Heading North

After a wild ride working on NASA’s Ares I Upper Stage project for the past 2 1/2 years, I will be moving back north to work and live near loved ones in just two weeks from now. This Fall semester, I will be teaching three sophomore design classes at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, just over an hour due east of Minneapolis/St. Paul. I’m excited!

Looking forward to rediscovering the home I left 13 years ago. In the meantime, back to packing…

Funky Bean

Enjoyed a full day of product management sessions at Product Camp Atlanta last Saturday. Find info at: #pcampatl. Our team’s “Funky Bean – CPA Services for Creatives” was voted the winning concept at the “Half-Baked” session by Matt Fagioli . Kudos to Brandy Nagel for bringing her colored pencils along to the conference and coming up with the sweet logo, which I reproduced here large-scale.

Access Platforms – Concept Development: Phase 2

Last week our Human Factors team presented concepts for an integrated worksite system that ground crew at Kennedy Space Center will install in Interstage and Instrument Unit volumes of the Ares I rocket. In the morning we showed how we are addressing the long list of system requirements, then we demonstrated full-scale mockups of the equipment over at our Performance Analysis & Design Demonstrator (PADD…there’s an acronym for everything around here).

Every piece of this Ground Support Equipment (GSE) needs to break down into pieces that weigh less than 35 pounds, fit through a 36″x36″ access hatch, contain no loose fasteners, be operated with one hand tied behind your back…you get the idea. Oh, and of course every platform we install needs to be removed before flight. The bottom line is that we design for efficient tasks that don’t damage the rocket or require a lot of added mass from beefing up attach points on the walls.


The internal access kit consists of:

1. GSE doorframe: Protects edge of flight doorframe and secures power/data/ventilation lines

2. Initial entry platforms: Used to gain initial access and standing surface inside the vehicle

3. Primary work platforms: Establish 360-degree access around the J2-X engine at floor level

4. Secondary work platforms: Provide access to Aft Skirt (above) and lower portion of Interstage

5. Heavy lift device: Assists crew with removing/replacing heavy or hard-to-reach components

6. Loose equipment restraint: Features for securing worksite equipment (laptop, task lighting, tools, etc)

7. Foreign object debris (FOD) barrier: Lightweight, fine-mesh barrier guard against dropped objects


My roles were to provide the heavy lift device concept, configure the Thrust Cone mockup with upgraded components and deliver the mockup research & development plan. Our next steps will be to shadow crews at Michoud Assembly Facility (New Orleans) and to learn how the Space Shuttle servicing crew utilizes their current handling arm for heavy lifts.

>project photos

Field Research: Pre-Launch Maintenance

After much coordination, our team was finally allowed to observe installation of an internal access kit for the Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) Forward Skirt. The SRBs are the two white rockets attached to either side of the Space Shuttle’s orange External Tank (ET). These platforms provide a flat work surface on top of the Forward Skirt dome so the maintenance crew can gain access to batteries, electrical connections and all the other critical “stuff” inside the volume during the weeks prior to a launch–then they remove all of this support equipment before flight to minimize unnecessary mass-to-orbit.

Our Human Factors team in Huntsville is developing concepts for internal access kits to be used in the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle that will replace Shuttle in the next few years. We are gathering insights from the current ground crews to influence our designs and improve the efficiency, safety and comfort of future internal access tasks.

This work was being done on the “next in line” Shuttle…and with the launch delays and processing schedules we were able to see STS-119 launch the night before!! Crystal clear skies made for a gorgeous twilight show and we watched it fly all the way until main engine cutoff (MICO) which I’m told was somewhere over New Jersey. Incredible.

>photos

Systems Integration – Human Factors Mockups

Foamcore mockup of hydraulic reservoir

This is one of many foamcore, wooden, aluminum or rapid-prototyped parts that my teammates and I have started making to outfit our full-scale Thrust Cone mockup with volumetric representations of components. We are starting with the Thrust Vector Control subsystem to support a human factors discussion with the design team from Glenn Research Center next month. Then we will move on to the Main Propulsion System components and a mocked-up J2-X engine powerhead.

To start, we are just attaching the foamcore components with heavy-duty double-sided tape so they can be shifted around as the design changes. There are several subsystems on the flight Thrust Cone that need parts positioned, lines routed and requirements met, and several large components are still being designed…it’s quite a systems engineering challenge to layout everything so it fits!

Our physical mockups give designers an immersed understanding of human factors concerns such as reach envelope, connector spacing and visual access…and it never fails that people who have been working on CAD models of this project for two years show up and say, “Wow, I didn’t realize the rocket was this big!”. Plus, it just gets people excited to see & feel their hardware in person several years before the real rocket will fly.

Next up is a 2 1/2 month phase of concept definition for our internal access platforms and assistive equipment. At our System Requirements Review in May, we need to illustrate how our integrated system provides the internal vehicle access required for pre-launch maintenance tasks by Kennedy Space Center ground crew.

(more info on NASA design process and program reviews in this searchable NASA Systems Engineering Handbook)

Bowl Turning

Over the past few months, I’ve had the chance to learn wood turning techniques from an ornery retired Army officer, a former Colonial Williamsburg cabinetmaker and a couple of nuclear physicists/accomplished craftsmen. I turned a few pens and one candlestick out of walnut, cherry and chittum for holiday gifts. This first bowl from spalted maple had quite a few wormholes for added character. (more photos)

Bowl turning is the last class of the series, then I’ll be teaching the mockup team how to use our new lathe properly.

Access Platforms – Concept Development: Phase 1

Our team wrapped up the first round of concept development, succeeded in integrating platform attach points into the flight hardware design and is gearing up to build mock-ups, conduct user testing and refine concepts for Internal Access Kits.

I’m in the process of writing a case study on the challenges we encountered while pulling together the technology transfer group, an outside consulting firm and several engineering disciplines during our front-end concept phase.  My goals are to improve the team’s collaborative process for the second round of development and to present at a conference next summer.

MN State Fair

It’s been almost a month and I can still smell the Fair (this is a good thing). For those that haven’t had the pleasure…our determined group of four consumed three corn dogs, two strawberries-n-creams, one tasty basket of deep-fried cheese curds, two fudge-dipped Belgian waffles-on-a-stick, bull bites, one piled-high bucket of Sweet Martha’s cookies, three milkshakes and one tiny bottle of 2% milk over the course of about 4 hours. I could try to say this was part of some participatory research protocol…but, alas, it was just sheer enjoyment.

My dad was a bit nostalgic on Machinery Hill…he drove one of the these Minneapolis-Moline tractors back on the farm where he grew up:

Besides the food, the Eco Experience was a highlight for me…it gives the impression that Minnesota is ahead of the game with living, working and building GREEN. Plus, they gave out free cloth grocery bags at the Reduce.org booth just for doing a cheesy photo shoot:

Folklife Festival-Installation

Settled back in Huntsville for a few weeks now… late June through early July was comprised of two whirlwind trips to Washington DC to install our Interstage mockup on the National Mall, capture photos and time-lapse video during the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, then pack everything up to bring back to Alabama.

Installation, Day 1. Finished cylindrical structure w/ tie-back anchors:

Installation, Day 2. The Thrust Cone was built from 4 sections & attached to the ceiling before adding the engine top and nozzle underneath:

Installation, Day 3. Just a few final touches and we were ready for the festival:

Lots of festival go-ers on the 4th of July. Design note…my co-worker Alex took pictures of the Saturn V at the Space & Rocket Center to create the printed banner that “skinned” our mockup–it was pretty impressive:

There’s me setting up a time-lapse shot while teammate Jessica explains the Constellation program to visitors. She talked to thousands of people over the two weeks:

Grand finale!…We designed, fabricated, delivered and installed the mock-up in under 45 days:

Folklife Festival in DC

For the past several weeks, our team has been working long hours to build a mockup for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC. We arrived this evening and will be assembling the 15-ft high/18-ft diameter structure on the National Mall over the next few days.

Most of my work has been on the engine top and nozzle components…lots of foam, fiberglass & Bondo:

followed by some good teamwork to create a colorful, twisting version of a J-2X rocket engine: