Fast-forward to the year 2020. That's only about 15 years away. Imagine new industries that have evolved as a result of space exploration and new technologies that have created a life once considered science fiction. These technologies, that are actually on the verge of discovery, could underpin and advance the U.S. economy. Some of these new technologies may be lighter-weight and faster propulsion systems that will make traveling to distant planets possible. Les Johnson will describe some of the new in-space propulsion systems his team is exploring, including an electrodynamic tether that is essentially a long conducting wire extended from a spacecraft. The motion of the conductor across magnetic fields induces a voltage along the length of the tether.

Les Johnson manages NASA's In-Space Propulsion Project at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He has degrees in physics and chemistry. Several years ago he led the design of the first satellite called IMAGE that was dedicated to imaging the Earth’s magnetosphere, the region of space controlled by the Earth’s magnetic field.

Invocation: Ron Burton

Menu: A buffet lunch for $11 will be available for attendees beginning at 11:30 a.m. Lunch will include a salad, roast pork with apples, broccoli casserole, creamed corn, roll, and cherry cobbler. Reservations are not required, and guests are welcome. For more information, call Judy Driggans at 751-7616 or Brad Baucom at 751-4696.

Parking: Free parking (for those who leave a notice on their dash indicating they are with the Chattanooga Engineers Club) is available for attendees at the Days Inn on Carter Street. There is also a parking garage behind the Tallan Building.

PREVIOUS MEETING_____________________________________

Monday, October 17, 2005: "Too Much Data, Not Enough Information" Paul J. Wolff, PhD, WolffWare, Ltd.

Paul Wolff reminded us that many years ago, before pencil and paper, man recorded things by carving notches on bone. The amount of data available quickly changed with the invention of computers. He pointed out the ability of humans to assimilate information through patterns and the need to creatively display data in ways humans can quickly grasp and process. His example was that humans, even at an early age, can recognize patterns (body language of a parent coming to pick them up) and use the information (the mood of the parent) to make informed decisions about whether this may be a good time to ask for a piece of candy or to wait until the parent is in a better mood.

Dr. Wolff showed several examples where he has been able to take available data and transform or display it in ways that humans can quickly absorb and use to make decisions. In one example, there was a limited amount of data to handle, but the calculations that ASTM D6518 (American Society for Testing and Materials coal bias test standard) expected were complicated and time consuming. With the calculations automated, the results were quickly displayed in some elliptical graphs. These graphs made it easy to determine exactly what coal sample tests were not conclusive and why.

In another example, the data wasn’t transformed by many calculations. Instead, it was displayed on graphs with colors representing ranges of dissolved oxygen levels and temperatures of water at different depths and distances from a water dam intake. Humans can easily absorb and process the meaning of large quantities of measurements if they are displayed as a movie where thousands of measurements are shown changing through time.

FUTURE MEETINGS ____________________________________

Monday, October 31: "Cell Phones and What All They Can Do" - Dr. Joseph Kizza, UTC

Monday, November 7: "Chattanooga’s New Wind Tower Manufacturing Plant" - Walter Thompson, Aerisyn Inc.