Mar 21 1985
From The Space Library
Aerospace Daily reported that NASA would submit to Congress that week the space station automation and robotics study, 'Advancing Automation and Robotics Technology for the Space Station and for the U.S. Economy," which appropriations legislation enacted in 1984 had directed NASA to prepare by April 1. NASA Administrator James Beggs approved the report compiled by the advanced technology advisory committee and augmented by the work of an automation and robotics panel, SRI International, and aerospace contractors.
The report consisted of two volumes, an executive overview, which outlined major findings and contained proposed goals for automation and robotics applications in relation to the initial space station, and a technical report, which outlined the potential of automation and robotics technologies and would serve a major focus of definition and preliminary design (Phase B) space station contractor efforts.
Under an agreement with the Senate Appropriations Committee the previous April, NASA had funded and managed several studies in automation and robotics that had included industry case studies of advanced automation and robotics. From these the committee determined what should be incorporated in space station initial operational capability and what the design should be so that these elements could be incorporated at a later date.
The firms and functional areas studied were: General Electric Co., space manufacturing concepts; TRW, satellite servicing; Hughes, subsystem and mission ground support; Boeing, man/machine interface; and Martin Marietta, automation technology for assembly of the facility.
Although NASA believed a commitment to the efforts outlined in the committee report would increase space station efficiency and result in significant cost savings, a breakdown of actual costs would not be available until NASA contractors completed the overall plan for implementation of the automation and robotics systems in initial space station studies.
The report did recommend that automation and robotics be a key element of the basis space station program and that the initial space station design take into account evolution and growth in robotics. Examples of proposed goals for automation and robotics applications for the initial space station included a mobile remote manipulator with collision avoidance capability and dexterous manipulator systems that could inspect and exchange orbital replaceable units. (A/D, Mar 21/85, 1)
NASA announced that it had scheduled for March 27 the first government flight in the joint Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)/U.S. and the Air Force/NASA X-29 flight research program. The X-29 was a high-performance research aircraft incorporating a wide variety of advanced technologies, each aimed at producing a better fighter-type aircraft. As a technology demonstrator, the X-29 was intended to provide engineering data for future design rather than to serve as a prototype for production.
The flight research program followed four recently completed contractor demonstration flights flown by Grumman Aerospace Corp., builder of the experimental craft for DARPA. All flights were at Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC).
NASA, Air Force, and Grumman pilots would fly the first phase or initial concept evaluation of the government flight research program and then would gradually increase the performance of the forward-swept wing aircraft to speeds of about Mach 0.6 (almost 400 mph) at altitudes of about 30,000 ft.
That phase would include as many as 30 flights and would conclude during the summer.
The first three flights would concentrate on handling qualities and stability and control aspects of the aircraft in its backup flight control mode, one of three different modes of the X-29's computer-controlled flight. These flights would also provide pilot familiarization and allow smooth program team transition from the contractor to the government. NASA test pilot Stephen Ishmael would pilot the first flight.
Following the three flights, NASA would reconfigure the DFRC control room from its functional flight monitoring mode to a research mode that would allow the team to expand the aircraft's flight envelope for the second flight research phase scheduled for early fall 1985.
Prior to start of the second phase or full envelope concept evaluation, the contractor would modify the aircraft's flight control system to incorporate full envelope flight control system capabilities.
The second phase, lasting through October 1986, called for as many as 100 research flights by NASA and Air Force pilots and should extend the X-29's flight envelope to Mach 1.5, about 1,000 mph, and to 50,000 ft. in altitude. (NASA Release 85-40)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
