deep Space One (DS1) spacecraft. The basic goal of DS1's computer artificial intelligence program, known as the "Remote Agent," is to operate and control a spacecraft with minimal human assistance that will logically address the state of the spacecraft and the consequences of its actions. DS1 is scheduled for launch in 1998. Remote DS1 is the first scheduled mission in NASA's New Millennium program, which is designed to test and validate cutting-edge technology for the systems and instruments aboard future NASA science spacecraft. The Remote Agent's development is a collaborative effort of the Ames Research Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
A newly developed remote-controlled helicopter will be able to perform precision crop spraying, border patrols, hazardous spill inspection, fire surveillance, crowd security and emergency medical delivery more safely and cost-effectively. NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, and the U.S. Army have developed the Free Flight Rotorcraft Research Vehicle, a robotic helicopter that can carry a movie camera, still camera, video downlinks, night vision cameras or infrared cameras. Artificial intelligence techniques keep the chopper stable in flight and allow it to be remotely controlled from the ground.
Design improvements for a new, more fuel-efficient Boeing 777 jet engine resulted from tests to improve NASA Space Shuttle engine performance. The new design gained a full half-percent in energy efficiency—meaning a savings of hundreds of gallons of fuel per flight, an annual savings of millions of dollars for the airline industry and a competitive edge in world markets. Researchers also are using the test results to fine-tune the large, electricity-generating turbines used by U.S. electric companies to save fuel. NASA and Pratt & Whitney, a commercial and military aircraft engine design and manufacturing leader, conducted the tests at Marshall Space Flight Center in 1992.
As we progress into 1998, Aerospace Technology Innovationwill continue to report updates of past highlights, as well as feature new and exciting stories about NASA's advanced technologies.
For more information, you may access 1997 issues of Innovation
at NASA's Commercial Technology web site at http://nctn.hq.nasa.gov
Or contact Karen Kafton at the National Technology Transfer Center.
(304) 243-2415, Fax: (304) 243-2457, E-mail: kkafton@nttc.edu
Please mention you read about it in Innovation.
"Nomad" the rover created a new standard
for robotic travel
and paved the way for future space exploration to Antarctica,
agricultural
use helps agricultural
the Moon and Mars after traveling 133 miles, more than any
other
remote-controlled robot, in recent rough tests.
Special brown sunglass filters,
developed by
Dr. Leonard Haslim of NASA's Ames Research Center
for agricultural use helps agricultural
workers spot plant stress and disease.
