A Civil Engineer's View from Space

From the perspective of a 250‐nautical‐mile orbit aboard the Space Shuttle, the author has had the opportunity to observe the effects of man on the earth, to reflect on his future in space, and to examine the role civil engineers may have in building our future. In the decades to come, civil engineers will require skills that are not currently provided by universities and which are not adequately represented in professional societies. All disciplines of the civil engineering profession will need to examine their strategies to enable them to establish a significant place on the team. From launch pads to remote sensing satellites, from space stations to lunar bases, civil engineers can and should play a significant role in design requirements, engineering, testing, assembly, and operation. The Aerospace Division of the ASCE should take the lead to insure that civil engineers are prepared to meet the challenge.     

Lunar Astronomical Observatories: Design Studies

The best location in the inner solar system for the grand observatories of the 21st century may be the Moon. A multidisciplinary team including university students and faculty in engineering, astronomy, physics, and geology, and engineers from industry is investigating the Moon as a site for astronomical observatories and is doing conceptual and preliminary designs for these future observatories. Studies encompass lunar facilities for radio astronomy and astronomy at optical, ultraviolet, and infrared wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. Although there are significant engineering challenges in design and construction on the Moon, the rewards for astronomy can be great, such as detection and study of Earth‐like planets orbiting nearby stars, and the task for engineers promises to stimulate advances in analysis and design, materials and structures, automation and robotics, foundations, and controls. Fabricating structures in the reduced‐gravity environment of the Moon will be easier than in the zero‐gravity environment of Earth orbit, as Apollo and space‐shuttle missions have revealed. Construction of observatories on the Moon can be adapted from techniques developed on the Earth, with the advantage that the Moon's weaker gravitational pull makes it possible to build larger devices than are practical on Earth.     

Science and Engineering for Space: Technologies from Space 88

This paper highlights technology development for space exploration. It draws on the proceedings of Space 88, Engineering, Construction, and Operations in Space, which includes 125 papers and 1,349 pages providing in‐depth discussions of space policy, extraterrestrial basing, space stations, orbiting structures, and areas of special interest. In the space station and orbiting structures (orbital facilities) section, papers discuss the engineering, construction, and operations of orbiting space systems. Papers in the extraterrestrial basing section deal with the engineering, construction, and operations challenges faced in development of bases and operations on extraterrestrial bodies. The special interest (interacting disciplines) section provides a discussion of challenges facing us in meeting needs for space power, life support, human factors, astronomy, education, and management. The purpose of this volume on engineering, construction, and operations of facilities and bases in space is to encourage and stimulate the development of the required technologies. The concluding section of this paper focuses on space policy and a view toward the future.     

Engineering Test Support for Construction in Space

A number of engineers and constructors have been looking at the engineering analyses and syntheses associated with preparations for the establishment of a base on the Moon and human flight to Mars. This paper discusses the importance of early involvement of the engineering test perspective and approach in the engineering analysis, design, and development of capabilities for this construction activity in space, especially construction that incorporates the use of extraterrestrial resources. The effectiveness and suitability of mission equipment and proposed resource extraction processes must be shown by analysis, simulation, ground test, and flight test. Facilities and resources for test and evaluation (T&E) of extraterrestrial facilities must be acquired in a timely fashion, and time must be allowed for T&E.     

Educating Civil Engineers to Work in Space

This paper addresses the role of civil engineering in space operations and its impact on undergraduate education. The history of civil engineering and its role in society is discussed. The increasing complexity of the civil engineer's responsibilities from ancient times to the present is articulated. New civil engineering challenges fostered by man's quest to explore and inhabit the solar system and beyond are addressed. These challenges give rise to new requirements for the undergraduate education of tomorrow's civil engineers. The U.S. Air Force Academy's attempt to respond to these new undergraduate requirements is described. The civil engineering curriculum at the Air Force Academy emphasizes preparation for the unique challenges associated with space exploration and habitation. It is described and presented as a model for other undergraduate civil engineering programs that wish to focus on aerospace engineering activities into the 21st century.     

Engineering Issues for Early Lunar‐Based Telescopes

A telescope on the Moon is needed for astronomy and can be constructed in this decade or early in the next century. Design for this telescope will be fundamentally different from the design of free‐flying telescopes. Its design will be more like the new Keck telescope being completed on a mountaintop in Hawaii than the Hubble Space Telescope, in low Earth orbit. Success of the lunar‐based telescope will depend on an appropriately engineered structure, a suitable interface (foundation) in the lunar soil, and a carefully thought out construction process. Participation of engineers in identifying and resolving issues for this extraterrestrial engineering and construction project is a natural extension of the traditional engineering role, and will prepare the engineering and construction communities for the subsequent greater challenges associated with basing on the Moon. These communities need to document now the types of data and information that NASA should obtain in the next early lunar missions so that construction on the Moon will be facilitated.     

Global Rural Electrification: A Different Race Initiative

“Perhaps the single greatest contribution that could be made to environmental conservation would be the invention of a satisfactory fuel‐wood substitute” for developing nations. Providing electric power from orbit under a program of energy as foreign aid to developing nations will benefit the local and global environment and people living on the margins of existence, and it will provide technically challenging jobs to the engineers and scientists of all the nations that undertake such a massive project. Civil engineers can, if they and their professional societies so choose, play a significant, if not integral, role in using the resources of Earth and its surroundings for the benefit of mankind under a program of energy from space. This paper extends the concepts from a previous work by the writer to global rural electrification based on electric power from power stations, built in geosynchronous orbit out of lunar materials, distributed to individual villages and rural electric cooperatives via microwaves for a cost of between 6 cents and 45 cents per kilowatt‐hour. Power would be available in modular increments of 25–100 kilowatts with an average capital cost as low as $5,000 per kilowatt. The goals of the program for global rural electrification are twofold: to provide electric power from space at competitive costs, relative to current costs, to rural and agricultural areas, and to divert resources from weapons development to infrastructure development. The potential for involvement by civil engineers is limited only by their own lack of vision and daring.     

Technical Issues for Lunar Base Structures

The establishment of a permanent human presence on other planets will require establishing permanent infrastructure in new environments. Civil engineers select, define, and implement solutions to infrastructure design problems in unique environmental contexts. Wind and seismic loading are two examples of constraints long familiar to terrestrial civil engineering. Designing structures for lunar exploration, development and eventual settlement will make use of the same design processes already practiced by the civil engineering profession. However, the extensive experience base resulting from centuries of terrestrial work does not adequately prepare civil engineers for the unprecedented constraints and environmental conditions that are encountered in space. The limited knowledge we already have about the Moon (mostly from the Apollo program) is a place to start. By assimilating and working with this knowledge, those pursuing the design of lunar base structures can begin to produce realistic and valid design solutions. The paper presents technical, operations, and programmatic issues that the writers consider fundamental to understanding the facts of life in this promising new design arena.     

Engineering a New Education

The narrow focus of civil engineering education and practice needs a new paradigm consistent with the essentiality and complexity of civil works in society. Traditional pride of civil engineers in their work is mixed increasingly with the growing frustration from low-level compensation and lack of appreciation and respect. Image programs are not the answer; adding value is. Education confined to the two-century old, four-year format is a hindrance. The content, expectations, and duration of civil engineering education must be changed to create more value. While continuing the “doer” tradition, the new civil engineer should be groomed to be an effective decider and director. Civil works will always be in demand. However, it is to be decided who will lead the planning, design, construction, and operation of civil works...civil engineers or others? Civil engineers are faced with a leadership and management challenge. They must engineer their future or others will engineer it for them.     

Integration of Construction As-Built Data Via Laser Scanning with Geotechnical Monitoring of Urban Excavation

The demand for urban underground space has been increasing in the past decades to create living space and to avoid traffic congestion. A critical concern during the design and development of the underground space is the influence of construction-related ground movements on neighboring facilities and utilities. Currently, engineers can estimate ground movements using a combination of semiempirical methods and numerical model simulation. However, these advanced analyses require accurate as-built construction staging data, which most projects lack. The traditional approach of collecting construction-staging data is both labor intensive and time consuming. This paper explores the use of three-dimensional laser scanning technology to accurately capture construction activities during development of an urban excavation. The paper describes the planning, execution, and data processing phases of collecting accurate construction as-built staging information over a period of 4?months at an urban excavation site in Evanston, Ill. The resulting data provide an unprecedented level of detail on the as-built site conditions and provide much needed information to civil engineering disciplines involved in an urban excavation including construction management and structural and geotechnical engineering.     

Common Characteristics of Terrestrial and Space Construction

The building of stationary facilities in space and on the lunar surface will bring humankind to the verge of a new era in its exploration of space. Many new and unprecedented construction problems have to be solved. Terrestrial construction technology, developed over centuries, had to overcome similar earthbound extremes. Viable examples include underwater construction and building on the frozen terrain of north and south poles. Many specialized techniques and kinds of equipment have emerged to meet those extreme conditions. This body of knowledge and technology may become a valuable resource for the design and construction of buildings in space. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate why experts from space technology and construction engineering should combine their specialized knowledge to benefit human advances into space.     

Cable‐Based Lunar Transportation System

The establishment of an efficient transportation system is key to any human development on Earth or in space. Different technologies for transporting humans and goods have been developed, the diversity of which indicates that individual concepts have specific strengths and weaknesses. So far, transportation on the Moon has utilized a wheel‐based vehicle, the lunar rover. Present concepts for transporting goods and people in a lunar base of the future are generally based on using wheels and traction. While such systems have many advantages for a variety of applications, the hauling of heavy goods will require the preparation of stable and trafficable roadways, a challenging and potentially expensive undertaking. This paper presents an alternative based on using one of the fundamental means to move objects, namely ropes and cables. Because of their inherent characteristics, ropes have been used to lift and haul heavy loads for long distances with high levels of reliability. This mature and constantly perfected technology, not well known in this car‐oriented society, has been investigated for its use as a true alternative to the traditional wheel‐based transportation systems. As will be shown, innovative applications of cable‐based technologies may in effect provide many opportunities to leverage the differences between the Earth and the Moon for the purpose of creating efficient engineering products.     

Space Hotels: Civil Engineering’s New Frontier

This paper reviews the prospects for the development of commercial hotels in space; it shows that it is increasingly accepted that this could become a lively new field of business within little more than a decade. The key enabler is the availability of low-cost access to space through the operation of reusable passenger-carrying launch vehicles, the development of which requires investment equal to no more than a few months worth of existing space budgets. When this becomes available, competition will lead to rapid development of progressively more exotic facilities in orbit as companies exploit the unique environment of space to provide guests with ever more popular services. Discussed are some of the civil engineering topics that will arise as orbital accommodation grows from assemblies of prefabricated modules to large structures assembled in orbit, including rotating structures offering “artificial gravity,” and eventually to buildings on the lunar surface.     

Embedding Leadership in Civil Engineering Education

Leadership is a key element in meeting the needs of the civil engineering profession in an era of heightened global competition. Consulting and construction executives intent on maintaining a competitive edge are calling upon educators to produce civil engineers capable of leading multidisciplinary teams, combining technical ingenuity with business acumen, and effectively communicating narrow engineering endeavors within a comprehensive social framework. Our industry is challenging undergraduate schools to broaden curricula beyond the intellectual endeavors of design and scientific inquiry to the greater domain of professional leadership. Many agree that formal leader development must be incorporated into engineering education programs to respond to the professional demands of practicing engineers; however, the means of achieving the objectives within tightly constrained curricula are debated. This paper explores the changing nature of civil engineering in a globally competitive environment, reviews the issues in realigning civil engineering education, identifies key leadership skills relevant to engineering, and proposes solutions for developing leaders at our undergraduate institutions.     

Opening the Window of Sustainable Development to Future Civil Engineers

A recent survey by ASCE showed a major need for rebuilding the critical components of the nation’s aging infrastructure, such as roads and water-supply systems. To accomplish this major task, in addition to knowledge of basic civil engineering principles and techniques, future civil engineers need to be aware of the effects of planning, design, and construction on our environment. Specifically, a course needs to be developed for educating future civil engineers on concepts and techniques of protecting our natural resources, and planning for sustainable development and construction in an environmentally friendly manner. Specific topics can include modules on water resources and recycling in construction. The focus should be on teaching applications of new environmentally friendly concepts and techniques through case histories and real-world problems. Continuous evaluation of course content and methods of presentation should be made. The course should instill environmental awareness in the students’ minds such that in the future, the environment is considered as much a part of any decision-making process in the practice of civil engineering, as are mathematics or the physical sciences.     

Design and Construction Considerations for Lunar Outpost

Engineers utilize various codes in the process of design, whether structural, mechanical, or otherwise. Reliance on a code for design is based on the knowledge that a tremendous amount of time and effort was spent by experienced engineers to codify theories and good practice in a particular design discipline. Good practice in structural design implies cognizance of materials, structural behavior, environmental loadings, assumptions made in analysis and behavior, and the uncertainties inherent in all of these. The American Institute of Steel Construction's (AISC) Manual of Steel Construction is such a codification for the design and construction of steel structures. It includes information, some tabular and the rest in the form of specifications and commentaries, necessary to design and provide for the safe erection of steel‐framed structures. The design equations are generally semiempirical, that is, they are based on a mix of theoretical analysis, experimental data, and factors of safety. Each of these components has associated implicit assumptions. Some of these assumptions were explored to understand how and if the Earth‐based design code could be used for the design of a lunar outpost. Topics discussed come from the AISC Code of Standard Practice and the commentaries, and issues such as scaling of loads and strength in the 1∕6 g lunar environment, thermal cycling effects and fatigue, stiffening and buckling are briefly discussed. Important topics for further detailed study include: (1) The relationships between severe lunar temperature cycles and fatigue; (2) very low temperature effects and the possibility of brittle fractures; (3) outgassing for exposed steels and other effects of high vacuum on steel∕alloys; (4) factors of safety originally developed to account for uncertainties in the Earth design∕construction process undoubtedly need adjustment for the lunar environment; (5) dead loads∕live loads under lunar gravity; (6) buckling∕stiffening and bracing requirements for lunar structures that will be internally pressurized; and (7) consideration of new failure modes such as high‐velocity micrometeorite impacts.     

A Different Race: The Philosophy

The infrastructure of a nation is the foundation of the nation's ability to compete in world markets, maintain a credible deterrence, influence other nations, and create surpluses for use in social programs. Part of the infrastructure that a nation will depend on economically and militarily in the 21st century will be located in space. Space, besides being an economic, technical, and strategic opportunity for various companies and countries, can also be a way to use engineering and technology to improve the condition of the human race. This paper explains a strategy for reprogramming money from the development and deployment of strategic offensive weapons and their delivery systems to developing the facilities and capabilities needed for nations to be active participants in the exploration and industrialization of space. The creation of the infrastructure needed to pioneer the space frontier will require all engineering professions, especially civil engineering, to stretch and reach for the stars.     

Animation Tools for Extraterrestrial Construction

This paper explores the idea of developing space‐construction animation “tools” to facilitate extraterrestrial design and construction activities. These tools would integrate engineering operations in space. However, in order to develop such tools, it is necessary to determine their functional requirements. This involves an assessment of existing technological trends as well as an understanding of the future needs of this technology. The need for improved forms of communication between parties involved in space design and construction suggests the need for a dynamic or animated representation of the construction processes. Computer animation offers a unified approach to modeling the spatial dynamics so crucial in the planning and controlling of construction activities, and evaluation of automation models. For remotely monitored processes, simply providing critical information in an easily—and quickly—understood format could aid the space‐construction manager in anticipating interference and other critical conditions. The use of animation during remotely monitored or remotely controlled construction processes in space could significantly assist construction equipment operators.     

Space Structures: Issues in Dynamics and Control

A selective technical overview is presented on the vibration and control of large space structures, the analysis, design, and construction of which will require major technical contributions from the civil∕structural, mechanical, and extended engineering communities. The immediacy of the U.S. space station makes the particular emphasis placed on large space structures and their control appropriate. The space station is but one part of the space program, and includes the lunar base, which the space station is to service. This paper attempts to summarize some of the key technical issues and hence provide a starting point for further involvement. The first half of this paper provides an introduction and overview of large space structures and their dynamics; the latter half discusses structural control, including control‐system design and nonlinearities. A crucial aspect of the large space structures problem is that dynamics and control must be considered simultaneously; the problems cannot be addressed individually and coupled as an afterthought.     

Demographics and Industry Employment of Civil Engineering Workforce

This paper provides a road map to studies and databases about civil engineering demographics and industry involvement by tracing workforce statistics, engineering degrees, data on industries and government, and economic forecasts. It is aimed at helping civil engineering managers, educators, and policy makers understand how their workforce evolved and what it will face in the future. The engineering workforce comprises about 1.5 million professionals in the United States (second in size only to that of teachers); of this number, civil engineering, at about 200,000 workers, is third behind electrical and mechanical engineering. However, the study shows that aggregation of workforce and economic statistics hides unique characteristics of civil engineering work caused by the concentration on consulting and state and local government. In fact, over 80% of civil engineers work either for consultants or government. This characteristic of civil engineering employment needs more study, particularly to determine how best to educate civil engineers to respond to the public–private arena of infrastructure and environment. During the past century, civil engineering has been a steady field with good opportunities, but civil engineers in the future will face the same career issues and pressures as other professionals. Global production of new engineers has now passed the one million-per-year mark, with U.S. production being about 12% of the total. This large supply of engineers will present intense competition to all engineering disciplines. ASCE faces many challenges to respond to the many changes in the civil engineering profession. The concept of institutes contained in ASCE's strategic plan will address many of the technical issues, but the study indicates that professional and educational issues need more attention.