Since the earliest days of spaceflight, substantial concern has been expressed regarding the physical needs of astronauts, including any biological damage that might result from exposure to radiation or from reduction in gravitational forces. In contrast, relatively little concern has been directed towards people's psychological and social adjustment to space. At one time this difference in emphasis was justified. The Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo flights were measured in hours and days and it could be reasonably assumed that astronauts would be able to withstand certain deprivations for these...

The adverse effects of noise, or unwanted sound, have been the subject of extensive research for many years in the fields of psychoacoustics and physiological acoustics. This research grew out of the desire for scientific understanding of these effects on people, especially because of social problems created by the steady increase in the intensity and prevalence of noise found in living and work environments since the start of the industrial revolution. This is the third manuscript prepared by the author on the subject of noise effects. The first, entitled "The Effects of Noise on Man," was a...

This handbook is intended to furnish the reader with the necessary tools to permit him to predict the degradation of solar cell electrical performance in any given space radiation environment. It begins with an introduction to solar cell theory, describing how cells are manufactured and how they are modeled mathematically. The interaction of energetic charged particle radiation with solar cells is discussed in detail and the concept of 1 MeV equivalent electron fluence is introduced. The space radiation environment is described and methods of calculating equivalent fluences for the space...

(Updated February 13, 2006) Project Mercury is now history. In its short span of four years, eight months, and one week as the Nation's first manned space flight program, Mercury earned a unique place in the annals of science and technology. The culmination of decades of investigation and application of aerodynamics, rocket propulsion, celestial mechanics, aerospace medicine, and electronics, Project Mercury took man beyond the atmosphere into space orbit. It confirmed the potential for man's mobility in his universe. It remains for Projects Gemini and Apollo to demonstrate that potential....

In order that photovoltaic solar cells may be used more effectively to provide electrical power for spacecraft, it is desirable to refine the engineering design of solar cells and power systems, based on a better understanding of the space radiation environment and of radiation damage effects on semiconductor components. The objective of this handbook is to provide a summary of some of the useful analytical methods and test data which can be applied in designing radiation resistant power systems. It is found that the most serious obstacle which prevents accurate prediction of solar cell...

This is the second volume in a series done at Manned Spacecraft Center, documenting communication techniques used in the Apollo Unified S-band Telecommunications and Tracking System. As stated in the first volume, NASA TN D-2208, the present document is concerned with detailed mathematical modeling of certain channels in the system. Specifically, this volume provides simple mathematical tools usable for predicting, approximately, the performance of various communications and tracking channels in the system.

This document is a functional description of the intended configuration and operation of the Apollo Unified S-band Telecommunications and Tracking System. In particular, this description applies to the link between the command-service module and the ground tracking station.The lunar excursion module-to-ground link is similar, and an equivalent description applies. The document begins with a short resume of the system's developmental history. Then the basic spacecraft and ground system concept are simply explained. Following are detailed descriptions of the communications signals, modulation...

This publication describes the Apollo Unified S-Band (USB) System. These areas covered are USB station locations, uplink and downlink spectrums, ground station and spacecraft gross parameters, general history of operation of the system, and the functions of both the ground station and spacecraft Unified S-Band System. It is intended for those individuals who would like a general understanding of the USB System.

This, the final report under Surveyor Program auspices by the Surveyor Scientific Team, presents the key findings resulting from five Surveyor landings on the Moon. The vast amount of new lunar data generated by these missions will doubtless be studied for a long time to come, and additional individual papers can be expected in the future. The Surveyor program was planned to achieve soft landings on the Moon by automated spacecraft capable of transmitting scientific and engineering measurements from the lunar surface. The program had three major objectives: 1) to develop and validate the...