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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Exploring Airfoil Table Generation using XFOIL and OVERFLOW

The rotorcraft design process is a continuously evolving field of research that incorporates a number of software programs. An accurate airfoil table is critical in the design and testing process for rotorcraft. With multiple flow solvers available and flow conditions of multirotor UAM vehicles potentially covering a wide range of Reynolds and Mach numbers, a documented approach for developing airfoil tables is needed. Using benchmark data from legacy airfoil tables and wind tunnel tests for comparison, simulations for a comprehensive test matrix could guide rotorcraft design engineers in generating their own airfoil tables using the XFOIL and OVERFLOW solvers. The motivation for this study is to investigate flow solver features to develop a best practices document for airfoil table generation. The study uses the OVERFLOW and XFOIL flow solvers, coupled with the airfoil table generator AFTGen, to analyze three airfoils for a specific Reynolds numbers flow regime and provide details on how well each flow solver performs within a specific angle of attack range, Mach number range, Reynolds number range, and in different flow conditions, such as turbulent and transitional flow. OVERFLOW analyses in AFTGen for fully turbulent and transition flow are compared with XFOIL results and experimental test data for the section lift, section drag, and pressure coefficients. XFOIL ultimately yields results that are accurate within the linear angle of attack range and below a Mach number of 0.4 but tends to overpredict lift and underpredict drag unless the flow is in the compressible regime. XFOIL cannot accurately model stall and post-stall conditions due to the nature of the solver. This is evident in nearly every case run with XFOIL, where the linear range is usually predicted acceptably and the lift coefficient is overpredicted as the stall angle of attack is approached (with the exception being the generally poor correlation with most of the SSC-A09 cases). OVERFLOW is limited at low Mach numbers, and appears to perform best at Mach numbers of 0.4 and above. The exploration of airfoil table generation using XFOIL and OVERFLOW yielded moderately successful results for the NACA 0012 airfoil, reasonably good results for the RC(4)-10 airfoil, and less accurate results for the SSC-A09 airfoil.

Airfoil Table Generation↗

NASA NTRS2014

Novel Problem Solving - The NASA Solution Mechanism Guide

Over the past five years, the Human Health and Performance (HH&P) Directorate at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) has conducted a number of pilot and ongoing projects in collaboration and open innovation. These projects involved the use of novel open innovation competitions that sought solutions from "the crowd", non-traditional problem solvers. The projects expanded to include virtual collaboration centers such as the NASA Human Health and Performance Center (NHHPC) and more recently a collaborative research project between NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF). These novel problem-solving tools produced effective results and the HH&P wanted to capture the knowledge from these new tools, to teach the results to the directorate, and to implement new project management tools and coursework. The need to capture and teach the results of these novel problem solving tools, the HH&P decided to create a web-based tool to capture best practices and case studies, to teach novice users how to use new problem solving tools and to change project management training/. This web-based tool was developed with a small, multi-disciplinary group and named the Solution Mechanism Guide (SMG). An alpha version was developed that was tested against several sessions of user groups to get feedback on the SMG and determine a future course for development. The feedback was very positive and the HH&P decided to move to the beta-phase of development. To develop the web-based tool, the HH&P utilized the NASA Tournament Lab (NTL) to develop the software with TopCoder under an existing contract. In this way, the HH&P is using one new tool (the NTL and TopCoder) to develop the next generation tool, the SMG. The beta-phase of the SMG is planed for release in the spring of 2014 and results of the beta-phase testing will be available for the IAC meeting in September. The SMG is intended to disrupt the way problem solvers and project managers approach problem solving and to increase the use of novel and more cost and time effective problem solving tools such as open innovation, collaborative research, and virtual collaborative project centers. The HH&P envisions changing project management coursework by including the SMG in the teaching of project management problem solving tools.

Keeton, Kathryn E.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Rapid Development of Instrument Thermal Models: Perspectives and Guidelines from NASA Goddard’s Instrument Design Laboratory

The Instrument Design Laboratory (IDL), part of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Integrated Design Center (IDC), is a concurrent and collaborative environment which allows for rapid development of science instrumentation concepts within the span of less than two weeks. Science goals set by a Principal Investigator from government, industry or academia are translated into engineering requirements, from which a team of engineers spanning multiple disciplines use an established study process and a suite of analysis tools to work towards an instrument point design. As part of this process, a staff thermal engineer is tasked with designing a thermal control system which meets all incoming thermal requirements, while iterating real-time with other subsystems to ensure compatibility and functionality as a completed system. Thermal engineers on spaceflight projects typically have weeks or months to develop thermal models. However, the severe time limitation in this conceptual study setting makes thermal design particularly difficult, as rapid thermal modeling solely over the span of a few days is required to develop the instrument thermal design and understand the performance over its intended mission, especially if the instrument concept contains multiple thermal challenges such as dynamic environments or high heat dissipating components. In this paper, the authors provide a condensed guide for the most efficient ways to develop thermal models and conduct thermal analysis within the span of one-to-two weeks, as informed by decades of design experience and best practices in the IDL. The authors also focus on quick methods for determining worst-case thermal environments, deciding which modeling details are essential at this early phase, and quantifying the engineering resources necessary for thermal control. This paper concludes with specific thermal design tips for different instrument types across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Kan Yang↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Recent NASA Research into the Psychoacoustics of Urban Air Mobility Vehicles

NASA maintains multiple psychoacoustic laboratories across the United States. One focus of research in these facilities is to investigate the human reaction to the noise of notional UAM vehicles. This effort will look for answers to several questions: What does a “good” UAM sound like? What might be the impact on existing urban soundscapes? What will people think when there are an [economically viable] number of these machines operating? Although this effort is ongoing, a number of advances have already been made: A psychoacoustic test to guide UAM sound design has been recently completed. Several algorithms to assess the audibility of a UAM vehicle in an existing background soundscape have been put forward. A technical memorandum detailing best practices for recording and reproduction of background sounds for UAM psychoacoustic research has been published (TM 20210017504). Flexible data analysis methods that could be agile to changes in perception that occur when large numbers of vehicles are flying have been developed by extending existing metrics. This presentation gives an overview of this completed and continuing research.

UAM↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Small Satellite Reliability Initiative (SSRI) Knowledge Base Tool: Update and Future Direction

NASA’s Small Satellite Reliability Initiative (SSRI), in conjunction with NASA’s Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute (S3VI), has developed the SSRI Knowledge Base to improve mission confidence for small spacecraft. The SSRI Knowledge Base is a comprehensive and searchable online tool that consolidates and organizes resources, best practices, and lessons learned from previous small satellite missions sponsored by NASA, other government agencies, and academia. This free, publicly available tool is available to the entire SmallSat community at: NASA SSRI Knowledge Base | Explore. The SSRI Knowledge Base provides vetted, high-quality sources of information on elements that are key to successful small satellite missions. These resources include SSRI working group generated documents and presentations in addition to existing guides, publications, standards, software tools, websites, and books. The Knowledge Base is fully searchable, offers downloadable content when possible, and otherwise links to or references content directly from within the tool. All 58 of the planned topic pages that comprise the SSRI Knowledge Base have been recently completed and include over 450 unique resources that are now available for review. Over the past several months significant enhancements to the tool’s capabilities have been developed and implemented. These enhancements consist of the completed baseline content; development of an Application Programming Interface (API); improved user interfaces; scalable and searchable Best Practices and Lessons Learned (BPLL) lists with ratings; and custom website analytics. This presentation and paper will discuss the motivation for and development of the SSRI Knowledge Base, demonstrate the existing tool, and outline plans for further development. The SSRI is a collaborative activity with broad participation from civil, Department of Defense, and both national and international commercial space systems providers and stakeholders. The S3VI is jointly sponsored by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and Science Mission Directorate.

Small Spacecraft↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Small Satellite Reliability Initiative (SSRI) Knowledge Base Tool: Update and Future Direction

Small Spacecraft↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Small Satellite Reliability Initiative (SSRI) Knowledge Base Tool: Use Case Review and Future Functionality and Content Direction

NASA’s Small Satellite Reliability Initiative (SSRI), in conjunction with NASA’s Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute (S3VI), has developed the SSRI Knowledge Base to improve mission confidence for small spacecraft. The SSRI Knowledge Base is a comprehensive and searchable online tool that consolidates and organizes resources, best practices, and lessons learned from previous small satellite missions sponsored by NASA, other government agencies, and academia. This free, publicly available tool is available to the entire SmallSat community at: NASA SSRI Knowledge Base | Explore. The SSRI Knowledge Base provides vetted, high-quality sources of information on elements that are key to successful small satellite missions. These resources include SSRI working group generated documents and presentations in addition to existing guides, publications, standards, software tools, websites, and books. The Knowledge Base is fully searchable, offers downloadable content when possible, and otherwise links to or references content directly from within the tool. All 58 of the planned topic pages that comprise the SSRI Knowledge Base have been recently completed and include over 450 unique resources that are now available for review. Over the past several months significant enhancements to the tool’s capabilities have been developed and implemented. These enhancements consist of the completed baseline content; development of an Application Programming Interface (API); improved user interfaces; scalable and searchable Best Practices and Lessons Learned (BPLL) lists with ratings; and custom website analytics. This presentation and paper will discuss the motivation for and development of the SSRI Knowledge Base, review of potential use case(s), and outline plans for further development and content generation. The SSRI is a collaborative activity with broad participation from civil, Department of Defense, and both national and international commercial space systems providers and stakeholders. The S3VI is jointly sponsored by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and Science Mission Directorate.

Small Spacecraft↗

NASA NTRS2002

The Civil Aviation Sector in Lebanon: Institutional Reforms - Part 1

Civil aviation is one of the key contributors to a successful economic system. This has been recognized within Lebanon, which is undertaking developing a new civil aviation strategy encompassing a program of organizational reform, coordinated internationally, to meet the challenges of the new century. Such strategy is vital, as it will provide a coherent vision for the sector, compliment the extensive investments deployed by Lebanon in its aviation infrastructure, and guide future planning and investments. The proposed Civil Aviation Strategy for Lebanon has two major components: (1) institutional reform aiming at creating effective overall legal and regulatory frameworks in-line with current international best practice; and (2) implementation of liberalization measures and open skies policy. This paper aims to: (1) present Lebanon's current institutional arrangements; (2) review the institutional arrangements in key select countries (in order to define current trends in best institutional practice); (3) discuss the proposed institutional reform (which are at the basis of Lebanon's Draft Civil Aviation Reform Law) while showing that they conform with the identified best institutional trends; and (4) outline an implementation plan. The Draft Law has been approved by the Council of Ministers and now awaits Parliamentary endorsement.

Baaj, M. Hadi↗

NASA NTRS1992

Methodologies for building robust schedules

COMPASS is the name of a Computer Aided Scheduling System designed and built for NASA. COMPASS can be used to develop schedule of activities based upon the temporal relationships of the activities and their resource requirements. COMPASS uses this information, and guided by the user, develops precise start and stop times for the activities. In actual practice however, it is impossible to know with complete certainty what the actual durations of the scheduled activities will really be. The best that one can hope for is knowledge of the probability distribution for the durations. This paper investigates methodologies for using a scheduling tool like COMPASS that is based upon definite values for the resource requirements, while building schedules that remain valid in the face of the schedule execution perturbations. Representations for the schedules developed by these methodologies are presented, along with a discussion of the algorithm that could be used by a computer onboard a spacecraft to efficiently monitor and execute these schedules.

Dean, John H.↗

NASA NTRS1972

Space vehicle accelerometer applications

The physics of accelerometer applications are reviewed, and details are given on accelerometer instruments and the principles of their operations. The functions to which accelerometers are applied are listed, and terms commonly used in accelerometer reports are defined. Criteria guides state what rule, limitation, or standard must be imposed on each essential design element to insure successful design. Elaboration of these criteria in the form of recommended practices show how to satisfy each of these criteria, with the best procedure described when possible.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2019

Design Thinking for the Applied Sciences: Developing a Novel Approach to Encourage the Use of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Open Source Tools for Forest Monitoring

Earth observations from Synthetic Aperture Radar, or SAR, have yet to be fully leveraged for forest monitoring applications. While SAR sensors are uniquely able to capture components of forest structure over optical imagery, especially in cloud-heavy regions, there is a shortage of freely-available applied training materials and related case studies. With the wealth of available datasets from Sentinel-1 and other missions, such as ALOS-Palsar open historical archive, and in preparation for upcoming opendata policy SAR missions (e.g. NISAR and BIOMASS), the applied forestry community would benefit from increased access to relevant, understandable SAR training materials. This work documents lessons learned and best practices for creating EO capacity building/training materials gleaned from the SAR Handbook project. Strategies for increasing legibility for both print and online applications, illustration and editing guidelines for original and modified figures, and the development of quick-reference guides will be shared. Additionally, the conception and use of companion “explainer” videos, using cartoon characters and humor to outline relevant SAR concepts will be explored. Preliminary results indicate the SAR Handbook and supplemental project materials are already having an impact in training sessions. Increased uptake of SAR technologies in SERVIR Hub regions, where Hubs are leading follow-on SAR trainings, has also been noted. In addition, a review of download statistics from the SERVIR global website indicates widespread worldwide access. We conclude similar holistic approaches integrating design concepts into future content development would help increase uptake of EO applications by the earth science community.

Kucera, Leah M.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Remote Pilot Handoffs in Large UAS Multi-Vehicle Operations: Best Practices and Supportive Technologies

In response to pilot shortages and increasing air cargo demands, NASA's Pathfinding for Airspace with Autonomous Vehicles (PAAV) sub-project conducted the fourth in a series of tabletop studies investigating scalable solutions for integrating large Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS). This study solicited subject matter expertise to identify solutions to potential challenges for a further term vision, guiding participants through scenario-based discussions where the remote pilot (RP)-to-vehicle ratio has been scaled from 1:1 to m:N. Of those challenges, remote pilot handoffs were found throughout all phases of flight, both in nominal and non-nominal scenarios. The current paper details participant-suggested procedural and technological solutions for overcoming the handoff challenge, including determining the accepting RP, which aircraft to release, the location and timing of the transition, and options for supporting personnel, tools, and automation that could facilitate safe and efficient handoffs.

unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Remote Pilot Handoffs in Large UAS Multi-Vehicle Operations: Best Practices and Supportive Technologies

uncrewed aircraft systems↗

NASA NTRS2011

Fault Management Guiding Principles

Regardless of the mission type: deep space or low Earth orbit, robotic or human spaceflight, Fault Management (FM) is a critical aspect of NASA space missions. As the complexity of space missions grows, the complexity of supporting FM systems increase in turn. Data on recent NASA missions show that development of FM capabilities is a common driver for significant cost overruns late in the project development cycle. Efforts to understand the drivers behind these cost overruns, spearheaded by NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD), indicate that they are primarily caused by the growing complexity of FM systems and the lack of maturity of FM as an engineering discipline. NASA can and does develop FM systems that effectively protect mission functionality and assets. The cost growth results from a lack of FM planning and emphasis by project management, as well the maturity of FM as an engineering discipline, which lags behind the maturity of other engineering disciplines. As a step towards controlling the cost growth associated with FM development, SMD has commissioned a multi-institution team to develop a practitioner's handbook representing best practices for the end-to-end processes involved in engineering FM systems. While currently concentrating primarily on FM for science missions, the expectation is that this handbook will grow into a NASA-wide handbook, serving as a companion to the NASA Systems Engineering Handbook. This paper presents a snapshot of the principles that have been identified to guide FM development from cradle to grave. The principles range from considerations for integrating FM into the project and SE organizational structure, the relationship between FM designs and mission risk, and the use of the various tools of FM (e.g., redundancy) to meet the FM goal of protecting mission functionality and assets.

principles↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

An Analysis of Extended Reality Mockups for Use in Verification: Phase 2

NASA commercial providers are increasing their use of Virtual Reality (VR) and Hybrid Reality (HR) technologies in their system development process. The use of these technologies, collectively referred to as Extended Reality (XR) technologies, has been limited to the development phase, but there have been requests to integrate VR and HR mockups into verifications. Verifications require, at minimum, a high-fidelity mockup for activities involving human participation (tests, demonstrations, inspections). HR technology shares many of the strengths but may not share some of the critical shortcomings of VR. Specifically, HR allows for integrating physical objects, such as a suit, which may be critical to evaluating a system. Adopting HR technology still has many of the same challenges as VR. Namely, there is little to no data about the validity of evaluations conducted with HR mockups, an established process, or criteria for evaluating the appropriateness of HR mockups. Because verifications are final and only need to happen once, HR mockups must be adequately vetted before being approved for use in verifications. Further hindering the adoption of these technologies is the lack of consensus on what constitutes a high-fidelity XR mockup. Even for physical mockups, there are guidelines and common criteria, but nothing has been formalized. Discussion about when an XR mockup can be used would be greatly helped by clearly defining what a high-fidelity XR mockup is and how it might be measured. The team will engage with relevant stakeholders to learn more about the benefits and challenges of adopting hybrid reality mockups for verification. The team will build upon work from Phase 1 by maturing a framework to guide decisions for evaluating XR mockups for use in verifications. The team will also conduct experimental studies to evaluate advantages and tradeoffs of hybrid/mixed reality relative to physical and virtual reality mockups. Finally, data from Phase 1 and Phase 2 will be synthesized into a set of best practices for developing and validating XR mockups for verification. We will highlight the work conducted to date in Phase 2. We will present the status of the XR for Verification Framework, a summary of best practices identified thus far, and give a synopsis of future work.

verification testing↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Small Satellite Reliability Initiative (SSRI) Knowledge Base Tool: Use Case Review and Future Functionality and Content Direction

NASA’s Small Satellite Reliability Initiative (SSRI), in conjunction with NASA’s Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute (S3VI), has developed the SSRI Knowledge Base to improve mission confidence for small spacecraft. The SSRI is a collaborative activity with broad participation from civil, Department of Defense, and both national and international commercial space systems providers and stakeholders. The S3VI is jointly sponsored by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and Science Mission Directorate. The SSRI Knowledge Base is a comprehensive and searchable online tool that consolidates and organizes resources, best practices, and lessons learned from previous small satellite missions sponsored by NASA, other government agencies, and academia. This free, publicly available tool is available to the entire SmallSat community at https://s3vi.ndc.nasa.gov/ssri-kb/. The SSRI Knowledge Base provides vetted, high-quality sources of information on elements that are key to successful small satellite missions. These resources include SSRI working group generated documents and presentations in addition to existing guides, publications, standards, software tools, websites, and books. The Knowledge Base is fully searchable, offers downloadable content when possible, and otherwise links to or references content directly from within the tool. All 58 of the planned topic pages that comprise the SSRI Knowledge Base have been recently completed and include over 450 unique resources that are now available for review. Over the past several months, significant enhancements to the tool’s capabilities have been developed and implemented. These enhancements consist of the completed baseline content, an Application Programming Interface (API), improved user interfaces, new interfaces for crowdsourcing of content and user ratings, and custom website analytics to inform future development. This presentation and paper will discuss the motivation for the SSRI Knowledge Base, review educational use case(s), and outline plans for further development. The 2022 session topic that best fits the abstract (select only one): Coordinating Successful Educational Programs

Small Spacecraft↗

NASA NTRS2011

Radiated Emissions from a Remote-Controlled Airplane-Measured in a Reverberation Chamber

A full-vehicle, subscale all-electric model airplane was tested for radiated emissions, using a reverberation chamber. The mission of the NASA model airplane is to test in-flight airframe damage diagnosis and battery prognosis algorithms, and provide experimental data for other aviation safety research. Subscale model airplanes are economical experimental tools, but assembling their systems from hobbyist and low-cost components may lead to unforseen electromagnetic compatibility problems. This report provides a guide for accommodating the on-board radio systems, so that all model airplane systems may be operated during radiated emission testing. Radiated emission data are provided for on-board systems being operated separately and together, so that potential interferors can be isolated and mitigated. The report concludes with recommendations for EMI/EMC best practices for subscale model airplanes and airships used for research.

Ely, Jay J.↗

NASA NTRS2017

The NASA Ames Life Sciences Data Archive: Biobanking for the Final Frontier

The NASA Ames Institutional Scientific Collection involves the Ames Life Sciences Data Archive (ALSDA) and a biospecimen repository, which are responsible for archiving information and non-human biospecimens collected from spaceflight and matching ground control experiments. The ALSDA also manages a biospecimen sharing program, performs curation and long-term storage operations, and facilitates distribution of biospecimens for research purposes via a public website (https:lsda.jsc.nasa.gov). As part of our best practices, a tissue viability testing plan has been developed for the repository, which will assess the quality of samples subjected to long-term storage. We expect that the test results will confirm usability of the samples, enable broader science community interest, and verify operational efficiency of the archives. This work will also support NASA open science initiatives and guides development of NASA directives and policy for curation of biological collections.

Biobank↗