I read the book while sitting on a remote tropical island, sipping a frozen adult beverage of my choice, and enjoying the kind of cheeseburger Jimmy Buffet sings about. As the warm sun turned my skin the color of the tomato on my burger, one line jumped out at me. On page 88, I read, At least one major prime contractor known to the committee has decided to eliminate the term systems engineering altogether after finding that many of the accumulated documented processesin government, academia,...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Ward,Dan, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United States,...
Twenty-first century military operations have brought forth many new challenges for the Armed Forces of the United States. One such challenge is with new operating environments, where current systems are not always effective. While it is desirable to apply a systems engineering approach to best meet critical user needs, there may be a misconception that systems engineering requires a lengthy and detailed process not nimble enough for a rapid prototyping effort. This article describes how a...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Colombi,John M, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United States,...
Schedule-driven development programs are different from standard acquisition efforts. All programs have a measure of schedule pressure. Once baselined, the iron triangle of cost, schedule, and technical scope is at play. But truly schedule-driven development programs behave differently and have different needs. Attempting to plan, execute, and manage a truly schedule-driven development effort as if it were a standard acquisition program done faster will not work, will slip, will cost moreand...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Neves,Sue, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United States,...
A guy comes back from Vegas and brags he won $10,000 at a slot machine. Impressive, right? Sure, until you discover it was not his first pull nor his last. And he doesnt mention the airfare, hotel costs, taxi rides, poker losses, and other expenses uniquely associated with his trip. He may have had a good time in Vegas, but chances are, he didnt actually make any money there (at least, not once we look at the whole picture). In a similar way, process-oriented methodologies, such as business...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Ward,Dan, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United States,...
Recent advances in additive manufacturing (3D printing) have introduced new parameters in reducing cost in manufacturing aircraft components. The additive process provides a possible means to reduce an aircrafts lifecycle cost (LCC), but the effects of changed process parameters of additive manufacturing machines on final material characteristics are not well known. This research explores these effects with the intent to motivate greater use and application in aviation. We conduct this study in...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Holm,Eric, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright-Patterson AFB United States,...
The cratering record on Tethys provides much-needed constraints on the formation timescale and mechanism of the mid-sized icy moons of Saturn. However, most geologic mapping studies have focused on the large impact basin, Odysseus, and the canyon system, Ithaca Chasma. Recently, work by the authors showed that ejecta fragments from primary impacts onto either of Tethys' coorbital moons are very likely to impact Tethys. The distribution, impact velocities, and impact angles of the debris are...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Nayak,Michael, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United States,...
Impacts on planetary bodies can lead to both prompt secondary craters and projectiles that reimpact the target body or nearby companions after an extended period, producing so-called sesquinary craters. Here we examine sesquinary cratering on the moons of Mars. We model the impact that formed Voltaire, the largest crater on the surface of Deimos, and explore the orbital evolution of resulting high-velocity ejecta across 500 years using four-body physics and particle tracking.The bulk of mass...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Nayak,Michael, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United States,...
Socrates looked ridiculously appropriate, sitting on the bottom step of the Doric temple in Washington, D.C., known as the Lincoln Memorial. Surrounded by other examples of neoclassical architecture, his flowing robes practically blended in. At any rate, he didnt get more than a passing glance from the pedestrians and tourists hurrying past him. One or two tossed him a quarter, which he received with a mixture of wry amusement and confusion. As my buddies, Gabe and Quaid, and I approached and...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Ward,Dan, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United States,...
The first part of this manuscript examines the impact of configuration changes to the learning curve when implemented during production. This research is a study on the impact to the learning curve slope when production is continuous but a configuration change occurs. Analysis discovered the learning curve slope after a configuration change is different from the stable learning curve slope pre-configuration change. The newly configured units were statistically different from previous units....
Topics: DTIC Archive, Honious,Candice, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United...
The work presented in this paper focuses on the design of an attitude determination and control subsystem (ADCS) for a proximity operation and imaging satellite mission. The ARAPAIMA (Application for Resident Space Object Proximity Analysis and IMAging) mission is carried out by a 6 U CubeSat class satellite equipped with a warm gas propulsion system. The propulsion system comprises an orbital maneuvering thruster which produces 100 mN and a set of 16 reaction control system (RCS) thrusters, of...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Franquiz,Francisco J, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright-Patterson AFB United...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Hermann,Brian G, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United States
The basic concept behind Metaphors We Live By is that metaphors are the fundamental construct of human thought. This concept was not entirely new to us, but we quickly discovered that the scope and scale of humanitys reliance on metaphor is shockingly large. The book explains that metaphors do not simply make things more interesting or easier to understand metaphors actually are understanding, and it is almost impossible to think in non-metaphorical terms. No metaphor is acomplete and...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Ward,Dan, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United States,...
Small unmanned systems provide great utility to military applications due to their portable and expendable design. These systems are, however, costly to develop, produce, and maintain, making it desirable to integrate available commercial off the shelf (COTS) components. This research investigates the integration of COTS components through the development of a modular unified command and control (C2) architecture for heterogeneous and homogeneous vehicle teams to accomplish formation flocking...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Gray,Jeremy, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright-Patterson AFB United States,...
The Modernist worldview took root during the so called Scientific Age of the late 19th century, which was marked by a belief that the newly industrial and mechanized world had reached a permanent apex. Even the name Modernism conveys a sense of having arrived at a goal and having achieved a sort of optimal understanding of the way the universe works, particularly as compared with the primitives who came before. Modernist thought was a key contributor to 20th century industrialization worldwide...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Ward,Dan, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United States,...
Before the dawn of recorded history, our ber-great grandparents ran around the planet making crucial decisions on the fly. After extensive study of prehistoric arrowheads, pottery shards, bone fragments, and cave paintings, paleoanthropologists all emphatically agree: Our early ancestors in Swartkrans (Africa) and Choukoutien (China) did not adjust their Cave Program Object Memorandum (CPOM) to establish a multi-year study, costing several thousand she-goatsand an equivalent number of...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Ward,Dan, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United States,...
Biotechnology capabilities continue to increase at a rapid pace. This increase in itself is not unexpected, unforeseen, or inherently good or bad. Increasing knowledge of genetics and cellular function, coupled with increases in computing power, is allowing development of novel, highly targeted treatments for all manners of disease and injury. The potential for breakthrough treatments is higher now than ever before. However, as knowledge and capability increase so does the ability to develop...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Lewis,Douglas R, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United...
The Martian satellite Phobos is criss-crossed by linear grooves and crater chains whose origin is unexplained. Anomalous grooves are relatively young, and crosscut tidally predicted stress fields as Phobos spirals towards Mars. Here we report strong correspondence between these anomalous features and reaccretion patterns of sesquinary ejecta from impacts on Phobos. Escaping ejecta persistently imprint Phobos with linear, low-velocity crater chains (catenae)that match the geometry and morphology...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Nayak,Michael, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United States,...
The surface brightness of Deimos, groove patterns on Phobos, crustal magnetic anomalies on the Moon and the composition of exoplanet atmospheres represent some of the most interesting and puzzling questions in planetary science. Why is Deimos significantly brighter and smoother than its partner moon Phobos?
Topics: DTIC Archive, Nayak,Michael, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright-Patterson AFB United States,...
Krog watched skeptically as Draw and Kwa-id entered the cave dragging a large object behind them and breathing heavily. Their prominent brows were soaked with sweat, and their thick manes were matted and dirty.
Topics: DTIC Archive, Ward,Dan, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United States,...
Every so often, people need to review past efforts, examine progress, and reassess future activities. After more than 40 years of practicing systems engineering within the Department of Defense, it is time we do just that. We must review past policy, guidance, case studies, and best practices; examine current work in engineering standards and processes; and reassess training and growth of the senior engineering workforce. This will require more than a coordinated update of the systems...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Bausman,Karen, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United States,...
This paper discusses the application of a single beam laser rangefinger (LRF) to point cloud generation, shape detection, and shape reconstruction for a space-based space situational awareness (SSA) mission. The LRF is part of the payload of a chaser satellite tasked to image a resident space object (RSO). The one-dimensional (1D) nature of LRF returns significantly increases the complexity of the imaging task. To maximize coverage, a method to autonomously detect and fill gaps in sparse point...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Nayak,Michael, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United States,...
There has been an increasing interest in on-orbit autonomous servicing and repair of satellites as well as controlled active debris removal (ADR) in the space industry recently. One of the most challenging tasks for servicing/repair as well as forADR is the rendezvous and docking with a non-cooperative tumbling resident space object (RSO). This paper presents apropellant optimal maneuver profile for a servicing spacecraft to perform proximity operations and eventually dock with a...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Patel,Parv, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United States,...
Critics of the Department of Defense cite massive cost overruns on major weapon programs, usually aircraft, as evidence of mismanagement and waste. We are currently paying eight times the cost per pound for fighter aircraft that we did in the 1940s. We are paying four or five times as much as we did in the 1950s. These are production costs. Development costs have grown even more. Starks article highlights one painful impact of cost growth, explaining that as costs increase, we can afford to...
Topics: DTIC Archive, Ward,Dan, Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB United States,...