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A new NASA document entitled "Terrestrial Environment (Climatic) Criteria Handbook for Use in Aerospace Vehicle Development (NASA-HDBK-1001A) has been developed. The Handbook provides terrestrial environment information, data bases, models, recommendations, etc. for use in the design, development, trade studies, testing, and mission analyses for space (or launch) .vehicles. This document is organized into fourteen specific natural environment disciplines of which some are winds, atmospheric models, thermal radiation, precipitation-for-icing, cloud cover, atmospheric electricity, geologic hazards, toxic chemical release by propulsion systems, and sea state. Atmospheric phenomena play a significant role in the design and flight of aerospace vehicles and in the integrity of the associated aerospace systems and structures. Environmental design criteria guidelines in this document are based on measurements and observations of atmospheric and climatic phenomena relative to various aerospace development, operational, and vehicle launch locations. The natural environment criteria guidelines data presented in this Handbook were formulated based on discussions with and requests from engineers involved in aerospace vehicle development and operations. Therefore, they represent responses to actual engineering problems and are not just a general compilation of environmental data. The Handbook addresses the basis for the information presented, the interpretations of the terrestrial environment guideline given in the Handbook, and its application to the development of aerospace vehicle design requirements. Specific examples of the Handbook content and associated "lessons lenmed" are given in this paper.

Technical excellence is a requirement for good engineering. Technical excellence has many different ways of expressing itself within engineering. NASA has initiatives that address the enhancement of the Agency's technical excellence and thrust to maintain the associated high level of performance by the Agency on current programs/projects and as it moves into the Constellation Program and the return to the Moon with plans to visit Mars. This paper addresses some of the key initiatives associated with NASA's technical excellence thrust. Examples are provided to illustrate some results being achieved and plans to enhance these initiatives.

The terrestrial environment is an important driver of space vehicle structural, control, and thermal system design. NASA is currently in the process of producing an update to an earlier Terrestrial Environment Guidelines for Aerospace Vehicle Design and Development Handbook. This paper addresses the contents of this updated handbook, with special emphasis on new material being included in the areas of atmospheric thermodynamic models, wind dynamics, atmospheric composition, atmospheric electricity, cloud phenomena, atmospheric extremes, and sea state. In addition, the respective engineering design elements are discussed relative to terrestrial environment inputs that require consideration. Specific lessons learned that have contributed to the advancements made in the application and awareness of terrestrial environment inputs for aerospace engineering applications are presented.

The description and interpretation of the terrestrial environment (0-90 km altitude) is an important driver of aerospace vehicle structural, control, and thermal system design. NASA is currently in the process of reviewing the meteorological information acquired over the past decade and producing an update to the 1993 Terrestrial Environment Guidelines for Aerospace Vehicle Design and Development handbook. This paper addresses the contents of this updated handbook, with special emphasis on new material being included in the areas of atmospheric thermodynamic models, wind dynamics, atmospheric composition, atmospheric electricity, cloud phenomena, atmospheric extremes, sea state, etc. In addition, the respective engineering design elements will be discussed relative to the importance and influence of terrestrial environment inputs that require consideration and interpretation for design applications. Specific lessons learned that have contributed to the advancements made in the acquisition, interpretation, application and awareness of terrestrial environment inputs for aerospace engineering applications are discussed.

Systems Engineering is fundamental to good engineering, which in turn depends on the integration and application of engineering lessons learned and technical standards. Thus, good Systems Engineering also depends on systems engineering lessons learned from within the aerospace industry being documented and applied. About ten percent of the engineering lessons learned documented in the NASA Lessons Learned Information System are directly related to Systems Engineering. A key issue associated with lessons learned datasets is the communication and incorporation of this information into engineering processes. Systems Engineering has been defined (EINIS-632) as "an interdisciplinary approach encompassing the entire technical effort to evolve and verify an integrated and life-cycle balanced set of system people, product, and process solutions that satisfy customer needs". Designing reliable space-based systems has always been a goal for NASA, and many painful lessons have been learned along the way. One of the continuing functions of a system engineer is to compile development and operations "lessons learned" documents and ensure their integration into future systems development activities. They can produce insights and information for risk identification identification and characterization. on a new project. Lessons learned files from previous projects are especially valuable in risk

In modern government and aerospace industry institutions the necessity of controlling current year costs often leads to high mobility in the technical workforce, "one-deep" technical capabilities, and minimal mentoring for young engineers. Thus, formal recording, use, and teaching of lessons learned are especially important in the maintenance and improvement of current knowledge and development of new technologies, regardless of the discipline area. Within the NASA Technical Standards Program Website http://standards.nasa.gov there is a menu item entitled "Lessons Learned/Best Practices". It contains links to a large number of engineering and technical disciplines related data sets that contain a wealth of lessons learned information based on past experiences. This paper has provided a small sample of lessons learned relative to the atmospheric and space environment. There are many more whose subsequent applications have improved our knowledge of the atmosphere and space environment, and the application of this knowledge to the engineering and operations for a variety of aerospace programs.

An update of the NASA 'Terrestrial Environment (Climatic) Criteria Handbook for Use in Aerospace Vehicle Development' (NASA-HDBK-1001) is currently in the final process of completion for release in late-2004 or early 2005. The current version of the Handbook was approved by the NASA Chief Engineer in 2000 as a NASA Preferred Technical Standard. However, it was based on natural environment criteria developed mostly in the early 1990's. Therefore, a task was approved to completely update the Handbook in order to reflect the current state-of-the-art in the various terrestrial environmental climatic criteria areas. The technical areas include: Winds, atmospheric constituents, thermodynamic parameters/models/extremes, humidity, electricity, precipitation/fog/icing, cloud phenomena/cover, diffusion/toxic release, severe weather/tornado/hurricane, solar/thermal radiation, geologic hazards, and sea state. A summary of this extensive update will be presented along with some key examples of the new contents. Earlier versions of this publication have been extensively used by the aerospace community, especially program managers and design engineers for required natural terrestrial environment inputs to use in mission planning, development studies and trades, plus by those concerned with terrestrial environment descriptions for the major test ranges within the United States.

Aerospace Meteorology came into being in the 1950s as the development of rockets for military and civilian usage grew in the United States. The term was coined to identify those involved in the development of natural environment models, design/operational requirements, and environment measurement systems to support the needs of aerospace vehicles, both launch vehicles and spacecraft. It encompassed the atmospheric environment of the Earth, including Earth orbit environments. Several groups within the United States were active in this area, including the Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and a few of the aerospace industry groups. Some aerospace meteorology efforts were similar to those being undertaken relative to aviation interests. As part of the aerospace meteorology activities a number of lessons learned resulted that produced follow on efforts which benefited from these experiences, thus leading to the rather efficient and technologically current descriptions of terrestrial environment design requirements, prelaunch monitoring systems, and forecast capabilities available to support the development and operations of aerospace vehicles.

Aerospace Meteorology provides the identification of that aspect of meteorology that is concerned with the definition and modeling of atmospheric parameters for use in aerospace vehicle development, mission planning and operational capability assessments. One of the principal sources of this information is the NASA-HDBK-1001 "Terrestrial Environment (Climatic) Criteria Handbook for Use in Aerospace Vehicle Development'. This handbook was approved by the NASA Chief Engineer in 2000 as a NASA Preferred Technical Standard . Its technical contents were based on natural environment statistics/models and criteria developed mostly in the early 1990's. A task was approved to completely update the handbook to reflect the current state-of-the-art in the various terrestrial environment climatic areas.

The NASA Technical Standards Program was officially established in 1997 as result of a directive issued by the Administrator. It is responsible for Agency wide technical standards development, adoption (endorsement), and conversion of Center-unique standards for Agency wide use. One major element of the Program is the review of NSA technical standards products and replacement with non-Government Voluntary Consensus Standards in accordance with directions issued by the Office of Management and Budget. As part of the Program s function, it developed a NASA Integrated Technical Standards Initiative that consists of and Agency wide full-text system, standards update notification system, and lessons learned - standards integration system. The Program maintains a "one stop-shop" Website for technical standards ad related information on aerospace materials, etc. This paper provides information on the development, current status, and plans for the NAS Technical Standards Program along with metrics on the utility of the products provided to both users within the nasa.gov Domain and the Public Domain.

Lessons Learned have been the basis for our accomplishments throughout the ages. They have been passed down from father to son, mother to daughter, teacher to pupil, and older to younger worker. Lessons Learned have also been the basis for the nation s accomplishments for more than 200 years. Both government and industry have long recognized the need to systematically document and utilize the knowledge gained from past experiences in order to avoid the repetition of failures and mishaps. Through the knowledge captured and recorded in Lessons Learned from more than 80 years of flight in the Earth s atmosphere, NASA s materials researchers are constantly working to develop stronger, lighter, and more durable materials that can withstand the challenges of space. The Agency s talented materials engineers and scientists continue to build on that rich tradition by using the knowledge and wisdom gained from past experiences to create futuristic materials and technologies that will be used in the next generation of advanced spacecraft and satellites that may one day enable mankind to land men on another planet or explore our nearest star. These same materials may also have application here on Earth to make commercial aircraft more economical to build and fly. With the explosion in technical accomplishments over the last decade, the ability to capture knowledge and have the capability to rapidly communicate this knowledge at lightning speed throughout an organization like NASA has become critical. Use of Lessons Learned is a principal component of an organizational culture committed to continuous improvement.

Capturing engineering lessons learned derived from past experiences and new technologies, then integrating them with technical standards, provides a viable process for enhancing engineering capabilities. The development of future space missions will require ready access, not only to the latest technical standards, but also to lessons learned derived from past experiences and new technologies. The integration of this information such that it is readily accessible by engineering and programmatic personnel is a key aspect of enabling technology. This paper addresses the development of a new and innovative Lessons Learned/Best Practices/Applications Notes--Standards Integration System, including experiences with its initial implementation as a pilot effort within the NASA Technical Standards Program. Included are metrics on the Program, feedbacks from users, future plans, and key issues that are being addressed to expand the System's utility. The objective is the enhancement of engineering capabilities on all aspects of systems development applicable to the success of future space missions.

The enhancement of engineering capabilities is an important aspect of any organization; especially those engaged in aerospace development activities. Technical Standards are one of the key elements of this endeavor. The NASA Technical Standards Program was formed in 1997 in response to the NASA Administrator s directive to develop an Agencywide Technical Standards Program. The Program s principal objective involved the converting Center-unique technical standards into Agency wide standards and the adoption/endorsement of non-Government technical standards in lieu of government standards. In the process of these actions, the potential for further enhancement of the Agency s engineering capabilities was noted relative to value of being able to access Agencywide the necessary full-text technical standards, standards update notifications, and integration of lessons learned with technical standards, all available to the user from one Website. This was accomplished and is now being enhanced based on feedbacks from the Agency's engineering staff and supporting contractors. This paper addresses the development experiences with the NASA Technical Standards Program and the enhancement of the Agency's engineering capabilities provided by the Program s products. Metrics are provided on significant aspects of the Program.

This paper addresses the updating of NASA's Terrestrial Environment (Climatic) Criteria handbook for Use in Aerospace Vehicle Development. This handbook covers the primary terrestrial environment factors with which the design and operation of an aerospace vehicle is concerned. It is intended as a source document for the development of terrestrial environment design requirements and, in this regard, provides consistent and coordinated information for this purpose. The handbook and its predecessors have been used in the design, development, and operation of many NASA flight vehicles, payloads and related activities.

Lessons Learned have been the basis for our accomplishments throughout the ages. They have been passed down from father to son, mother to daughter, teacher to pupil, and older to younger worker. Lessons Learned have also been the basis for the nation's accomplishments for more than 200 years. Both government and industry have long recognized the need to systematically document and utilize the knowledge gained from past experiences in order to avoid the repetition of failures and mishaps. Through the knowledge captured and recorded in Lessons Learned from more than 80 years of flight in the Earth's atmosphere, NASA's materials researchers are constantly working to develop stronger, lighter, and more durable materials that can withstand the challenges of space. The Agency's talented materials engineers and scientists continue to build on that rich tradition by using the knowledge and wisdom gained from past experiences to create futurist materials and technologies that will be used in the next generation of advanced spacecraft and satellites that may one day enable mankind to land men on another planet or explore our nearest star. These same materials may also have application here on Earth to make commercial aircraft more economical to build and fly. With the explosion in technical accomplishments over the last decade, the ability to capture knowledge and have the capability to rapidly communicate this knowledge at lightning speed throughout an organization like NASA has become critical. Use of Lessons Learned is a principal component of an organizational culture committed to continuous improvement.

The National Aeronautics and Space Agency consists of fourteen Facilities throughout the United States. They are organized to support the Agency's principal Enterprises: (1) Space Science, (2) Earth Science, (3) Aerospace Technology, (4) Human Exploration and Development of Space, and (5) Biological and Physical Research. Technical Standards are important to the activities of each Enterprise and have been an integral part in the development and operation of NASA Programs and Projects since the Agency was established in 1959. However, for years each Center was responsible for its own standards development and selection of non-NASA technical standards that met the needs of Programs and Projects for which they were responsible. There were few Agencywide applicable Technical Standards, mainly those in area of safety. Department of Defense Standards and Specifications were the foundation and main source for Technical Standards used by the Agency. This process existed until about 1997 when NASA embarked on a Program to convert NASA's Center-developed Technical Standards into Agencywide endorsed NASA Preferred Technical Standards. In addition, action was taken regarding the formal adoption of non-NASA Technical Standards (DOD, SAE, ASTM, ASME, IEEE, etc.) as NASA Preferred Technical Standards.

The NASA Technical Standards Program was officially established in 1997 as result of a directive issued by the Administrator. It is responsible for Agency wide technical standards development, adoption (endorsement), and conversion of Center-unique standards for Agency wide use. One major element of the Program is the review of NSA technical standards products and replacement with non-Government Voluntary Consensus Standards in accordance with directions issued by the Office of Management and Budget. As part of the Program's function, it developed a NASA Integrated Technical Standards Initiative that consists of and Agency wide full-text system, standards update notification system, and lessons learned-standards integration system. The Program maintains a 'one stop-shop' Website for technical standards ad related information on aerospace materials, etc. This paper provides information on the development, current status, and plans for the NAS Technical Standards Program along with metrics on the utility of the products provided to both users within the nasa.gov Domain and the Public Domain.

This paper describes the development of standard and reference atmosphere models along with the history of their origin and use since the mid 19th century. The first "Standard Atmospheres" were established by international agreement in the 1920's. Later some countries, notably the United States, also developed and published "Standard Atmospheres". The term "Reference Atmospheres" is used to identify atmosphere models for specific geographical locations. Range Reference Atmosphere Models developed first during the 1960's are examples of these descriptions of the atmosphere. This paper discusses the various models, scopes, applications and limitations relative to use in aerospace industry activities.

This paper will review the historical development of reference and standard atmosphere models and their applications. The evolution of the U.S. Standard Atmosphere will be addressed, along with the Range Reference Atmospheres and, in particular, the NASA Global Reference Atmospheric Model (GRAM). The extensive scope and content of the GRAM will be addressed since it represents the most extensive and complete 'Reference' atmosphere model in use today. Its origin was for engineering applications and that remains today as its principal use.

A comprehensive database of engineering lessons learned that corresponds with relevant technical standards will be a valuable asset to those engaged in studies on future space vehicle developments, especially for structures, materials, propulsion, control, operations and associated elements. In addition, this will enable the capturing of technology developments applicable to the design, development, and operation of future space vehicles as planned in the Space Launch Initiative. Using the time-honored tradition of passing on lessons learned while utilizing the newest information technology, NASA has launched an intensive effort to link lessons learned acquired through various Internet databases with applicable technical standards. This paper will discuss the importance of lessons learned, the difficulty in finding relevant lessons learned while engaged in a space vehicle development, and the new NASA effort to relate them to technical standards that can help alleviate this difficulty.

Lessons Learned have been the basis for our accomplishments throughout the ages. They have been passed down from father to son, mother to daughter, teacher to pupil, and older to younger worker. Lessons Learned have also been the basis for NASA's accomplishments for more than forty years. Both government and industry have long recognized the need to systematically document and utilize the knowledge gained from past experiences in order to avoid the repetition of failures and mishaps. Lessons Learned have formed the foundation for discoveries, inventions, improvements, textbooks, and Technical Standards.

A comprehensive database of lessons learned that corresponds with relevant technical standards would be a boon to technical personnel and standards developers. The authors discuss the emergence of one such database within NASA, and show how and why the incorporation of lessons learned into technical standards databases can be an indispensable tool for government and industry. Passed down from parent to child, teacher to pupil, and from senior to junior employees, lessons learned have been the basis for our accomplishments throughout the ages. Government and industry, too, have long recognized the need to systematically document And utilize the knowledge gained from past experiences in order to avoid the repetition of failures and mishaps. The use of lessons learned is a principle component of any organizational culture committed to continuous improvement. They have formed the foundation for discoveries, inventions, improvements, textbooks, and technical standards. Technical standards are a very logical way to communicate these lessons. Using the time-honored tradition of passing on lessons learned while utilizing the newest in information technology, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has launched an intensive effort to link lessons learned with specific technical standards through various Internet databases. This article will discuss the importance of lessons learned to engineers, the difficulty in finding relevant lessons learned while engaged in an engineering project, and the new NASA project that can help alleviate this difficulty. The article will conclude with recommendations for more expanded cross-sectoral uses of lessons learned with reference to technical standards.

A summary is presented of basic lightning characteristics/criteria applicable to current and future aerospace vehicles. The paper provides estimates on the probability of occurrence of a 200 kA peak lightning return current, should lightning strike an aerospace vehicle in various operational phases, i.e., roll-out, on-pad, launch, reenter/land, and return-to-launch site. A literature search was conducted for previous work concerning occurrence and measurement of peak lighting currents, modeling, and estimating the probabilities of launch vehicles/objects being struck by lightning. This paper presents a summary of these results.

A summary is presented of basic lightning characteristics/criteria for current and future NASA aerospace vehicles. The paper estimates the probability of occurrence of a 200 kA peak lightning return current, should lightning strike an aerospace vehicle in various operational phases, i.e., roll-out, on-pad, launch, reenter/land, and return-to-launch site. A literature search was conducted for previous work concerning occurrence and measurement of peak lighting currents, modeling, and estimating probabilities of launch vehicles/objects being struck by lightning. This paper presents these results.

An evaluation is presented of the consequences of NASA's study of the ways in which the launch of a Space Shuttle generates a plume of HCl and Al2O3; in combination with water from the Shuttle's sound-suppressor cooling water system, these substances can create a corrosive and hard-to-remove Al2O3 coating on nearby surfaces. Attention is given to the site-specific character of such environmental complications, the need to involve environmental-risk specialists in hardware-development teams, and the nonlinearity of many environmental impacts.

In earlier papers, Doedel and the authors have developed a numerical method and derived error estimates for the computation of branches of heteroclinic orbits for a system of autonomous ordinary differential equations in R(exp n). The idea of the method is to reduce a boundary value problem on the real line to a boundary value problem on a finite interval by using a local (linear or higher order) approximation of the stable and unstable manifolds. A practical limitation for the computation of homoclinic and heteroclinic orbits has been the difficulty in obtaining starting orbits. Typically these were obtained from a closed form solution or via a homotopy from a known solution. Here we consider extensions of our algorithm which allow us to obtain starting orbits on the continuation branch in a more systematic way as well as make the continuation algorithm more flexible. In applications, we use the continuation software package AUTO in combination with some initial value software. The examples considered include computation of homoclinic orbits in a singular perturbation problem and in a turbulent fluid boundary layer in the wall region problem.

This paper discusses the importance for serious consideration of environmental effects and associated risks by management early in the development cycle of a facility. A case study on the Space Shuttle provides information with regard to some of the environmental effects issues encountered and the lesson learned. The importance of early management action to enable the acceptance of known environmental risks, or to make program adjustments to avoid their potential consequences, is emphasized.

The efforts conducted to provide educational planning and development support for the Combined Release and Radiation Satellite (CRRES) Experiment are summarized. Activities regarding the scientific working group and workshop development are presented including the preparation of descriptive information on the CRRES Project.

The efforts conducted to provide assessments and planning support for the Chemical Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) Experiments are summarized. Included are activities regarding scientific working group and workshop development including the preparation of descriptive information on the CRRES Project.

Several major NASA research efforts in lidar remote sensing are reviewed, with attention given to hardware and key sensor issues along with results and expectations. The discussion covers temperature and pressure measurements, measurements methods and instrumentation, pressure data, wind field measurements, atmospheric backscatter measurement, aerosol and cloud measurements, and water vapor measurement. Consideration is also given to the applicability of lidar measurements to problems of operational weather analysis and forecasting, climate studies, mesoscale and severe storm analysis and forecastig, and studies of atmosphere/surface interface.

A summary of the efforts conducted to provide assessments and planning support for the Chemical Release and Radiation Experiment Satellite (CRRES) is reported. Included are activities regarding scientific working group and workshop development including the preparation of descriptive information on the CRRES project.

The Defense Department and NASA have joined in a program to study the space environment which surrounds the earth and the effects of space radiation on modern satellite electronic systems. The Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) will carry an array of active experiments including chemical releases and a complement of sophisticated scientific instruments to accomplish these objectives. Other chemical release active experiments will be performed with sub-orbital rocket probes. The chemical releases will 'paint' the magnetic and electric fields of earthspace with clouds of glowing ions. Earthspace will be a laboratory, and the releases will be studied with an extensive network of ground-, aircraft-, and satellite-based diagnostic instruments. Some of the topics discussed include the following: the effects of earthspace; the need for active experiments; types of chemical releases; the CRRES program schedule; international support and coordinated studies; photographing chemical releases; information on locating chemical releases for observation by the amateur; and CRRES as a program.