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For spacecraft whose missions are considered low risk, it is typical for units to be subjected to unit-level thermal cycle and thermal vacuum testing. In recent years, however, the desire to reduce program costs and shorten development schedules has the aerospace testing community questioning the value of thermal vacuum testing all units. There may be instances where unit-level thermal vacuum testing is unnecessary if it can be shown that the unit’s design and performance is insensitive to the vacuum environment and that failures associated with the vacuum environment can be detected in other unit-level testing. The prescription of conditions under which unit thermal vacuum testing may be exempted should focus on establishing proven heritage, demonstrating design robustness through analysis and development testing, and reducing incurred risk. A general list of considerations by which vacuum-sensitivity may be assessed is provided herein.

Lunar tubes, natural underground structures on the Moon formed by ancient volcanic activity, offer natural protection from extreme temperatures, radiation, and micro-meteorite impacts, making them prime candidates for future lunar bases. However, the exploration of lunar tubes requires a high degree of mobility. Given the Moon's gravity, which is approximately six times weaker than Earth's, efficient navigation across rugged terrains within these lava tubes is achievable through jumping. In this work, we present the design of subsystems for a miniature hexapod rover weighing 1 kg, which can walk, jump, and stow. The walking system consists of two subsystems: one for in-plane walking, employing four single-degree-of-freedom (DOF) legs utilizing the KLANN walking mechanism, and another for directional adjustments before jumping. The latter employs a novel three-DOF mechanism employing a cable pulley mechanism to optimize space utilization.

Replacement of chromium containing materials and processes is the focus of extensive research and development activity due to increasingly stringent environmental regulations stemming from hexavalent chromium toxicity concerns. This, in turn, has increased the cost of hardware manufacture. This paper describes the efforts of Boeing Commercial Airplanes in developing a more environmentally suitable alternative process to chromic acid anodizing. Several alternative processes were evaluated prior to selection of a boric-sulfuric acid anodize (BSAA) process. Results of screening tests (including corrosion resistance, paint adhesion, abrasion resistance and fatigue life) and subsequent BSAA process optimization are included.

MOSA (Modular Open System Approach) provides a framework for efficient and sustainable design of complex integrated systems. In domain of embedded technology, the MOSA as-is does a good job in identifying modular software and hardware frameworks required to establish a common baseline for generic open architecture. On the other hand, it does not cover physical aircraft integration, integration methodology and other constituent elements essential for design of robust interfaces and integrated embedded systems, which are owned by OEMs and their suppliers. The definition of open interfaces is a key constituent in definition of MOSA-compliant architectures. An efficient system integration lifecycle requires unambiguous interfacing among hosted functions. Open interfaces and Ethernet are core system integration technologies and should be integrated and configured with other software/hardware framework elements, to enable hard RT, real-time and soft-time application hosting.

Emission regulations are becoming more stringent, as global temperature continues to rise due to the increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Battery electric vehicles (BEV), which have zero tailpipe emissions, are expected to become widespread to solve this problem. As the powertrain of BEV is more efficient than conventional powered vehicles, the proportion of energy loss during driving due to aerodynamic drag becomes greater. Therefore, reducing aerodynamic drag for improved energy efficiency is important to extend the pure electric range. At Honda, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and wind tunnel testing are used to optimize vehicle shape and reduce aerodynamic drag. Highly accurate CFD is essential to efficiently guide the development process towards reducing aerodynamic drag. Specifically, the prediction accuracy for the exterior shape, underfloor devices, tires, and wheels must meet development requirements.