NASA Quiet Sonic Boom Research Effort Ends With a Whisper

NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center recently completed NASA’s latest quiet sonic boom research study at Edwards Air Force Base.

The Waveforms and Sonic boom Perception and Response, or WSPR, project gathered data from a select group of more than 100 volunteer Edwards Air Force Base residents on their individual attitudes toward sonic booms produced by aircraft in supersonic flight over Edwards.

NASA and industry are studying technology that will reduce the noise and annoyance associated with sonic booms to the point where aircraft flying over populated areas at supersonic speeds do not disturb the peace, and aviation and governmental authorities may consider lifting prohibitions. But before the current restrictions on supersonic flight over land can be changed, much research is needed to understand how individuals and communities react to low-noise sonic booms.

WSPR's primary purpose is to develop data collection methods and test protocols for future public perception studies in communities that do not usually experience sonic booms. The base's unique flight-test airspace puts Edwards residents in a position to experience loud booms regularly, so their reactions to low-noise booms will be a valuable guide for future work in sonic boom perception and response.

"Understanding the study participants' responses to sonic booms is very important to NASA," said Larry Cliatt, Dryden’s principal investigator for the research effort. “We’re pleased with their participation.”

Participants used a standard questionnaire to provide information every time they heard any sonic boom while at home. In keeping with the "there's an app for that" age, some participants responded using smart phones with apps supplied by the WSPR project. Other study participants used a web-based application, and some used paper forms.

For the supersonic flight portion of the research that occurred between Nov. 4 and Nov. 18, NASA F/A-18 aircraft flew specific flight profiles to generate booms, while NASA researchers monitored the flights, noting precise times and actual boom intensities recorded by ground instruments installed in the Edwards' base housing areas. Dryden conducted 22 flights during the test period, yielding 82 quiet sonic booms and five of normal intensity. The softest WSPR project boom was recorded at .08 pounds per square foot (psf) overpressure, while the loudest registered well within the normal range at 1.4 psf.

NASA Dryden takes great care to ensure that loud sonic booms do not impact residential communities, using preflight weather balloons and sonic boom analysis before every sonic boom research flight.

Dryden's partners in the WSPR effort include NASA’s Langley Research Center, Wyle Laboratories, Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Fidell Associates Inc., Pennsylvania State University and Tetra Tech. The cooperation of Edwards Air Force Base personnel was crucial to the study’s success.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/Features/WSPR_research_complete.html

How Communication Influences SEO

Search Engine Optimization is one process that influences the position of a website in the search engines and the ideas we use to get it done is kept fresh with necessary updation. Every single SEO strategy is just a part but, when you try concentration on one and let go others, it means that you are missing the bigger picture.

We keep stressing on a few factors like quality content or latent semantic indexing for getting a website optimized properly and the ultimate aim behind it is to communicate well with the visitors or the potential customers. When you have a website with quality expert grade content and related products that interests the visitors, it means that you website is all set to be ranked pretty well.

Communication is one simple idea that is being followed by us for ages but, we still have problems in making effective communication. The main problem lies in encoding an idea or a message in a format that is easily understood by the other person.

As internet acts as the most influential intermediate between people these days we are in a position to use it as a platform to efficiently communicate to prospective customers. We know that search engines are not our intended receivers but we are supposed to satisfy this intermediary so that our message can reach the target. Search engines are frequently being rationalized so that they become more capable of decoding the meaning of our web pages and at the same time decode the search queries of the users so that they can play their role effectively by giving appropriate search results.

Here, our job as a communicator is to make sure that we keep our web pages easy for Search Engines to understand as well as user friendly. If we are capable of sending the right format of message that is clear-cut for the search Engines to grab, it means that you have done your job. Sounds easy, right? Anyway, hope you don’t miss to deal with the final part of this communication problem… Search Engines are not our final receivers and you will have to put necessary efforts to make people click on to your page, and make business with you.

Now, what is the use of being in the first few ranks and don’t communicate well with your visitors? You don’t get what you want- The business! When you are successful with the first part, you are half way there. Only when your website is presentable and looks like it has got stuff in it, you are through with the final part.  Your job as a webmaster is to provide enough support content about your product or process so that your customers feel it’s worth buying from you when there are thousands of providers out there. When you want business, you will have to build confidence in your customers about what you sell.

Getting feedbacks and keeping in touch will help you a lot in building your business whilst pulling it to the next level. When you get a sale it means you are successful about communicating with one person but, what about the others who had visited your page and had not made business with you.  This ring a bell saying that your way of communication has a few hitches and the best way to prevail over this is to follow the feedback method.

When you feel that your website is well equipped with what customers need and the one thing that you are missing is an effective communication with the search engines, you should get it done by the professionals. Search Engine Genie (SEG) is one qualified professional firm that you can rely for expert Search Engine optimization, promotion, marketing and ranking solutions.

Ready to Launch! A New Website Sharing Space Station Benefits For Humanity

When the International Space Station was first imagined, the idea was to create an unprecedented research platform to support microgravity investigations for the benefit of all humankind. That goal is now a reality, and researchers have not waited for completion to begin working on studies to build on our knowledge of science and technology in space. Because of this, we can already see some amazing breakthroughs.

So just what has the space station yielded to humankind? You can discover the benefits for yourself, thanks to another international collaborative effort. Working together, the station partners launched the International Space Station Benefits for Humanity website on March 1. This site enables readers to look at the global progress resulting from the knowledge and technologies of the orbiting laboratory.

Camille Alleyne, International Space Station assistant program scientist with NASA, explains the goals behind this new effort. "The website is a great resource for the general public and other stakeholders," Alleyne said. "It communicates the value of the International Space Station as a unique scientific and educational platform that enables discoveries that benefit all humanity."

The site will be featured on all of the partner agency websites, in both English and the applicable native languages. This includes the Canadian Space Agency, or CSA; the European Space Agency, or ESA; the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA; the Russian Federal Space Agency, or Roscosmos; and NASA. The stories contributed were the work of writers from around the world, representing each of the agencies whose collaboration took the station from conception to reality.

"Working with the partners on this initiative was truly an extraordinary experience," Alleyne said. "This effort is a continued demonstration of the unprecedented achievement in international cooperation, which is one of the great values of the International Space Station."

Prompted by the International Space Station Multilateral Control Board, the site will feature stories that raise awareness to the station benefits already making a difference in our world. These accounts will be updated as additional accomplishments come to light and vary in topic from education to technology to telemedicine advancements.

"Users will find stories about station research that benefits humankind in the areas of human health, Earth observations and global education," Alleyne said. "Vaccine development research, station-generated images that assist in disaster relief and farming and educational projects that inspire future scientists, engineers and space explorers are some examples of research benefits. The resulting knowledge of these benefits will be extended to more countries and people for the betterment of humanity. They will be used to improve the quality of people's lives globally."

The site focuses primarily on findings that are making their way into general use here on Earth. For instance, doctors are already operating with space station robotics technology when they employ the neuroArm to perform delicate surgical procedures. There are also products with the potential for worldwide impact that are on the horizon, such as vaccines to inoculate against salmonella and even advanced delivery methods of microencapsulation for cancer treatments. These are just some of the developments derived from the work done aboard the space station highlighted as part of this humanitarian website.

As many efforts provide valuable conceptual and scientific data, however, researchers will continue to build upon the ever-growing body of space and microgravity knowledge. For results from specific investigations performed on the space station, readers can also visit NASA’s International Space Station Program Science Results Web page.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/humanities_website.html