NASA Ames to Host Aerospace Mechanisms Symposium

NOTE TO EDITORS: News media representatives are invited to a symposium about aerospace mechanisms at the Four Points Hotel in Sunnyvale, CA, May 9 to May 11, 2001. Experts will discuss the problems of design, fabrication, testing and operational use of aerospace mechanisms and hardware. Reporters interested in attending should contact Merle Simbe at 650/604-6315 or by email: msimbe@mail.arc.nasa.gov There is no charge for reporters to attend the symposium. Pre-registration is appreciated.

NASA Ames Research Center and Lockheed Martin Space Systems will host the 35th Aerospace Mechanisms Symposium (AMS) May 9 to May 11, 2001 at the Four Points Hotel in Sunnyvale, CA. The Mechanisms Education Association is sponsoring the event.

The symposium provides both a technical and a social forum for personnel active in the field of mechanisms technology, as well as providing a source of information for others with an interest in this field. Thirty papers will be presented at this year’s gathering, with an emphasis on hardware development. Specific topics of discussion will include release and deployment mechanisms, space lubricants and bearings, actuators, instrument mechanisms and other space vehicle and ground-based mechanisms. Hardware will be displayed in a vendor fair on the first evening of the symposium.

The symposium, which rotates annually among eight NASA centers, attracts papers and attendees from around the world. More than 250 people from the United States, Canada and Europe attended last year’s symposium, representing academia, NASA centers and more than 80 aerospace companies. The AMS promotes discussions of problems related to the design, fabrication, testing and operational use of aerospace mechanisms.

Dr. Henry McDonald, director of NASA Ames, will provide opening remarks, and William Berry, deputy director, will offer an overview of Ames. A tour of the unique facilities of the Ames Research Center also is planned.

For more information, call Ron Mancini of NASA Ames at 650/604-6319 or Ed Boesiger of Lockheed Martin Space Systems at 408/743-2377, or visit the symposium’s web site at http://www.aeromechanisms.com/