Ames Overview

Editor's Notes

• #2: In support of the Vision for Space Exploration, NASA Ames, which lies in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley, provides leadership in developing innovative technologies for NASA’s next generation of space exploration vehicles, through its supercomputing, information technology, and advanced thermal protection systems. The Center also seeks to enhance the development of small spacecraft and small satellites. Our location in Silicon Valley in close proximity to the nation’s technology leaders lends itself to entrepreneurial space partnerships.
• #4: Ames Research Center was established in 1939. The original 500-acre campus of NASA Ames Research Center and the 1,200 acres of the former Naval Air Station, Moffett Field is being transformed into an integrated, dynamic R&D and educational community in the heart of Silicon Valley. This chart gives a broad overview of the center as it now stands, calling out the major missions and programs at Ames. We will go into greater detail on some of these missions in the later charts, esp. as it relates to the Vision.
• #7: August 1939, as World War II began, Congress authorized the construction of the NACA facility “Ames Aeronautical Laboratory” in 1944 in honor of Dr. Joseph S. Ames, leading aerodynamicist and former president of Johns Hopkins University. • Wind tunnels were opened in the 1940s to test and refine aircraft, guided missiles, satellites, and reentry bodies. 5 wind tunnels: 40 x 80-foot wind tunnel to conduct aircraft development work, 12-foot subsonic wind tunnel, 80 x 120-foot tunnel added to the 40 x 80-foot tunnel, 12-foot pressure tunnel. Today, only the Unitary is still in regular use. • 1958 Ames became part of NASA. Ames’ top priority was the lunar program: blunt body concept for reentry capsules, a concept tested and refined in the Center’s new arc jet facilities and hypervelocity ranges. The arcjets contributed to thermal protection for all NASA’s crewed programs, including the Space Shuttle, and also for planetary missions, e.g., the Galileo mission’s Jupiter probe. • In the 1960s, Ames emerged as a leading builder of flight simulators. 1969 the Flight Simulator for Advanced Aircraft became part of a wide range of simulators, equipment, and facilities developed by Ames to improve pilot workloads, cockpit design, and safety, among other things. Another, the Vertical Motion Simulator, still enables testing of a variety of aircraft and the Space Shuttle. • Ames’ longstanding life sciences program conducts research in various centrifuges, two of them unique to the agency, and genome facilities. Supercomputing in 2004 with the Project Columbia facility with unprecedented computing capabilities. Future Flight Central, a sophisticated facility for basic research on movement into and around airports. Human Performance Research Laboratory (1990), and advanced aerospace technology applications in the Automation Sciences Research Facility (1992). • In the 1990s, Nanotechnology laboratories help revolutionize space exploration by reducing mass while increasing capability. Astrobiology facilities include a world-renowned Astrochemistry laboratory to simulate deep space, the world’s only living bio-mat greenhouse laboratory to study Earth’s earliest living organisms, and bio-signature labs.
• #9: Ames Research Center was established in 1939. The original 500-acre campus of NASA Ames Research Center and the 1,200 acres of the former Naval Air Station, Moffett Field is being transformed into an integrated, dynamic R&D and educational community in the heart of Silicon Valley. This chart gives a broad overview of the center as it now stands, calling out the major missions and programs at Ames. We will go into greater detail on some of these missions in the later charts, esp. as it relates to the Vision.
• #10: POC: Carl Pilcher 4-0022 Astrobiology is the scientific study of life in the Universe – its origin, evolution, distribution, and future. This multidisciplinary field brings together the physical and biological sciences to address some of the most profound questions of the natural world: How does life begin and evolve? What is the future of life? Does life exist elsewhere in the Universe? There are 12 lead member institutions Carnegie Institution of Washington; University of Colorado, Boulder; NASA Ames Research Center; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; Indiana University; Marine Biological Laboratory; Pennsylvania State University; SETI Institute; University of Arizona; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Hawaii, Manoa Ames Lead Team: PI: David DesMarais - studying microbial biosignatures in intertidal and subtidal hypersaline microbial mats, analogues for Earth's early microbial communities
• #12: Ames has successfully managed several missions Pioneer 6-11 and Pioneer Venus Program: Ames managed the Pioneer spacecraft and program, and designed the telemetry that gathered data. The Pioneer project included the first probe to Jupiter and Saturn, and the first radar maps of Venus. Information gathered from this project was crucial to the success of the Voyager missions. Viking: 2 landers that arrived on the surface of Mars in 1976 included an atmospheric structure experiment which provided the first detailed data of the structure of the Martian atmosphere. In addition, the landers included Ames' first biology experiment, to examine Martian soil for traces of living organisms, led by Vance Oyama and Chuck Klein. Galileo Probe: Launched October 18, 1989 Galileo was deliberately crashed in to Jupiter in 2003 to prevent any possibility that it might crash into Europa and contaminate any life that might be there. Lunar Prospector: Launched 6 January 1998 The tiny, low budget craft found somewhere between 10 to 300 million tons of water-ice scattered inside the craters of the lunar poles.
• #13: 40 years of airborne astronomy Airborne astronomy began in 1966, when Dr. Gerard Kuiper, a prominent planetary scientist, flew a 30-cm (12-inch) telescope pointed out the window of a Convair 990. Having proven that airborne astronomy was feasible, scientists were soon flying an infrared telescope aboard a Learjet. From 1974 to 1995, NASA operated the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO), named after Dr. Kuiper, which carried a 91-cm (36-inch) reflecting telescope in a converted C-141 military cargo plane. KAO science findings, focusing on solar system, galactic and extragalactic astronomy, included discovery of the rings of Uranus, a ring of dust around the center of the Milky Way, ultra-luminous infrared galaxies, complex organic molecules in space and water in comets. Featuring three times better image quality and greater than an order of magnitude higher sensitivity than its predecessor the KAO, SOFIA is the world’s largest mobile astronomical observatory, traveling to the right place at the right time to observe celestial events
• #14: POC: Tom Greene 4-5520 SOFIA - Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy A key component of NASA’s Origins Program to explore fundamental questions about the universe, SOFIA will help astronomers learn more about the birth of stars, the formation of solar systems, the origin of complex molecules in space, the nature and evolution of comets, how galaxies form and change, and even the nature of the mysterious black holes lying at the centers of some galaxies, including our own.
• #17: Mission: to advance the effectiveness of low cost experiments in support of NASA exploration and advanced technical demonstrations Ames is excited to be involved in the area of small spacecraft and small satellites. These small projects promise lower cost, higher frequency launches and missions in support of Exploration and other NASA programs. Ames is establishing a lunar projects office with the responsibility for developing small spacecraft to support exploration. Ames will have an expanded role in the following small-scale projects: in-situ resource utilization, advanced life support, human/robotic systems, and space radiation research. We will use partnerships w/Industry (such as with AirLaunch, a company that will offer launch capabilities for small payloads) and our entrepreneurial space partnerships (examples: UARC, BINRDI, Carnegie Mellon, Collaborative for Higher Education, UCSC, etc.) Lasercom/IP - Laser Communication, Space Vehicle Flight Ops at ARC, data routed to external users, uplink/downlink communications encrypted XNAV - Provides autonomous navigation capability independent of GPS using passive pulsar star sources Lunar Micro-Lander - Soft-Landing Spacecraft for robotic missions to lunar surface Lunar Science Orbiter - ARC Systems Eng, I&T, Launch, Ops., global dust characterization, dust charging and motion study, surface dust composition
• #19: POC: Ernest Fretter 4-6166 Arc Jet Complex Providing ground-based hyperthermal environments in support of the Nation’s Research & Development activities in Thermal Protection Materials, Vehicle Structures, Aerothermodynamics, and Hypersonics. The Ames Arc Jet Complex has a rich heritage of over 40 years in Thermal Protection System (TPS) and have been involved with all planetary atmospheric entry missions including Apollo, Space Shuttle, Viking, Pioneer-Venus, Galileo, Mars Pathfinder, Stardust, NASP, X-33, X-34, SHARP-B1 and B2, and most recently X-37 and Mars Exploration Rovers. With this early TPS history came a long heritage in the development of the arc jet facilities. These are used to simulate the aerodynamic heating that occurs on the nose cap, wing leading edges and on other areas of the spacecraft requiring thermal protection. TPS samples have been run in the arc jets from a few minutes to over an hour, from one exposure to multiple exposures of the same sample, in order to understand the TPS materials’ response to a hot gas flow environment (representative of real hyperthermal environments experienced in flight). Current: CEV-Thermal Protection System Advanced Development Project: Develop a single heat shield design that meets both Lunar Direct Return (LDR) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) reentry requirements. Develop two heat shield preliminary designs for the Orion, including the TPS, carrier structure, penetrations, seals, attachments and separation system. Beyond the heat shield development, the Orion TPS ADP will perform trade studies and develop concepts for the aft body (back shell) TPS.
• #20: Intelligent Adaptive Systems: NASA has developed a bold vision focused on systems that reason and behave with ‘intelligence’. These include: Autonomous systems and robotics: the robotic and combined human-robotic exploration of space to understand the origin and evolution of life. Integrated Systems Health Management: safe and cost-effective operation of launch vehicles. Robust software systems: the use of satellites to understand climate processes such as global warming; and enhancement of the safety, security, and capacity of the U.S. air transportation system. What these elements have in common is a new level of system intelligence. Large data sets & datamining: High-end computing resources, integrated with modeling and simulation, data analysis, and visualization technologies, are essential to NASA research for the design of tomorrow’s air- and space vehicles, the health of our planet, and the search for life’s origins.
• #21: POC: Rupak Biswas 4-4411, Rupak.Biswas@nasa.gov http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Projects/Columbia/columbia.html NASA’s Altix system is named Columbia , in honor of the crew of Columbia flight STS-107. The largest supercomputing facility in NASA, Columbia is making it possible for NASA to achieve breakthroughs in science and engineering for the agency's missions and Vision for Space Exploration. The Columbia system represents a unique partnership between government and industry (SGI®, Intel® and Voltaire®) to build one of the world's largest supercomputers in record time. Columbia is installed at Ames and became fully operational on October 26, 2004. Columbia features a sustained Linpack benchmark performance of 6.4 gigaflop/s. Computation, high-fidelity modeling and simulation for Crew Exploration Vehicle, Crew Launch vehicle, Earth Science and astrophysics; parallel performance analysis and optimization, distributed information infrastructure, and advanced data analysis and visualization
• #22: POC: Thomas Edwards 4-4465 http://www.ctas.arc.nasa.gov/project_description/tma.html Air traffic management and developing new tools for Air Traffic capacity is a very big issue for the country. Another collaboration that has an immediate impact on California and the nation, especially for all who travel by air is our efforts with the Federal Aviation Administration in the area of air traffic management and air traffic control. Keeping the nation’s skies safe and our air traffic flowing on schedule is a goal we can all readily grasp. The Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) has had significant positive impact on the National Airspace System (NAS). TMA was extensively tested by NASA Ames researchers, culminating in a several-month field evaluation at the Ft. Worth Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) in 1996. Traffic to the Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) airport, frequently the busiest airport in the United States, was efficiently scheduled and managed by TMA under routinely heavy traffic conditions. These evaluations demonstrated a 5% increase in number of arrivals at DFW, along with an average reduction of 2-3 minutes of delay per aircraft. With nearly 100–120 aircraft landing per hour at DFW during their peak operational times, this also represented a significant savings to the airlines. Based on these impressive results, NASA transferred the TMA software to the FAA, which has since implemented the system at 11 other ARTCCs across the NAS. TMA is now aiding air traffic managers and controllers on a daily basis. Any flight you have taken in the past five years is likely to have been guided by TMA. These installations have resulted in an FAA-estimated savings of $400M per year to the airlines.
• #23: POC: http://windtunnels.arc.nasa.gov/ Wind tunnels are central to Ames’ history. Several wind tunnels were opened in the 1940s to test and refine aircraft, guided missiles, satellites, and reentry bodies. Of particular note are three tunnels later designated key national resources. The 40 x 80-foot wind tunnel opened in June 1944 to conduct aircraft development work. The 12-foot subsonic wind tunnel, opened in July 1946. The Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel enabled Ames to conduct new research; almost all NASA manned space vehicles, including the Space Shuttle, were tested in the Unitary. In the 1970s through the 1990s, all three facilities were renovated. Ames added an 80 x 120-foot tunnel to the 40 x 80-foot tunnel, renamed it the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC), and dedicated it in 1987. The 12-foot pressure tunnel was rebuilt in the 1980s, and rededicated in 1995. The workhorse Unitary received multiple upgrades in the 1990s. Today, only the Unitary is still in regular use.
• #24: POC: Tom Alderete 4-3271 http://www.simlabs.arc.nasa.gov/ NASA Ames’ Simulation Laboratories - or “SimLabs” - are comprised of three facilities. • The Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) is the world's largest motion-based simulator and can simulate a variety of vehicles, either currently existing or at the conceptual stage. • The Crew-Vehicle Systems Research Facility (CVSRF) specializes in human factors work and houses a Boeing 747-400 simulator, an Advanced Concepts Flight Simulator (ACFS), and an Air Traffic Control simulator. • FutureFlight Central (FFC) is a simulated air traffic control tower that can also be used as a visualization tool for other types of visual databases.
• #25: Besides small spacecraft, NASA Ames is engaging and encouraging the entrepreneurial space industry, assuming a “NACA” type role. The Moffett airfield at Ames uniquely positions Ames as an ideal partner for entrepreneurial space companies, most of which function out of the west coast. Innovative collaborations with commercial sector, such the recently announced Google collaboration, are redefining the traditional government-contractor paradigm that has permeated the agency for the past 50 years. The thriving NASA Research Park located on the former Navy base at Moffett Field adjacent to Ames is a prime example of this type of collaborative model. Over 40 partners are already on-site at the NRP including the University of California, Carnegie Mellon University, San Jose State University, the United Negro College Fund Special Programs Corporation and over 30 start up entrepreneurial companies. A few noteworthy examples include Ion America, an innovative fuel cell research company that has attracted considerable Wall Street “buzz”, and Apprion Inc., a start up specializing in cutting-edge wireless solutions with industrial-grade security, reliability and manageability. Their products have robust application for homeland security and NASA’s IT security programs. For more information about the NRP, I invite you to visit their website at researchpark.arc.nasa.gov The development of this strategic community brings exciting opportunities for research partners to join NASA in realizing the nation’s vision for affordable, credible space exploration and a sustainable human presence in space.
• #26: September of 2003, A ten-year task order contract valued at more than $330 million was awarded to the University of California (UC) system to establish and operate a University Affiliated Research System (UARC). The University of California, Santa Cruz will manage the UARC contract. The UARC seeks to leverage the resources of NASA and the UC system. Salient points about the UC: The UC family includes more than 197,000 students, 150,000 faculty and staff, 35,000 retirees and more than 1.2 million living alumni. UC faculty and researchers have won 45 Nobel Prizes – 12 of them since 1995. Current faculty includes 23 Nobel laureates and 320 members of the National Academy of Sciences, more than any other college or university in the United States. Academic study areas at UC span more than 150 disciplines, one of the broadest ranges of study of any institute of higher learning in the world. More UC academic programs are consistently rated among the top 10 nationally than any other public or private university. No other university system in the country has more than one campus as a member. Each year, approximately 42,000 students graduate from UC’s nine campuses, including 7.5 percent of the nation’s Ph.D.s. UC and its three affiliated national laboratories produce more research leading to patented inventions than any other public or private research institution. UC ranks second nationally in fundraising, following the Salvation Army.
• #27: POC: 4-6274 or 4-6497 http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/home/exploration.html • The NASA Ames Exploration Center, where visitors can experience NASA technology and missions first hand, recently added a number of fresh and exciting exhibits open to the public at no charge. Located at the main gate to NASA Ames at Moffett Field, the NASA Exploration Center has welcomed more than 150,000 visitors in its first year and has inspired tens of thousands of schoolchildren to become the next generation of space explorers. • The facility boasts the largest Immersive Theater on the West Coast. The theater presents panoramic views of Mars and Saturn's rings as well as other eye-popping movies and special effects on a curved 40 foot wide screen. Content includes a true-color panorama taken by the rover Spirit of the "Cahokia" site on the Columbia Hills and images taken by the Cassini mission of Saturn can be viewed on the large screen. Some of the alien images are seen at twice the resolution of high definition television. • There is a gift shop outside the NASA Exploration Center that sells NASA and space related clothing, patches, posters, videos and more. All purchases at the gift shop, operated by the nonprofit Ames employee association, are tax-exempt.