international programs fact sheet

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INTERNATIONAL

PROGRAMS

...‘lo operathn with other nations and g twp s of nations.”

-U . S. SPACE ACT 1958

NARCH 1971



Background on the I n t e r n a t l o n a l program

Summa r y o f N A S A ' s i n t e r n a t i o n a l s p a c e a c t i v 1 . t j a:; 1

C ope r a t i e i it rna ; I ona1 sa t e11 e a.ridp r o b e p r o J e c t s

I r i t e ~ ~ n a t r in a l exper iments o n NASA s a t e l l i t e s 7

Other cooperatl e irit,cr>imt3o n a l programs t 3 - - ' )

q ' o ~ eEn c 1.v i 1 an s pac 1 budget I (1In te rna t i ona l - p rogram n umn i a r y 11 .- I 1 )

Coopera t ive i r i t e rna t i on a l aeronautics re:;eai*ch .I6 '(



:... ,

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INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration'sinternational activities are based on the National Aeronauticsand Space Act of 1958 which provides that United Statesspace activities be conducted so they contribute materiallyto cooperation with other nations and groups of nations.

NASA has entered into some 250 agreements forinternational space projects; orbited foreign satellites;flown foreign experiments on its spacecraft; participatedIn more than 600 cooperative scientific rocket soundingsfrom sites in all quarters of the world, and involved morethan 50 foreign scientists in the analysis of lunar surface

samples.

Direct daily reception of data from U.S. weathersatellites is carried out by some 50 countries. Majorground stations in a dozen countries have participated inthe experimental testing of communications satellites.Foreign nationals participate extensively in the operationof NASA overseas tracking and daca acquisition facilities.

Cooperative aeronautic projects have been carriedout with Canadian, French, German, and British agencieswhich are contri1)utjng importantly to the development andtesting of a variety of V/STOL aircraft.

These projects benefit both the United States and hercooperating partners.

There are cost savings, for example, when Canadaassumes responsibility f o r a series of satellites in theNASA ionospheric research program, when Germany cooperateson a major s o l a r probe program, and when countries such asBrazil, India, and N Q I ~ W E I ~rovide extensive range supportfor .;oundiriE ? w c k e t projects which require their uniqueqeoiy~aphicai. .ocations

Thcrc-3 are - -:cientific benefits when foreign experi-r-:eiiter:, win oppor3tuii.it es to fly their instruments on NASA.-atellites fter comp-titive selection. Scientific benefitsiiave also come, f o r example, from wholly new data obtainedfrom t l le Canadian t o p 2 de sounder satellites and the Italianatmosplieric densj y : ; : i te l l i te : ; , from such new technj u e sas the German b r l i a i um cloud procedure foua investif;atin[; theEartllfs 1nagnet;i.e f i e l d in space, arid from the global observa-.I;ioiis hich have beerr organized in support of radio propa-gation and geode1 c :;at,el_lite proi;rams.



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There are t e c nn o l og f c al b e n e f i t sp r o j ec t s , Canad ian eng i nee r s p i onee redi o n o s p h e r i c s o u nd e rs a nd i n e x t e n s i b l eFrench engineers advanced t h e s t a t e o f

t echnology, remote sensors , spacecra f th a z a r d t e s t i n g .

when, i n j o i n ti n swept- f requencysp ac ec ra ft booms andt h e a r t i n b a ll o on

e n g i n e e r i n g , a n d a i r c r a f t

I n 1970, i n l i n e w i t h t h e P r e s i d e n t ' s emphas i s , N A S A .

i n v i t e d t h e p a r t i c i p a t i o n o f o t h e r c o u n t r i e s i n t h e m ajor p o st -Apol lo pro jec t s - - t h e s pa ce s h u t t l e , t h e s pa ce s t a t i o n and t u g ,C o un t ri e s c ap a bl e o f a nd i n t e r e s t e d i n p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n t h eUnited St a t e s pos t -Apol lo program were acqua in ted w i t h N A S A ' s

p l a n s a n d s t u d i e s . The na t i on s of Western Europe, as w e l l asCanada, J a pa n and A u s t r a l i a , p a r t i c i p a t e d i n N A S A managementr e vi e ws t o g a i n t h e p l ann i ng i n fo rma t i on neces s a ry f o r d e i c i s i o non whether and how t h e y might commit funds t o s i g n i f i ca n t p a r t i -c i p a t i o n w i t h t h e United St a t e s i n t h es e l a r g e hardware develop-ments f o r fu tu re space exp lor a t i on . Under European funding ,B r i t i s h , French and West German f i rms are working w i t h N A S A ' s

prime c o n t r a c t o r s i n de s i gn s t u d i e s f o r a s p a c e s h u t t l e . TheEuropean Space Conference i s independent ly funding s t u d i e s ofpossible orb i t - t o - o rb i t bug de s i gns . I t rena , ins for t h e s e ando t h e r c o u n t r i e s t o d et e rm i ne t h e e x t e n t t o which t h e y w i s h t oj o i n w i t h u s i n t he new s pace ven t u re s o f t h e 1 9 7 0 s .

The U . S . looks forward t o t h e t i m e when there w i l l bep a r t i c i p a t i o n by a s t r o n a u t s f r o m o t h e r c o u n t r i e s i n N A S A f l i g h t s .

There are i mmed ia te p ro j ec t s and p ros pe c t s i n t h e p r a c t i c a l

ap p l i c a t i o ns o f s pace which are impor tan t t o both advanced andd e v e l o p i n g c o u n t r i e s .

An expe r ime ntal met eor ol ogi cal s a t e l l i t e and ba l loonprogram w i t h France i s c a l l e d P r o j e c t EOLE. NASA w i l l l auncha French s a t e l l i t e t o t r a c k s ev e ra l hundred ba l l oons t o s t u d yt h e g l o b a l c i r c u l a t i o n of t h e w$nds.

which w i l l make NA S A ' s ATS-F sa t e l l . i t @ e v a i l a b l e f o r ane xp er im en t i n i n s t r u c t i o n a l TV broa dcas t ing t o some 5 ,000r em ot e I n d i a n v i l l a g e s . I n d i a assumes r e s p o n s i b i l i t y for t h ec o n s t r u c t i o n o f g round t r a n s m i t t e r s , t h e des i gn and p roduc t i on

of augmented TV r e c e i v e r s , t h e p l ann i ng of i n s t r u c t i o n a l p r o -grams, and t h e l o g i s t i c s r e q u i r e d t o c o o r d i n a t e and s u pp o rt a l lelements of t he s ys t em.

NASA h a s e n t e r e d i n t o a f a r - r e a c h i n g v e n t u r e w i t h I n d i a

I n t h e f i e l d of E a r t h r e s o u r c e s s u r v e y by s a t e l l i t e s , N A S A

has u n de r ta k en c o o p e r a t i v e p r o j e c t s w i t h Brazil. , Canada andMexico designed t o a c q u a i n t s c i e n t i s t s a n d p o l i c y makers o ve r-seas witih t h e p o t e n t i a l of remote' seinsInEI;. B r a z i l i a n and Mexicanteams have been t ra in ed i n Iqemote-sensing t echn ique s , havee s ta b l i s h e d ground t e s t s i t e s i n t h e i r own c o u n t r i e s , arid a r eacq u i r i ng and i n s t rumen t i ng t h e i r own expar li rnenta l a i r c r a f t .



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To follow through on the President's statement to theUnited Nations in September 1969 that this country wouldshare the benefits of Earth resources satellites, NASA is

undertaking a wide range of supporting actions: briefingthe UN Outer Space Committee at the Manned Spacecraft Center'sEarth resources facilities, adding the Earth resources disci-plines to the scope of the International Graduate FellowshipProgram, and holding an international workshop on May 3-14,1971 at the University of Michigan, 'to review the status ofresearch and experimentation in this, ew field. NASA pro-vided technical assistance to India in the aircraft survey ofa coconut palm blight in Kerala State so that its spread couldbe mapped and controlled.

synchronous meteorological satellite as a joint contriburizn

to GARP, the Global Atmospheric Resegrch Program. NASAexperts, joined by representatives of the Federal Aviation ,

Agency, have met irlformally with ESRO and representatives of,European aviation agencies to consider mission requirementsfor a possible pre-operational air traffic control satellitesystem for the North Atlantic.

NASA is considering a proposal to lgunch a French

Four presidents and many members of the Congress havesupported NASA .cooperattionin space activiti with the ,

Soviet Union. Bilateral agreements for foursatellite meteorology, communications, geomagnetic surveying,and space biology and medicine resulted from t a l k s from 1962-65.These agreements provided for coordinkted efforts rather thanintegrated projects. Progress under these limited agreementshas been disappointing. NASA has recently invited new initiativesin space cooperation from the Soviet Academy of Sciences.

In Octoher 1970 the Soviets agreed to our proposalfor the possibility of designing future spacecraft of thetwo countries to permit rendezvous and docking in outer space.In January 1971 an American space delegation met in Moscow withits Soviet counterparts to consider a wider range of futurecooperation.

There was a frank exchange and preliminary agreement

on joint consideration of the objectives and results of spaceresearch, the Lmprovernent of existing weather data exchanges,techniques for studying the natural environment using space andconventional means, the expanded exchange of data on spacebiology and medicine, and the exchange of lunar samples.

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We a re hope fu l t h a t from t h e s e meet ings 8 broad a r eaof space cooperat ion between t h e United S t a t e s and t he S ov i e tUnion w i l l emerge which w i l l b e o f l a s t i n g b e n e f i t no t o nl y t o

t h e S o v i e t s an 6 o u r s e l v e s , b u t t o p eo p l es t h r ou g ho u t t h e world.

NASA has e s t a b l i s h e d t hr ou gh i t s i n t e r n a t i o n a l p r o g r a m sof t h e s i x t i e s a broad base of i n s t i t u t i o n s , f a c i l i t i e s ,competence, and p a t t e r n s of cooperat ion f rom which i t can moveforward i n t h e f u t u r e . I t i s engaged i n a m a j o r new e f f o r tt o ' i n c r e a s e i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o op er at io n i n t h e s e v e n t i e s b y ex-t e n d i n g i t s a c t i v i t i e s w i t h t h e o t h e r n a t i o n s of t h e we st t oi n cl u de p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e development and use of major newspac e sys tems and i n t h e experimental development of new applica-t i o n s of space t echnology. I t s o b j e c t i v e i s t o b r i n g a bo ut ag r e a t e r s h a r i n g o f b o t h t h e c o s t s a n d t h e b e n e f i t s of t h ? e x p l o -r a t i o n and u t i l i z a t i o n of space and t o see k new pa th s o f coopera-

t i o n w i t h t h e Soviet Union.

A s i n a l l m a t t e r s i n v o l v i n g i n t e r n a t i o n a l ag re em en t,p r o g r e s s w i l l t a ke t i m e , bu t t h e 1970's should s ee majoradvances i n i n t e rn a t i o na l s pace coopera t i on beyond t h e sub-s t a n t i a l a ch ie ve me nt s o f t h e 1960 's .

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n

N.

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SA'S INTERNATIONAL SP CE ACTIVITIES

SUMMARY (Cumulative from 1958-1970)

TOTAL Countries cooperating insome form with NASA

I. Total Countries* which have entered

Cooperative Project Agreements

Tracking and Data AcquisitionAgreements

National Geodetic SatelliteProgram Agreements

7 6 + *

into:

2 5

2 1

13

11. Total Countries* in which scientistsparticipate in:

Ground-based Programs 73

Personnel Exchanges 39

111. Countries which exchange scientificand technical information

IV. Countries*** which have sent visitorst o NASA

6 2

1 2 5

*a* Duplications eliminated* * * Includes ESRO and European Launcher Development

Includes European Space Research Organization (ESRO)

Organization (ELDO)

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COOPERATIVE SATELLITE AND PROBE PROJECTS

Countries (including ESRO as one) under agreement withNASA%+ 7

International Satellites and Probe agreements

International Satellites already launched by NASAvehicles

30#

CanadaAlouette IAlouette I1

ISIS-I

Franc :

FR-I

GermanyAZUR I

September 29, 1962November 29, 1965

January 30, 1969

December 6, 1965

November 7, 1969

Italy:San Marco I (prototype) December 15, 1964San Marco I1 April 26, 1967

United Kingdom:

Ariel IAriel I1Ariel I11

ESROIRISAuroraeHEOS-IBOREAS (FSRO l-BL

April 26, 1962March 27, 1964May 5, 1967

May 17, 1968Octobei? 3 , 1968December 5, 1968##October 1, 1969##

TOTAL 14

JF% In addition, NASA has an agreement with the Soviet

# Includes three reimbursable launchings: HEOS-I, BOREAS, HEOS

# # Reimbursable launchings

Academy of Sciences for "Coordinated" projects

A-11, TD-1, ESRO IV, TELESAT Canada (ANIK) and S I R I O .

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EXPERIMENTS ON NASA SATELLITES

Countries participating

International experiments selected

International experiments flown:

France :OGO - I 1

OGO-IV

OGO-Voso-vOGO-VI

Italy:oso-VI

Netherlands:OGO-V

Switzerland:Apol l o 11, 12, 14

United Kingdom:Explorer XXExplorer XXXI

oso-IV

OGO-V

oso-v0SOT.VINimbus IV

(2 experiments)

(2 experiments)

(2 experiments)

5

2 3

October 14, 1965July 28, 1967March 4, 1968January 22, 1969June 5, 1969

August 9 , 1969

March 4, 1968

July 16, 1969, November 1 4 ,l a h a , January 31, 1971

August 25, 1964November 29, 1965

October 1 8 , 1967

March 4, 1968

January 22, 1969August 9, 1969April 8 , 1970

TOTAL 18

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SOUNDING ROCKET PROJECTS

der cooperative agreement with

euting cooperatLve launchings 19

Total cooperative sounding rockets launched# 6 0 2

COMNUNICATIONS SATELLITES

Countries under agreement with NASA toprovide ground stations f o r cooperative

testing of experimental COMSATS andimplementing the agreement

I

NATIONAL GEODETIC SATELLITE PROGRAM

Countries which have agreed to temporarylocation of BC-4 caniera installations.

TRACKING AND DATA ACQUISITION

Countries in which NASA TDA stations arenow operated.

NASA oversea8 TDA stations.

12

23

13""

2 0 * *

* Does not include NASA launchings at Churchill Research

* * Includes NASA electronic stations and SA0 opticalRange, Canada.

statiqns.

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METEOROLOGICAL RESEARCH

Countries which have taken part in synchronizedgathering of data with NASA meteorological satellite

automatic picture transmission receiveps.photography and countries known to have'used 6 5

OTHER COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS

Countries which have participated in ground-basedactivities relating to ionospheric satellites, aeodeticsatellites, solar eclipse experimpts, Moonwatch,aeronautics and Earth pesources programs 52

Countries which are participating in the lunarsample program 1 7

PERSONNEL EXCHANGES

Total countries (including ESRO as one) which haveparticipated in personnel exchanges programs 39

International Resident Research Associates 3.n NASACenters and JPL 592

NASA International Graduate Fellows in U . S .

Universities 335..

Foreign technical trainees at NASA Centers in supportof cooperative projects and ground facility operations 5 5 l

Countries which exchange scientific and technicalinformati n

Informal exchange arrangement with organizations 2 6 3

VISITS PROGRAM

6 2 *

Exchange services provided to additional organizations 143

Countries** which have sent visitors to NASA 125

yisitars (cumulative) approxfmately 45,100Current annual rate approximately 5 , 0 0 0

I Duplications eliminatedss+ Includes ESRO and ELDO

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INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM SUMMARY

The 1 9 5 8 l e g i s l a t i o n c r e a t i n g NASA provided t h a t " t hea e r o n a u t i c a l and s p ac e a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e U ni te d S t a t e s s h a l lbe conducted s o as t o c o n t r i b u t e m a t e r i a l l y t o ... o o p e r a t i ~ nby t h e U ni te d S t a t e s w i t h o t h e r nat ions and groups of nat iof isi n work done pursuant t o t h i s a c t and i n t h e p e a c e f u l a p p l i c a -t i o n of t h e r e s u l t s t h e r e o f . " N A S A ' s i n t e r n a t i o n a l programs , Ib .under taken to implement t h i s d i r e c t i v e , c an be c a t e g o r i ze d $

i n t h r e e p r i n c i p a l a r e a s : s pa ce s c i e n c e s, s p ac e a p p l i c a c i c n s ,and t h e ground suppor t o f space oper a t i ons . A c a r d i n a lp r i n c i p l e of t h e s e cooperat ive programs i s t h a t each s i d e I

fund i t s own pa r t i c i p a t i o n .

What fo l l ow s i s a b r i e f , s e l e c t i v e summary d e s c r i p t i on o fthese programs .

I . SPACE SCIENCES

C oo pe ra ti ve s a t e l l i t e p r o j e c t s a r e a major e lement of inter-na t i on a l space sc i enc e programs. In t h e s e p r o j e c t s , thef o r e i g n p a r t i c i p a n t c o n tr i b ut e s t h e s a t e l l i t e wh ile N A S A

c o n t r i b u t e s t h e l a un c hi n g. N A S A i n e f f e c t g e t s a f r e es a t e l l i t e , w h i l e t h e c o o p e r a t i n g p a r t n e r g e t s a f r e e l aunch i ng .To d a t e the re have been 1 2 such coopera t ive l aunchings of space-

c r a f t b u i l t by t h e Uni ted Kingdom, Canada, Fr an ce , I t a l yand Germany, as w e l l as by the European Space ResearchOrganiza t ion ( E S R O ) , Nine a d d i t i o n a l c o o p er a t iv e s a t e l l i t epro jec t s have been agreed, and prospec t s for t h e c o n t i n u a t i o nand growth of cooperat ive s a t e l l i t e programs ax'e excellent .

The U S and Germany agreed l a s t year t o t he most ambit i ousc o o pe r a ti v e s p a c e c r a f t e f f o r t y e t under taken . In t h i s p r o j e c t ,c a l l e d HELIOS, two German s pa c ec r af t , ca rr yi ng seven Germanand t h r e e US exper i men t s , w i l l be launched by N A S A t o makephysical measurements wi thin about 2 8 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 mile s o f t h esun, c l o s e r t han any s pac ec r a f t has f lown before . HELIOSw i l l complement t h e NASA Pioneer s e r i e s of s p a c e c r a f t i n

p r o v i d i n g t o t a l s o l a r s y s t e m coverage. O f t h e t o t a l p r o je c tc o s t , est imated t o e xc ee d $ 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 , Germany w i l l bear t h emaj or p o r t o n .

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In addition to cooperative satellites, NASA also solicitsforeign proposals for experiments t o be flown on NASA

satellites.UK, Italy, the NetheFIands and Switzerland have beenselected on their merits through competition with US andother proposals. Of these, 18 have been flown to date,Financial support was provided by the foreign sponsors,Through this program, foreign scientists have opportunitiesto participate in useful flight research, while NASA gainsaccess to outstanding space science capabilities in theinternational community. The flight opportunity is madeavailable at no cost to the foreign cooperators who, in turn,make their experiments available at no cost to NASA.

Twenty-ghree such expeqiments from France, the.

The launching of foreign scientific spacecraft on a cost-reimbursable basis is an international activity of growingimportance. Already two ESRO satellites have been success-fully orbited under such arrangements and four more areplanned for the future. Discussions are also underway withother nations.

The program to analyze lunar samples returned in the Apolloprogram now includes 55 approved Principal Investigators from16 countries--Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia,Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea,Norway, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. Thusnations around the world are afforded the opportunity to

share, in a scientifically significant way, in one of man'struly great endeavors. These investigators, selected on themerits of' their proposals and with no U.S. financial support,are performing a full range of physical, chemical, mineralogicaland biological experiments on the lunar samples, along withtheir 139 American colleagues. Other important internationalparticipation included:

--A Swiss s o l a r wind experiment placed on the lunarsurface and later retrieved by the astrponsuts of Apollo 11,

12 and 14 missions.

--A laser reflector left on the lunar surface by Apollo 11

and announced as available to all countries (and used by France).

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Sounding rocket programs represent a broad area of inter-national cooperation, some nineteen countries having joinedwi-bh NASA it? projects of mutual interest. Because of thelow costs of' sounding rocket work, countries without the

resources for satellite projects are able t o participatedirectly in valid scientific space flight proJeCts, Inaddition, the small launching facilities developed in suchcountries as Brazil, India, Argentina and Pakistan have beet?available to NASA sounding rocket programs that have requiredspecial launch locations for research into polar, auroral andequatorial phenomena. More t.han h a l f of NASA's totalsounding rocket effo1.t '_s n collaboration with foreignpartners, with launchjngs in 14 different countries.

More than '10 countr3.ey have been involved in a wide range ofcooperative ground-based observations, as distinguishedf ' ro 'n f l i g h t projects. Scientists abroad have been able to

carry out such observations in support of orbiting satelliteprojects in such fields as ionospheric studies and geodesy.Many of these complementary ground activities have actuallybeen necessary to achleve flight program objectives.

A variety of research and training opportunities for foreignscientists and engineers in space-related science andengineering at US universities and NASA centers are availableand have so far involved more than 1,000 individuals fromsome 40 countries. In many cases the participants in theseprograms have returned to their countries to serve as thenucleus around which national space organizations and programshave developed.

TI SPACE A P P L I C A T I O N S

Experimental communications satellites have for the pastdecade been a major element in international collaboration.In the early Relay, Telstar and Syncom experj-ments dozencountries built ground terminals at their own expense to workwith NASA in testing these satellites. From 'this beginninghas evolved the 76-member INTELSAT consortium which hasgreatly expanded telecommunications capacity internationalay,reduced c o s t s substantially, and provided real-time TV coverage

in large portions of the globe. NASA also provides reimburs-able launchlngs for foreign national communications satellftes;UK and Canada satellites will be the first.

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Under a major new agreement with India, NASA will makeavailable its ATS-F satellite for a one-year Indian instruc-tional television experiment. Villages equipped with augmented

TV receivers will receive programs on population controland agricultural productivity while the technical feasibilityof satellite TV direct broadcast is tested in an operationalsetting.

NASA's efforts in the weather satellite and rocket fieldhave been strongly influenced by international concerns.Meteorological satellites now routinely deployed have beendesigned so that nations everywhere can use inexpensive(or easy-to-build) Automatic Picture Transmission (APT) setsto obtain daily weather prospects directly from US satellites.These sets are in use in some 65countries. And regular,coordinated weather rocket soundings on a North-South line inthe Western Hemisphere have been undertaken in an Inter-American Experimental Meteorological Rocket Network(EXAMETNET). Since inception in 1966, Argentina and Brazilhave launched more than 100 rockets, synchronized with similarlaunchings from various US sites.

N A S A is also engaged with France in a cooperative meteorologicalsatellite and balloon project, EOLE, t o test the feasibilityof such a system for tracking global winds. Balloon andsatellite launchings are scheduled for this year.Cooperation in an advanced synchronous weather satelliteproject is under discussion with France.

Pre-satellite emphasis in the Earth Resources Surveys (ERS)area has been on actions to inform the international communityabout the evolving US program, to provide orientation andtraining, and mount aircraft-based programs in preparationfor the use of later satellite data. Cooperative aircrafthrograms with Brazil and Mexico are proceeding and remotesensing techniqueswere made available to India for t h eidentification of areas of coconut palm blight in Keralastate. In addition, the US is cooperating with Canada inthe development of sensors, NASA's fellowship program is beingextended to cover remote sensing-related disciplines, andbriefings have been arranged f o r international groups, such

as the UN Outer Space Committee.

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111. SPACE OPERATIONS SUPPORT

The tasks of tracking, communicating with and acquiring data

from the multitude o f NASA's manned and automated spacecrafthas required the extensive and intimate participation of 21countries. Some 2-0 stations around the world ape at presentoperated with active support, and often direct staffing, bynationals of the host countries. In several locations, thecosts of operating the stations are borne by the host countries.NASA maintains close ties with the ESRO and French trackingnetworks, and specific project support exchange arrangementsare increasing in number.

Extensive operational arrangements have been made with dozensof countries in Africa, Asia and South America for the stagingand overflight of US aircraft in conjunction with contingencyassistance operations for the Mercury, Gemini and Apolloprograms.

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COOPERATIVE INTERNATIONAL AERONAUTXCS RESEARCH

France

NASA and ONERA, the French civilian aeronautics researchagency, are conducting a cooperative wind tunnel researchproject t o t e s t rigid and flexible t i l t r o t o r s for V/STOL

aircraft. The r o t o r s are being tested with variOU8 distri-butions of twist and camber, simulating t h e effect of aero-elasticity on blade shape. This research will contributeto rotor-prop design state-of-the-art.(approximately 2 0 0 - 5 0 0 knots) are being conducted in ONERA'SS-1 wind tunnel, and low speed t e s t s (0-200 k n o t s ) in theAmes 40' x 8 0 ' tunnel. NASA is providing the r o t o r s . ONERA isconducting the S-1 wind tunnel tests at no charge t o NASA.Data resulting from the program will. be shared.

NA S A has contracted with LTV (subcontract with the Giravions-Dorand Company of France) t o look into t h e most promisingapplications of the Jet-Flap Rotor, which was designed anddeveloped by Giravions-Dorand.

In 1966 NASA contracted for 20 hours of flight time on theBreguet 941 STOL aircraft. This aircraft was recently usedby Eastern and American Airlines t o study the possibleapplication of a STOL aircraft f o r commercial short-haultransport use in the Northeast Corridor.

High speed tests

Germanv

NASA and the BMBW (German Ministry f o r Education and SCiehc@)have agreed t o two cooperative efforts related t o the Do-31aircraft, a unique advanced jet V/STOL transport. In thefirst, the stability, control, and handling qualities Of theDo-31 have been studied during landhng, transition and descentphases of flight on the NASA/Ames 6 -of-freedom sirnulator.In the second, NASA pilots will fly the Do-31 for approximately1 2 1/2 hours. The purpose of the flight program is t o examinethe handling qualities and the perfo e limitations ofthe Do-31 under various VTOL and STO cent and ascentconditions. Terminal area operatin lems of the aircraftwill also be studied. NASA's contr n is to take theform o f a $700,000 contract with Do the 110-31 developer

Do-31 development was funded by t h eof ~ v e r 40 million. The present PZigki; t e 8 6 program i s beingfunded by t h e Germans at a level of approximatexy $6 million*

n Government at il C?OSt



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United Kingdom

NASA a n d t h e U K Mi ni st ry of Technology (Mintech) are coope ra t i ngi n t e s t i n g t h e B r i t i s h Hunting-126 Jet-Flap STOL a i r c r a f t i n

t h e Ames 4 0 1 X 8 0 ) wind tunnel .

NASA and Mintech coo perat ed i n conduct ing runway t i r e t r a c t i o nt e s t s a t Wallops S t a t i o n i n J un e 1968. For t h e s e s t u d i e st h e B r i t i s h provided a Heavy Load Friction T r a i l e r and a s s oc i a t edequipment. Follow-up t e s t s as an ex tens ion of t h i s program were

conduc ted i n t h e UK d u r i n g t h e s umme r o f 1969.

The Uni ver s i t y of Southampton 's I n s t i t u t e of Sound and V i -

b r a t i o n R es ea rc h is one o f t h e foremost research l a b o r a t o r i e si n t h e w or ld on a f r c r a f t n o i s e p r ob le ms . NASA has c o p t r a c t e dw i t h t h e I n s t i t u t e f o r noise research and two Langley engineers

are p u r su i n g g r a d ua t e l e v e l r e s e a r ch a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y .I n 1 9 6 6 , Defense Dept . t r an sf er re d t o NASA t w o Hawker-SiddeleyP-1127 a i r c r a f t f o r NASA t o s tu dy t h e v e c t o r e d t h r u s t VTOLc h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of t h e a i r c r a f t u nd er v i s u a l and s i m ul a te d IFRc o n d i t i o n s . T h i s program i s to e xt en d u n t i l 1971 w i t h t h ei n t e n t i o n of accumulat ing about 1 2 5 f l i g h t hours .

I n 1 9 6 6 and 1967 t h e the n Min is t ry of Av iat io n (now p a r t ofMintech) and NA SA coope ra t ed i n conduc ti ng re sea rch o n d i s t u r -bances a s s oc i a t ed w i t h se ve re thun derst orms, mountain waves,and t r o p i c a l s t o rms . Both B r i t i s h and U S a i r c r a f t were used.

Canada

NASA and th e Canadian ae ro na ut ic a l res ea rc h and developmenta u t h o r i t i e s are conduct ing a wind t u n n e l r e s e a r c h p r o j e c t t os t u d y t h e "augmenter_Wing" concept, a promis ing wing configura-t i o n for STOL a i r c r a f t t h a t o r i g i n a t e d w i t h t h e De Ha vi ll an dCompany of Canada. A second phase o f t h i s p r o j e c t , i n v o l v i n gt h e t e s t i n g of t h e concept on a small r e s e a r c h v e h i c l e , i sp r e s e n t l y u n d e r d i s c u s s i o n .

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international programs fact sheet

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