Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports Volume 38 July 28, 2000

cies for runs with up to 64 processors are shown. It can be seen that when using a small number of processors, the fully distributed
version of the code with dynamic load balancing outperforms the other methods of load balancing for the HSCT problem. However,
as the number of processors increase, the static load balancing and hierarchical dynamic load balancing are the most efficient.
The reason for this behavior is that with fewer processors the number of tasks per processor is increased and differences in evaluation
time are magnified, making the problem better suited to dynamic load balancing. With more processors, the processor load
imbalance becomes negligible and dynamic load balancing is not needed. For the parallel computer used, the extra overhead in
the threaded dynamic load balancing scheme caused its efficiency to decrease more than the schemes without threads as the number
of processors was increased. The global optimizer proved to be a useful tool for design space exploration. The optimizer was
able to methodically search a high dimensional design space and identify regions of promise containing different design concepts
with surprisingly few function evaluations. The sensitivity of load balancing performance to variation in function evaluation time
for large MDO problems was also observed. It was seen that when there is a small variation in design evaluation time, the computational
overhead needed for dynamic load balancing impeded the parallel performance, and it was more efficient to use static load
balancing. However, when the variation in design evaluation times is sufficiently large, fully distributed versions of the code with
dynamic load balancing performed best.
Author
Aircraft Design; Design Analysis; Massively Parallel Processors; Multidisciplinary Design Optimization; Parallel Processing
(Computers)
20000064717 NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL USA
Starfire I/ Consort III Launch
May 16, 1990; In English; Videotape: 28 min. 11 sec. playing time, in color. with sound
Report No.(s): NONP-NASA-VT-2000081529; No Copyright; Avail: CASI; B02, Videotape-Beta; V02, Videotape-VHS
The Consort 3 is a commercial suborbital rocket that carried 12 microgravity experiments. It was launched on a Starfire rocket
on May 16, 1990, from the Naval Ordnance Missile Test Station facilities at the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range (WSMR),
NM. The videotape opens with approximately 2 minutes of a man speaking into a microphone but there is no sound. This is followed
by a brief summary of the payload, and the expected trajectory, a view of the launch vehicle, the countdown and the launch.
The videotape then shows a film clip from the University of Alabama, with Dr. Francis Wessling, project manager for the Consort
3 project, speaking about the mission goals in the materials sciences experimentation. The video shows footage of the payload
being assembled. The next section is a discussion by Dr. Roy Hammustedt, of Pennsylvania State University, who reviews the
Penn State Bio Module,and the goal of learning about the effects of gravity on physiology. This is followed by George Maybee,
from McDonald Douglas, who spoke about the payload integration process while the video shows some of the construction. The
last section of the videotape shows a press conference at the launch site. Ana Villamil answers questions from the press about the
flight.
CASI
Launching; Microgravity; Payloads; Low Gravity Manufacturing; Gravitational Physiology; Physiological Effects
20000064899 NASA Kennedy Space Center, Cocoa Beach, FL USA
AC-67/FLTSATCOM Launch with Isolated Cam Views/ Freeze of Lightning/ Press Conference
Mar. 26, 1987; In English; Videotape: 34 min. playing time, in color, with sound
Report No.(s): NONP-NASA-VT-2000078604; No Copyright; Avail: CASI; B03, Videotape-Beta; V03, Videotape-VHS
The FLTSATCOM system provides worldwide, high-priority UHF communications between naval aircraft, ships, submarines,
and ground stations and between the Strategic Air Command and the national command authority network. This videotape
shows the attempted launch of the 6th member of the satellite system on an Atlas Centaur rocket. Within a minute of launch a
problem developed. The initial sign of the problem was the loss of telemetry data. The videotape shows three isolated views of
the launch, and then a freeze shot of a lightning strike shortly after the launch. The tape then shows a press conference, with Mr.
Wolmaster, Mr. Gibbs, and Air Force Colonel Alsbrooke. Mr. Gibbs summarizes the steps that would be taken to review the launch
failure. The questions from the press mostly concern the weather conditions, and the possibility that the weather might have caused
the mission failure.
CASI
Fleet Satellite Communication System; Launching; Lightning; Failure; Liftoff (Launching); Launchers
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