NASA's Destination Tomorrow: Program 8 (2002)

[Music] [Music] coming up on destination tomorrow NASA is developing new catalytic converters devil greatly reduce the pollution coming from our automobiles but new technologies will help pilots avoid turbulence in the sky and helps lower injuries aboard commercial aircraft and we take a look back at the successors of the PDP or a transonic dynamics wind tunnel our own Donnie Alonso finds out the secret behind lasers and how they work all there's been more next on destination tomorrow [Music] [Applause] hello everyone I'm steel McGonagle and i'm kara o'brien welcome to destination tomorrow this program will uncover how past present and future research is creating today's knowledge to answer the question it's all the challenges of tomorrow a unique experiment mounted on the exterior of the International Space Station called missy or the materials International Space Station experiment will test the durability of hundreds of samples ranging from lubricants and pains to solar cell technology the terrible who dis objected to the harsh effects of the face environment 220 miles above the earth by examining how the samples faring State researchers think new insight into developing materials for future spacecraft as well as making materials last longer on earth Missy will be retrieved and brought back to earth on the space shuttle the samples will be returned to researchers and analyzed to determine which materials are the most durable and suitable for tomorrow spacecraft James Jones spoke with dr. bill Connor de Vaca dating experiment the International Space Station is the largest and most complex international scientific mission in history with this orbiting laboratory there will not only be new advances in space technology but a chance for all types of different scientific fields to have nuclear tested and experiments completed in space environment and not all of these experiments will be tested inside the station NASA is conducting experiments outside the International Space Station with a new project called missing or the materials International Space Station experiment the first experiment knotted externally on the International Space Station missing will investigate the effects of long-term exposure of materials to the harsh space environment Missy will also evaluate materials currently being used and those plan for use in future space missions I spoke with dr. bill Clinard at NASA Langley Research Center to find out more missy is a technique to utilize the space station to do space exposure experiments but the name says it's the materials International Space Station experiment but it's a lot more than that this is not one experiment but access the collection of over a thousand different thermos Missy involves some passive experiments campinas that has been developed here to Langley Research gonna and these are basically small suitcases we can put test specimens inside these suitcases close them up and then we can transport them to space by the shuttle take them out during an extra vehicular exercise will open the suitcase is up to expose the specimens on the inside and they clamp them two handrails on the space station bill you mentioned specimens what sort of specimens are we talking about sections of materials small pieces of material that we can expose in space that are large enough to let us understand how to sleep environments going to affect them or in other cases some of the specimens or components solar cells for example or electrical switches parts of a fiber optic cable it may be used on a spacecraft we are testing composite materials and ceramics and polymers that might be used to construct most conventional spacecraft we don't have to modify the space station to accommodate huge experiments there are lots of em holes all around stations and we can locate these experiments in various places so it's a very economical mode to utilize the space station for some very critical site testing missy is a passive experiment which means that aside from deployment and retrieval no other interaction is involved the two carriers will be retrieved approximately one year after deployment and return to Earth on a later shuttle flight bill why does NASA feel the need to do these experiments in outer space as opposed to here on earth I think everyone is aware of the contributions we get every day from satellites in space but I don't think people aware of the fact that the environment these satellites that operate in to give us this information every day is in extremely hostile space is composed of harsh vacuum this vacuum can change the composition of materials that spacecraft are made from and this changes the properties of these materials spacecraft are exposed to unshielded harsh ultraviolet radiation this radiation can very quickly darken and in brittle most of the plastics that we use every day on earth we cannot simulate these environments in the laboratory adequately to do testing to establish whether materials in function increase so what happens to the materials when they come back to earth we get them back we'll bring them into a cleanroom such exists and the investigators will look at it the first thing they'll do is establish whether or not to material survive we were completely destroyed by the exposure in space if it survived the space exposure then they will do testing to see if it still has the unique properties that are needed for future space missions and see whether or not said it can function and deliver the data over the extended mission that's required hopefully with Missy we get adequate data on these materials so that the designers can select the right materials and be confident that the spacecraft they design and build will function the Missy experiment will allow researchers to not only discover the strength and durability of the retrieved sample but also gain insight that will help them design and manufacture new materials that will last longer on earth in space and other planets coming up NASA has developed a new catalytic converters that will help dramatically reduce pollution emitted by automobiles the first did you know that the Missy experiment is not the only passive experiment being tested on the International Space Station a new experiments called is phantom torso is being used to test the effect radiation on astronaut the torso consists of hundreds of radiation monitoring devices which are embedded into artificial skin real bone and special plastic organs that represent the density of human tissue Americans have always had a love affair with the automobile with our vast open spaces the automobile has provided us with convenience relatively inexpensive transportation but unfortunately this convenience comes with a price pollution in recent years the government has mandated new laws requiring cars to run cleaner in an effort to do this car manufacturers began in selling new pollution reducing devices like the catalytic converter although these converters have helped to reduce pollution they are still not as effective as they could be now researchers at NASA have designed and built a new type of catalytic converter to help reduce pollution even further using technology first designed for space these new converters may prove to be much more efficient than current catalytic converter telling you think no name finds out more at one time in the US air pollution created by cards had almost reached epidemic proportions especially in large city to help reduce the pollution clean air laws were created driving car manufacturers to reduce the amount of pollution produced by cars one of the devices developed to help reduce these pollutants with the catalytic converter through a chemical process this ingenious device helps converting lost gases into less harmful emissions causing less pollution even though the catalytic converters been very successful in reducing pollution one of its weaknesses is that it must reach a high temperature before the chemical conversion can take place so while the catalytic converters still cold a substantial amount of pollution still enters the atmosphere to help solve this problem researchers at NASA have invented a new type of catalytic converter called the low temperature oxidation catalyst which begins working as soon as the car started greatly reducing the amount of pollution that reaches the atmosphere and making the air we breathe much cleaner I spoke to dr. Jeff Jordan at the advanced measurement and diagnostics branch to find out more the conventional catalysts have actually relied very heavily on so-called precious metals such as platinum and palladium to do much of the work unfortunately these systems don't begin to convert pollutants into less toxic gases until they get very hot so when you start your car up every day particularly when it's cold outside you are effectively emitting all of the pollutants from your tailpipes directly into the environment now if you think of that happening billions of times each day that's a lot of Lucius a typical car produces harmful pollutants like carbon monoxide hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide which when released into the air are very destructive polluting to help reduce the harmful effects of these beliefs most modern cars are equipped with catalytic converters which actually convert these pollutant gases into less harmful gases it does this by chemically changing the composition of the noxious gases into less harmful gases catalytic converters are generally ceramic structures coated with a precious metal substance like platinum or palladium most catalytic converters are encased inside a metal housing thats mounted along your car's exhaust system when the harmful gases come in contact with the precious metal the chemical reaction that occurs in the catalyst actually changes the composition of the gases causing fewer pollutants standard the atmosphere in order for this chemical process to take place the catalytic converters must be heated to a high temperature unfortunately when you start your car the catalytic converters cold doing almost nothing to reduce the pollution in your exhaust allowing huge amounts of pollutants to contaminate the air this is where the NASA catalytic converter comes in NASA researchers have created a new chemical process which can actually convert the pollutant gases into less noxious gases almost immediately even while the catalytic converters cold this dramatically reduces the amount of harmful pollutants which are distributed into the atmosphere many believes this new device could cut polluting gases by as much as thirty percent making the air we breathe much cleaner the NASA catalyst has some unique qualities and characteristics of course its genesis was for space-based carbon dioxide laser systems though it was originally developed to operate in the cold vacuum of space as such when we bring it down to a ground-based and earth application we see that it is much more effective in eliminating pollutants under what we call cold starts efficiency or when you first start your car the NASA catalyst starts to convert pollutant gases to environmentally friendly gases almost immediately because of its low temperature capability so what other applications can this kind of technology be used for our group is working closely with several external companies to develop products for a wide variety of applications that include gas sensors like the carbon monoxide sensor in your house indoor air purifiers and even gas mask yes for you what is the most satisfying thing about doing this type of research let's take the NASA mission in terms of exploring the universe or our own planet but NASA success is also judged largely on the extent to which our research can improve the quality of life for our customer the American people the low temperature oxidation catalyst is perfect example of a space based technology that's being transitioned in order to improve the quality of life for all Americans so the next time you have your catalytic converter in your car replace or buy a new car there's a very good possibility that a little bit of natural space technology is riding along with you to improve the air by the mid-1950s with the advent of relatively thin aircraft wings a new and dangerous phenomenon latex wing flexibility with being encountered many pilots were experiencing severe wing oscillations called flutter during flights which threatened the safety of the aircraft the need to better understand this new phenomenon led to the development of the TV theme or transonic dynamics tunnel at NASA Langley this new wind tunnel needed to not only test the elastic properties of aircraft but also test a host of other aerodynamic situations in stays live early airplanes were built with materials that could easily withstand the relatively low speed but aircraft were flying at that time but as aircraft began using thinner wings with more powerful engines for high-speed life pilots began reporting encounters with flutter and some aircraft there was very little data to explain this phenomenon at transonic speeds the researchers at NASA decided to build a unique wind tunnel which could help answer some of the questions about this new phenomenon this is where the idea for the TDP was born the decision was made to convert the 19-foot pressure tunnel into the new more modern CDC early in 1960 after years of intensive design and calibration the world's first aeroelastic testing tunnel was ready for service unfortunately faith had already collected the TD T's first occupant the Lockheed Electra after two fatal crashes of the Lockheed Electra investigators found that in both crashes the aircraft wings had separated from the body of the plane due to violent flutter a one-eighth-scale model of the Electra complete with rotating propellers was quickly ready for the TBT test chamber as testing began engineers found that the electro structural safety margins far exceeded its requirement however as the stiffness of the engine mounts were reduced the torque of the engine propeller combination led to a waddling motion the wrenching of the engine reinforced the wing oscillations until the wings fell off the engineers had a term for this phenomenon propeller world flutter with this information in hand all the engine mounts on the entire alexa fleet were strengthened and the aircraft has been operating successfully and safely ever since the Electra breakthrough was just the first of many successful experiments completed inside the TDP through its over 40 years history the TDP has tested nearly every type of commercial and military aircraft in the air today while also testing a myriad of other far-reaching applications including helicopters launch vehicles and other aircraft designed to fly on planets like Mars this unique facility continues to test boundaries of making flight safer for all of them the CDC has conducted over 550 individual tests on 26 specific aircraft commercial and military flutter test results provide valuable information to the designer allowing the development of lighter and more efficient and safer aircraft coming up we'll see how new NASA technology helping pilots avoid dangerous turban making flying safer but first did you know the Lockheed Electra was first made famous by pilot Amelia Earhart in 1937 Earhart attempted to become the first person to fly around the world along the equator unfortunately on july second 1937 after successfully completing 22,000 miles of the 29 thousand-mile journey in the electron he was reported missing near Howland Island to this day no trace of the world's most famous female pilot for her plane has ever been found most people who have flown in an airplane had experienced turbulence unfortunately passing through severe turbulence can call the plane to drop hundreds of feet without warning passengers and crew members not buckled in their seats can suffer serious injuries in fact turbulence is the leading cause of injuries to passengers and flight crews costing airlines and estimated 100 million dollars a year in an effort to reduce injuries and accidents NASA is working on new warning systems to help iris avoid dangerous turbulence Paula baby if you've ever flown in an airplane you are probably familiar with turbulence even for the most experienced flyer suspended sometimes violent irregular air motion can be an unsettling experience in most cases turbulence is merely an inconvenience that passengers and flight crews must endure but in cases of severe turbulence the violent shaking can not only cause serious injury to passengers and crew it can also be fatal in an effort to help aircraft avoid turbulence researchers at NASA are testing new onboard aircraft systems the airborne research integrated experiment system or Ares uses experimental systems that detects turbulence minutes before an aircraft encounters it this is system manual pilots to avoid severe turbulence making flying safer I spoke with Neil O'Connor and the crew chief in France at NASA Langley Research Center to find out more you can think of turbulence as any phenomena in the atmosphere that's going to set the airplane changes in wind that can cause the airplane that we disrupted terminal don't forget turbulence whenever you have wind rushing over the top of the mountain leeward side of a mountain to be very circular can also gets arguments wherever the jet stream is active the high speed I wind speed in the region attachments lower right nearby thunderstorms can cause turbulence everyone knows right nearby this one but sometimes even fifty or hundred miles away in the clear air you can get perfect Jameel how our pilots avoiding severe turbulence now the most part pilots have several simple options they listen to the radio to hear of other pilots have already encountered turbulence in that area so I mean somebody's already been hit they can also look at the their onboard radar and try to based on their experience and extrapolate what they think might be but it's not really foolproof they can also get a general forecast from the government sources or from their own airline though seldom damaging to modern aircraft turbulence is the leading cause of in-flight injuries among passengers and flight crews on average 58 injuries aboard aircraft are reported each year ninety-eight percent of these injuries occur to an unsuspecting passengers or crew or unbuckled or out of their seats when an aircraft encounters turbulence currently there are no instruments onboard aircraft to detect turbulence before planing countess's NASA researchers hope to change this by incorporating new turbulence radar systems within existing onboard weather radars with this new radar system in place researchers hope to provide pilots with enough warning to either avoid the turbulent area or at least give passengers and flight attendants enough time to return to their seats and buckle up the radar system itself will just be a software upgrade to the existing wind generators already on board the airplane the beauty of that of course is that since it's just an upgrade to an already certified piece of hardware it should be relatively inexpensive because just incrementally changing what's out there already the Neil tell me how exactly this new systems going to work the way it'll work for the pilot is that he'll flip a switch that's labeled turbulence and then he'll have the new software running it will be running mostly at cruise out the foods where the pilots typically allow people to move around the cabin it's not a problem when you're climbing or descending because everyone's already strapped in so you have a turbulence can counter there it's not fish again it's not a big issue because everyone's already we want to help make a difference at altitude when you don't always know that it's going to be served on the counter and this new product will be able to increase the capability to system increase the pilot confidence in the accuracy of the system leading to a veteran space on the planet besides the radar is there any other kind of research with surveys other research both on board and otherwise the onboard system is called the insta to turbulence warning system and that system that uses the accelerometer is on the airplane to measure what the airplane feels at a given moment that'll be transmitted automatically to all other airplanes in the general area along with the location and receiving airplane will take that data and adapted to its own size and clamps of airplane and then assess whether or not it's a threat to that airplane and if it's a threat general telephone another way of enhancing what we have now is improving our forecast capability that gets into the modeling of the weather and other phenomena of the atmosphere better understands what the potential is are circling the near what are your hopes for this project well the ultimate goal of course is to increase the safety and reduce injury cosmic turbulence on your right now it's very easy to prevent injuries when you know you're going to have turbulence pilot says hey we gotta buckle up for a few minutes everyone does that no one gets hurt you don't always know the service is coming so sometimes if you don't know people are walking around and the plane gets alerts someone's going to get hurt and it happens now so we know we can make a different site NASA researchers are also experimenting with a laser system called lidar which may be used to help detect clear air turbulence making flying even safer lasers are not only being used for turbulence detection but they are also being used in devices like CD and DVD players laser pointers and supermarket checkouts cannock although most of us use lasers in some shape or form very few of us know exactly and how they work we ask Donnie Alonso to visit NASA Langley Research Center to find out how it works you might just think lasers are in science-fiction film but in fact they surround us in our everyday lives you know that there are lasers and CD players pointing devices Supermarket scanners and all kinds of medical instruments and lasers are not as complicated as you might think now I spoke with researcher Gary Fleming at NASA Langley Research Center to find out how it works well the word laser actually stands for light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation okay so how many different types of lasers are there Soltani there's a lot of different kinds of lasers but they all boil down the four basic types we've got gas lasers solid-state lasers semiconductor lasers and dye lasers gas lasers uses a gas to create photons that it emits is like a solid-state laser uses a crystal instead of a gas it's semiconductor laser uses electron holes in the semiconductor material to generate it's like where the dye laser user's a fluorescent dye to generate bytes and change like colors using a typical gas charged lathes or as an example here's how it work the laser housing contained a glass cylinder with an inert gas inside a power supplies connected to the laser which provides energy to the gas molecule raising their energy level to an excited state once the molecules energy level is raised to the excited state they release the excess energy in the form of life or photons the photon emitted has a very specific color or wavelength depending on the gas used in the lasers when a photon released by a molecule hits another molecule the second molecule release is another photon that is identical to the first so now we have two photons which will hit more molecules to make for photons senate fountains and so on this is the stimulated emission part of the word laser the glass laser tube as mirrors on each end one of the mirrors is only partially reflective allowing some of the light to pass through the mirrors help the photons within the tube become organized into a beam of light by allowing the photons that bounce back and forth through the tube in doing so they stimulate more photons which all travel in the same direction along the light beam this is how the light energy becomes amplified eventually enough photons are generated such that some of the photon can exit the laser through the partially reflective mirror these are the photons that make up the laser beam so why do we need different types of lenses well you need different kinds of liz is because the light that comes out of each laser has a little bit different characteristic and does each job a little bit better ok for example we've got the semiconductor lasers which you would typically find in commercial electronics like your CD player or your DVD player or even these laser pointers other lasers like solid-state lasers or gas lasers you might find in the medical industry we're possibly the dental industry we're often used in research for taking measurements are all ages the same color now all lasers are not the same color in fact you can have lasers that range from all the colors in the visible spectrum and you can even have lasers that are in the deep ultraviolet and in the infrared so that your eyes can't see those lasers the reasons that we need different colors are a lot of times for measurement applications or for example in the medical application your skin will respond to different colors better than others so for laser surgery you might need to use green light on some types of tissue whereas you might need to use red light on different types of tissue so how does NASA use lasers and research nasa uses lasers in a variety of different ways for research we're primarily we use them for measurement applications for example we use lasers to measure the aerodynamic properties over wind tunnel malls being tested in our window we also use lasers to measure the ozone concentration and water concentration in the atmosphere lasers can also be used for measuring structural vibrations and acoustic emission to try to measure how we can make aircraft quieter so that we can have increased traffic through air force personally I use lasers to measure structural vibration and we also use lasers to measure how wind tunnel model bend and distort while they're being tested in the wind tunnel we can take this data and apply a number of directions to the to the wind tunnel data so that we can have the most accurate measurements possible of the aircraft performance what is the future holds Allegiance well ladies have a tremendous growth opportunity in all sectors of society ranging anywhere from medical to research telecommunication and they'll even begin to propagate more and more into your daily life in a consumer product that you use in your home like CD players and DVD players and recorders higher capacity disk drives all of those things tremendous opportunities in the computing field as well as some of the other areas that we talked about how about I get Darth Vader lifesaver well that's still a few years away but you'll be the first to sign up for one I'm sure colony that's all for this edition of destination tomorrow thank you for joining us I'm steel McGonagle and I'm Kara O'Brien for all of us here at NASA yo see you next time [Music] you