Research to Support the Determination of Spacecraft Maximum Acceptable Concentrations of Potential Atmospheric Contaminants

In many ways, the typical approach to the handling of bibliographic material for generating review articles and similar manuscripts has changed little since the use of xerographic reproduction has become widespread. The basic approach is to collect reprints of the relevant material and place it in folders or stacks based on its dominant content. As the amount of information available increases with the passage of time, the viability of this mechanical approach to bibliographic management decreases. The personal computer revolution has changed the way we deal with many familiar tasks. For example, word processing on personal computers has supplanted the typewriter for many applications. Similarly, spreadsheets have not only replaced many routine uses of calculators but have also made possible new applications because the cost of calculation is extremely low. Objective The objective of this research was to use personal computer bibliographic software technology to support the determination of spacecraft maximum acceptable concentration (SMAC) values. Specific Aims The specific aims were to produce draft SMAC documents for hydrogen sulfide and tetrachloroethylene taking maximum advantage of the bibliographic software.