Monthly Archives: September 2009

Fourteen Days on “The Moon” in Arizona

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It’s a quarter of a million miles to the Moon, we’ve got fully charged batteries, half a pack of space food, it’s daytime, and we’re wearing spacesuits. Hit it.

NASA's Lunar Electric Rover (LER). Photo courtesy NASA.

Last week I returned home from the adventure of a lifetime, a simulation of a mission on the Moon where I lived and worked inside NASA’s Lunar Electric Rover (LER) for 14 days during NASA’s Desert RATS (Research and Technology Studies) analog field test.  For the last 12 years, Desert RATS has been testing new concepts for spacesuits, robots, vehicles and tools in rugged environments that are similar to the surfaces of the Moon and Mars.  This year, Desert RATS tested how a crew of two would live and work inside a small pressurized rover (the LER), dock with various equipment and robots, and use of the rear-entry suitport for donning and doffing spacesuits.  These concepts are being tested in an effort to provide Astronauts new ways to explore the lunar surface efficiently and effectively for long duration missions.  The LER provides the crew the necessary shelter and safety to live away from their original landing site, while the suitport saves valuable time and resources by allowing Astronauts to slide in through the backpack of the spacesuits, which are attached to the outside of the rover, and be on the surface in less than 15 minutes.

Brent Garry climbs through LER suitport.

For our mission, Astronaut Mike Gernhardt and I explored Black Point Lava Flow, north of Flagstaff, Arizona.  These 14 days were packed with activities that would be completed by a crew during a real mission.  Days 1 and 2 were spent checking out the vehicle and supplies, rendezvousing with ATHLETE, and docking with the Portable Utility Palette (PUP).  Days 3 through 10 were spent studying the local geology, where we followed a series of traverses planned by the Science Team.  Using only a black and white satellite image of the area for planning, specific locations were selected for us to visit and collect samples based on a series of science questions and prioritized objectives.  Since I was the crew geologist, this was obviously my favorite part of the mission.  My favorite view was at the far end of the lava flow looking over a river valley towards the rock formations to the east.  On days 11 through 14, we docked with a portable habitat being carried by ATHLETE, moved regolith around with the LANCE, and rescued another two person crew from a broken down LER.  Four of us spent 24 hours inside one LER simulating a rescue mission on the Moon.  Surprisingly, there was still a lot of room inside with four people.  We each took turns driving and sleeping through the night.  By the time the mission was completed, Mike and I had driven over 120 kilometers (75 miles) and spent over 300 hours inside the LER.

Brent on an EVA to collect samples. Photo courtesy NASA.

Daily life inside the LER was very fun and it was convenient to have everything you needed literally within arms reach.  Each morning we tagged up with Houston to go over our daily plan and had our breakfast.  Our meals consisted of real space food and dehydrated camping food.  There was a “sink” with hot and cold water to make our meals with, which were actually really tasty.  The bathroom was a glorified camping toilet, nothing fancy, just some special plastic bags.  Our personal gear and food was stowed in lockers within the side hatches and beneath the floor boards and bunks.  We exercised for at least one hour each day using a stationary bicycle machine and resistance bands.  Special clothing with silver lined threads to kill odors allowed us to reuse the same set of shirts and shorts for the entire mission.  At night, we unfolded curtains attached to the walls and ceiling to create individual sleep stations which were both dark and sound proof.  After a good night sleep, we woke up and did it all over again.

This mission would not have been possible without an absolutely amazing ground support team who followed us every step of the way and served as the mission control back in “Houston”.  This experience truly shows that human exploration of the Moon takes more than just the crew, but relies heavily on a dedicated and hard working team back on the ground to make it all possible.

Brent Garry is a Planetary Geologist in the National Air and Space Museum’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies.

From Collecting to Curating

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The Museum-going public doesn’t often get the opportunity to observe the work that goes on behind the scenes in a museum. The National Air and Space Museum’s poster collection is a case in point. The items in this collection, which range from notices for early aviation exhibitions to commercial airline advertising, were collected over many years. It is only recently, however, that the posters have been curated; i.e., cared for as a collection.
In the early 1990s, Aeronautics Division curator Joanne Gernstein (now London) began to take an active interest in the poster collection. She consulted with a paper conservator at the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute, and carried out the necessary preservation measures. She sought out suitable storage at the Paul E.Garber facility. She also had the collection photographed, with an eye toward eventual display online, but also to provide reference images for the collections database. She curated an exhibition, titled Fly Now! Aviation Posters from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum, that traveled around the country. She also wrote a companion book, Fly Now! Aviation Posters from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum, which was published by the National Geographic Society in 2007.

A typical post-World War II airline poster by commercial artist Frank J. Soltesz depicts the large and distinctive triple-tail section of a TWA Super Lockheed Constellation in a striking and colorful pose, circa 1952. In the pre-commercial jet transportation era, the airlines often used aircraft as the central image in their posters and emphasized the safety and reliability of commercial flight. With the introduction of commercial jets in the late 1950s, airline advertising began to change. Aircraft were nowhere to be seen. Instead, images of relatively easy travel to distant and exotic places were the norm.

After Joanne left the National Air and Space Museum in 2008, I took over the collection. Working with Collections Processing Unit (CPU) staff, volunteers and interns, I have attempted to continue Joanne’s pioneering efforts. A longtime Museum volunteer, Ted Hamady, has been working on a subject category reclassification, which should make searching the collection easier. Meanwhile, CPU staff members Carl Bobrow and Samantha Snell have received substantial grants to rationalize the collection, provide better storage and housing for it, and prepare it for its eventual move to new collections care facilities in Phase Two of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. In the most recent behind-the scenes effort, CPU summer interns Katy Osterwald, Hannah Soh, Amelia Kile, Allison Smith, Jeff Nagel, Mark Leadenham, Rachel Goddard, and Carolyn Metcalf worked on a variety of tasks geared toward bring this collection to the public. The result: 600+ posters are now available for public access on the National Air and Space Museum website. Eventually, we hope to place the entire collection of some 1300+ posters online.

Dom Pisano is a curator in the Aeronautics Division at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

This Android is no Dummy

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A human-sized, NASA-built android used for 1960s spacesuit testing is displayed in the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar at the National Air and Space Museums Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

A human-sized, NASA-built android used for 1960s spacesuit testing is displayed in the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

First of all there is a question of just what to call this device. Is it a “dummy”? That’s what its creators called it sometimes, but that sounds too pejorative and does not give credit to its complexity. Is it a “robot”? That’s what it looks like. Or is it an “android,” defined by the dictionary as “an automaton made to resemble a human being”?

But what is an “automaton”?  “Anything that can move or act of itself,” among other definitions. That is close enough, so we will call it an “android” from now on.

The android was built in Chicago at the Illinois Institute of Technology beginning around 1962, to test space suits for NASA. It was intended to be installed in a prototype suit (on Earth), and its limbs would be set in motion that closely resembled what a human suit wearer would do. Strain gauges would tell how much force was required to move in a suit, and therefore how much effort an astronaut needed to wear the suit. It was never intended to fly in space, and could not operate without a control console connected to it. Apparently it also could not stand on its own, but was suspended by a parachute-type harness.

The device worked on hydraulic motors, which were controlled by knobs operated by a human operator nearby. It did not have any computer or “brain” in it. Therefore I avoid the term “robot,” which implies self-contained autonomous operation, although in other respects it does resemble a robot, and that term is not totally inaccurate.

Although lacking a computer, it was nevertheless a very significant breakthrough in the ability to mimic the motions of the human body. As a dramatic demonstration of its capabilities, its designers got it to dance “the twist,” and to mimic the pelvic gyrations of Elvis Presley.

Because of the maze of tiny tubes and valves that carried hydraulic fluid, the android tended to leak, which could have damaged an expensive space suit. At times it was covered with a “wet suit” to catch the leaks, but I believe that problem was never solved. As far as I can tell, only two androids were built, and it never really fulfilled the function it was built for. The project ended around 1967.

Paul Ceruzzi is a curator specializing in aerospace computing and electronics in the Division of Space History at the National Air and Space Museum.

Contest Winners, and I, Enjoy a Real Night at the Museum

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Recently I was involved in a “first” in my career here at the National Air and Space Museum – a sleepover!

About six winners (and their families) in the Post Cereal Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian contest spent the night in the National Mall building on Friday, August 7. The lucky slumber-partygoers had competed in an online sweepstakes that was promoted on Post cereal boxes. Post employees who had worked on the project also attended with their families. The guests came from all over the country, and ages ranged from two to adult.  I was their overnight hostess.

The group received a tour of the Museum; an out-of-this-world sky lecture; a viewing of the Planetarium show, Black Holes; a paper airplane contest; and a duct tape wallet activity.

At 11 p.m., guests changed into their “jammies” and settled in for a viewing of the first Night at the Museum movie in the Earth Today Theater. By 1:30 a.m., it was finally bedtime.  Guests slept in sleeping bags on cots in the Beyond the Limits gallery, and I slept on an inflatable mattress in my office.

Before departing Saturday, the group enjoyed some Post cereal and then headed back into their tour bus to take in more sites around town.

Afterward, we received no reports of artifacts coming to life during the night, although the space monkey, Able, appeared to be smiling the next morning.

The major motion picture, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, was filmed on location at the Smithsonian Institution.  Some of the story takes place inside the National Air and Space Museum and features many of the objects currently on display. Don’t miss your chance to see the movie on location! Showing, Fridays and Saturdays through October 1, at the National Air and Space Museum’s Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater.

Rebecca Burnworth is a Public Affairs Specialist in the  National Air and Space Museum’s Office of Communications.