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As a result of recommendation from the Augustine Panel, the direction for Human Space Flight has been altered from the original plan referred to as Constellation. NASA's Human Exploration Framework Team (HEFT) proposes the use of a Shuttle Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (SDLV) and an Orion derived spacecraft (salvaged from Constellation) to support a new flexible direction for space exploration. The SDLV must be developed within an environment of a constrained budget and a preferred fast development schedule. Thus, it has been proposed to utilize existing assets from the Shuttle Program to speed development at a lower cost. These existing assets should not only include structures such as external tanks or solid rockets, but also the Flight Software which has traditionally been a ?long pole? in new development efforts. The avionics and software for the Space Shuttle was primarily developed in the 70's and considered state of the art for that time.

Since the 1960's, lightning protection of aircraft has been an important design aspect, a concern for the flying public, aircraft manufacturers and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). With the implementation of major aircraft structures fabricated from carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) materials, lightning protection has become a more complicated issue to solve. One widely used material for lightning strike protection of CFRP structures within the aerospace industry is expanded metal foil (EMF). EMF is currently used in both military and commercial passenger aircraft. An issue that has historically been an area of concern with EMF is micro cracking of paint on the composite structure which can result in corrosion of the metal foil and subsequent loss of conductivity. This paper addresses the issues of stress and displacement in the composite structure layup which contribute to paint cracking caused by aircraft thermal cycling.

The new combinations such as composites and titanium that are being used on today's new airplanes are proving to be very challenging when drilling holes during manufacturing and assembly operations. Gone are the days of hand drilling with high speed steel drills through soft aluminum structure, after which aluminum rivets would be swaged into those holes with very generous tolerances. The drilling processes today need to use cutter materials hard enough and tough enough to cut through hard metals such as titanium, yet be sharp enough to resistant abrasion and maintain size when drilling through composites. There is a constant search for better cutters and drills that can drill a greater number of holes. The cost of materials used in today's aircraft is much higher. The cutting tools are more expensive and the hole tolerances are much tighter.

Pyrolysis processing of solid waste in space will inevitably lead to carbon formation as a primary pyrolysis product. The amount of carbon depends on the composition of the starting materials and the pyrolysis conditions (temperature, heating rate, residence time, pressure). Many paper and plastic materials produce almost no carbon residue upon pyrolysis, while most plant biomass materials or human wastes will yield up to 20-40 weight percent on a dry, as-received basis. In cases where carbon production is significant, it can be stored for later use to produce CO2 for plant growth. Alternatively it can be partly gasified by an oxidizing gas (e.g., CO2, H2O, O2) in order to produce activated carbon. Activated carbons have a unique capability of strongly absorbing a great variety of species, ranging from SO2 and NOx, trace organics, mercury, and other heavy metals.

One of the major problems associated with solid waste processing technologies is effluent contaminants that are released in gaseous forms from the processes. This is a concern in both biological as well as physicochemical solid waste processing. Carbon dioxide (CO2), the major gas released, does not present a serious problem and there are currently in place a number of flight-qualified technologies for CO2 removal. However, a number of other gases, in particular NOx, SO2, NH3, and various hydrocarbons (e.g. CH4) do present health hazards to the crew members in space habitats. In the present configuration of solid waste processing in the International Space Station (ISS), some of these gases are removed by the Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS), demands a major resupply. Reduction of the resupply can be effective by using catalyst impregnated carbon nanotubes. For example, NO decomposition to N2 and O2 is thermodynamically favored.

The development and characterization of an innovative approach for the control and elimination of gaseous toxins using single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) promise superior performance over conventional approaches. This is due to the ability of the nanotubes to direct the selective uptake of gaseous species based on their controllable pore size, high adsorptive capacity and their effectiveness as catalyst supports for gaseous conversion. A metal impregnated SWNT material has been proposed and synthesized for removing and converting the toxins in the life support system.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner will be the most fuel-efficient airliner in the world when it enters service in 2008. To help achieve this, Boeing will utilize state-of-the-art carbon fiber for primary structures. Advanced manufacturing techniques and processes will be used in the assembly of large composite structures. Electroimpact has proposed a system utilizing the low recoil Low Voltage Electromagnetic Riveter (LVER) to drill and install bolts. A test program was initiated between Boeing Materials Process and Engineering (MP&E) and Electroimpact to validate the LVER process for swaging titanium collars on titanium pins in composite material. This paper details the results of these tests.

A new automated production system for installation of Lightweight Groove Proportioned (LGP) and Hi-Lock bolts in wing panels has been implemented in the Boeing 737 wing manufacturing facility in Renton, Washington. The system inserts LGP and Hi-Lok bolts into interference holes using a ball screw mechanical squeeze process supported by a back side rod-locked pneumatic clamp cylinder. Collars are fed and loaded onto a swage die retaining pin, and swaging is performed through ball screw mechanical squeeze. Offset and straight collar tools allow the machine to access 99.9% of fasteners in 3/16″, ¼″ and 5/16″ diameters. Collar stripping forces are resolved using a dynamic ram inertial technique that reduces the pull on the work piece. Titanium TN nuts are fed and loaded into a socket with a retaining spring, and installed on Hi-Loks Hi-Lok with a Bosch right angle nut runner.