Editorial Comment
Special Issue on Future Research Directions in Microgravity Transport Phenomena in Multiphase Systems
V.P. Carey
This is a special issue of IJTP that features four review papers on recommended future research directions in different area of transport in multiphase systems under microgravity conditions.
On October 24–25, 2014, NASA Headquarters and the NASA Glenn Research Center sponsored the FluidsLAB Workshop in Pasadena, CA as part of the 30th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research. The two-day event brought together scientists and engineers from academia, industry, other government agencies, and international space agencies. The goal of the workshop was to identify key engineering drivers and research priorities, and to provide overall recommendations for the development of the next generation of fluids science experiments for the International Space Station (ISS). The participants were asked to select on working groups based on their area of expertise. The working group sessions topics included:
Adiabatic Two-Phase Flows; (chaired by Prof. Mark J. McCready, University of Notre Dame and co-chaired by Dr. Tim Nalette, United Technologies Corporation)
Boiling and Condensation; (chaired by Prof. Van P. Carey, University of California, Berkeley and co-chaired by Scott Downing, United Technologies Corporation)
Capillary Flow and Interfacial Phenomena; (chaired by Prof. Steven Collicott, Purdue University and cochaired by Don Jaekle, PMD Technology)
Cryogen Storage and Handling; Cryogen Storage and Handling group which was chaired by Prof. John Hockstein, University of Memphis and co-chaired by Mark Wollen, Innovative Engineering Solutions.
After the workshops, the co-chairs developed an assessment of the status of research and recommendations for future research in their respective areas based on the discussions at the workshop and additional input from leading researchers in the field. The assessment of research status and recommendations for future research were documented in a report for each topic.
With permission of NASA, the reports summarizing the recommended research priorities identified in these workshops were put in review paper format and are presented here together as four review articles to disseminate these recommendations to researchers in the field. These papers were not presented at the workshops and therefore are not workshop papers in the usual sense. They are assessments of the research that were developed subsequent to the workshop, with additional input, and their content reflects the opinions of a broad cross-section of researchers in each field.
Special thanks are due to Dr. Brian Motil of NASA Glenn Research Center who assisted in the assembly of the review papers for this specials issue and served as a workshop NASA Facilitator. I also wish the acknowledge the contributions of the workshop NASA Facilitators John McQuillen, Mohammad Hasan, Nancy Hall, Robert Green, Lauren Sharp, Mo Kassemi, and Michael Meyer who are all from NASA Glenn Research Center.
V.P. Carey, Editor in Chief