khayo@sonia.math.ucla.edu (Eric Behr) (05/05/88)
For those who want to know more about the NASA facilities
(&/or are wondering what outfit is Eugene M. working for :-),
I'm posting official descriptions, lifted from the SpaceLink
BBS (205 895 0028).
Here's the first installment.
=================================================================
NASA HEADQUARTERS
Washington, D. C. 20546
NASA Headquarters is located at 400 Maryland Avenue,
S.W. Washington, D.C., and also occupies other buildings in
the District of Columbia. It has more than l,500 employees
and administers the total NASA budget, which for FY l987
amounted to $10.5 billion. Dr. James C. Fletcher is
administrator.
NASA Headquarters exercises management over the space
flight centers, research centers and other installations that
constitute the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Responsibilities of Headquarters cover the
determination of programs and projects, establishment of
management policies, procedures and performance criteria;
evaluation of progress; and the review and analysis of all
phases of the aerospace program.
Planning, direction and management of NASA's research
and development programs are the responsibililty of six
program offices which report to and receive overall guidance
and direction from an associate or assistant administrator.
The Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST)
is responsible for the planning, direction, execution,
evaluation, documentation and dissemination of the results
of all NASA research and technology programs. These
programs are conducted primarily to demonstrate the
feasibility of a concept, structure, or component system
which may have general application to the nation's
aeronautical and space objectives. OAST has institutional
management repsonsibility for Ames Research Center,
Mountain View, Calif.; Langley Research Center, Hampton,
Va.; and Lewis Research Center, Cleveland. Dr. Raymond S.
Colladay is associate administrator.
The Office of Space Flight is responsible for
developing and applying a capability that will permit man to
explore space and perform missions leading to increased
knowledge of man and the quality of life on Earth. To
achieve this goal, the office directs the development of
space transportation and the required supporting systems for
man to perform missions in space. A major program now
underway is the Space Shuttle, a space transportation
system. The office is responsible for scheduling Space
Shuttle flights, including the Spacelab, developing
financial plans and pricing structures, providing necessary
services to users, management of the expendable launch
vehicles and upper stages, and management of NASA's
advanced program activities. Space Flight also is responsible
for institutional management of Kennedy Space Center, Fla.;
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.; Johnson
Space Flight Center, Houston; and the National Space
Technology Laboratories, near Bay St. Louis, Miss. Rear
Admiral Richard H. Truly is associate administrator.
The Office of Space Science and Applications (OSSA) is
responsible for the NASA automated space flight program
directed toward scientific investigations of the solar
system using groundbased, airborne and space techniques
including sounding rockets, Earth satellites and deep space
probes; for scientific experiments to be conducted by humans
in space; directing the NASA scientific portion of the
Spacelab program; and for the NASA contacts with the Space
Science Board of the National Academy of Sciences and other
advisory groups. OSSA is responsible for the conduct of
research and development activities leading to programs that
demonstrate the application of space systems, space
environment, and space-related or derived technology for the
benefit of the world. These activities involve disciplines
such as weather and climate, pollution monitoring, Earth
resources survey and Earth and ocean physics. OSSA has
institutional management responsibility for the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and Goddard Flight
Center. Greenbelt, Md. Dr. Lennard A. Fisk is associate
administrator.
The Office of Space Station is responsible for managing
and directing all aspects of the Space Station program and
to achieve the goals established by President Reagan in his
State of the Union message of Jan. 25, l984. These goals
include the development of a permanently manned Space
Station by the early l990s; to encourage other countries to
participate in the Space Station program; and to promote
private sector investment in space through enhanced
space-based operational capabilities. The Office of Space
Station has overall policy and management responsibilities
for the program. NASA centers responsible for developing
major elements of the Space Station are the Johnson Space
Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, Goddard Space Flight
Center and Lewis Research Center. Andrew J. Stofan is
associate administrator.
The Office of Space Tracking and Data Systems is
responsible for all activities incident to the tracking of
launch vehicles and spacecraft and for the acquisition and
distribution of technical and scientific data from them.
This office is also responsible for managing NASA's
communications systems and for operational data systems
and services. Robert O. Aller is associate administrator.
The Office of Commercial Programs is responsible for
managing and directing all aspects of the commercial use of
space. The office has overall policy and management
responsibilities for the technology utilization transfer
program; the small business innovation research program;
new commercial application of existing space
programs to the private sector; and the establishment and
management of the Centers for the Commercial Development of
Space. Isaac T. Gillam IV is assistant administrator.
==================================================================
AMES RESEARCH CENTER
Moffett Field, CA 94035
Ames Research Center was founded in 1940 as an aircraft
research laboratory by the National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics (NACA) and named for Dr. Joseph S. Ames,
Chairman of NACA from 1927 to 1939. In l958, Ames became
part of NASA, along with other NACA installations and
certain Department of Defense facilities. In 1981, NASA
merged Ames with the Dryden Flight Research center and the
two installations are now referred to as Ames-Moffett and
Ames-Dryden (see separate section on Ames-Dryden).
Ames-Moffett is located in the heart of "Silicon
Valley" at the southern end of San Francisco Bay on about
422 acres of land adjacent to the U.S. Naval Air Station,
Moffett Field.
Ames specializes in scientific research, exploration
and applications aimed toward creating new technology for
the nation.
The center's major program responsibilities are
concentrated in computer science and applications,
computational and experimental aerodynamics, flight
simulation, flight research, hypersonic aircraft, rotorcraft
and powered-lift technology, aeronautical and space human
factors, life sciences, space sciences, solar system
exploration, airborne science and applications, and infrared
astronomy.
The center also supports military programs, the Space
Shuttle and various civil aviation projects. These projects
and responsibilities will continue to evolve as NASA's needs
change and Ames' capabilities develop.
About 2,000 civil service employees and some l,400
contractor employees are employed at Ames' two locations. In
addition, approximately 400 graduate students, cooperative
education students, post-doctoral fellows and university
faculty members work at the center.
The Ames staff uses advanced equipment in the search
for new technology. This equipment includes aircraft and
spacecraft, wind tunnels, large computer facilities, flight
simulators and entry heating simulators.
The center's laboratories are equipped to study solar
and geophysical phenomena, life evolution and life
environmental factors, and to detect life on other planets.
Capital investment at the two locations is more than $800
million, and today's estimated replacement value is more
than $2.1 billion. Dr. William F. Ballhaus Jr. is center
director.
==================================================================
Ames Research Center
HUGH L. DRYDEN FLIGHT RESEARCH FACILITY
Post Office Box 273
Edwards, CA 93523
The Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility is located at
Edwards, Calif., in the Mojave Desert, approximately 80
miles north of the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
The facility enjoys almost ideal weather for flight
testing and is located at the southern end of a 500-mile
high-speed flight corridor. Situated adjacent to Rogers Dry
Lake, a 65- square-mile natural surface for landing, the
facility is in an isolated area free from problems of
population disturbance or hazard. Its primary research
tools are research aircraft, ranging from a B-52 carrier
aircraft and high performance jet fighters to the X-29
forward swept wing aircraft. Ground-based facilities
include a high temperrature loads calibration laboratory
that allows ground-based testing of complete aircraft and
structural components under the combined effects of loads
and heat; a highly developed aircraft flight instrumentation
capability; a flight systems laboratory with a diversified
capability for avionics system fabrication, development and
operations; a flow visualization facility that allows basic
flow mechanics to be seen on models or small components; a
data analysis facility for processing of flight research
data; a remotely piloted research vehicles facility and a
test range communications and data transmission capability
that links NASA's Western Aeronautical Test Range facilities
at Ames-Moffett, Crows Landing and Ames-Dryden.
Since 1947, Ames-Dryden has developed a unique and
highly specialized capability for conducting flight research
programs. Its test organization, consisting of pilots,
scientists, engineers, technicians and mechanics, is
unmatched anywhere in the world. This versatile
organization has demonstrated its capability, not only with
high-speed research aircraft, but also with such unusual
flight vehicles as the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle and
the wingless lifting bodies.
The facility was actively involved in the Approach and
Landing Tests (ALT) of the Space Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise
and continues to support Shuttle orbiter landings from space
as well as processing for ferry flights to the launch site.
Ames-Dryden's major projects include the X-29. With
the X-29, NASA is conducting a research program in a variety
of advanced aero technologies including forward swept wings,
aeroelastic tailoring, close-coupled variable incidence
canards, strake flaps, thin supercritical wings, variable
camber, three surface pitch control and an advanceed flight
control system.
Another major program is the Advanced Fighter
Technology Integration (AFTI) F-111. The AFTI F-111
features a smooth surface variable camber Mission Adaptive
Wing (MAW). With the MAW, a pilot would select the best
posssible wing cross section shape to fit the flight regime:
a highly cambered wing for subsonic maneuvering, a supercritical
wing for transonic flight or a supersonically
efficient wing. MAW promises wing adaptation without drag as
well as other benefits.
Ames-Dryden is preparing a specially instrumented F-l8
to investigate high alpha or high angle of attack flight.
Today's high performance jet aircraft can fly in the high
alpha flight regime, but not necessarily efficiently. The
facility's research in this area will create a data base for
aircraft designers to accurately predict high alpha airflow.
High alpha technology may result in airplanes capable of
"supermaneuvers" and will help eliminate costly design
"fixes" and operational limitations imposed on aircraft
designed without this technology
Other aircraft research programs under way at the
facility include the C-140 JetStar Laminar Flow Control
Leading Edge Flight Test program which investigates the use
of leading edge systems using suction, deicing and cleaning
to facilitate laminar flow; and the Highly Integrated
Digital Electronic Control program (HIDEC) which
investigates an integrated digital electronic engine control
system and digital flight control system on the facility's
F-15. The F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire test bed aircraft
continues digital flight control experiments as NASA
prepares to equip it with an oblique wing for flight
research in the late 1980s. Martin A. Knutson is site
manager.
Ericeugene@pioneer.arpa (Eugene N. Miya) (05/06/88)
In article <11972@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> khayo@MATH.ucla.edu (Eric Behr) writes: >(&/or are wondering what outfit is Eugene M. working for :-), Hey close the door! When you come in here...... >================================================================= >NASA HEADQUARTERS >Washington, D. C. 20546 > > NASA Headquarters is located at 400 Maryland Avenue, >S.W. Washington, D.C., and also occupies other buildings in These are Federal Office Buildings 6 and 10. > . . . > The Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST) >OAST has institutional management repsonsibility for Ames Research Center, >Mountain View, Calif.; Langley Research Center, Hampton, >Va.; and Lewis Research Center, Cleveland. Dr. Raymond S. >Colladay is associate administrator. OLD! Colladay is now head of DARPA Dr. William F. Ballhaus Jr. acting assoc. admin. > The Office of Space Science and Applications (OSSA) is I used to be accountable to this office...... >OSSA has institutional management responsibility for the Jet >Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and Goddard Flight >Center. Greenbelt, Md. Dr. Lennard A. Fisk is associate >administrator. > > The Office of Space Tracking and Data Systems is I used to be accountable to this office, too....... >================================================================== > >AMES RESEARCH CENTER >Moffett Field, CA 94035 > > Ames-Moffett is located in the heart of "Silicon >Valley" at the southern end of San Francisco Bay on about >422 acres of land adjacent to the U.S. Naval Air Station, >Moffett Field. Also the Ellison Onizuka Air Farce Base (Blue Cube), Lockheed, and small contingents of the USGS, USA, and USDA, probably also the CIA and NSA (but I never see these guys) and any other Government Agency we can think of (also MacDonalds and Baskin Robbins 8-). >than $2.1 billion. Dr. William F. Ballhaus Jr. is center director. Not currently. Another gross generalization from --eugene miya, NASA Ames Research Center, eugene@ames-aurora.ARPA resident cynic soon to be aurora.arc.nasa.gov at the Rock of Ages Home for Retired Hackers: "Mailers?! HA!", "If my mail does not reach you, please accept my apology." {uunet,hplabs,hao,ihnp4,decwrl,allegra,tektronix}!ames!aurora!eugene "Send mail, avoid follow-ups. If enough, I'll summarize."