The Purpose of the Components of the International Space Station.
New Mexico Museum of Space History Guide
Here is the Interactive Guide to the New Mexico Museum of Space History. These links go with the Apollo and Space Shuttle Artifacts that are on display. Clicking on the link takes you to the Original NASA information for the artifact. Although text has been optimized for digital use, it is the same information the astronauts and engineers used to find out what the component is and what it does.
In this guide, I have an interactive document to help you better understand the artifacts you are viewing. You will be able to decide how much information you want. By clicking on the link, or the Interactive Maps, you will be connected to the original information put out by NASA for the articact that has been optimized for display on smartphones and tablets.
There is also Interactive Virtual Reality Guides for a select group of the displays, specifically the Apollo, Space Shuttle, International Space Station, and Starliner. These allow you to move around the inside of the Capsule, pinch and zoom to see components, and in some cases, click on components to see what they are. There will also be some videos explinations on the components work in the guide.
Interactive Floor Maps – Click of the floor you are on. When the Interactive Floor Map comes up, click on the area of the map you are at to learn about the Artifact.
Artifact List
Apollo Interior – Command Module
Food Crew Personal Equipment (apollo11guide.com)
Apollo primary guidance navigation and control system
DSKY – Interactive Image. Click on component to find out what it does
Replica space shuttle deck – Interactive Image. Click on component to find out what it does.
See what else I’m working on here. Links Page – Spacecraft Guide
Scouts BSA VR Astronauts on the ISS
•Goal: Navigate the International Space Station to the Airlock and Cupola.
•Working together, get to the Cupola. One person reads the map, the other person moves through the VR model. Once a Player has made it to their destination, they switch, and one person reads the Map, and the other person uses the VR headset to navigate to the Cupola. •
•Background: Scouts will learn about the difficulties Astronauts have with navigating the International Space Station. Astronauts experience disorientation and vertigo in the ISS because there is no up and down. There is no true North either, so they must use Forward, Aft, Port, and Starboard.
•Question: How do you navigate with no reference to up or down, left or right, or true North?
1).Have Scouts scan barcode to bring up VR application.
2.If the scout does not have a phone, Have STEM person at Table use their phone. Have everyone work in pairs. Groups of three are also fine for odd numbers.
3) Explain to them the challenge of navigating where there is no true North
•Show them
Forward, toward front of Spacecraft
Aft, toward Back of Spacecraft
Port, the Spacecrafts left ( Remember Port and Left have the same amount of letters)
Starboard, the Ship’s right
•Show them the Map of the International Space Station. Show them all the parts
Columbus
Kibo –(JPL)
Harmony
Destiny
Unity
Tranquility
Cupola
Quest
Air Lock
4) Set your phone to use Google Cardboard. Scan QR Code below to see how to set up phone on Google Cardboard
Give one person the VR Goggles, (Google Cardboard.). Show them how to move in the VR environment by putting the dot on the target by moving everyone into the Columbia module.
5) Moving to the next component – •Show them how to move in the VR environment by putting the dot on the target by moving everyone into the Columbia module.
To move to next component, move your head to put small dot on Black Circle Target.
6) Once everyone is trained and has had a chance to move once in the Virtual Reality,
Give one person the VR Goggles, the other person the map.
If the person who has the map can bring up the ISS VR image on his phone without google cardboard and would like to use that too to see what the person with VR Goggles is looking at, that is fine too.
7) Game
1.The person with the map guides the person with the VR Goggles from the Columbia Module to the Cupola Module.
2.When the person with the VR Goggles gets to the Cupola, show the STEM Person working the STEM table to verify they are at the Cupola.
3.Have the Scouts discuss how to get around the inside of the ISS easier. 1.Look for ways NASA informs the astronauts what are the next components
Switch User
1.Have the Scouts switch their jobs. The new person with the map guides the person with the VR Goggles from the Cupola to the Air Lock with the same techniques as above.
2.Once the Scout is at the Air Lock, they are done.
3.If there is a third Person, have them use the VG Goggles to get to the Kibo Module. Discuss if they have an idea to make the getting around the inside of the ISS easier. Decide which other Scout will guide the Scouts with the VR Goggles.
Updating the Interactive Spacecraft Virtual Reality Apollo Exhibit
In May, we added a lot to the Apollo 11 Interactive Virtual Reality Exhibit, starting with weekly episodes. We are also using a new technology advancement to make the guide even easier to use. It makes the component the link itself so there is no globe obscure the VR image. And we will go over how to get your own version of the Interactive Virtual Reality Exhibit of the Apollo Spacecraft.
Lunar Module Suit Fan Caution Light
In this episode, we went over the Lunar Module Suit Caution Light describing what it does. Then we will go over how it works going over the expression ΔP, or difference in pressure. Finally, we visually explained the operation of the Lunar Module Suit Fan Caution Light using a new technique to Spacecraft Guide. We used the schematic to visually explain how it works and why it works the way it does. See https://youtu.be/QH6g7iGwWP4
Lunar Module Glycol Component Caution Light
In this episode, we describe the Lunar Module Glycol Component Caution Light. This light monitors the Glycol Pumps. It also goes over the newly added Video Description of how the environmental system works. See it at https://youtu.be/L03H3wa99QQ
Lunar Module Suit-Cabin ECS Partial CO2 Pressure Ihttps://youtu.be/VmA82tqbVWkndicator
In this episode, we describe the Lunar Module Suit / Cabin Partial Pressure Indicator. This is the instrument that Apollo 13 used to make sure the modified scrubber actually made breathable air, and we will show you how. It will go into what it measures and how, along with where it fits into the Environmental Control Subsystem. It also goes over the newly added Video Description of how the environmental system works. We also have a new technology advancement to make the guide even easier to use. If you stay to the end, we will show you how your feedback can help get you a membership with the Spacecraft Interactive Virtual Museum for a highly discounted rate, forever. Also, we show you the Apollo 16 Gala in London and the part we played in the celebration! See the episode at https://youtu.be/VmA82tqbVWk
Lunar Module ECS Pressure Indicator
In this episode, we go over the Lunar Module Suit / Cabin Pressure Indicator. It will go into what it measures and how, along with where it fits into the Environmental Control Subsystem. It also goes over the newly added Video Description of how the environmental system works. We also will go over how to get your own version of the Interactive Virtual Reality Exhibit of the Apollo Spacecraft. See the episode at https://youtu.be/0fSDCe239kc
What to use the Interactive Virtual Reality Apollo Spacecraft Exhibit? Click here – https://www.patreon.com/SIVRMuseum
Next e-Book, The Apollo Lunar Module Vehicle Familiarization Manual
Back in 1969, Grumman a manual to go with it’s revolutionary spacecraft, the Lunar Module. The mission of the manual was to be
“an aid for orientation and indoctrination purposes
only. It describes the LM mission, structure, subsystems,
and ground support equipment…”
For decades now, Apollo Enthusiasts have downloaded the free version of this manual that someone mimeographed in the 70’s, then put into a pdf sometime in the last decade. Quite recently, someone put out an e-Book of this manual, but it turned out to be that same mimeographed copy from the 70 but with information missing and/or smugged.
What we are going to do is take the information from that document, clean it up, put it in a more user-friendly font, and then put links to the reference pages and images to get the information you want IN ONE CLICK. Basically, we took the document that the Apollo Astronauts used, like Neil Armstrong and created an interactive 2.0 version.
You can get a sneak peak at the chapter on Crew Personal Equipment here. Take a look and stay tuned. This e-Book will be out before Christmas.
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Go-To Sources
Apollo 13’s Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise, a go-to source of mine, made an unusual statement on the Space Hipsters Facebook Live Event. He explained that he looked at Boeing’s Starliner telemetry data and said if there was a human on board, they could have monitored and made corrections to save the mission and dock with the International Space Station.
I did some more research and found this from Darrell Etherington from Tech Crunch. “Bridenstine, (the Head of NASA,) also speculated that were NASA astronauts actually on board, they would “absolutely” have “been safe,” and that they probably could’ve assisted and overcome the automation error encountered via manual control to save the mission.”
I would argue the ground crew was unable to correct the orbit because there is too much data and too few humans to comprehend it all. We have no problem capturing data, we have a problem finding what is important within all this captured data. This is what I have spent the last 20 years working on and what you can use to find any piece of information on Spacecraft in one click, with the help of go-to sorces.
20 years ago I helped Airlines convert from paper to electronic information by writing a plan with steps to keep it up to data. One thing I did not count on is the amount of data that would be produced because of the ease of creating more information. I then pivoted from converting data to finding data. Years of testing with Airline Pilots helped me create documents with huge amounts of functionality.
With information literally doubling every year, I have used go-to sources as a way to find what Pilots need in one click and still be able to include new data. Because of this ability, I have turned e-books into hyper-efficient manuals based on images like the one below.
The testing with pilots was unbelievable, 9 times faster than current Aviation Information Systems. But what was really astonishing was when I tested it on space enthusiasts on the Apollo 11 Program. The same type of go-to sources model with the same format showed an unbelievable amount of use on the web site.
A web based prototype of the Apollo 11 Control Panels I created received a high number of hits and positive feedback on Facebook Apollo11Guide. Even on Twitter, @ShuttleGuide, not only did lots of likes, I received a like from Michael Collins. Frank Borman was asked if he liked the interactive poster I created and he told the EAA, “If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t have Signed it!”
So if there is one take away you can learn from this article, it’s that search engines have so much data that doubles every year, that they cannot find what you need in a timely manner. If you want to get the correct information the first time every time, you need a one click strategy with go-to sources like the e-books below.
You are so far ahead of the industry that they won’t accept it
So I had a meeting with the person in charge of the world’s largest fleet of Boeing 757s and 767s. He gave me the best backhanded compliment for improving the Pound/Minute measure by a factor of 10. He smiled and told me “You are so far ahead of the industry that they won’t accept it.” I will share these secrets in this article.
He liked my idea of using images to increase the ability for pilots to absorb more information and links to get the correct answer the first time every time, but he thought right now his airline had bigger problems. I responded by saying my idea is just what they need because it could reduce dwell time on the ground by a factor of 9. (see Pilot Training Nine Times Faster – Think About That)
When I left his office, he did ask as an aside how my solution would work on an EICAS Message. I would like to think he liked my concept to reduce the Informational Footprint, but he had too many fires to put out. I did come with a concept for him in a week and sent him a video that was less than 30 seconds. I will show you on the Apollo 11 Interactive Virtual Exhibit how I did it and explain it in this article.
As I explain in previous articles, search engines are popularity contests for information. The more people who search on a topic and follow the path to the wrong answer, the more popular, or the better the confidence level, to the incorrect answer is ingrained into the internet.
The way to break out of this problem is to “instruct” the software to give the correct answer. This is done by finding the correct answer first and “teaching” the software so there is no question what the answer is. Think of being taught by your instructor as opposed to figuring it out for yourself. The best person in any skill is taught how to do it correctly, and that is what we need to do to the software.
Next, we must use the technology to make it quicker to find the correct answer the first time, every time. This is done using the linking and other abilities that the internet provides. This eliminates the need for a confidence level and, in turn, the need for search results. It literally makes Google obsolete. (See E-Manuals, The Disrupter of Google ?). This allows the internet to be 9 times faster than paper.
Next, we use images instead of words. Preliminary tests have shown this around 12 times faster. The reason why is human physiology. Our brains can grasp an image faster than symbols or words. This is the why the interactive poster was so well received. It is also why I was told “You are so far ahead of the industry that they won’t accept it.”
In the future, I will be creating and testing interactive virtual manual. I estimate it will be 20 times faster than paper and Google or any other search engine. This is not only because it is correct the first time, every time, but because it is one image that can cover the whole interior or exterior of an extraordinarily complex machine. I have created an interactive virtual manual for the Apollo 11 Command Module and you can see how easy it is to use at Apollo Spacecraft Intelligent Manual – Panoramic Edition ).
So that is nice, but why should the aerospace industry do this? It comes down to Money. According to DOT data, all costs for an aircraft on average comes to around $52 a minute. That includes crew, fuel, maintenance, and other variable costs. Now think of how it would reduce the lift per time, pound per minute calculation.
Example, last week we had a mechanical issue that cost us 40 minutes and at the end we had to come back to the gate. I would not have eliminated that issue, but I would have reduced it by a factor of 20. That would equate to 2 minutes instead of 40 minutes. That is a reduction in dwell time of 38 minutes.
If we take the time savings, 40 minus 2, that equates to 38 minutes. 38 times $52 comes to $1976. If those issues of dwell time happen each day, that comes to $721,240 a year. Not a bad savings.
The great thing is get to experiment. I let you see what I am working on at the World’s only Interactive Virtual Spacecraft Museum. Then I post the results of using the technology here. That’s why aerospace leader’s say “You are so far ahead of the industry that they won’t accept it.” But here you get to decide if I am too far ahead for you.
FREE Interactive Virtual Spacecraft Museum
In my commitment to educate the public on space exploration, I’m waving membership fees on the projects I create, and I’m reaching out because I think you or someone you know might be interested. I could use the extra exposure and I know people could use my information, so it’s a win-win for both of us!
I recently started work on a FREE Interactive Virtual Spacecraft Museum. It includes all of my work on spacecraft, the e-book material, interactive posters, and intelligent manuals, and brings it into your home for a (previously) yearly subscription. The fact that the exhibit pieces can be experienced from the home right now is a huge benefit for parents looking for educational activities.
With all the school closures and economic issues families are facing, I am making my FREE Interactive Virtual Spacecraft Museum until the kids go back to school.
If your child or a friend is interested in NASA and the Space Program, please have them visit. All 12 of the exhibits are interactive. You can click on the image to find out about the components.
Included are sections of the Interactive Poster, with drawings of the interior of the Gemini and Apollo spacecraft. With just one click, you can see what any light, button, or switch is and what it does. Also there is the Interactive Manual that describes what the components of the Space Shuttle are and what they do. Then if you have more questions, you can keep clicking to get more detailed answers that include schematics. Finally, there are the Intelligent Manuals of the Apollo Spacecraft and Space Shuttle.
Gemini Interior Interactive Poster
Apollo 11 Lunar Module Control Panel 2
Apollo 11 Command Module Communication Control Panel
ECS Control Display of Apollo 13
Interactive Manual – Front View Interior Space Shuttle
Interactive Manual – Left View Interior Space Shuttle
Interactive Manual – Right View Interior Space Shuttle
Interactive Manual – Top View Interior Space Shuttle
Intelligent Manual Of the Space Shuttle Flight Deck
Interactive Virtual Exhibit – Apollo Command Module
Apollo 11 Lunar Lander Interactive Virtual Exhibit
So if your kids or friends are into Spacecraft, or if you know of an educator who is looking for space materials right now, have them go to my FREE Interactive Virtual Spacecraft Museum. You do NOT have to join a membership level. But if you want to just to support the site, thank you.
If you have any question, suggestions or request, please leave it in the comments. Please Share this with your friends and Follow us on our Patreon page.
If you send me an email at safepic@safepic.com , I will show you what I am working on before anyone else gets to see it. And you get to comment on what you think about my future projects. The best comments will get a shout out.
Finally, if you do happen to be gracious enough to subscribe to my FREE Interactive Virtual Spacecraft Museum on my Patreon Page, I will feature you in the next post like Andrew Barth, He was a student at Bradley University in Mechanical Engineering. He was also a former intern at the Smithsonian DPO who not only helped me with how to use the Smithsonian Panoramic Images, but was also my first patron! You can follow him on Twitter at @AeroEngineer16.
I just wanted to make sure these tools were available during this intense time. We will get through this with each others’ help.
Pilot Training 9 Times Easier – Think about That
Last week I was in the simulator for Recurrent Training. Before I stepped in the simulator, I went looking for company training material. I only found a one page syllabus with references I would have to look for using the search engine the company provided.
The problem is search engines are designed to be “sticky.” Time spent on Google has gone from 11:16 minutes down to 8:23 minutes. Think about That. Sitting for 8 minutes doing nothing and then study the flight material for 3 minutes. And that is an improvement in training? See Facebook, Google Lose Share Of Time Spent On-Site As Bing Sees Increase
But we need to go back to the Training Syllabus that started as a paper document. In the age of the internet, it was converted to a PDF with no functionality. No links, no functionality, nothing. It is no better than paper.
Sound familiar?
So I did the simplest thing I did to the 1969 Apollo Training Manual, I upgrading it creating an e-book. I linked the key words to the references. Something that sounds simple but no one does. That came to hours and hours of work, but the outcome, as always as I found with my e-book, was extremely powerful.
Then I did something crazy, I showed instructors what I created because I noticed the references were off. This was ironic because on the last day my instructor was the cousin of Alan Bean, the 4th person to walk on the Moon! Side note, Alan left his family’s names on the moon.
The instructors documented that my training syllabus was 9 times faster than the company material. Think about that, content experts who knew exactly were to find the material in the database were 9 times faster with my training tool.
How much faster for you? I left out the fact that my training syllabus, used by the instructors and pilots, took 3 seconds to find the reference material. If your jaw is not on the ground, and it should be, subtract 3 seconds from 503 seconds. Then think about for 8:20 minutes which is how much I reduced the Informational Foot Print. 503 seconds, or 8 minutes and 20 seconds, you would have wasted on Google instead of studying for training, preparing for your sales pitch, or creating material that you can sell.
Since I can’t give you the training syllabus for the 250 seat Airplane I fly oversees, I will have to direct you to my e-book based on this principle. Not only does it include these principles, but other even more efficient principles. I will be testing these principles on pilots and instructors for later articles. Stay tuned!
If you are an Apollo Spacecraft geek like me, you can use it when you visit museums with Apollo material. Imagine taking the exact Training Material that Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins used to be the first Team to make it to the surface of the Moon, and be 9 times faster than they were at finding the answer on Apollo 11.
This e-book is a glimpse into the future of what our manuals, and books, can become. Imagine the wisdom of Leonardo DaVinci telling the basic concept of his invention with links to future engineering products in our schools teaching children to be future astronauts.
Then there is the speed of using voice commands. But that is another incredible tool you can see here. https://apollo11guide.com/2020/01/voice-activated-spacecraft-control-panel/
Did I mention my syllabus is correct the first time, every time? Think about that.
E-Manuals, The Disrupter of Google ?
| Apollo 11 took Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the surface of the moon. They landed with only seconds of fuel left before they would have been stranded on the surface. Part of the excess use of fuel was due to distractions and they could have been eliminated use technology available today like E-Manuals. Just before touching down, two guidance computer errors came up that almost aborted the landing and they were errors 1201 and 1202. Several precious seconds were spent by engineers trying to find out what they meant. Ignoring the errors as erroneous and to keep the mission came down to one man, Jack Garmin from Oak Park Illinois, and his ability to find the correct answer. His success came down to how fast he could navigate reams of paper manuals without using tools like Google. Today, this type of problems still exists for astronauts and tools like Google don’t help and may aggravate the situation. This is because modern search engines are designed to be sticky which is why people spend an hour searching for things at work and end up watching cat videos. What is needed is a tool that is not sticky that reduces the steps to get the answer, or as I say, reduce the informational footprint. This means not to get the answer within a probability of a 90% confidence level, but a 100% probability to get the correct answer every time the first time especially in life threatening situations. | |||
In previous writings, I have shown how Voice activation takes 10 seconds, but most of that is us humans doing the act of asking. Another quick way to get the correct answer is a manual with hyperlinked alphabetical index and hyperlinked key words for components and diagrams.
E-books can fulfill these requirements but few take advantage of this characteristic. One that does is the e-manual for the Apollo Spacecraft. It can answer any question on the first spacecraft to take man to the moon in one click and here are its tricks.
Like most e-book, this e-manual has hyperlinks to it’s sections, in this case is for each system, in the main index in the front.
Then each section in the e-manual is broken down further to each component of that system. This way if you have a question on the outside of Control Module, you just go to the Control Module section and select the External Compartments.
But what if you don’t know the name of the component that you are looking for but you know it is on the external surface of the command module? That’s where the hidden power of the e-manuals really shines.
Next to the image diagram of the e-manual of the Apollo 11 Guide, there are hyperlinked words in a column. These hyperlinked words match those on the image diagram and take the user directly to all the information on the selected component. In one click and a second later, you have your answer.
The beauty in this e-manual is it’s dichotomy with the state-of-the-art search engines of today. Instead of using Artificial Intelligence to guess what you need with a high probability of being correct, it uses Trained Intelligence to get the correct answer the first time, every time, in one click.
What this translates to you is an increase in productivity of answering your question by a factor of seven. In other words, you won’t waste 45 minutes on the internet wondering why you haven’t gotten your answer and not have gotten any closer to answering your question.
