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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.

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At least 127 records · Page 7
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NASA NTRS2010

L(sub 1) Adaptive Flight Control System: Flight Evaluation and Technology Transition

Certification of adaptive control technologies for both manned and unmanned aircraft represent a major challenge for current Verification and Validation techniques. A (missing) key step towards flight certification of adaptive flight control systems is the definition and development of analysis tools and methods to support Verification and Validation for nonlinear systems, similar to the procedures currently used for linear systems. In this paper, we describe and demonstrate the advantages of L(sub l) adaptive control architectures for closing some of the gaps in certification of adaptive flight control systems, which may facilitate the transition of adaptive control into military and commercial aerospace applications. As illustrative examples, we present the results of a piloted simulation evaluation on the NASA AirSTAR flight test vehicle, and results of an extensive flight test program conducted by the Naval Postgraduate School to demonstrate the advantages of L(sub l) adaptive control as a verifiable robust adaptive flight control system.

Xargay, Enric↗
NASA NTRS2010

Flight Test Results from the NF-15B Intelligent Flight Control System (IFCS) Project with Adaptation to a Simulated Stabilator Failure

Adaptive flight control systems have the potential to be more resilient to extreme changes in airplane behavior. Extreme changes could be a result of a system failure or of damage to the airplane. A direct adaptive neural-network-based flight control system was developed for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NF-15B Intelligent Flight Control System airplane and subjected to an inflight simulation of a failed (frozen) (unmovable) stabilator. Formation flight handling qualities evaluations were performed with and without neural network adaptation. The results of these flight tests are presented. Comparison with simulation predictions and analysis of the performance of the adaptation system are discussed. The performance of the adaptation system is assessed in terms of its ability to decouple the roll and pitch response and reestablish good onboard model tracking. Flight evaluation with the simulated stabilator failure and adaptation engaged showed that there was generally improvement in the pitch response; however, a tendency for roll pilot-induced oscillation was experienced. A detailed discussion of the cause of the mixed results is presented.

Bosworth, John T.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Asset Analysis and Operational Concepts for Separation Assurance Flight Testing at Dryden Flight Research Center

A preliminary survey of existing separation assurance and collision avoidance advancements, technologies, and efforts has been conducted in order to develop a concept of operations for flight testing autonomous separation assurance at Dryden Flight Research Center. This effort was part of the Unmanned Aerial Systems in the National Airspace System project. The survey focused primarily on separation assurance projects validated through flight testing (including lessons learned), however current forays into the field were also examined. Comparisons between current Dryden flight and range assets were conducted using House of Quality matrices in order to allow project management to make determinations regarding asset utilization for future flight tests. This was conducted in order to establish a body of knowledge of the current collision avoidance landscape, and thus focus Dryden s efforts more effectively towards the providing of assets and test ranges for future flight testing within this research field.

Costa, Guillermo J.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Quantifying Pilot Contribution to Flight Safety During an In-Flight Airspeed Failure

Accident statistics cite the flight crew as a causal factor in over 60% of large transport fatal accidents. Yet a well-trained and well-qualified crew is acknowledged as the critical center point of aircraft systems safety and an integral component of the entire commercial aviation system. A human-in-the-loop test was conducted using a Level D certified Boeing 737-800 simulator to evaluate the pilot's contribution to safety-of-flight during routine air carrier flight operations and in response to system failures. To quantify the human's contribution, crew complement was used as an independent variable in a between-subjects design. This paper details the crew's actions and responses while dealing with an in-flight airspeed failure. Accident statistics often cite flight crew error (Baker, 2001) as the primary contributor in accidents and incidents in transport category aircraft. However, the Air Line Pilots Association (2011) suggests "a well-trained and well-qualified pilot is acknowledged as the critical center point of the aircraft systems safety and an integral safety component of the entire commercial aviation system." This is generally acknowledged but cannot be verified because little or no quantitative data exists on how or how many accidents/incidents are averted by crew actions. Anecdotal evidence suggest crews handle failures on a daily basis and Aviation Safety Action Program data generally supports this assertion, even if the data is not released to the public. However without hard evidence, the contribution and means by which pilots achieve safety of flight is difficult to define. Thus, ways to improve the human ability to contribute or overcome deficiencies are ill-defined.

Etherington, Timothy J.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Free-Flight CFD Simulations of Ballistic Range and Flight Tests

Free-Flight CFD capability has been implemented into the finite-volume solver US3D under the Entry Systems Modeling project. Several simulations of ballistic range experiments have been performed in order to validate the simulation software and methodology. Extension of the software to flight scale trajectories with varying freestream conditions has been carried out. Results show promising ability to predict vehicle behavior as compared to flight. Finally, a multi-body free-flight capability has been developed to generalize the single-body free-flight solver to study multiple bodies in proximal flight.

Brock, Joseph M.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Flight Performance Maneuver Planning for NASA’s X-57 “Maxwell” Flight Demonstrator – Part 1: Power-Off Glides

Distributed Electric Propulsion technology is expected to yield up to a fivefold increase in high-speed cruise efficiency for NASA’s X-57 “Maxwell” flight demonstrator when compared to a combustion-powered general aviation baseline. A portion of this increased efficiency is due to beneficial aero-propulsive interaction inherent to the distributed propulsion architecture. The measure of the relative increase in efficiency between a conventional and distributed propulsion wing will be extracted from comparisons between flight test data from the electrically powered X-57 Mod II configuration with a conventional wing, and from the electrically powered X-57 Mod III/IV configuration with a distributed propulsion wing. Flight test maneuvers that accommodate errors in instrumentation and the flight test environment are developed to establish the power-off drag characteristics for all X-57 configurations. Analysis of these maneuvers with typical errors, including pilot-in-the-loop simulation data that incorporates simulated atmospheric turbulence effects, shows that the proposed power-off flight maneuvers can generate accurate power-off drag predictions for the X-57. These predictions show that the power-off differences in aerodynamic performance between the conventional and distributed propulsion configurations can be accurately measured from flight test data in the presence of typical data error sources.

Borer, Nicholas K.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Emulation of Core Flight System Applications for Flight Software Development and Validation

The Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign is an unprecedented attempt in the return of Martian samples back to Earth. The ascent from the surface will be performed by the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), a critical element in the mission that National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is developing. To this end, innovations in flight software development, verification, and validation are occurring. The MAV flight computer will run Core Flight System (cFS), an open-source software environment developed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). NASA Marshall’s MAV Mission and Fault Management (M&FM) Team has implemented an emulation of two applications of this architecture: Limit Checker and Stored Command. Using an emulation of the functionalities of these applications allows for rapid prototyping of table-based algorithms. Further, M&FM is leveraging an in-house, low-fidelity but high-throughput State Analysis Model (SAM), an integrated MATLAB Stateflow Plant and Software model. This model is run in parallel with the cFS emulation for full flyout testing of the M&FM algorithms, verification of intent of these algorithms, and for future auto-generation of application-ingestible M&FM tables. The tables can then be delivered to the MAV Flight Software (FSW) team in a seamless process, reducing the cost of traditional FSW development and the risk of starting M&FM FSW development at later points in the NASA program life cycle.

Cody Wheeler↗
NASA NTRS2022

Numerical Characterization of Astronaut CaOx Renal Stone Incidence Rates to Quantify In-flight and Post-flight Relative Risk

Changes in urine chemistry potentially alter the risk of renal stone formation in astronauts. Quantifying spaceflight renal stone incidence risk compared to pre-flight levels remains a significant challenge for assessing the appropriate vehicle, mission, and countermeasure design. A computational biochemistry model representing CaOx crystal precipitation, growth, and agglomeration is combined with a probabilistic analysis to predict the in- and post-flight CaOx renal stone incidence risk ratio (IRR) relative to pre-flight values using 1517 astronaut 24-hour urine chemistries. Our simulations predict that in-flight fluid intake alone would need to increase from current prescriptions of 2.0 - 2.5 L/day to approximately 3.2 L/day to approach CaOx IRR of the pre-flight population. Bone protective interventions would reduce CaOx risk to pre-flight levels if Ca excretion alone is reduced to < 150 mg/day or if current levels are diminished to 190mg/day in combination with increasing fluid intake to 2.5 - 2.7 L/day. This analysis provides a quantitative risk assessment that can influence the critical balance between engineering and astronaut health requirements.

renal stones↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Emulation of Core Flight System Applications for Flight Software Development and Validation

The Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign is an unprecedented attempt in the return of Martian samples back to Earth. The ascent from the surface will be performed by the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), a critical element in the mission that National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is developing. To this end, innovations in flight software development, verification, and validation are occurring. The MAV flight computer will run Core Flight System (cFS), an open-source software environment developed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). NASA Marshall’s MAV Mission and Fault Management (M&FM) Team has implemented an emulation of two applications of this architecture: Limit Checker and Stored Command. Using an emulation of the functionalities of these applications allows for rapid prototyping of table-based algorithms. Further, M&FM is leveraging an in-house, low-fidelity but high-throughput State Analysis Model (SAM), an integrated MATLAB Stateflow Plant and Software model. This model is run in parallel with the cFS emulation for full flyout testing of the M&FM algorithms, verification of intent of these algorithms, and for future auto-generation of application-ingestible M&FM tables. The tables can then be delivered to the MAV Flight Software (FSW) team in a seamless process, reducing the cost of traditional FSW development and the risk of starting M&FM FSW development at later points in the NASA program life cycle.

Cody Wheeler↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Survey Development and Initial Data: Flight Context and Pilot Techniques in Everyday Flights

The aviation industry is recognizing that flight crews routinely contribute to system safety in ways that go beyond adherence to standard operating procedures (SOPs). Our research goals were to explore a) whether a survey could shed light on pilots' contributions to adaptation and resilience in everyday flights and b) relevant assessment methods. The survey focused on challenges faced by pilots in normal operations, and on the ways that pilots anticipate and monitor those challenges. We collected responses concerning revenue flights from two pilot groups; one group also provided responses concerning a simulated scenario. The results indicated that relatively few flights proceeded exactly as in the original flight plan. Pilots routinely anticipated and adapted to changing circumstances. We discuss some design and assessment challenges encountered for a survey on this topic, we provide 5 approaches to assessment, and we present example findings as illustrations. We hope assessment methods such as these will lead to useful surveys of resilience in flight.

pilot behavior↗
NASA NTRS2023

Information and Best Practices Related to NASA Nuclear Flight Safety for Space Flights Involving Space Nuclear Systems

The purpose of this handbook is to facilitate a repeatable and robust process that promotes clear and effective interfaces between activities and stakeholders focused on meeting nuclear flight safety requirements for missions utilizing space nuclear systems (SNS), within the context of NASA’s broader nuclear-related activities and interfaces. NPR 8715.26, Nuclear Flight Safety, requires that the NASA project manager “incorporate nuclear flight safety considerations starting with program or project formulation through the point at which the SNS or other radioactive material no longer has the potential to affect Earth’s biosphere.” NASA’s use of SNS inherently involves partnering with other stakeholders to conduct a range of related activities that interface with nuclear flight safety. From a categorical perspective these include: (i) meeting the authorities and licensing requirements for possession and use of nuclear material, as governed by other Federal authorities; (ii) conducting National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) activities for nuclear-enabled missions; (iii) meeting Federal nuclear launch authorization requirements; (iv) conducting radiological contingency planning activities, including those associated with international commitments; (v) performing risk communication and public outreach activities; and (vi) ensuring decommissioning and disposal strategies reflect National policies and interests. It is the intent of this handbook to promote an effective interface between nuclear flight safety and these interrelated categorical activities. In addition to activities undertaken with partnering agencies, there are individual nuclear-related activities and programs that have a nexus to nuclear flight safety, and these include: (i) applicable NASA Standing Review Boards; (ii) the US Department of Energy nuclear safety activities conducted in partnership with NASA under Memoranda of Understanding; (iii) the Department of Defense’s Range Safety activities; (iv) NASA’s general involvement in interagency and international dialogues regarding nuclear safety; (v) the NASA-administered Interagency Nuclear Safety Review Board; (vi) NASA’s program and project governance activities and nuclear-specific Technical Discipline Team activities under the Office of the Chief Engineer; and others. It is the intent of this handbook to promote effective leveraging of these additional interrelated organizational activities, as appropriate.

Donald Helton↗
NASA NTRS2015

Armstrong Flight Research Center Flight Test Capabilities and Opportunities for the Applications of Wireless Data Acquisition Systems

The presentation will overview NASA Armstrong Flight Research Centers flight test capabilities, which can provide various means for flight testing of passive and active wireless sensor systems, also, it will address the needs of the wireless data acquisition solutions for the centers flight instrumentation issues such as additional weight caused by added instrumentation wire bundles, connectors, wire cables routing, moving components, etc., that the Passive Wireless Sensor Technology Workshop may help. The presentation shows the constraints and requirements that the wireless sensor systems will face in the flight test applications.

flight tests↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Fan Acoustic Flight Effects on the PAA & ASN Flight Test

Accurate and reliable prediction of noise emitted from turbofan aircraft engines is an ongoing challenge. For continued progress, it is necessary to assess the performance of the most recent prediction methods in the NASA Aircraft NOise Prediction Program (ANOPP), and to examine the effects of flight condition on fan noise. The assessment is based on an extensive acoustic dataset acquired as part of the Propulsion Airframe Aeroacoustics and Aircraft System Noise (PAA&ASN) Flight Test conducted on a Boeing 787-10 aircraft. Engine operating condition was varied to study the characteristics of fan noise in flight. In a subset of the flight test matrix, the influence of the aft duct acoustic liner was studied by covering the lined area with aluminum tape to simulate a hardwall duct. The combination of test data at different flight conditions, along with rigorous predictions of jet noise, is used in this paper to extract fan noise from the measured total aircraft noise levels. The measured fan noise levels are compared with those predicted using the latest methods for fan source noise, liner attenuation, and PAA effect prediction. Detailed analyses are undertaken to understand agreement between data and various aspects of the prediction models, including spectral shape, directivity, and response to throttle setting. An additional investigation was undertaken to study the effect of aircraft speed on fan noise, as current models do not directly account for this parameter.

Aircraft System Noise↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Low-Earth Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) Aeroshell Flight Performance

On November 10, 2022, NASA launched the Low-earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) vehicle as a secondary payload mounted inside the launch vehicle adaptor on an Atlas V 401 out of the Vandenburg Space Force Base (VSFB). The primary payload, Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2), was delivered successfully to a sun synchronous trajectory shortly after launch, at which point the Centaur upper stage performed a burn to de-orbit the system. Once on the desired trajectory to enter the atmosphere the top of the payload adaptor was ejected to expose the LOFTID vehicle, then the LOFTID aeroshell, a Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD), was deployed and inflated without issue. The Centaur pointed the LOFTID to the desired attitude to enter the atmosphere, spun the assembly to three rpm, separated the reentry vehicle, and finally performed a collision avoidance maneuver to prevent the Centaur from re-contacting the LOFTID after atmospheric entry. The LOFTID vehicle maintained the design attitude and spin rate from separation to atmospheric entry, roughly 30 minutes, demonstrating the aeroshell did not experience any energy damping from inflatable structure flexibility. The LOFTID vehicle entered the atmosphere over Alaska at >8km/sec and decelerated as designed demonstrating stable flight from hypersonic entry through subsonic parachute deployment. On-board visible light cameras captured the reactions of the heatshield through all phases of flight and co-located infrared light cameras captured the temperature distribution of the aft side of the heat shield anchored to a distribution of thermocouples on the inflatable structure (IS) in the field of view. Thermocouples were also embedded in the forward side of the aeroshell both in the Flexible Thermal Protection System (FTPS) as well as the IS. This presentation will discuss aeroshell response to the atmospheric entry. The visible light cameras captured mechanical response of the IS to the loads applied in the different phases of entry. Events seen on the visible light cameras correlate with the response of the load cell pins on webbing elements that attach the aeroshell to the centerbody structure. Thermocouple data captured verifies the aerothermal response of the aeroshell was in-kind with pre-flight analysis predictions although some-what lower in most locations. This data will allow the improvement of the aeroshell modeling tools predictive capability. Post-flight inspection of the aeroshell after splash down and ocean recovery shows that all the aeroshell materials and manufacturing techniques developed over the past 15 years of HIAD technology development performed as de-signed at large scale, a scale which cannot be replicated in ground test facilities. The HIAD supported the LOFTID vehicle high in the water after touching down under parachute and maintained buoyancy and integrity for the hour it took to position the recovery vessel near the LOFTID after splash down. There was no indication the HIAD would have experienced an issue maintaining buoyancy for many more hours after water impact as the component maintained adequate inflation pressure more than 12 hours after water extraction with no additional inflation gas in tanks, as the inflation gas remaining in the tank was vented prior to impact. The LOFTID aeroshell was an unqualified success and has opened up opportunities for commercial application.

LOFTID Aeroshell Flight Performance↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Sim to Flight: Evaluating Flight Path Management Automation in High Density Urban Environments

Combined simulation and flight testing enable the study of single- and multi-aircraft performance of onboard automation systems for dynamic flight path management (FPM). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is investigating system performance and functional capabilities of such automation for immersion into complex, high density, future operations such as Urban Air Mobility (UAM). This paper provides an overview of a series of interdependent sim-to-flight research activities involving large-scale batch simulations, human-in-the-loop verification, and flight-test validation of a research prototype FPM automation system. Together, they significantly contributed to a functional assessment of FPM automation functionality in a live-virtual-constructive (LVC) operating environment characterized by two live aircraft and hundreds of virtual aircraft interacting in a modeled complex urban airspace. Initial simulation and flight test results, future work, and conclusions are presented.

Advanced Air Mobility↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Evaluation of Artemis I Aerodynamic Force and Moment Reconstructions and Pre-Flight Predictions for Ascent Flight

The Artemis I launch of the Space Launch System provided the first flight data for the new launch vehicle. The current paper shows comparisons of the preflight force and moment coefficient databases developed using traditional ground test and computation fluid dynamics to post-flight data reconstructions of the ascent aerodynamic force and moment coefficients. The post-flight reconstructions were developed using instrumentation on the vehicle, meteorological data, and Newton’s laws. In general, the preflight databases and post-flight reconstructed data showed similar trends throughout ascent from Mach 0.20 to Mach 3.50. Axial force coefficient showed the largest discrepancies, which is likely due to the difficulty of computing axial force from the flight data.

Space Launch System↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Comparison of Wind-Tunnel and Flight Unsteady Pressure Stochastic Characteristics for the Space Launch System Artemis I Flight

Over the course of more than ten years, numerous wind-tunnel tests have been conducted to acquire data for characterizing the unsteady pressure environments expected to act on the Space Launch System Block 1 crew launch vehicle during ascent. These wind-tunnel tests of highly-instrumented rigid models are the current standard for the estimation of unsteady environments. Following the successful launch of the Artemis I mission, the extensive flight data acquired can be analyzed to evaluate the accuracy of unsteady pressure environments predicted in subscale wind-tunnel testing in comparison to the flight test data. In this paper, analyses focusing on data from several Space Launch System wind-tunnel tests and the Artemis I flight test are presented, including assessments of test-to-test, tunnel-to-tunnel, and tunnel-to-flight stochastic characteristics and preflight modeling validity based on wind-tunnel testing. In general, the fluctuating pressure environments measured during the several preflight subscale wind-tunnel tests compare favorably and provide relatively accurate estimates of the environments measured during flight. Discrepancies in fluctuating magnitudes, spatial extent of regions of unsteadiness, and narrowband frequency peaks are noted in the multibody region aft of the solid rocket booster forward attachment to the core stage.

wind-tunnel↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Comparison of Wind-Tunnel and Flight Unsteady Pressure Stochastic Characteristics for the Space Launch System Artemis I Flight

Over the course of more than ten years, numerous wind-tunnel tests have been conducted to acquire data for characterizing the unsteady pressure environments expected to act on the Space Launch System Block 1 crew launch vehicle during ascent. These wind-tunnel tests of highly-instrumented rigid models are the current standard for the estimation of unsteady environments. Following the successful launch of the Artemis I mission, the extensive flight data acquired can be analyzed to evaluate the accuracy of unsteady pressure environments predicted in subscale wind-tunnel testing in comparison to the flight test data. In this paper, analyses focusing on data from several Space Launch System wind-tunnel tests and the Artemis I flight test are presented, including assessments of test-to-test, tunnel-to-tunnel, and tunnel-to-flight stochastic characteristics and preflight modeling validity based on wind-tunnel testing. In general, the fluctuating pressure environments measured during the several preflight subscale wind-tunnel tests compare favorably and provide relatively accurate estimates of the environments measured during flight. Discrepancies in fluctuating magnitudes, spatial extent of regions of unsteadiness, and narrowband frequency peaks are noted in the multibody region aft of the solid rocket booster forward attachment to the core stage.

wind-tunnel↗