Human exploration and development of space is being pursued by spacefaring nations to explore, use, and enable the development of space and expand the human experience there. The goals include: increasing human knowledge of nature’s processes using the space environment; exploring and settling the solar system; achieving routine space travel; and enriching life on Earth through living and working in space. A crucial aspect of future space missions is the development of infrastructure to optimize safety, productivity, and costs. A major component of mission execution is operations management. NASA’s International Space Station is providing extensive experience in both infrastructure and operations. In view of this, a vigorously organized approach is needed to implement successful space-, planet-, and ground-based research and operations that entails wise and efficient use of technical and human resources. Many revolutionary technologies being pursued by researchers and technologists may be vital in making space missions safe, reliable, cost-effective, and productive. These include: ionic polymer–metal composite technology; solid-state lasers; time-domain sensors and communication systems; high-temperature superconductivity; nanotechnology; variable specific impulse magneto plasma rocket; fuzzy logic; wavelet technology; and neural networks. An overview of some of these will be presented, along with their application to space missions.

The dynamic analogue of the von Karman equations is used to study the forced response, including asymmetric vibrations and traveling waves, of a clamped circular plate subjected to harmonic excitations when the frequency of excitation is near one of the natural frequencies. The method of multiple scales, a perturbation technique, is used to solve the non-linear governing equations. The approach presented provides a great deal of insight into the nature of the non-linear forced resonant response. It is shown that in the absence of internal resonance (i.e., a combination of commensurable natural frequencies) or when the frequency of excitation is near one of the lower frequencies involved in the internal resonance, the steady state response can only have the form of a standing wave. However, when the frequency of excitation is near the highest frequency involved in the internal resonance it is possible for a traveling wave component of the highest mode to appear in the steady state response.

Transportable pressure vessels, commonly manufactured from quenched and tempered (QT) steels, require mandatory postweld heat treatment (PWHT) regardless of plate thickness. During their life, transportable pressure vessels may have up to 4 PWHT cycles at temperatures between 540 and 590 ◦C, and concerns have emerged about possible effects on the mechanical properties of the base (parent) plate. This paper reports work on the resistance to fatigue crack growth, impact toughness and CTOD fracture toughness of two types of QT steels. The parent metal region was examined for both steels, and then exposed to temperatures and times in the PWHT range. Although there was a marginal decrease in the resistance to fatigue crack growth for up to four postweld heat treatment cycles, there was a significant decrease in impact toughness and CTOD fracture toughness.