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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Demand Capacity Balancing at Vertiports for Initial Strategic Conflict Management of Urban Air Mobility Operations

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is a new transportation concept that enables highly automated, cooperative, passenger or cargo-carrying air transportation services in and around urban areas. To achieve the high level of operational density and complexity desired by the UAM community, an airspace system that allows UAM operators to readily access and operate safely and efficiently in the airspace is needed. This airspace system will require air traffic management designed to reduce the risk of conflicts and loss of separation between UAM flights. In general, strategic conflict management is considered as the first layer of conflict management for safe flight operations to condition the traffic to reduce the need for airborne separation provision, the second layer of conflict management. Demand Capacity Balancing (DCB) is one of the concept components to achieve strategic conflict management. DCB strategically evaluates traffic demand and resource capacities to allow UAM operators to determine when, where and how they operate, while mitigating conflicting needs for airspace and vertiport capacity. DCB can be applied whenever UAM demand exceeds the capacity in airspace or at vertiports. As the UAM ecosystem evolves with advanced technologies and matured operational procedures, more complicated conflict management will likely be needed. In the current UAM ‘Concept of Operation (ConOps) 1.0’ operational stage defined by FAA, however, it will be meaningful to explore the demand capacity balancing at vertiports only, as an initial strategic conflict management approach for UAM operations because vertiport capacity seems to be a bottleneck of UAM traffic. For this research, we developed a demand-capacity imbalance detection and resolution service for UAM. This DCB service identifies the demand from operators and compares the demand to a given capacity at the shared resources (i.e., vertiports) over the upcoming time horizon which is divided into time bins having a constant interval. When a new flight plan is submitted, the algorithm embedded in the DCB service checks the available time bins based on the desired departure time and estimated arrival time at origin and destination vertiports, respectively. If the time bins for the originally desired times are already occupied by other flights (i.e., demand is at or above capacity), the algorithm finds the next available time bins for takeoff and landing and shifts the conflicting departure time to the earliest time that satisfies the capacity constraints at both origin and destination vertiports. The details of the algorithm will be described in the final manuscript. Figure 1 shows that the proposed DCB algorithm works well for a sample traffic scenario. In this example, a total of 144 flights, split between two operators, are planned over 2 hours, traveling 10 routes between five vertiports. In the heatmaps, the horizontal axis shows 12 time bins where each bin represents a 12-minute interval, and the vertical axis shows five vertiports. The number in each cell shows the number of operations, counting both departures and arrivals, at a specific vertiport in each time bin. For the given capacity of 2 operations/vertiport/bin, Figure 1 shows that the original demand sometimes exceeds the capacity, but the modified demand is reduced to the given capacity after resolving demand-capacity imbalances. When UAM flights are operated, it is expected that many practical issues would arise in the federated system architecture with multiple operators. UAM operators may experience a time synchronization issue due to communication delay between operator and vehicle. UAM vehicles would fly at different flight speeds, depending on vehicle models. Actual departure and arrival times can have large variations, compared to the schedule. The lead time from flight plan submission to desired departure time can vary by service type (e.g., regular shuttle service vs. on-demand service). Using the proposed DCB algorithm, we also investigated how the actual flight schedule and DCB performance are affected by these uncertainties such as unsynchronized times between operators, flight speed differences, lead time differences, and departure time errors. The final manuscript will include the background of this research work, the description of the DCB algorithm and its use cases with traffic scenarios. It will also provide the analytical results about the impact of various uncertainties that can occur in actual UAM operations on the DCB at vertiports, in terms of demand distribution changes, number of simultaneous operations, and delay propagation.

Urban Air Mobility↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Model-Based Systems Engineering Evaluation of the Evolution to an In-Time Aviation Safety Management System

In 2018, as result of a recommendation from the National Academies, NASA began to prototype an In-Time Aviation Safety Management System(IASMS). The purpose of the IASMS is to enable innovative aviation operations and greater heterogeneity of the overall National Airspace (NAS) by automating much of the safety monitoring, assessment, and risk and hazard mitigation functionspresent in today’s Safety Management Systems (SMS). NASA has worked together with early industry collaborators to understand how such a system might work and has published several early Concepts of Operation (ConOps) and other technical memoranda that illustrate the primary considerations for selected aviation domains. The shift from an SMS to an IASMS is predicated on several assumptions, including: 1.) automating safety functions will decrease the amount of time necessary for risk and hazard identification and analysis, making it more likely that safety concerns are understood ‘in-time’ to mitigate them, and 2.) an IASMS will allow easier tailoring of safety management processes to the particular risks and hazards inherent to that aviation operation. In this paper, we begin to validate these assumptions through the use of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE).

In-time Aviation Safety Management System↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The In-time Aviation Safety Management System Concept for Part 135 Operators

Transformations of the National Airspace System, such as envisioned with Advanced Air Mobility, will enable improvements for managing and assuring safety for Part 135 transportation of passengers and cargo. The purpose of this paper is to describe the In-time Aviation Safety Management System (IASMS) Concept of Operations (ConOps) and how its innovations such as using predictive analytics could benefit operators for risk management and safety assurance. The National Academies recommended development of an IASMS ConOps to secure a safe future NAS. Part 135 operators are currently not required to have a formal safety management system.

Kyle K. Ellis↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Design and Analysis of Corridors for UAM Operations

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is predicted to provide alternate modes of transportation for cargo and passengers in the urban areas. Integration of UAM operations into the National Airspace System is a challenge especially around large airport. The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) UAM Concept of Operations (ConOps) suggests new airspace structures for UAM operations such as corridors where FAA air traffic control (ATC) will not be expected to provide services. This paper presents a design for corridors in the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) area that attempts to minimize air traffic controller interactions with UAM pilots and operators. The corridor and vertiports are then analyzed with respect to Class B separation criteria and wake advisory criteria. The results show that for the corridors designed for the DFW area and presented in this research, in some cases Class B separation criteria are not available between UAM corridors and legacy traffic due to the geometry of the airport. It shows that wake advisory criteria were not met for some segments in North Flow traffic but were generally met in South Flow. This means that some corridor segments at DFW airport will not be available for a given airport flow and may need new placements, which need further investigation.

Urban Air Mobility↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Long Duration Medical System Foundation for Lunar Orbital and Lunar Surface Exploration Missions

For long-duration lunar orbital and lunar surface (LDLOS) exploration missions, the NASA Human Research Program (HRP) Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element has developed a medical system foundation through which clinical considerations may be represented via a systems engineering-based model. Components of the Long Duration Medical System Foundation model include a concept of operations (ConOps), functional decomposition, medical conditions to be addressed, clinical capabilities and resources, technical requirements, and traces of requirements to NASA standards documents and parent-level (Program- and Vehicle habitat system-level) requirements. The Foundation model offers the means to present information in a readily accessible format that is understandable across all clinical, engineering, scientific, and managerial disciplines. Collectively, these components constitute a foundation that serves future programs with similar long duration mission profiles as a starting point for medical system design. The Foundation was developed by a multidisciplinary team of systems engineers, scientists, and clinicians across NASA. The process started with ConOps development, subsequently decomposed into the functionalities needed to diagnose, treat, and prevent medical conditions. The clinical team identified medical conditions most likely needed to be diagnosed and treated during a long-duration lunar exploration mission. Through these approaches, requirements were codified for the LDLOS medical system. These requirements were then traced to NASA standards, medical conditions, medical capabilities, and medical resources, facilitating stakeholders’ use of the Foundation model to analyze traces and to identify medical system interfaces with other vehicle systems or subsystems. In addition, the Foundation may be used as a basis for performing risk trades on medical system mass and volume allocation. This discussion will focus on the processes through which the LDLOS Medical System Foundation was developed, how the Foundation builds a bridge between the medical and engineering domains, and how these processes may be applied more broadly to a crew health and performance system and other system domains.

Jay Lemery↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

HAT m:N Activity Overview

Since 2020, researchers from the Human Autonomy Teaming (HAT) Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center have conducted human-in-the-loop (HITL) simulation research to study a new control paradigm for operations involving multiple remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS). Colloquially referred to as "m:N," this paradigm is characterized by multiple operators collaboratively controlling multiple vehicles between them. The m:N name expresses a ratio whereby m is the number of operators and N is the number of vehicles shared between them. In this presentation, HAT Lab researchers provide a high-level overview of the m:N studies that have been performed to-date. These include a study of the m:N concept of operations (CONOPS) and the attending roles and responsibilities ("ConOps/R&R Sim"), a study focused on contingency management involving dynamic, inter-operator transfers of vehicles ("Handoff Sim"), and a study examining the effects of pilot-ATC communication systems on workload ("UAM Comms Sim"). A selection of key results are provided. The presentation concludes with a brief discussion of planned research into m:N operations.

m:N↗

NASA NTRS2023

Airspace Automation Flight Tabletop Exercise

Interconnections of new systems are needed for airspace automation capabilities required in Urban Air Mobility (UAM). FAA Concept of Operations (CONOPS) V1.0 shows Provider of Services for UAM (PSU) at the center of the notional architecture; however, the functional role of the PSU in data exchange and the path to get there is unclear. In partnership with Wisk Aero, Avision, ANRA, Collins Aerospace, OneSky, SkyGrid, and AURA, the NASA National Campaign held discussions and tabletop exercises to test the functional allocations and work flows between an aircraft operator, airspace providers, Command and Control Communication Service Providers (C2CSP), and FAA air traffic in a real-world scenario. The exercise included preplanning and execution of a passenger mission with nominal, contingency, and conflict management scenarios for initial UAM operations. This working paper describes initial conditions for the flight tabletop exercise, exercise summaries, lessons learned, and recommendations for future work.

National Campaign↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Desert Research and Technology Studies (D-RATS) 2022 Quicklook Report

This report summarizes the Desert Research and Technology Studies (D-RATS) 2022 analog tests. BACKGROUND - Artemis Challenges – NASA’s concept of operations (ConOps) for the Artemis mission architecture brings new challenges for human exploration of the lunar surface, including: (1) Low-angle, natural lighting at lunar poles; and (2) Exploration sites that challenge communication with Earth. - International Partner Involvement – NASA is working with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to scope mission & functional requirements for an Artemis Pressurized Rover (PR), which JAXA may provide. - Charter – HQ Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) Moon to Mars Architecture Development Office (M2MADO) Strategy and Architectures (SA) chartered the Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) test team to investigate Artemis architectural questions related to pressurized rover ConOps. - Rationale – to inform the NASA/JAXA pressurized rover study-agreement. PLAN - Objectives – Analog tests conducted in October 2022 by the D-RATS team addressed three high-level objectives: 1. Investigate pressurized rover (PR) ConOps and capabilities for Artemis exploration 2. Integrate with JAXA engineers & astronauts and incorporate JAXA PR design elements into testing. 3. Re-establish analog field-testing skills & capabilities with rovers to investigate Artemis architecture ConOps. - Secondary Objectives – Work with other groups to leverage D-RATS field test for additional objectives. 4. Work with the Public Affairs Office (PAO) to perform D-RATS public outreach activities. 5. Coordinate with the Human Physiology Performance Protection & Operations (H-3PO) team to facilitate in-field evaluation of human health and performance (HHP) objectives. 6. Share D-RATS field-site and assets with Lunar LTE Studies (Lunar LiTES) team, to aid their study of the use of 4G/LTE communication protocols and devices for astronauts and robotic nodes on the lunar surface. - Team – Fully integrated test team comprised of members from 5 NASA centers, JAXA, and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) - Location – Black Point Lava Flow, ~40 miles north of Flagstaff, AZ HIGH-LEVEL OBJECTIVES ACCOMPLISHED - Investigated Pressurized Rover ConOps & Capabilities for Artemis Exploration (Objective 1) - Completed testing with 4 crew pairs, each spending 3 days and 2 nights in the rover conducting Artemis PR dayin-the-life activities (2 JAXA astronauts, 2 JAXA engineers, 1 NASA astronaut, 3 NASA engineers). - Collected detailed objective & subjective data supporting 10 strategic questions related to Artemis PR operations. - Field geologists present in field observed rover operations & EVAs. - Science team in Houston MCC communicated directly with crew. - Demonstrated crew-led and MCC-led PR teleoperation use cases during EVAs. - Integrated with JAXA Engineers & Astronauts and Incorporated JAXA PR Design Elements into Testing (Objective 2) - NASA & JAXA engineers, flight controllers, scientists, roboticists, and astronauts directly participated in and/or observed testing both in field and in MCC-Houston. - Incorporated JAXA PR design elements into both integrated and standalone testing at JSC and in the field. - Re-established Analog Field-Testing Skills & Capabilities with Rovers to Investigate Artemis Architecture ConOps (Objective 3) - Multiple teams successfully worked to establish and manage field-test base camp, monitor and maintain the rover, and plan and execute 2 weeks of consecutive field-testing with little to no breaks between crews. TEST OUTCOMES - Results will inform Artemis architecture ConOps & capabilities related to pressurized rover operations (see sections 2 for more details) - Summary and team detailed reports will be posted on the D-RATS 2022 wiki

Analog↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Design and Technology Maturation of the Stratospheric Projectile Experiment of Entry Dynamics

The supersonic and transonic dynamic stability of blunt-body reentry vehicles currently poses large risks in all of NASA’s ongoing entry missions (MSR SRL, MSR EES, and Dragonfly). These projects have allocated millions of dollars to testing and modeling efforts to buy down risk by using the current state-of-the-art (SoA) facilities at NASA’s disposal. While these facilities have heritage in supplying dynamics data to reentry missions, their availability is severely limited – particularly with the high number of concur-rent projects requesting simultaneous testing– and are costly when considering the science density per dollar. None of the current SoA facility methodologies allow the test model to have the dynamics fully develop through a flight relevant free-stream profile and as such require extrapolations with resultant high uncertainties in order to relate the test dynamics to flight expectations. SPEED is a NASA Ames Center Innovation Fund (CIF) project that is developing a highly tailorable and cost-effective test methodology to better assess the dynamic stability of blunt-body reentry vehicles via a stratospheric balloon flight. This is accomplished by dropping a suite of instrumented capsules from a stratospheric balloon to gain a statistically relevant dataset of scaled reentry vehicles in mission relevant free-flight conditions. This presentation will walk through how the test methodology is being implemented specifically for the Mars Sample Return (MSR) Earth Entry System (EES) geometry in an awarded Flight Opportunities Program (FOP) test flight in early CY24. SPEED Application to MSR: SPEED consists of three main mechanical systems: the Drop Platform, the Projectile, and the test Capsule. SPEED is being developed as a set of guidelines and recommendations for how to test with the proposed Concept of Operations (Conops) since the specific design parameters will vary depending on the specific project’s reference trajectory and entry vehicle design. As such, this presentation will walk through the development time-line as shown in Fig. 2. This is meant to serve as a blueprint for further missions as desired. Mechanical and Avionics Design. The SPEED test platform designed for the MSR-EES capsule geometry with nominal entry parameters has the ability to carry 10 Capsules to altitude instrumented with: 1. 3-Axis Accelerometer 2. IMU 3. Gyroscope 4. Magnetometer 5. Pressure Transducer cruciform 6. Uplook and Horizon Cameras To package the avionics/instrumentation suite, the capsule is approximately 1’ in diameter with the Outer Mold Line (OML) centroid-scaled from the full EES design. The internal volume is gutted and custom-shaped to fit the desired instrumentation suite, as well as to allow for the positioning of ballast mass such that the Center of Gravity is analogous to the flight vehicle. All structural components in the Capsule and Projectile are 3D printed, which significantly reduces the cost of each flight unit to around $1500 including all instrumentation, avionics, and structural components. Flight Conops. The test Capsule is accelerated to the desired altitude and Mach number while stowed in the Projectile, a missile-like vehicle consisting of steel ballast in the nose, a low-drag OML, and an Ejection Mechanism to reliably release the Capsule into the free-flow supersonic conditions. For the MSR-EES design, the capsule employs ~3kg of ballast mass at the nose to accelerate the 1.25kg test Capsule to ~Mach 1.7 at 23km altitude. This requires an initial release altitude of 40km, the quoted limit of a 80kg payload by the FOP-contracted balloon provider. Once the Ejection Mechanism avionics detect the proper conditions, the spring-loaded Ejection Mechanism will release and – guided by the sabot – expose the test Capsule to the desired test conditions for ~5 seconds of free-flight in the supersonic/transonic regimes. Dynamics in the subsonic regime will also be captured with the instrumentation suite with post-flight recovery operations aimed at recovering the high-G-load capable SD cards after the planned hard impact landings. Testing and Development: In the few months the SPEED project has worked the development of MSR-EES flight test, the team has performed lab and drone based testing which this presentation will overview. After the first design phase, the team fabricated Engineering Demonstration Units (EDUs) of all subsystems to perform validation testing shown in Fig. 5. After validation was completed on the subsystem level, a drone-drop test was performed at the recreational flight ceiling of 400ft altitude to assess the SPEED systems in a flight environment. Parameters such as in-flight stability, hard impact landing performance, and avionics performance were quantified and qualified. The FY23 CIF will culminate in a helicopter drop test aboard an Air National Guard Blackhawk. This will prepare the team for the CY24 FOP stratospheric balloon flight that should provide the final verification to begin offering the test platform for mission support. Focus of Presentation: This presentation will outline the technology maturation path of the SPEED implementation to the MSR-EES capsule baseline as well as the details regarding the mechanical system, avionics and instrumentation, and flight operations. Note that a complementary presentation is being submitted for a methodology overview of the SPEED test platform, introducing the testing technique and benefits as well as the full application space of the technology.

pitch damping coefficient↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Earth-Independent Medical Operations (EIMO) Concept of Operations

Compared to the current paradigm for crew health in low-Earth orbit and Lunar missions that rely on constant communication with Mission Control, there is an anticipated shift in medical operations for deep-space exploration missions. This shift stems from mission constraints imposed by the considerable distance from Earth, which include resource limitations due to a lack of resupply, mass, power, volume, and data limitations, challenges imposed by communication latency and the inability to evacuate in case of emergencies. To transition towards a more self-reliant medical approach, a comprehensive strategy is essential to progressively enable crew autonomy and mitigate mission success risks in the challenging environment of space. This transformative shift is collectively referred to as "Earth-Independent Medical Operations" (EIMO), signifying the gradual transfer of medical care and decision-making from terrestrial resources to space-based assets. This transition is aimed at bolstering astronaut health and performance while simultaneously reducing the overall risks associated with space missions. The constraints related to EIMO necessitate an integrated development of medical systems, featuring interoperability with mission planning, vehicle design, spacesuit design, and data architecture. This integration is vital in establishing a robust medical infrastructure that not only supports the well-being of astronauts but also ensures the success of the mission as a whole. The Human Research Program (HRP) Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element has developed a model-based Concept of Operations (ConOps) outlining an initial vision for EIMO. Within this ConOps, a comprehensive view is presented, encompassing stakeholder needs, system objectives, and system goals associated with EIMO. Additionally, it provides illustrative examples of the various activities (scenarios) for which the system will be employed during missions. The selection of these activities has been meticulous, aiming to encompass a wide spectrum of medical conditions, including those falling under different risk categories, such as low-likelihood-low-consequence, low-likelihood-high-consequence, and high-likelihood-low-consequence. The selection of these activities (scenarios) effectively encompasses the wide range of medical events situated within an assumed probability-consequence bell curve. In each scenario, at least one of the five main EIMO components identified is captured. Those EIMO components are: Pre-mission Planning, Acute and Emergent Management Decision Making, Prolonged Medical Management Decision Making, Supplies and Resource Management, and Task Load Management. The ConOps was developed by a multidisciplinary team consisting of systems engineers, scientists, and clinicians across NASA and aims to serve as an initial recommendation to gradually and safely enabling crew autonomy for Mars missions and beyond.

Earth Independent Medical Operations↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Gateway Integrated ECLSS Model Analysis of Intermodule Ventilation Failures

The Gateway Integrated ECLSS Model (GIEM) is a set of two independent models, made in Aspen Custom Modeler (ACM) and Thermal Desktop (TD), of the Gateway stack and each modules' associated environment control and life support system (ECLSS). The GIEM utilizes the 41-Node Metabolic Man (METMAN) to simulate crew inside the Gateway consuming O2 and producing CO2, H2O, and heat for the ECLSS to remove. The modules and visiting vehicles all have different levels of ECLSS capabilities and may rely on other modules and Intermodular Ventilation (IMV), which is used to exchange gas between the modules, to ensure the entire Gateway environment is controlled. If IMV were to fail or be turned off, some vehicles may have limited access to necessary ECLSS functions. This analysis focuses on evaluating O2, CO2, and H2O levels when crew are in vehicles without their own life support and IMV has failed to evaluate how long before the atmosphere is unsafe for the crew. This analysis uses the integrated nature of the GIEM to look at time to effect for O2 depletion and CO2 and H2O buildup when crew are working in vehicles that have been cut off from the ECLSS-active portion of the stack. This information is used to inform for how long crew can safely continue working in the ECLSS-inactive vehicles before experiencing a requirement violation or physical limitation and can be referenced when developing maintenance and emergency response concept of operations (ConOps).

Lawrence Barrett↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Optimizing Urban Air Mobility Research Through Bi-Directional Integration Processes for Effective Verification and Validation

Urban Air Mobility (UAM), a subset of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), aims to revolutionize metropolitan transportation. This paper explores an engineering process framework within National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Air Mobility Pathfinders (AMP) project, which is focused on the safe scaling and seamless integration of UAM operations within the National Airspace System (NAS). Progressing through three phases — Initial, Midterm, and Mature — the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s UAM Concept of Operations (ConOps) describes a proposed path for the evolution of UAM operations, presenting multifaceted challenges in technology, regulation, and stakeholder engagement. With this ConOps as a basis, the AMP project is executing research, development, test, and evaluation activities aimed at delivering validated reference architectures for the Midterm phase. This paper illuminates the pivotal role of the systems engineering process in managing these technical efforts. Robust verification and validation methods, along with systematic bi-directional integration process, enhance the ability to conduct research into the design and evolution of safe, efficient, and reliable UAM systems. In this paper a systematic framework will be presented and shown to facilitate interactions between UAM stakeholders and to effectively manage the complex architecture of UAM operations in the NAS.

National Airspace System↗

NASA NTRS2024

An Integrated Architecture Study for Autonomous Lunar Construction

Lunar construction is an expanding field within NASA’s Moon to Mars objectives that presents many challenges and requires innovative and reliable forms of autonomous operations on the surface of the Moon to further the technologies needed for human space exploration. Marshal Space Flight Center’s (MSFC) Advanced Concepts Office (ACO) addressed Lunar Infrastructure Objective LI-4 l by developing a Pre-Phase A, integrated architecture to inform a demonstration for lunar construction operations. The ACO study traded three architectures that would survey and prepare a construction area to build a landing pad out of lunar regolith using MMPACT (Moon-to-Mars Planetary Autonomous Construction Technology) platforms, rovers, and navigation outposts. The main trades examined navigation for the system/architecture, options for rover navigation, battery vs continuous tether power for the MMPACT robotic arm, and assigning site prep functionality to the rovers vs the platforms. Results of the study determined that the best options for the scenario provided would be local navigation (more accurate and continuous), a combination of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) for initial site mapping with subsequent Smart Video Guidance Sensors (SVGS) to save power for construction, and using tethered power to decrease mission duration. The team also concluded that assigning site prep functionality to either the rovers or the platforms has benefits and challenges; future studies could explore having that functionality on both the rovers and platforms. Lastly, the team provided a Concept of Operations (ConOps) timeline that can be used in real-time ground demonstrations to explore the mission timeline, construction processes, autonomous operations, and communication systems that can be tested using MSFC’s lunar regolith field and Lunar Utilization Control Area (LUCA).

Sarah Triana↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Space-Based Solar Power: An Enabler for Expanded Lunar Surface Exploration and Mobility Operations

The achievement of industrial and scientific goals set by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Artemis missions within the Moon to Mars (M2M) architecture greatly relies on the breadth and efficacy of lunar surface exploration. The lunar surface environment presents various challenges and complexities to sustainable mission operations and activities. Power generation and distribution capabilities are vital for exploration on the lunar surface, which can enable activities such as subsurface sample collection, permanently shadowed region (PSR) prospecting, and lunar terrain mapping. Innovative power technologies that demonstrate flexibility, reliability, and high capacity are desirable to achieve sustainable operations and infrastructure on the lunar surface. Studies have proposed solar-powered spacecraft in cislunar orbit capable of beaming power to lunar surface assets as a solution to this problem. This study analyzes the benefit that space-based solar power (SBSP) assets could deliver to the M2M architecture by measuring its potential to augment lunar surface exploration opportunity. Qualitative measures of SBSP’s potential impact will include, but not be limited to, power available across surface elements, surface mobility range, and delivered landed mass. These measures are assessed for a notional surface architecture measured against its baseline configuration (no external power augmentation). Additionally, this presentation will provide an overview of the SBSP system design configuration trade space, subsystem parameter trade space, and results from preliminary spacecraft concept of operations (ConOps) and sizing.

Space-based solar power↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Evaluating Lunar Water Processing System Model Configurations for Small Scale Oxygen and Hydrogen Production Within JAXA’s ISRU Technology Demonstration Plant

In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) refers to novel methods of extracting and processing local resources for use in life support and propulsion systems, reducing or eliminating the required consumables to be transferred from Earth. Current estimates of water-ice availability embedded in regolith within the Moon’s permanently shadowed regions (PSR’s)range between 1-5% by weight. However, the composition and characteristics of the “wet” regolith is unknown. Alternate ISRU excavation techniques and Concept of Operations (ConOps) must be explored to optimize surface system operations based on these factors. To assess the feasibility of different ISRU subsystem technologies and compare system architecture configurations, an interchangeable system model was generated to incorporate technologies spanning excavation of raw materials to storage of products and determine optimal arrangement of total system processing needs. Total Mass, Volume, and Power (M/V/P) requirements were computed for 168 design iterations of this water processing plant.

ISRU↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Evaluating Lunar Water Processing System Model Configurations for Small Scale Oxygen and Hydrogen Production Within JAXA'S ISRU Technology

Introduction: In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) refers to novel methods of extracting and processing local resources for use in life support and propulsion systems, reducing or eliminating the required consumables to be transferred from Earth. Current estimates of water-ice availability embedded in regolith within the Moon’s permanently shadowed regions (PSR’s) range between 1-5% by weight. However, the composition and characteristics of the “wet” regolith is unknown. Alternate ISRU excavation techniques and Concept of Operations (ConOps) must be explored to optimize surface system operations based on these factors. To assess the feasibility of different ISRU subsystem technologies and compare system architecture configurations, an interchangeable system model was generated to incorporate technologies spanning excavation of raw materials to storage of products and determine optimal arrangement of total system processing needs. Total Mass, Volume, and Power (M/V/P) requirements were computed for 168 design iterations of this water processing plant. System Model: In FY24, the System Engineering and Integration (SE&I) ISRU Modeling and Analysis (SIMA) team developed a lunar water processing system model using the Mission Analysis and Integration Tool (MAIT) to estimate the M/V/P for ISRU subsystems operating under a wide range of Hydrogen (H2) and Oxygen (O2) production targets for the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) [1]. Based on Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) surface operational requirements, this system architecture was modified to include the ability to excavate consolidated icy regolith (versus granular ice excavation using Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC) ISRU Pilot Excavator, IPEx) and explore the feasibility of processing the lunar water both inside and outside of the PSR. For the consolidated icy regolith case study, excavation was performed via a mobility transport chassis outfitted with The Regolith Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain (TRIDENT) for drilling [2] and the Cold Operable Lunar Deployable Arm (COLDArm) [3] for regolith transfer. The system model determines the required rover and payload. M/V/P to handle the required regolith processing rates. The regolith is then sorted and heated to sublimate the ice (via an auger dryer). The exiting high temperature, low pressure vapor is cleaned of volatiles (via cold trap) and electrolyzed to produce H2 and O2. These products are then dried, liquified with 20 K and 90 K cryocoolers (for H2 and O2, respectively), and stored in cylindrical tanks. Study Goals: Due to the different ConOps options of regolith transport to the ridge for processing versus processing it directly inside the PSR, as well as the unknown regolith/water-ice composition, new excavation techniques and their power configurations are being evaluated within a ISRU system architecture for production targets less than NASA’s pilot plant (1 mT). This analysis investigates the feasibility of numerous excavation techniques, power architectures, and logistical operations and determines an optimal system configuration with regards to M/V/P. It aims to investigate which parameters, both locally and globally, have the greatest effect on each subsystem within the plant. This can be used to identify the most critical components of the plant, and guide future decisions on allocating funding for research and development. The results from this study may provide subsystem developers with appropriate interfaces with excavation subsystems and downstream processes, and assessing the overall feasibility of each excavation technique, power architecture, and logistical timeframe. References: [1] Carlson, A. et. al. (2024) ICES. [2] Zacny, K., et. al. (2024) “ASCE Earth and Space”. [3] McCormick, R., et. Al. (2024) IEEE Xplore.

ISRU↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

An in-Time Aviation Safety Management System Concept of Operations and Modernization of the National Airspace System

The National Airspace System (NAS) is growing in complexity of aircraft, missions, and operations. In response, many organizations have published papers and concepts of operations (ConOps) for new and enhanced safety systems. The National Academies’ vision for an In-time Aviation Safety Management System (IASMS) is integral to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) modernization efforts. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) System-Wide Safety (SWS) project is conducting safety research, exploring solutions, and defining the safety needs of future missions, such as Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) and autonomous aircraft operating in a more connected, flexible, and dynamic airspace. IASMS enables and provides a path for bringing FAA’s operational vision to fruition through increasingly automated safety systems that integrate services, functions, and capabilities (SFCs). These SFCs provide the necessary responsiveness to monitor, assess, and mitigate known hazards and emergent risks. This paper describes how safety in today’s air transportation system will need to evolve, identifies key points regarding in-time safety, and explores the criticality of IASMS in the future NAS.

IASMS↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

An In-time Aviation Safety Management System Concept of Operations and Modernization of the National Airspace System

Airspace↗