Over 138,000 case studies are located on NTRS, in multiple topic areas such as aircraft and spacecraft design, testing and performance; aircraft and spacecraft propulsion and power; Instrumentation and photography; astrophysics; computer programming and software; space vehicles; mechanical engineering, astronomy and space radiation, to name a few.
At 1:55 a.m. on February 24, 2009, a Taurus XL rocket rumbled away from the ground at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California carrying the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO). OCO was on its way to orbit—but not for long. The payload fairing failed to separate from the launch vehicle, preventing the final stage from boosting […]
In 2006, APPEL Director Roger Forsgren and Ohio State University Associate Professor Anthony Luscher developed a new APPEL course: Seven Axioms of Good Engineering A Case Studies Course: Learning From Failure (SAGE). Specifically tailored to address NASA’s mission and program needs, the course was built around seven core principles that are broadly applicable to all […]
The X-15 program, which ran from the mid-1950s through the late 1960s, sought to learn more about the problems and possibilities of hypersonic flight and human spaceflight. At first glance, the research-focused rocket planes of the X-15 project may appear to have little in common with the space shuttle, which launched nearly a decade and […]
The Space Shuttle Columbia thundered skyward at 10:39 AM on January 16, 2003 from Kennedy Space Center. Little more than a minute later, a chunk of insulating foam tore away from the external fuel tank and splintered against Columbia’s left wing. The incident did not disrupt Columbia’s planned path to orbit; indeed, nobody on the […]
The events leading up to the Deepwater Horizon accident offers several cautionary lessons for NASA. The lessons from this tragedy are potent reminders of the pitfalls that can plague complex programs and projects in any industry, even (perhaps especially) those with long track records of success. Prior to the accident, Deepwater Horizon was one of […]
Surviving the third costliest hurricane to hit the United States reaffirmed a common lesson for NASA: in the event of an emergency, you’d better have a plan.
When NASA announced that the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) would upgrade from a Delta II to a larger Atlas V launch vehicle, a window of opportunity opened for an additional mission to go to the moon. The Atlas V offered more capacity than LRO needed, creating space for a secondary payload. The Exploration Sciences Mission […]
On November 14, 2008, as Space Shuttle Endeavor rocketed skyward on STS-129, flight controllers monitoring data during the ascent noted an unexpected hydrogen flow increase from one of the shuttle’s main engines. Despite this in-flight anomaly, the launch proceeded smoothly since three flow control valves (one per main engine) work in concert to maintain proper […]
