June 3, 2003
Michael Mewhinney/Jonas Dino
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Phone: 650/604-3937 or 650/604-5612

RELEASE: 03-43AR

NASA SCIENTISTS TO BE HONORED FOR INNOVATIVE RESEARCH

As the nation celebrates 100 years of powered flight this year, three innovative aerospace projects developed by NASA will be honored next week at a national aerospace conference.

Developed at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., the Performance Data Analysis and Reporting System, the Protective Coating for Ceramic Materials and the JavaPathFinder Model Checking projects will receive awards at the Turning Goals into Reality 2003 Conference from NASA's Office of Aerospace Technology.

This year's Turning Goals into Reality Conference theme is "The Second Century of Flight: Technology Challenges and Opportunities." The conference, to be held in Williamsburg, Va., June 10-12, will focus on the technological challenges as well as the opportunities that lie ahead for the aerospace community in the second century of powered flight.

The Performance Data Analysis and Reporting System project provides Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Traffic Control (ATC) decision-makers at the facility level with a set of previously unavailable comprehensive tools and methods for monitoring the health, performance and safety of day-to-day ATC operations. The reporting system enables the FAA to measure the capacity performance and safety of its air traffic services in response to congressional mandates and plays a key role in helping to reduce accidents.

The Protective Coating for Ceramic Materials was developed to eliminate and alleviate problems associated with a previous coating for the flexible blanket insulations on the exterior of the shuttle orbiter. The coating material consists primarily of colloidal silica and other high emissive agents. The coating is water-based and therefore environmentally friendly. It provides fire protection to many substrates, such as ceramic, wood and metal. The coating can be easily applied by spraying or brushing and can be used on any type of material, whether rigid, flexible or fabric.

JavaPathFinder Model Checking is a revolutionary software tool that is capable of automatically detecting errors in flight software systems. It is based on a technique called "model checking" that enables exhaustive analysis of a flight software system.

For more information about the Turning Goals into Reality 2003 conference, please visit: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/aero/curevent/tgir/index.htm

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