Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “pilot program”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,117 records · Page 62
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1985

Rotorcraft digital advanced avionics system (RODAAS) functional description

A functional design of a rotorcraft digital advanced avionics system (RODAAS) to transfer the technology developed for general aviation in the Demonstration Advanced Avionics System (DAAS) program to rotorcraft operation was undertaken. The objective was to develop an integrated avionics system design that enhances rotorcraft single pilot IFR operations without increasing the required pilot training/experience by exploiting advanced technology in computers, busing, displays and integrated systems design. A key element of the avionics system is the functionally distributed architecture that has the potential for high reliability with low weight, power and cost. A functional description of the RODAAS hardware and software functions is presented.

Peterson, E. M.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Flight research with the MIT Daedalus prototype

The MIT Light Eagle human-powered aircraft underwent long-duration testing over Rogers Dry Lake in California during January, 1987. Designed as a prototype for the MIT Daedalus Project, the Light Eagle's forty-eight flights provided pilot training, established new distance records for human-powered flight, and provided quantitative data through a series of instrumented flight experiments. The experiments focused on: (1) evaluating physiological loads on the pilot, (2) determining airframe power requirements, and (3) developing an electronic flight control system. This paper discusses the flight test program, its results and their implications for the follow-on Daedalus aircraft, and the potential uses of the Light Eagle as a low Reynolds number testbed.

Bussolari, Steven R.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Coherent lidar airborne windshear sensor - Performance evaluation

As part of the NASA/FAA National Integrated Windshear Program, a measurable windshear hazard index has been defined that can be remotely sensed from an aircraft, to give the pilot information about the wind conditions along the flight path. A technology analysis and end-to-end performance simulation measuring signal-to-noise ratios and resulting wind velocity errors for competing coherent laser radar (lidar) systems have been carried out. The results show that a Ho:YAG lidar at a wavelength of 2.1 microns and a CO2 lidar at 10.6 microns can give the pilot information about the line-of-sight component of a windshear threat from his present position to a region extending 2-4 km in front of the aircraft. This constitutes a warning time of 20-40 s, even in conditions of moderately heavy precipitation.

Targ, Russell↗
NASA NTRS1992

Space System Architecture Code

Space System Architecture Code (SSAC) program performs sensitivity studies on operating parameters of space missions. SSAC examines effects of variations in sizes of crews of piloted missions, chemical vs. nuclear electric propulsion, and specific impulse. Written in FORTRAN 77.

Jan, Darrell L.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Lidar windshear detection for commercial aircraft

As part of the NASA/FAA National Integrated Windshear Program, a measurable windshear hazard index that can be remotely sensed from an aircraft is presented. This will provide a pilot information about the wind conditions he will experience at some later time if he continues along the present flight path. The technology analysis and end-to-end performance simulation, which measured S/N and resulting wind velocity errors for competing lidar systems, demonstrated that a Ho:YAG lidar at a wavelength of 2.1 microns and a CO2 lidar at 10.6 microns can give the pilot data about the line-of-sight component of a windshear threat in an area extending from his present position to two to four km in front of the aircraft.

Targ, Russell↗
NASA NTRS1992

Journey into tomorrow - Developing nuclear propulsion for the Space Exploration Initiative

Nuclear propulsion, either nuclear thermal propulsion or nuclear electric propulsion, offers the potential of reduced trip times and/or reduced mass into low earth orbit, compared to chemical propulsion systems. In addition, the greater performance benefits of nuclear propulsion can provide the added margin for greater operational flexibility, including mission abort options and increased launch windows. During the 1950s and 1960s experimental and analytical studies showed the feasibility of nuclear propulsion. NASA, in cooperation with other agencies and organizations, is currently planning a technology development program for nuclear propulsion. The overall objective is to develop at least one NTP concept and one NEP concept for piloted and robotic (e.g., cargo) missions to Mars.

Harer, Kathleen F.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Medical Aspects of Space Walking

Dr. Musgrave has acquired extensive experience during a distinguished and impressive career that includes flying as an astronaut on six Shuttle missions, participating in many hours of extravehicular activity, and contributing his myriad talents toward great public service, especially in the area of education. He has a unique perspective as a physician, scientist, engineer, pilot, and scholar. His interests and breadth of knowledge, which astound even the seasoned space enthusiast, have provided the space program an extraordinary scientific and technical expertise. Dr. Musgrave presented a personal perspective on space flight with particular emphasis on extravehicular activity (EVA or space walking), which was copiously illustrated with photographs from many space missions. His theme was two fold: the exacting and detailed preparations required for successful execution of a mission plan and a cosmic view of mankind's place in the greater scheme of things.

Musgrave, Story↗
NASA NTRS2000

Analysis of Complexity Evolution Management and Human Performance Issues in Commercial Aircraft Automation Systems

Autoflight systems in the current generation of aircraft have been implicated in several recent incidents and accidents. A contributory aspect to these incidents may be the manner in which aircraft transition between differing behaviours or 'modes.' The current state of aircraft automation was investigated and the incremental development of the autoflight system was tracked through a set of aircraft to gain insight into how these systems developed. This process appears to have resulted in a system without a consistent global representation. In order to evaluate and examine autoflight systems, a 'Hybrid Automation Representation' (HAR) was developed. This representation was used to examine several specific problems known to exist in aircraft systems. Cyclomatic complexity is an analysis tool from computer science which counts the number of linearly independent paths through a program graph. This approach was extended to examine autoflight mode transitions modelled with the HAR. A survey was conducted of pilots to identify those autoflight mode transitions which airline pilots find difficult. The transitions identified in this survey were analyzed using cyclomatic complexity to gain insight into the apparent complexity of the autoflight system from the perspective of the pilot. Mode transitions which had been identified as complex by pilots were found to have a high cyclomatic complexity. Further examination was made into a set of specific problems identified in aircraft: the lack of a consistent representation of automation, concern regarding appropriate feedback from the automation, and the implications of physical limitations on the autoflight systems. Mode transitions involved in changing to and leveling at a new altitude were identified across multiple aircraft by numerous pilots. Where possible, evaluation and verification of the behaviour of these autoflight mode transitions was investigated via aircraft-specific high fidelity simulators. Three solution approaches to concerns regarding autoflight systems, and mode transitions in particular, are presented in this thesis. The first is to use training to modify pilot behaviours, or procedures to work around known problems. The second approach is to mitigate problems by enhancing feedback. The third approach is to modify the process by which automation is designed. The Operator Directed Process forces the consideration and creation of an automation model early in the design process for use as the basis of the software specification and training.

Vakil, Sanjay S.↗
NASA NTRS2000

STS-97 Crew Interviews: Michael J. Bloomfield

Live footage of a preflight interview with Pilot Michael J. Bloomfield is shown. The interview addresses many different questions including why Bloomfield became interested in the space program, the events and people that influence him and ultimately led to his interest, and his vigorous training in the astronaut program. Other interesting information that this one-on-one interview discusses are the main goals of the STS-97 mission, its scheduled docking with the new International Space Station (ISS), and its delivery of the first set of U.S.-provided solar arrays, batteries, and radiators. Bloomfield briefly discusses his responsibilities during the much-anticipated docking as well as during the scheduled space-walks.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2001

Satellite Delivery of Aviation Weather Data

With aviation traffic continuing to increase worldwide, reducing the aviation accident rate and aviation schedule delays is of critical importance. In the United States, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has established the Aviation Safety Program and the Aviation System Capacity Program to develop and test new technologies to increase aviation safety and system capacity. Weather is a significant contributor to aviation accidents and schedule delays. The timely dissemination of weather information to decision makers in the aviation system, particularly to pilots, is essential in reducing system delays and weather related aviation accidents. The NASA Glenn Research Center is investigating improved methods of weather information dissemination through satellite broadcasting directly to aircraft. This paper describes an on-going cooperative research program with NASA, Rockwell Collins, WorldSpace, Jeppesen and American Airlines to evaluate the use of satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) for low cost broadcast of aviation weather information, called Satellite Weather Information Service (SWIS). The description and results of the completed SWIS Phase 1 are presented, and the description of the on-going SWIS Phase 2 is given.

Kerczewski, Robert J.↗
NASA NTRS2007

NASA Turbulence Technologies In-Service Evaluation: Delta Air Lines Report-Out

Concluding an in-service evaluation of two new turbulence detection technologies developed in the Turbulence Prediction and Warning Systems (TPAWS) element of the NASA Aviation Safety and Security Program's Weather Accident Prevention Project (WxAP), this report documents Delta's experience working with the technologies, feedback gained from pilots and dispatchers concerning current turbulence techniques and procedures, and Delta's recommendations regarding directions for further efforts by the research community. Technologies evaluated included an automatic airborne turbulence encounter reporting technology called the Turbulence Auto PIREP System (TAPS), and a significant enhancement to the ability of modern airborne weather radars to predict and display turbulence of operational significance, called E-Turb radar.

Amaral, Christian↗
NASA NTRS2007

NASA Dryden's UAS Service Capabilities

The vision of NASA s Dryden Flight Research Center is to "fly what others only imagine." Its mission is to advance technology and science through flight. Objectives supporting the mission include performing flight research and technology integration to revolutionize aviation and pioneer aerospace technology, validating space exploration concepts, conducting airborne remote sensing and science missions, and supporting operations of the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. A significant focus of effort in recent years has been on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), both in support of the Airborne Science Program and as research vehicles to advance the state of the art in UAS. Additionally, the Center has used its piloted aircraft in support of UAS technology development. In order to facilitate greater access to the UAS expertise that exists at the Center, that expertise has been organized around three major capabilities. The first is access to high-altitude, long-endurance UAS. The second is the establishment of a test range for small UAS. The third is safety case assessment support.

Bauer, Jeff↗
NASA NTRS2014

Formal Provenance Representation of the Data and Information Supporting the National Climate Assessment

The Global Change Information System (GCIS) provides a framework for the formal representation of structured metadata about data and information about global change. The pilot deployment of the system supports the National Climate Assessment (NCA), a major report of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). A consumer of that report can use the system to browse and explore that supporting information. Additionally, capturing that information into a structured data model and presenting it in standard formats through well defined open inter- faces, including query interfaces suitable for data mining and linking with other databases, the information becomes valuable for other analytic uses as well.

Provenance↗
NASA NTRS2018

Aeronautics Autonomy Testbed Capability (AATC) Team Developed Concepts

In 2015, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) formed a multi-center, interdisciplinary team of engineers from three different aeronautics research centers who were tasked with improving NASA autonomy research capabilities. This group was subsequently named the Aeronautics Autonomy Testbed Capability (AATC) team. To aid in confronting the autonomy research directive, NASA contracted IDEO, a design firm, to provide consultants and guides to educate NASA engineers through the practice of design thinking, which is an unconventional method for aerospace design processes. The team then began learning about autonomy research challenges by conducting interviews with a diverse group of researchers and pilots, military personnel and civilians, experts and amateurs. Part of this design thinking process involved developing ideas for products or programs known as concepts that could enable real world fulfillment of the most important latent needs identified through analysis of the interviews. The concepts are intended to be sacrificial, intermediate steps in the design thinking process and are presented in this report to record the efforts of the AATC group. Descriptions are provided in present tense to allow for further ideation and imagining the concept as reality as was attempted during the teams discussions and interviews. This does not indicate that the concepts are actually in practice within NASA though there may be similar existing programs independent of AATC. These concepts were primarily created at two distinct stages during the design thinking process. After the initial interviews, there was a workshop for concept development and the resulting ideas are shown in this work as from the First Round. As part of succeeding interviews, the team members presented the First Round concepts to refine the understanding of existing research needs. This knowledge was then used to generate an additional set of concepts denoted as the Second Round. Some concepts were created by a single person in a few minutes while others were refined by the entire team over several weeks. Thus, certain ideas are more detailed than others but those from the second round are not necessarily more comprehensive than the first round concepts. Primarily, as reported here in the Second Round section, the designs serve to encompass more of the high level end user research needs which were not necessarily known to the team during the prior workshop. In the figures provided throughout this report, illustrations are often provided to represent a concept. Nearly all of the images are informal sketches or renderings and this casualness should, hopefully, not be held to negate the potential insights available within the concepts.

Smith, Phillip J.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Forging the Forge

As part of the NASA Johnson Space Center’s (JSC) effort to revitalize and recommit to our “Dare Unite Explore” vision for the future, the Center is exploring a new strategy to spread the innovation mindset and increase collaboration across the workforce. In order to maintain JSC’s leadership in human spaceflight, there is a need for working at the speed of commercial industry, breaking down silos between organizations, improving innovation and increasing workforce flexibility. Through brainstorming concepts and benchmarking other facilities, the leadership team evaluated several ideas, assessed constraints and derived that an “Innovation Team” was relatively easy to adopt. Modeled after productive teams like the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Innovation Foundry and Glenn Research Center's Compass team, JSC is laying the foundation of a new innovation team called the Forge. This team is as much about getting employees tempered in the ways of innovative thinking as it is about refining design studies and hammering out proposals. By the dictionary definition of the verb, forge can mean either to move ahead slowly and steadily or to move with a sudden increase of speed and power. Driving cultural change in a large government organization like NASA often involves slow perseverance with small injections of momentum to forge ahead. Leveraging lessons learned from the Innovation Foundry and Compass, this paper describes how the collaborative, concurrent engineering framework was tailored to JSC’s needs, as well as the aspects that were considered given JSC’s operation-focused, Program-driven landscape. Our process to drive cultural change, the steps taken, and challenges encountered are discussed. The first two pilots of the teaming framework are described with initial results presented in terms of employee engagement and fostering innovation. We also describe the planned future work and next steps to continue to push the initiative forward. Long has the Center been resting on its operations heritage, now we are forging a new path to Dare to expand frontiers, Unite with our partners and Explore space to benefit humanity.

Culture Change↗
DOE OSTI2015

Army Reserve Expands Net Zero Energy, Water, Waste

In 2012, the Army initiated a Net Zero (NZ) program to establish NZ energy, water, and/or waste goals at installations across the U.S. In 2013, the U.S. Army Reserve expanded this program to cover all three categories at different types of Reserve Centers (RCs) across 5 regions. Projects identified at 10 pilot sites resulted in an average savings potential from recommended measures of 90% for energy, 60% for water, and 83% for waste. This article provides results of these efforts.

Solana, Amy E.↗
DOE OSTI2023

AI-Driven Smart Community Control for Accelerating PV Adoption and Enhancing Grid Resilience

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has launched a Connected Communities program that supports projects that expand DOE's network of grid-interactive, efficient building communities nationwide. As an early pilot of Connected Communities, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and its partners have developed and demonstrated a community-scale, hierarchical control solution to address the potential grid issues arising from high penetration of solar photovoltaics (PV) as well as to improve grid reliability and resilience in this residential community. A field pilot study has been performed at an affordable housing development called the Basalt Vista Community, which was built for school teachers and other professionals in the local workforce and represents an autonomous energy grid with all-electric, energy-efficient homes. With no natural gas line in the community, this is the first all-electric net-zero community in rural Colorado. In the field pilot study, NREL has validated the performance of the hierarchical control solution, which consists of NREL's foresee home energy management systems (HEMS) and community aggregators, in increasing demand flexibility and self-consuming PV, reducing potential over-voltages, and supporting critical loads during emergency events. In this presentation, we will present the methodology, simulation and field pilot results, and lessons learned from the project.

all-electric community↗