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As pieces of the International Space Station (ISS) enter their test phase, access to information and data from the test laboratories must be made immediately available to analysts, managers, and customers. The Virtual Laboratory (VLAB) concept provides remote access to laboratory test data and other information, indirectly as archived data or directly as real-time data off the test bed. We applied VLAB to a life support system hardware test (the Trace Contaminant Control System, TCCS) in the Life Support Technology Center (LSTC). In this paper we describe the VLAB concept in the context of the TCCS hardware test.

This study examines the lunar environment, the lunar rover mission, and the factors that influence EMU walkback range in the event of a rover failure many kilometers from base. A heuristic method to estimate walkback range of EVA astronauts is presented. An attempt is made to quantify the EVA walkback factors that influence the total walkback range of the lunar EVA astronaut given a fixed duration of the EMU. A walkback range estimate can then be used to carefully structure EVA missions and will help in future designs of EMUs.

Future lunar science and exploration missions will involve the use of pressurized rovers for long duration lunar surface missions. Designs for pressurized rovers are being studied by NASA and the industry. This paper presents some results of work currently underway on the development of a rover simulator in the context of a new pressurized rover concept. A motion base simulator will play a vital role in generating rover vehicle design and performance requirements. A simulator based on a modular simulation (MODSIM) architecture, has been under study and development since 1991. The MODSIM approach will provide benefits of flexibility of modification, low cost, phased scheduling and ease of supportability when compared with more traditional simulator architectures. A lunar rover simulator based on MODSIM will help rover vehicle engineers to be productive through all phases of simulator development.