ALBERT

Beschreibung: Human factors pertinent to the design and operation of spacecraft are considered. The geometric characteristics of spacecraft that define the degree and type of confinement imposed on the crew and the character of equipment management and housekeeping necessary for hygiene, comfort and safety are discussed. The controls and displays of various spacecraft are described to indicate the degree to which crew functions become integral to functions of the total spacecraft. The contributions of the crew to system reliability and performance are summarized and the increasing significance of the crew's role in scientific observation and experimentation is noted.

Beschreibung: Primordial density fluctuations are studied using a CDM model and primordial clouds some of which are expanding, driven by pressure gradients created when the medium is photionized, and some of which are massive enough to continue collapsing in spite of the pressure. Normalization of CDM models to the clustering properties on large scales are used to predict the parameters of collapsing clouds of subgalactic mass at early epochs. It is shown that the abundance and dimensions of these clouds are comparable to those of the Lyman-alpha systems. The evolutionary history of the clouds is computed, utilizing a spherically symmetric hydrodynamics code with the dark matter treated as a collisionless fluid, and the H I column density distribution is evaluated as a function of N(H I) and redshift. The observed cloud parameters come out naturally in the CDM model and suggest that Lyman-alpha clouds are the missing link between primordial density fluctuations and the formation of galaxies.

Beschreibung: A transformation of the differential equations of motion of the two-body problem in the spherical coordinates to oscillator form is derived. It is shown that the independent variable transformation dt/ds = r squared is a transformation which makes the oscillator form possible.

Beschreibung: A model developed by Wever (1966) is considered. The model describes the behavior of circadian rhythms in response to photoperiod phase shifts simulating time zone changes, as a function of endogenous periodicity, light intensity, and direction of phase shift. A description is given of an investigation conducted to test the model upon the deep body temperature rhythm in unrestrained subhuman primates. An evaluation is conducted regarding the applicability of the model in predicting the type and duration of desynchronization induced by simulated time zone changes as a function of endogenous periodicity.

Beschreibung: This work is one facet of an integrated approach to diagnostic problem solving for aircraft and space systems currently under development. The authors are applying a method of modeling and reasoning about deep knowledge based on a functional viewpoint. The approach recognizes a level of device understanding which is intermediate between a compiled level of typical Expert Systems, and a deep level at which large-scale device behavior is derived from known properties of device structure and component behavior. At this intermediate functional level, a device is modeled in three steps. First, a component decomposition of the device is defined. Second, the functionality of each device/subdevice is abstractly identified. Third, the state sequences which implement each function are specified. Given a functional representation and a set of initial conditions, the functional reasoner acts as a consequence finder. The output of the consequence finder can be utilized in diagnostic problem solving. The paper also discussed ways in which this functional approach may find application in the aerospace field.

Beschreibung: Rule-based diagnostic expert systems can be used to perform many of the diagnostic chores necessary in today's complex space systems. These expert systems typically take a set of symptoms as input and produce diagnostic advice as output. The primary objective of such expert systems is to provide accurate and comprehensive advice which can be used to help return the space system in question to nominal operation. The development and maintenance of diagnostic expert systems is time and labor intensive since the services of both knowledge engineer(s) and domain expert(s) are required. The use of adaptive learning mechanisms to increment evaluate and refine rules promises to reduce both time and labor costs associated with such systems. This paper describes the basic adaptive learning mechanisms of strengthening, weakening, generalization, discrimination, and discovery. Next basic strategies are discussed for adding these learning mechanisms to rule-based diagnostic expert systems. These strategies support the incremental evaluation and refinement of rules in the knowledge base by comparing the set of advice given by the expert system (A) with the correct diagnosis (C). Techniques are described for selecting those rules in the in the knowledge base which should participate in adaptive learning. The strategies presented may be used with a wide variety of learning algorithms. Further, these strategies are applicable to a large number of rule-based diagnostic expert systems. They may be used to provide either immediate or deferred updating of the knowledge base.

Beschreibung: A new set of element differential equations for the perturbed two-body motion is derived. The elements are canonical and are similar to the classical canonical Poincare elements, which have time as the independent variable. The phase space is extended by introducing the total energy and time as canonically conjugated variables. The new independent variable is, to within an additive constant, the eccentric anomaly. These elements are compared to the Kustaanheimo-Stiefel (KS) element differential equations, which also have the eccentric anomaly as the independent variable. For several numerical examples, the accuracy and stability of the new set are equal to those of the KS solution. This comparable accuracy result can probably be attributed to the fact that both sets have the same time element and very similar energy elements. The new set has only 8 elements, compared to 10 elements for the KS set. Both sets are free from singularities due to vanishing eccentricity and inclination.

Beschreibung: The techniques described provide an effective tool which knowledge engineers and domain experts can utilize to help in evaluating and refining rules. These techniques have been used successfully as learning mechanisms in a prototype adaptive diagnostic expert system and are applicable to other types of expert systems. The degree to which they constitute complete evaluation/refinement of an expert system depends on the thoroughness of their use.

Beschreibung: A method of integrating the functions defined by Scheifele and Graf (1974), arising in the elimination of time from the arguments of satellite theory using Delaunay elements in the extended phase space, is proposed. By repeated applications of an identity of Stiefel and Scheifele (1971), neglecting certain terms, and assuming a solution in the form of a product of Bessel functions, a solution expanded in the eccentricity is obtained.

Beschreibung: A flight test was performed with the NASA Lewis Research Center's DH-6 icing research aircraft. The purpose was to employ a flight test procedure and data analysis method, to determine the accuracy with which the effects of ice on aircraft stability and control could be measured. For simplicity, flight testing was restricted to the short period longitudinal mode. Two flights were flown in a clean (baseline) configuration, and two flights were flown with simulated horizontal tail ice. Forty-five repeat doublet maneuvers were performed in each of four test configurations, at a given trim speed, to determine the ensemble variation of the estimated stability and control derivatives. Additional maneuvers were also performed in each configuration, to determine the variation in the longitudinal derivative estimates over a wide range of trim speeds. Stability and control derivatives were estimated by a Modified Stepwise Regression (MSR) technique. A measure of the confidence in the derivative estimates was obtained by comparing the standard error for the ensemble of repeat maneuvers, to the average of the estimated standard errors predicted by the MSR program. A multiplicative relationship was determined between the ensemble standard error, and the averaged program standard errors. In addition, a 95 percent confidence interval analysis was performed for the elevator effectiveness estimates, C sub m sub delta e. This analysis identified the speed range where changes in C sub m sub delta e could be attributed to icing effects. The magnitude of icing effects on the derivative estimates were strongly dependent on flight speed and aircraft wing flap configuration. With wing flaps up, the estimated derivatives were degraded most at lower speeds corresponding to that configuration. With wing flaps extended to 10 degrees, the estimated derivatives were degraded most at the higher corresponding speeds. The effects of icing on the changes in longitudinal stability and control derivat