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NASA To Test Prototypes For Future Space Trips
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Apr 25, 2006 NASA said Monday it will begin testing new equipment this week in the Utah desert intended for use on future human missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. The agency will conduct the tests of its Brahms software and hardware packages until May 7 at its Mars Desert Research Station near Hanksville, Utah. During the field exercises, researchers will evaluate Brahms, which is designed to help astronauts by monitoring their electrical power systems and sounding alarms that indicate problems. The software also is supposed to provide procedural advice when problems occur, and it is designed to keep track of astronaut locations, timelines and important tasks. Researchers will trigger some simulated problems to learn how Brahms helps or hinders human responses, NASA's Ames Research Center said in a statement. In all, nine scientists and engineers from Ames will test Brahms, including Bill Clancey, the center's chief scientist for human-centered computing. He will act as principal investigator for the project. The team will set up equipment in and around the desert station, which will serve as a simulated habitat on the Moon. They will conduct a series of simulated lunar surface exploration missions, but at other times, the station will represent a spaceship in flight. Team members will use prototype tools, including a wireless computer network and voice-commanded mission control communication services, which can partly automate the role of capsule communicator personnel, who monitor and advise astronauts just as they did during the Apollo missions to the Moon in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The scientists will make audio and video recordings of the activities using the Crew-Activity Analyzer system developed under a Small Business Innovation Research Program grant to Foster-Miller Inc. of Waltham, Mass. It will synchronize audio and video recordings with records of the crewmembers' locations in the habitat. From analysis of the recordings and other data, investigators can evaluate Brahms effectiveness as a power system monitoring software, and they can develop requirements for computer systems designed to interact with people. The effort is being supported by NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program. Related Links Mars Desert Research Station NASA AMES
Boeing Opens Launch Systems Office In Huntsville
St Louis MO (SPX) Apr 25, 2006Boeing has opened an Exploration Launch Systems office in Huntsville, Ala., to support the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's Constellation program and the human space transportation elements. |
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