volved with the expanding dimensions of science and technology within the social and economic structure of the Nation. The special predoctoral training program in systems engineering design and public administration has been established so that senior faculty members and graduate students may use NASA installations as laboratories in which to study problems which are relevant to NASA needs while helping to strengthen the graduate programs at their universities. The $1.5 million would support about 75 predoctoral students in these two areas. The committee regrets that this program cannot be substantially larger, in view of the delayed impact of such a minimum effort. The effects will not be felt until early in the next decade. This reduced program will fall far short of the original goal of providing 1,000 new Ph. D.'s annually to help replenish the highly trained manpower pool drawn upon by NASA programs. Funds introduced at a later date cannot accelerate the availability of scientists and engineers who will be needed in the future. The committee expresses the hope that the Sustaining University program, especially the training grants portion, may someday be expanded to previous higher levels of effort. The other $1.5 million requested under this heading will be allocated to special summer training activities which are described below. The summer Faculty Fellowship program, emphasizing individual research activities, was started to help young faculty members keep up with the latest technical developments in engineering and science. Originally established with the assistance of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), these 10-week summer sessions are cooperative endeavors undertaken in conjunction with one or more universities located near NASA research centers. Participants spend about three-quarters of their time in the laboratory and the balance of the time in seminars or symposia, mainly on the university campus. During the summer of 1968, it is estimated that between 225 and 250 young faculty members will participate in the program at one of eight locations involving eight NASA centers and 12 universities. A program of similar magnitude is planned for Fiscal Year 1969. A Faculty Fellowship program in systems engineering design was started during the summer of 1966. Under this program, faculty members from different engineering disciplines are brought together to work on broad space related problems requiring an integrated or team approach. Usually, at least two faculty members from the same university participate in order to introduce new techniques in the teaching of systems engineering design when they return to their home institutions. These activities are also carried on in cooperation with one or more universities, located near NASA centers, with center personnel, having special competence in systems engineering design, lending strong support. During the summer of 1968, it is estimated that between 75 and 100 young faculty members will participate in the program involving four NASA centers and seven universities. Programs at the same locations are planned for Fiscal Year 1969. The other special training programs include the summer institutes for upper division undergraduates and the post-M.D. training in aerospace medicine. The summer institutes for undergraduates are designed to acquaint junior and senior level undergraduates with some of the substantive problems of space science and engineering. As in previous years, the students are selected from a national competition and will be especially talented young men and women who show promise of continuing their studies at the graduate level. During the summers of 1968 and 1969, it is planned to conduct four of these institutes. The Post-M.D. Training program is designed to help provide a few very select medical doctors with special advanced training to work in direct or supporting roles in Manned Space Flight efforts. In Fiscal Year 1968 and Fiscal Year 1969, the level of effort will be the same as in previous years. Research NASA, through the research element of the Sustaining University program, supports university research which is broader in scope and longer range than program or project oriented research. Sustaining research grants have been awarded to about 50 universities throughout the country and are designed to permit universities to develop and strengthen their own faculties and curricula while contributing directly to NASA's space and aeronautics research needs. In addition to further development of the universities' scientific and technical competence, particular emphasis is placed on multidisciplinary studies which consider social, economic, and public policy aspects of advancing science and technology. Research supported by these grants has a significance beyond the immediate research accomplishments in that participating universities, at the same time, enhance their capabilities to contribute to other technical, engineering, scientific, social, and economic needs of their regions and the Nation. Research supported by the Sustaining University program balances and complements the Agency's project research and flight experiment activities and provides stable funding for university research and training. Typical research efforts will include 1. Multidisciplinary research grants which provide a stable base of support for space related science and engineering at the universities best able to contribute to the research needs of the national space program. 2. Strengthening of the Nation's university research in areas where specific agency needs have been identified but adequate capability does not exist in universities. 3. Research on more complex, longer duration missions of the future (for example planetary exploration). 4. Multidisciplinary study of future technical needs and implications of the space program including social and economic aspects; for example: worldwide communications, long-term weather pattern analysis, improvements in speed and safety of aircraft, and better development of earth resources. 5. Research on management and administration of complex scientific and technical programs supported by public funds. 6. Study of experience and knowledge from the space program which might be beneficial in dealing with other national problems such as pollution, transportation, housing, and crime control. Research programs are individually tailored to the strength of the participating institutions. The grants typically bring together the most able minds on the campus interested in space and aeronautics research. This group, in consultation with NASA, determines the most oppor tune ways in which available resources may be utilized to achieve the objectives of the grant and the research needs of the space program. With a budget of $7 million in Fiscal Year 1969, the research element of the Sustaining University program will support multidisciplinary programs at 35 universities. This number is down from the 44 institutions funded in Fiscal Year 1968 and 50 universities in the program in fiscal year 1967. Research Facilities NASA has in previous years funded the construction of laboratory facilities at about 35 universities. The money provided space which is being used for the conduct of research and training in space related science and technology. Under a period of declining budget, NASA is not requesting fiscal year 1969 funds for the construction of major laboratory facilities on university campuses. 10. SPACE VEHICLE SYSTEMS, $35,300,000 The Space Vehicle Systems program is a broad-base research and technology program in aerothermodynamics, structures, and space environmental factors of importance to the design of spacecraft and launch vehicles. It also provides for the formulation and documentation of authoritative space vehicle design criteria based on operational experience and the latest research information. The objectives of the program are to identify and solve the technical problems of launch vehicle stages, manned and unmanned spacecraft, and the overall integrated space vehicle during flight through the atmosphere and in space. The program seeks to provide the advanced technology base for the conception and design of future vehicles and to support current space vehicles and missions of NASA and the military services. Space Vehicle Aerothermodynamics The Space Vehicle Aerothermodynamics program is concerned with the design problems associated with flight of launch vehicles and spacecraft through the atmosphere. In Fiscal Year 1969 particular attention will be given to advanced reentry vehicles for manned flight near the Earth, including methods for recovery on land, and to the entry and terminal descent of unmanned probes on other planets. With Earth atmosphere entry, interest is centered on hypersonic vehicles of increasing slenderness. Work currently in the exploratory stage dealing with a number of new configurations will be more closely focused during Fiscal Year 1969, and the most promising configurations will be investigated in greater depth. Investigation of the M2-F2 and HL-10 flight research vehicles has already revealed several important problems in flight control. These have been investigated in the laboratory. Solutions resulting from this work have been incorporated in the HL-10 for verification in flight. This close interplay between flight and laboratory research will continue. Research on specialized parachutes and other decelerators for application to Mars entry probes has indicated that these devices are also attractive for other applications, such as stabilization and deceleration of manned spacecraft at high speeds and altitudes. This ground-based and flight research will be continued in the coming year. A substantially augmented program was instituted in Fiscal Year 1968 to develop the technology of gliding flexible-wing decent systems for application to the recovery on land of manned spacecraft. The parawing research and technology program, which will continue in Fiscal Year 1969, will involve a combined analytical, ground-based, and flight test program to investigate problems of deployment, air loads, and flight control with parawings of large size appropriate to spacecraft recovery. Space Vehicle Structures Major objectives of this subprogram are to develop advanced structures, exploit new structural materials, and provide advanced structures technology needed to improve the efficiency and cost effectiveness of space vehicles. The subprogram encompasses the areas of advanced structural concepts and materials applications, structural mechanics, structural loads, structural dynamics, high temperature structures, cryogenic storage and large orbiting antenna structures. A concerted attack has been initiated on the critical problems caused by high frequency dynamic conditions. Emphasis will be given to improved techniques of analysis and better ground test simulation to reduce the necessity for overdesign and overtesting. The general purpose structural analysis computer program for space vehicles should become operational during Fiscal Year 1969. This program will permit more uniform and effective structural design analysis of the integrated space vehicle and the interactions of stages and subsystems. It will also accommodate new technologies, such as those related to high frequency dynamics. The program may also find application to other structures such as buildings, bridges, ships and aircraft. Analysis and small-scale experiments are underway on large autenna structures for orbiting radio telescopes. Critical technical problem areas of structures are being identified. Small-scale laboratory experiments will be continued to the extent possible. Emphasis will continue in advanced research and technology for prolonged space storage of cryogenic fluids. Progress is being made in developing improved tanks and materials and more effective insulation systems for storing liquid hydrogen. Space Environmental Factors This subprogram is concerned with the effects of the space environment on space vehicle design and operation and the development of the related technologies required for design. The principal areas of concern are space radiation, meteoroids, reduced gravity and thermal radiation. Exposure to high-energy space radiation can degrade the performance of spacecraft materials and components and necessitate shielding for man. Research is continuing on radiation-sensitive materials and components with emphasis on the understanding of basic damage mechanisms. Research is also continuing to obtain data for use in shielding design as well as on the development of improved shielding methods. The recently completed NASA Space Radiation Effects Laboratory is now in full operation. Advances have been made in determining the meteoroid penetration hazard in near-earth space, but additional data are still needed. Studies of natural meteors entering the earth's atmosphere will be continued to obtain the additional data on the near-earth environment. Also, emphasis will be placed on studies of new detection concepts for use in obtaining future flight data on the hazard in both the near-earth and asteroid regions. Simulation of meteoroids in the laboratory is still not adequate, and work is continuing on techniques to obtain the desired particle masses and velocities in ground test facilities. The maintenance of desired temperatures under varying thermal inputs is essential to reliable spacecraft operation. Continuing research includes development of stable coatings having desired radiative characteristics, heat transfer analysis techniques, and advanced thermal control concepts. Attention will be given in Fiscal Year 1969 to the problem of degradation of radiative properties of surface coatings resulting from exposure to the space environment and to the problem of properly simulating that environment in the laboratory. Space Vehicle Design Criteria The objective of this program is to develop, document, and publish design criteria, including models of the environments, that are applicable to the design of space vehicle structures, propulsion systems, and guidance and control systems. Research results and experience gained from the design and operation of space vehicles are being utilized to formulate and update the criteria in order to insure the development of more reliable and efficient space vehicles. To date, eight documents have been completed and have been circulated to NASA centers and throughout the aerospace industry. Several more documents, including those dealing with the meteoroid environment, the atmospheric winds, and the albedo and reflected radiation from the Earth are nearing completion. In addition, a number of documents are now in various stages of development and approximately 20 of these should be completed and issued during Fiscal Year 1969. The program in Fiscal Year 1969 will encompass the areas of structures, chemical rocket propulsion, guidance and control, and environments as in prior years and will also include some initial effort on electromechanical mechanisms. The program is being carried out in various NASA centers with the assistance of technical experts from the aerospace industry and universities. Lifting-Body Program Fiscal Year 1969 funding is required for this continuing program to investigate in flight with manned research vehicles the piloting and control problems of lifting-body configurations at transonic speeds and during terminal approach and landing. Seventeen flights have been made to date. Substantial data on flying qualities and performance have been obtained, problem areas uncovered, and means for improvement found, all in keeping with the objectives of the research program. Flight tests of the M2-F2 vehicle were halted in May 1967 when it was damaged in landing. The HL-10 is in flight status. A third test |