Because fire rescue personnel often enter unfamiliar buildings to perform critical tasks like rescues, the importance of finding new and improved ways to train route navigation is becoming paramount. This research was designed to compare three methods for training firefighters to navigate a rescue route in an unfamiliar building. Thirty firefighters from the Madison County, Alabama, area were trained to navigate through the Administrative Science Building at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. The firefighters, who had not had any experience with the Administrative Science Building prior to the experiment, were randomly assigned to one of three experimental training groups: Blueprint, Virtual Reality, or No Training (Control). After training, we measured the total navigation time and number of wrong turns exhibited by firefighters in the actual building. Participants were required to rescue a mock baby (a life-sized doll) following the specific trained route. Measures of test performance were compared among groups by using analyses of variance (ANOVAs). The results indicated that firefighters trained with virtual reality or blueprints performed a quicker and more accurate rescue than those without training. Furthermore, the speed and accuracy of rescue performance did not differ significantly between virtual reality and blueprint training groups. These results indicate that virtual reality training, if constructed and implemented properly, may provide an effective alternative to current navigation training methods. The results are discussed with regard to theories of transfer of training and human performance in virtual environments.Due to the complex and critical nature of fire rescue operations, it is important to find better ways to train route navigation. In situations where the burning building is a public structure or is new, firefighters may learn about a the building's internal structure by studying actual blueprints ("pre-fire planning") or relying upon consultations with on-site maintenance staff (Sublett, personal communication, 1995). In situations where the burning building is a private residence or is an old structure, such methods may not be suitable, because blueprints may be out of date or missing. In those cases, firefighters must exhaustively search through a completely unfamiliar structure to effect a rescue. Exhaustively searching a structure often involves a firefighter maintaining contact with walls on the left or the right side. This allows rescuers to cover the Bliss et al. 73

No abstract

Doppler limited infrared laser spectra of H2 and D2 have been recorded in an ac discharge with diode laser sources and assigned to Δv=0 and ±1 sequence bands of the a–c system. Intense absorption signals from atomic hydrogen were also detected and used to confirm that some molecular spectra occurred in stimulated emission; as was found for a known D2 laser transition. Several of the diode spectra recorded at shorter wavelengths (Δv=1 sequences) cover regions previously observed by FTIR emission experiments on the a–c system. Both fine and hyperfine structure are revealed by the present studies and a preliminary analysis shows that while the a 3Σ+g state has negligible fine structure (at this resolution), hyperfine effects are apparent and are modeled using a bβS coupling case.

Mars sample return (MSR) mission planning requires a high level of planetary protection in order to break the chain of contact between Mars and the terrestrial biosphere. As a focus of MSR is the search for life, it is also imperative that a minimal amount of terrestrial contamination is taken to Mars on the mission. For these reasons, spacecraft cleaning of up to Viking levels will be needed, adding to the cost and complexity of the mission. Experience gained in Mars missions in the USA and Europe including and after Viking will be used. New technologies such as sample sealing in Mars orbit are also required. The recent identification of special regions on Mars where liquid water may have been present within the recent geological past has led to a revision of planetary protection constraints for missions such as MSR which might wish to visit them. Approximately 500g (five to eight samples) are envisaged in the first MSR within the 2020s. This requires a sample receiving facility to assess the threat to the terrestrial biosphere prior to analyses of the samples by the wider scientific community. This will be operated at biohazard level 4 — the highest level. Long-term curation of returned samples has planetary protection constraints but also challenges in maintaining the pristine nature of the samples as far as possible as they are moved from the oxidizing, reactive Mars surface to Earth.

Infrared diode laser absorption spectra of portions of the 5g–4f, 6h–5g, and 8i–6h Rydberg bands of H2 and D2 have been measured at Doppler limited resolution in low pressure A. C. discharges. The spectra, arising from L uncoupled states of H2 and D2, are assigned using an ab initio polarization model supported by intensity calculations. Details of the different implementations of this polarization model are given in the preceding paper. The most useful was the single channel vibrationally extended (1)/(2)  V6 model which became progressively better at higher n (and L). Results of multichannel calculations for a selected set of transitions are also reported.