nasa reduced gravity student flight program

NASA Reduced Gravity Student NASA Reduced Gravity Student Flight ProgramFlight Program

Purdue University School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Flight Team MembersFlight Team Members

Ryan Casteel --Junior / Electrical Engineering

Jennifer Glassley --Junior / Electrical Engineering

Joachim Deguara --Sophomore / Electrical Engineering

Ryan Traylor --Sophomore / Electrical Engineering

Adrian Lim --Sophomore / Mechanical Engineering

About the ProgramAbout the Program

provides a unique academic experience for undergraduate students to successfully propose, design, fabricate, fly and assess a reduced-gravity experiment of their choice over the course of eight months.

includes scientific scholarship, hands-on test operations and education/public outreach activities.

Began in 1997

48 teams selected by May 7th for August flights from Johnson Space Center

Spatial Disorientation and Spatial Disorientation and Situational AwarenessSituational Awareness

the incorrect perception of attitude, altitude, or motion of one’s own body, aircraft, or spacecraft

WHY????WHY????

major problem facing military aviators and NASA astronauts

costs DoD $300 million per year in lost aircraft U.S. military loses around 20 aircraft and 15 officers

per year as a result of spatial disorientation mishaps typical SD mishap occurs when the visual system is

compromised by temporary distractions, increased workload, reduced visibility, and most commonly, g-

lock

SolutionSolution

Use a tactile feedback system to enhance spatial awareness

the sense of touch can be engaged in a natural and intuitive manner by using sensory saltation

utilizes the sense of touch to replace vision or audition (i.e., sensory substitution)

DefinitionsDefinitions

The human tactual sense is generally regarded as made up of two subsystems: the tactile and kinesthetic senses.

Tactile (or cutaneous) sense refers to the awareness of stimulation to the body surfaces

kinesthetic sense refers to the awareness of limb positions, movements and muscle tensions.

The term haptics is often used to refer to manipulation as well as perception through the tactual sense

The PhenomenonThe Phenomenon

DefinitionDefinition

saltation is Latin for “jumping”

does not depend on the user’s knowledge of either spatial nor temporal parameters

the user does not have to look for it — s/he simply feels it

The Cutaneous RabbitThe Cutaneous Rabbit

Equipment DescriptionEquipment Description

Control Box(Keypad Input)

Signal Generator(Microcontroller)

VibratorDriver Circuit

TactileDisplay

The Black BoxThe Black Box

More details..More details..

ApplicationsApplications

provide better orientation awareness for astronauts during EVAs

Silent communication

for military units on the ground

HALO JumpingHALO Jumping

On-Ground PreparationOn-Ground Preparation

KC135-A “Vomit Comet”KC135-A “Vomit Comet”

Flying Really Fast.Flying Really Fast.

During the FlightDuring the Flight

2-3 hour flights

30 to 50 parabolic maneuvers

25 seconds of zero-gravity on each maneuver

1.8-g entry and exit conditions in each reduced-g maneuver.

Fun in the Air!!Fun in the Air!!

THE FLIGHTTHE FLIGHT

The Backpack– Sensors– Controller

The Experiment– Signals– Orientations– Gravity

The Team– Test Subject– Experimenter

Your ExperimentsYour Experiments

Examples

Experiment packet

Questions

ScheduleSchedule

May 7th--Selection Day

late May-- we’ll get your materials

August Flights

Follow-up presentation in the fall

Question-Answer SessionQuestion-Answer Session