SPACE TRAVEL—Excerpts
from thePrepared Statement of NASA Administrator Nominee Michael Griffin to the
Senate Commerce Committee Confirmation Hearing
Russell Senate Office Building Room 253
Washington, D.C., Tuesday, 12 April 2005
University of Houston • University of Houston-Clear Lake • ISSO Annual Report Y2004 • 16-21
The Director's Report Y2004
In 1991 the legislature of the State of Texas established the Houston Partnership for Space Exploration. The purpose of HPSE is to advance any aspect of aerospace research, engineering, and applications through graduate and post-doctoral level programs at the University of Houston and the University of Houston-Clear Lake in cooperation with NASA Johnson Space Center, other Texas universities and businesses, and other organizations.
The Institute for Space Systems Operations (ISSO) is the operating agency for HPSE. UH and UHCL are also members of the Texas Space Grant Consortium. ISSO works through TSGC on a statewide level. Dr. David R. Criswell directs ISSO and is responsible for both the UH and UHCL activities. HPSE is funded under a State of Texas Line Item that allocated in 2004, with one-time carry-over of funds from 2003, $410,574 to operations at the University of Houston and $81,050 to operations at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. The 2004 ISSO State of Texas funds, as reported by the faculty in the following research articles, were leveraged by a factor of 8.8 through external funding.
Since 1991, the ISSO projects have established solid professional links between NASA-JSC, the Houston aerospace community, and UH and UHCL. NASA is undergoing major changes as the Office of the President of the United States and Congress are focusing the nation on a return to the Moon and development of a sustainable program for the exploration and development of space. ISSO provides the flexibility and resources for UH and UHCL faculty to fully participate in this rapidly evolving national program. Since 1991, faculty supported by ISSO research funds have reported obtaining $17,000,000 of external funding and thus leveraged the research funds by 4.4 to 1 over the life of the program. Reported external funding has exceeded state funding by approximately $11,800,000.
In the following three sections, a summary of 2004 accomplishments by ISSO supported researchers is provided, a short synopsis of each research activity is presented within seven study areas, and the seed-grants and new fellowships selected in 2005 are listed.
The primary activities of ISSO are the unique Post Doctoral Aerospace Fellowship (PDAF) program between UH/UHCL and the NASA-Johnson Space Center and providing seed-level funds to UH and UHCL faculty for pursuit of new aerospace research projects. Both the PDAF and seed-grant projects are proposed to ISSO by UH and UHCL faculty and selected through a peer review. The peer reviewers are selected from UH, UHCL, JSC, other local universities, and local aerospace companies.
The PDAF program started in 1995. It operates through a Memorandum of Understanding between JSC and the two universities and is now funding the third set of post-doctoral fellows. Each fellow is selected and directed by a team consisting of at least one UH or UHCL faculty member and a research member of the Johnson Space Center. A fellowship appointment is for two years with a possibility of a third and final year.
In 2004 ISSO provided $263,734 in research funds to UH and UHCL faculty to support 19 new seed-grant projects and the start-up of four of nine new PDAF projects. ISSO requires investigators to report results on projects for five years after completion of funding of a given project. In 2004, prior funded and currently funded UH and UHCL faculty reported submitting 46 proposals applying for $19,950,000 of external funding. They report obtaining $4,310,000 for these proposals and proposals submitted the prior year. The 2004 ISSO State of Texas funds were leveraged by a factor of 8.8. Of course, the leveraging of the 2004 funds will continue to increase as more proposals are submitted based on follow-up results of the 2004 projects.
In 2004 the ISSO investigators report submitting 76 professional papers, delivering 119 professional presentations and interviews, and submitting one patent application. Five undergraduates participated in the research activities. Forty master's-level students and 13 students pursing the doctor of philosophy participated in ISSO research projects along with seven post-doctoral fellows.
Forty-seven UH, UHCL, and UH-Downtown faculty participated in the ISSO research along with 10 professors from other universities, 25 NASA researchers, and three from industry. In addition to JSC, 17 other organizations participated. They are:
British Antarctic Survey
CERN
Institute for Biomedical Engineering (Zurich)
Integrated Micro Sensors, Inc. (Houston)
INFN Milan
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA contractor)
NASA-Langley Research Center
Computational Structures & Materials Branch
University of Pavia
Physical Science Inc. (Andover, MA)
Rice University
Bioengineering
Mechanical Engineering
Physics and Space Science
Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center
Department of Medicine
Texas Space Grant Consortium
Tietronix, Inc.
University of Quebec at Montreal
University Space Research Association
University of Texas Medical Branch - Galveston
ISSO worked at the University of Houston with Dean John Bear (Natural Science & Mathematics), Dean Raymond W. Flumerfelt (Engineering), Dean William E. Fitzgibbon (Technology), Dean Robert K. Wimpelberg (Education), and Dr. Alex Ignatiev (TCSAM). ISSO thanks them for their support in the research projects. At UHCL, ISSO worked primarily with the School of Science and Computer Engineering. Thanks are sincerely extended to Dean Charles W. McKay.
Summary of 2004 and 2000-2003 Progress Reports
Aerospace Engineering, Systems and Instrumentation
Control of vibration of mechanical devices and systems is a major on-going task for many
engineers. Professors Heidar Malki (UH: Technology) and Karolos
Grigoriadis (UH: Mechanical Engineering) and graduate student José
Canelon have applied neural networks to the control of vibrations of a Black Hawk
Helicopter. This ISSO seed-grant project (2004) has shown that after a short transient the
vibration can be progressively reduced to almost zero [90-95].
Professor Wajiha Shireen (UH: Electrical/Electronics Technology) worked with graduate student V. S. Babu on the development of a power distribution system for spacecraft. Under this 2004 seed-grant they demonstrated the linkage of a AC-DC-AC Converter with small DC-link capacitor to reduce the overall mass of a power converter [96-99].
Virtually all spacecraft and planetary rovers use batteries to store electric energy from the primary power source and release that energy later to supplement or replace the primary power source. Professor Albert M. K. Cheng (UH: Computer Science), under a 2004 ISSO seed-grant, has developed new software based to control the storage and release of energy from batteries in anticipation of future power needs. The control method considers the constraints of time, energy, and quality-of-service while meeting operational constraints such as conservation of battery energy [54-58]. In 2001 Dr. Cheng conducted a seed-grant project to verify the real-time software for control of the NASA X-38 Crew Return Vehicle. The control system was modeled using a commercial product, Real-Time Logic, and Presburger Arithmetic representations. The timing analysis methodology can be applied to other space vehicles [58-59].
Management of thermal energy (heat) is critical to the performance and operational life of spacecraft. Dr. Abdelhak Bensaoula, Dr. Chris Boney, and Dr. David Starikov (UH: TCSAM) and Dr. Brian Mayeaux (NASA-JSC) are initiating research on the use of passive thin metal films to transfer thermal power from inside a spacecraft to space. They focus on refining the performance of micro column arrays recently developed by a Houston company-Micro Sensors, Inc. The work was supported in 2004 by ISSO seed-grant and the work will be expanded under an ISSO Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellowship grant [102-103].
From 2000 to 2003, Professor Abdelhak Bensaoula directed two ISSO seed-grants and an ISSO Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellowship focused on the development of miniature optical sensors for the detection of water and air contamination. Dr. David Starikov and graduate student Clement Joseph participated in portions of this research [105-106]. Very small sensors often output weak signals that are buried in noise. The team has implemented well-proven communication coding schemes in an effort to increase the signal to noise ratio through excitation source coding.
Carbon nanotubes hold the promise of extremely high strength fibers, ropes, and panels that are also rugged, especially in the space environment. Dr. Viktor G. Hadjiev (UH: TCSAM) and Dr. Leonard Yowell, Dr. Bradley S. Files, and Dr. Sivram Arepalli (NASA-JSC) are applying Raman Spectroscopy to the examination of the interfaces between single wall nanotube (SWAT) composites. Mr. Keesu Jeon (UH: Graduate Assistant) participated in the research that was done in cooperation with Professors D C. Lagoudas (TAMU), James M. Tour (Rice University), and Dr. Ramanan Krishnamoorti (UH: Chemical Engineering). They have examined the relative change of composites under mechanical loads, SWAT buckling, and strain as a function of temperature [107-109, 110-113].
Dr. Milko N. Illiev (UH: TCSAM) provides a short report on the third year after completion of four years of Post Doctoral Aerospace Fellowship support for studies to characterize nanotubes using Raman and infrared spectroscopy [119].
Professors James B. Dabney and Dr. Thomas L. Harman (UHCL: Science and Computer Engineering) report on the 2004 ISSO seed-grant research. The third year of this work focused on demonstration of real-time control of piezoelectric motors. With Dr. M. Randolph-Gips, they are focusing on the detection of torque load in the motor and the use of that load to control motor at very low speed. Very low mass piezoelectric motors hold promise for actuating and controlling the motions of a space-based robot [129-131]. The project obtained $100,000 of support from NASA beginning in 2003.
Friction between surfaces is a major problem both in mechanical joints and in programming actuators to overcome, if possible, the friction. The dry vacuum of space and the need to maintain a clean environment about a spacecraft restricts the choice of lubricants. Professor LieJune Shiau (UHCL: Mathematics) received an ISSO seed-grant in 2004 to develop new computational methods to model non-smooth friction between surfaces, such as in the joints of the remote manipulators of the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station [142-143].
Within spacecraft that envelope humans, as well as our own industrial environments on Earth, it is necessary to monitor air for dangerous contaminants. Professor Thomas L. Harman (UHCL: Computer Engineering) and Professor Frank K. Tittel (Rice U: Electrical and Computer Engineering), Dr. John C. Graf and Dr. Peter Bethke (NASA-JSC), and ISSO-JSC Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellow Dr. Yury Bakhirkin (UHCL and Rice U) are developing very compact and low power devices that can remotely monitor for chemical contaminants. They continue a program to develop and demonstrate continuous wave and pulsed cascade lasers and detectors [134-140].
Computer Science and Engineering
Very large data sets, such as for patients and their ailments or the operating
characteristics of large aerospace systems, stored within computers can be sources of
useful knowledge. However, the challenges of extracting useful knowledge can exceed human
capabilities or even that of traditional software programs complied by people. Genetic
Programming (GP) is a technique for writing software units, conceived to be similar to
genes and chromosomes of DNA, that can explore an extremely large data set, look for new
relations within the data set, and that can evolve new software units on the basis of
newly discovered relations. Professor Gary D. Boetticher (UHCL: Computer
Science) and graduate student Ms. Kim Kaminsky, supported by a 2004 ISSO
seed-grant, focus on speeding up the search process by examining the evolution of the
genetic unit software [122-127]. They find that the "best class" unit software
produces significantly better offspring and can be selected for subsequent enhanced
"breeding."
Professors Boetticher, Hisham Al-Mubaid, and Karen Frasier-Scott also provide a progress report on a 2003 ISSO seed-grant. They investigated automated examination of two-dimensional patterns of proteins separated by gel electrophoresis. Today these analyses are very time consuming for technicians [128].
Increasingly, networks of mobile computers can work together as a distributed network in the field. The "field" may be a battlefield on Earth or a region on the Moon that is being explored by people and robots. Professor T. Andrew Yang (UHCL: Science and Computer Engineering) received an ISSO 2004 seed-grant to develop wireless computer stations for distributed operation in the field. He worked with Professor Sadegh Davari and four graduate students on the issues of: security, confidentiality, integrity, authenticity, availability, and non-reputability. Authenticity is the most fundamental [150-154]. These issues are also of primary importance to commercial wireless networks.
Traditionally, higher education is very labor intensive. Professor Kwok-Bun Yue (UHCL: Computer Information Systems) provides a progress report on a 2003 ISSO seed-grant. His team of three UHCL and one UH-Downtown professors and one graduate student continues to develop a software framework within which many scholars at different locations and at different times can contribute to the development of courseware. They published two papers in 2004 [155].
Biological and Biochemical Studies
Bacteria are extremely sensitive to their environment. In zero gravity the nutrients and
waste products of bacteria, such as E. coli, are trapped in the fluids near the
bacteria. This forces the bacteria to express different genes than those that are active
when local fluid flow removes waste and introduces new nutrients. Professor George
Fox (UH: Biology and Biochemistry) and Professor Richard C. Willson
(UH: Chemical Engineering) are modeling the effects of microgravity on microbial gene
expression. They work with Dr. Duane L. Pierson (NASA-JSC) in directing
the research of the new Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellow Viktor Stepanov.
Professors Fox and Willson have been extremely successful in leveraging ISSO PDAF and
mini-grant support into major external grants [46-49].
Professor Fox also conducted a 2004 seed-grant project focused on identifying the oldest types of RNA that may have been precursors to the earliest DNA [50]. Professor Fox and Professor Willson, Dr. Pierson (NASA-JSC), and Dr. Don L. Tucker (former UH PDAF) also summarize the recent results of ISSO projects competed between 2000 and 2003. These include nine publications, 18 presentations, and 12 proposals. After completion of his UH-JSC PDAF project, Dr. Tucker now works with Dr. Pierson as a fellow of the University Space Research Association [51-53].
ISSO supported a graduate student under the direction of Professor Kevin Bassler (UH: Physics). He conducted theoretical research and computational simulation of complex interactive systems such as found in regulation of proteins in living systems or communication networks [60-61].
Search for Life Beyond Earth
A new Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellowship project focuses on developing new technologies
(dielectric spectroscopy and nonlinear harmonic response) to detect life in samples from
terrestrial-like planets such as Mars and, possibly, Europa. Professor John H.
Miller (UH: TCSAM/Physics) and Dr. David S. McKay (NASA-JSC)
lead the project in conjunction with Professor Jaroslaw Wosik (UH: TCSAM)
and Dr. Jeffrey A. Jones (NASA-JSC). Dr. David Warmflash
(M.D. & Ph.D.) is the new fellow [67-72]. Initial results indicate that techniques can
distinguish live organisms from non-living complex macromolecules. They have discovered a
frequency-dependent harmonic response of live cells that may be unique. Under a 2004 ISSO
seed-grant the team applied these techniques to JSC Mars-1, a volcanic ash from Hawaii,
and common soils. Approximately 1 × 106 to 1 × 107 cells/gram were
detected [73-76].
Professor Wosik (UH: Electrical & Computer Engineering, TCSAM) conducted a 2004 ISSO seed-grant in conjunction with Professor Miller (UH: Physics), Dr. McKay (NASA-JSC), and Dr. Warmflash (ISSO-JSC: PDAF). The project focuses on detecting signs of life in Martian soils by subjecting soil samples to high-frequency microwaves. Both narrow and broadband microwaves induce dielectric fields in the soils and, potentially, included cells, and associated magnetite crystals such as found in the Martian meteorite Allen Hills 84001. Test measurements have been conducted on suspensions of live cells, yeast, isopropyl alcohol, and JSC Mars-1 simulates of Martian soil [114-118].
English History of Space Flight
Professor Irving N. Rothman (UH: English) is an expert on the writings of
the 17th-18th century English author and social critic, Daniel Defoe. He notes that in the
early 1700s, Defoe explored possibilities of flight though space and exploration of the
universe. In the third volume of the adventures of Robinson Crusoe entitled The
Serious Reflections (1720), Defoe discussed the physical conditions on the surfaces
of the known planets, in an episode of Crusoe's travels that literary historians have not
noted prior to this study. Defoe drew deeply from the philosophical and scientific
literature of the time. This is an interesting perspective as America commits in the 21st
century to a sustainable program for the exploration of our solar system [41-44].
Physiological Studies
Professor Charles Layne and Professor Mark S. F. Clarke
(UH: Health and Human Performance) and Dr. Daniel L. Feeback (NASA-JSC
Muscle Research Laboratory) directed the post-doctoral study "Using Dynamic Foot
Pressure as a Countermeasure to muscle atrophy" conducted by Dr. Antonios
Kyparos (UH). This study is designed to investigate the effect of cutaneous
mechanoreceptor stimulation on hind-limb unloading-induced skeletal muscle (SKM) atrophy
in rats. Mechanical stimulation of the plantar surface of the rat foot during hind limb
unloading (HU), utilizing a novel stimulation paradigm known as Dynamic Foot Pressure
(DFP), can conceivably attenuate unloading-induced SKM atrophy. This underlying concept
promises to serve as the basis for the development of a novel supplement to pre-existing
exercise countermeasures during space flight. It can serve as an effective rehabilitation
tool for clinical populations such as bed-ridden or elderly patients [20-30, 31-40].
Professor Layne also conducted a mini-grant project, "Muscle reflexes as modulated
preparatory neuromuscular activation levels," in 2002. His team has found new
information that can be used to guide the development of a "passive"
countermeasure that relies on sole stimulation to supplement existing exercise protocols
during space flight.
Bones progressively weaken in zero gravity and with aging. Bone density tests and ultrasonic tests do not now reveal the changes in mechanical strength of the outer solid bone (cortex) and the inner porous region (trabecular). Professor Gemunu Gunaratne (UH: Physics) worked with Professor Michael A. K. Liebschner (Rice U: Bioengineering) under a 2004 ISSO seed-grant to examine how externally driven vibration could reveal the mechanical strength of both types of bones [62-66]. Mathematical techniques are applied to this study, such as inverse scattering series method for seismic analysis of potential oil and gas deposits.
Natural & Induced Space Environments
It is necessary to shield humans and some equipment against galactic and solar cosmic rays
and the secondary radiation they produce on impact with the matter of spacecraft and
people. A 2004 ISSO seed-grant enabled Professor Lawrence S. Pinsky (UH:
Physics) and Mr. Matt Lebourgeois (graduate student) to better define the
requirements to more accurately measure the interactions of cosmic rays with matter. The
measurement requirements were used to better define instruments and procedures that NASA
seeks to implement in a future Space Radiation Consortium. This work has enabled a new
proposal for NASA funding [78-79].
Professor Pinsky, Dr. Thomas L. Wilson (NASA-JSC), and Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellow Dr. Victor Anderson (UH: Physics) continued their analysis of charged particles detected by an instrument on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. FLUKA is a software code developed at CERN, the European center for nuclear research, to model the interaction of high energy nuclear particles with matter and it predicts the secondary radiation that is produced. The team applied FLUKA to better characterize the secondary radiation induced by cosmic rays in the structure of the Mars Odyssey spacecraft and the MARIE detector. Also, the effort builds confidence in the application of FLUKA to the modeling of much larger spacecraft such as the shuttle, the International Space Station, and future Crew Exploration Vehicles [80-81]. The refined MARIE data, obtained on the flight to Mars, was used in conjunction with data from the distant ACE spacecraft to study how energetic particles released from the sun travel outward through the solar system [82-83].
Codes NASA uses for modeling radiation in space and space vehicles, such as FLUKA and HZETRN, require considerable time on older computers. Professor Liwen Shih (UHCL: Computer Engineering) received an ISSO seed-grant in 2004 to restructure the codes to operate on newly developed computer resources capable of parallel, multithread, network cluster, and reconfigurable parallel operations. Dr. Shih and three graduate students worked with researchers at JSC, NASA-Langley Research Center, and TAMU Prairie View [145-149].
Earth's magnetic field contains energetic streams of protons and electrons. Professor William R. Sheldon (UH: Physics) and Dr. Victor Anderson (UH: Physics) employed 2004 ISSO seed-funding to develop a proposal to NASA to identify how a significant portion of the electrons are lost in the upper atmosphere of Earth above Halley Bay in Antarctica. They worked with colleagues in the British Antarctic Survey [84-88].
The solar system formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago from a solar nebula. Materials that compose some comets are thought to be unaltered from the time they condensed in the outer portions of the nebular cloud. The NASA Stardust spacecraft is thought to have successfully captured, on January 2, 2004, grains expelled from comet Wild II. The Stardust spacecraft is also capturing tiny grains of dust orbiting the sun. The grains are decelerated from 6.2 km/sec and their material captured in blocks of very low-density aerogel. The spacecraft will return them to Earth. Dr. Viktor G. Hadjiev (UH: TCSAM), Dr. Michael Zolensky (NASA-JSC), and Mr. Andrew Coleman (UHCL: Lecturer) are demonstrating the application of Raman Spectroscopy to the analysis of cometary materials captured in aerogel [107-109].
2005 Seed-grants and Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellowship Projects
University of Houston-Clear Lake
ISSO received eight seed-grant and two Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellowship proposals in
November 2004 from UHCL faculty. They requested $90,430 in seed-grant funding and $40,000
in fellowship funding. The peer review group (UHCL, UH, JSC, and Rice University) met in
December 2004 and approved five seed-grant projects for a total of $54,000 for 2005 and
one new PDAF. The panel considered that seven of the eight seed-grant proposals were
worthy of funding. However, this would have required $76,000. Note that the ISSO request
for proposals is widely circulated to faculty in all colleges and departments.
Seed-grant projects from the UHCL School of Science and Computer Engineering, serve a variety of research needs:
Al-Mubaid, Hisham, Computer Science: Natural Language Interface Models for Fast Responsiveness Applications
Al-Mubaid, Hisham, Computer Science: A Text-Mining Technique for Literature Profiling and Automatic Extraction of Information from Biomedical Literature
Dabney, James B., Electrical Engineering: Real-Time Active Loading of Piezoelectric Ultrasonic Motors for Simulating Space Robotics Applications
Lu, Jack Y., Chemical Engineering: Contaminants Removal from Fuel Cell for Aerospace Applications
Shih, L.-J., Computer Science: Parallel Monte Carlo Performance Analysis of Space Radiation Simulation
The new Post Doctoral Aerospace Fellowship project is:
Dickerson, E. T. (UHCL: Electrical Engineering) and Arndt, D. (JSC): Ultra-Wideband
Communications and Passive Tracking System Design for Applications on Space Station, Space
Shuttle and Lunar/Mars Exploration
UHCL has three fellowship projects approved for the third round of the ISSO-JSC program. One Post-Doctoral Fellow is onboard. The others are expected to be active by August 2005.
University of Houston-Central Campus
ISSO received 21 proposals in February from University of Houston faculty requesting a
total of $303,293 of seed-grant funding for the spring and summer of 2005. In March the
peer review group (UH, UHCL, JSC, Rice University members) noted that 20 of the 21
proposals were appropriate for funding. However, this number of awards would have required
$289,593 in funding and only $129,000 was available. Under this funding limitation, the
following nine new 2005 seed-grant projects were selected.
Bensaoula, Abdelhak, Natural Science & Mathematics, Physics: Investigation of III-Nitride Materials for Space-Based Solar Cells
Cheng, Albert M. K., Natural Science & Mathematics, Computer Science: Building and Verifying Fault-Tolerant Autonomous Real-Time Systems for Space Applications
Clarke, Mark S. F., Education, Health & Human Performance: Validation of a Novel Micro-Capillary Array Fluid Collection Technology for Determination of Biomarkers of Bone Metabolism in Human Sweat
Fox, George E., Natural Science & Mathematics, Biology and Biochemistry: Earth Origins of Genetic Systems
Hollingsworth, Donald K., Engineering Mechanical: The Effect of Martian Dust on Radiator Performance
Malki, Heidar A., Technology, Engineering Technology: PWM Control of Formation Flying Space Vehicle
Miller, John H., Natural Science & Mathematics, Physics: Electromagnetic Probes of Biological Molecular Motors
Pinsky, Lawrence S., Natural Science & Mathematics, Physics: Initiating the Detector Deployment for a Currently Planned NASA Accelerator Measurement (Summer 2005)
Wosik, Jaroslaw L., Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering: Magnetic Microscopy Studies of Magneto-Tactic Fossils on Martian Meteorite ALH84001 and Related Earthbound Analog Systems
Texas Space Grant Consortium
The United States Congress established the National Space Grant College and Fellowship
Program in 1987. The general objective was to organize universities to accomplish for U.S.
aerospace activities what the land grant colleges and universities did for the
agricultural and applied arts (i.e., industry). The University of Houston became a charter
member of the Texas Space Grant Consortium along with The University of Texas at Austin
and Texas A&M University at College Station. Because of its national objectives, the
UH charter membership was supported by the UH Office of the Provost. Starting in 2003, the
funding to support University of Houston charter membership in the Texas Space Grant
Consortium was shifted to shared funding by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research
($20,000), the Institute for Space Systems Operations ($15,000), and the Texas Center for
Superconductivity and Advanced Materials ($15,000).
The ISSO Director is an associate director of TSGC and on the Board of Directors. The UH campus representative in 2002-2004 was the TCSAM director. A faculty member of the University of Houston-Clear Lake represents that campus.
In 2004, TSGC made $16,000 of awards to UH students and faculty in response to requests for fellowship and scholarship announcements and requests for research proposals.
2004-2005 TSGC Fellowships
James Camp, $5,000; award declined
9 applications not accepted
Joy Chavez, $1,000
3 applications not accepted
New Investigators Program
Dr. Ji Chen (PI)
Dr. A. Ignatiev (Agreement contact)
An efficient full-wave framework for future micro and nano electronic devices
modeling/simulation
September 2004 to August 31, 2005, $10,000
Invitation to Read the 2004 Report
State of Texas funding of the Houston Partnership for Space Exploration enables extensive
research between UH, UHCL, and the NASA-Johnson Space Center. UH and UHCL faculty
leveraged this state funding by a factor of 8.8 in 2004.
UH and UHCL faculty consistently submit two to three times more worthy proposals, as judged by peer reviews, than the Institute for Space Systems Operations can fund. In 2005, ISSO peer review panels awarded 17 new seed-grant projects. The results will be presented in the 2005 ISSO Annual Report. The panels also awarded two new ISSO-JSC Post Doctoral Aerospace Fellowship projects thus enabling 10 UH/UHCL-JSC projects for the 2005-2007 time frame. Five of the fellowships have been awarded. All the fellowships should be filled by the end of 2005.
This document contains reports on all of the 2004 projects and results of work ISSO has supported since 2000. This report is also available online at <http://www.isso.uh.edu/>.
ISSO Research Reports
Dr. David Criswell directs the Institute for Space Systems Operations at the University of Houston and the University of Houston-Clear Lake. His primary research interests are in industrial development of the Moon and the economic benefits to Earth of a sustainable global electric economy. He is also an associate director of the Texas Space Grant Consortium. He regularly attends the fall and spring monthly meetings of the Houston Chapter of the International Association of Energy Economists, the annual national Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, and the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Texas Space Grant Consortium.
Dr. Criswell works extensively with Dr. Helen Lane (Director of University Programs at the Johnson Space Center) and Dr. Donn Sickorez (University Affairs Officer) to coordinate the ISSO research program with primary program goals at JSC.
Over the past year, he has expanded his interests to consider the role of Earth's oxygen atmosphere in obtaining net energy from the combustion of fossil fuels and the geophysical implications of utilizing fossil fuels as the primary source of commercial power. He has provided scientific articles and interviews to members of the general and aerospace press.
Presentations, Interviews, Meetings
Criswell, D. R. Tele-lecture to the Planetary Science Class at the University of Hawaii,
April 22, 2005, invited by Professor G. Taylor.
Dinkin, S. (interviewer) and D. R. Criswell. "Reaping Powerful Ideas from a
Luminary," The Space Review, April 11, 2005 <http://www.thespacereview.com/article/355/1>.
Dinkin, S. "Rectifying the Case for Beaming Lunar Solar Power," The Space
Review, April 11, 2005 <http://www.thespacereview.com/article/354/1>.
Criswell, D. R. "Statewide Assessment of Aerospace & Defense Clusters in
Texas," Governor's Industry Cluster Initiative, San Jacinto College (Host) and
Greater Bay Area Association, March 23, 2005.
Criswell, D. R. "Lunar Solar Power and the Nurtured Earth," Distinguished
Lecturers Series, Farmingdale State University, Farmingdale, NY, Feb. 17, 2005.
Sjostrom, M. Interview with Dr. Criswell for Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company
(Science Department), Feb. 15, 2005 (to be broadcast in Europe in Dec. 2005).
Criswell, D. R. and D. Livingston (interviewer). "Industrialization of the Moon and
the Lunar Solar Power System," The Space Show, Dec. 7, 2004; available as
web archive <http://www.thespaceshow.com>.
Criswell, D. R. "Industrial-Scale Lunar Sciences" (invited seminar 19 pp.) Lunar
and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX, Oct. 29, 2004.
Criswell, D. R. Nomination for a World Technology Award in space, World Technology
Network, Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, CA, Oct. 7-9, 2004.
Criswell, D. R. NASA Workshop on Oxygen in the Terrestrial Planets, Lunar and Planetary
Institute, Santa Fe, NM, July 19-24, 2004.
Criswell, D. R. Review with Professor J. Whiteside, the George Washington University
program in Aero-flight Sciences, associated with NASA-Langley Research Center, June 22,
2004. (The GWU program was being replaced by a consortium of state universities in the
region.)
Publications, Proposals, and Program Documents
Zolensky, M. (Proposer), D. R. Criswell (co-investigator), and others. "Use of
Meteorites to Elucidate Formation and Characteristics of Ponded Deposits on Eros,"
NASA Research Announcement ROSES-2005 (submitted April 2005).
Criswell, D. R. "Lunar Solar Power (LSP) System and Exploration of the Inner Solar
System, Based on IAA-02-IAA 13.2.07," International Astronautics Federation and World
Space Congress, Houston, TX (accepted 2005 with minor revisions). 6pp.
Criswell, D. R. (Director), I. N. Rothman (Editor), and D. V. Bush (Associate Editor).
Y2003 Annual Report of the Institute for Space Systems Operations of the
University of Houston and the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Houston, TX, 2004-5006.
133pp.
Criswell D. R. (Director). Announcement of seven 2-3 year opportunities for UH/UHCL/JSC
Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellowships, April 2004 <http://www.isso.uh.edu/>.
Criswell D. R. (Director) and H. Lane (JSC). Peer Review of proposals (21) submitted by
University of Houston faculty to ISSO for seed-grants by 21 faculty and research staff
from UH, UHCL, Rice University, and NASA-Johnson Space Center, March 27, 2005.
Criswell D. R. (Director), H. Lane (JSC), and D. Sickorez (JSC). Peer Review of University
of Houston-Clear Lake proposals submitted to ISSO for Post Doctoral Aerospace Fellowships
(2) and seed-grants (8) by faculty and research staff from UH, UHCL, Rice University, and
NASA-Johnson Space Center, Dec. 13, 2004.
NASA’s Future Missions—the President’s Vision for Space Exploration |
SPACE TRAVEL—Excerpts
from the
Prepared Statement of NASA Administrator Nominee Michael Griffin to the
Senate Commerce Committee Confirmation Hearing
Russell Senate Office Building Room 253
Washington, D.C., Tuesday, 12 April 2005
If confirmed as Administrator, my priorities in executing the duties of that office, consistent with the President’s Vision for Space Exploration, will be:
The aftermath of the tragic loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003 brought us to a watershed moment in the American civil space program. Choices had to be made. The President has put forth a choice, a strategic vision for the space program. That vision has been enunciated with exceptional clarity, and has been subjected to considerable public debate for over a year.
I think it may be said that, while differences of opinion exist, the President’s proposal has attained broad strategic acceptance. It is now understood that the International Space Station, supported by the Space Shuttle, cannot be the centerpiece of the nation’s human space flight program. The strategic vision for the U.S. manned space program is of exploration beyond low Earth orbit.
It is a daring move at any time for a national leader to call for the bold exploration of unknown worlds, a major effort at the very limit of the technical state of the art. And it was the same way back in 1492, when Queen Isabella overrode King Ferdinand’s reluctance and backed Columbus’s voyage to “the New World,” the first step in the creation of Spain’s colonial empire.
But few recall that 1492 was a key year in the history of Western civilization, entirely apart from the European “discovery” of the New World. The big news that year was the re-conquest of Granada after a ten-year siege by Spanish forces, an event which essentially marked the conclusion of an eighth-century struggle against the Moorish occupation of Spain.
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England, France, and Italy had arisen as European powers while Spain had struggled against the Moors, and Spain’s tiny neighbor, Portugal, had prospered through the growth of her maritime prowess under Prince Henry the Navigator.
The “discovery” of the New World had happened before and would have happened again, whether or not Columbus had ever sailed from Palos. One way or another, European settlement of the New World was inevitable; however, it was Isabella’s bold action that secured Spain’s role in that future. If Columbus failed, she would be discredited, but if he succeeded, Spain would succeed, and would become preeminent among the nations of her time—and that was the way it happened.
And that is the way it is today. In the twenty-first century and beyond, for America to continue to be preeminent among nations, it is necessary for us also to be the preeminent spacefaring nation. Or are we willing to accept the world of a generation or two hence where other nations will be engaged in the development of the Solar System, and we are not?
If not, then it is time to recognize that we have squandered a once-insurmountable lead in the arts and sciences of space flight. The best we can say for ourselves today is that our grounded Space Shuttle is much more sophisticated than the operational vehicles belonging to the two nations which have sent people into space since we have last done so.
None of this is to say that the United States should necessarily plan to “go it alone” in space exploration. Great nations must be prepared to do so when necessary, but it is equally true that great nations need allies and partners.
There is room for these relationships in the President’s Vision for Space Exploration, and certainly we have benefited from the Russian capability to support the International Space Station during the two years in which the Shuttle has been grounded. But in the future, the United States should avoid dependence upon other nations for critical spacefaring systems.
Many who share the President’s strategic vision for space exploration are
nonetheless lukewarm in their support, believing it to be unaffordable or unsustainable.
This concern is understandable.
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The strategic vision for space must therefore be broadly inclusive, to enable a consistent
and appropriate level of financial support without disruptive funding peaks and valleys.
The decision to have a robust space program is like the decision to have a capable
military force—it cannot be made in one year and un-made in the next.
The nation does not debate, each year, whether or not it will have such forces. A similarly sustained bipartisan commitment to American leadership in space is required.
And, at least since the aftermath of the Challenger accident, nineteen years ago, we have had exactly that commitment. In constant dollars, NASA has received approximately the same allocation of funding from the taxpayers in the last sixteen years—the Space Station Era—as it received in its first sixteen years—the Apollo Era.
If we are less attracted to the results of the Station Era than of the Apollo Era, then we need to reconsider our goals and our manner of pursuing them. But if funding levels continue in accordance with the President’s plans, resources are sufficient to enable a U.S. return to the Moon, and, later, to go to Mars.
The country has already demonstrated the consistent support that NASA must have over an extended period of time to execute a program of human exploration. We simply have been doing other things with that money.
The arts and sciences of space flight are not restricted to human space flight. Robotic spacecraft such as those of Spirit and Opportunity have taken us, by proxy, to the surface of Mars. Galileo, Cassini and Voyager have taken us to Jupiter, Saturn, and the outer reaches of the Solar System.
New Horizons will shortly set sail for Pluto, the last remaining planet (so far as we know) not yet visited by any spacecraft from Earth. And, of course, the Great Observatories, including the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra, Spitzer, and Compton, have allowed us to extend our gaze to the very edge of the Universe, and back in time almost to its beginning.
The images and the knowledge returned to us by these, our surrogates, have shaped our culture, our view of the Universe, and our place in it almost as powerfully as if human explorers had been present. As we undertake to redirect our human space flight program, it is crucial that we do it without damaging NASA’s outstanding science programs, which have been among the crown jewels of the nation’s achievements.
Those who claim that NASA cannot afford robust programs in both robotic science and manned space flight are mistaken. NASA in the Apollo Era was hardly the “single mission agency” in the simplified view that is often heard today. In addition to the manned space flight development programs of the time, NASA executed dozens of Explorer-class missions, a dozen Pioneer missions (including Pioneer 10 and 11 to Jupiter and Saturn), Ranger 1-9, Surveyor 1-7, Mariner 1-10, the Orbiting Solar Observatory, Orbiting Geophysical Observatory, and Orbiting Astronomical Observatory series, and paid for most of the Viking missions to Mars, which were launched in 1975.
Communications satellite development was initiated with Telstar and Early Bird, while the TIROS, NIMBUS, and ESSA series did the same for weather satellites. In addition to these robotic science and technology development missions, NASA also executed 199 X-15 flights (which still hold the speed record for piloted flight within the atmosphere), and accomplished an otherwise vigorous program of aeronautics development, including the liftingbody research which enabled the development of the Space Shuttle. This hardly seems the record of a “single mission agency.”
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The nation is not going to abandon space exploration, human or robotic. Given this, the proper debate in a world of limited resources is over which goals to pursue. I believe that, if money is to be spent on space, there is little doubt that the huge majority of Americans would prefer to spend it on an exciting, outward-focused, destination-oriented program. And that is what the President’s Vision for Space Exploration is about.
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