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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

History, Current Operations and Management of Water Systems on the International Space Station

In November 2000, the Expedition 1 crew to the International Space Station (ISS) arrived onboard, thus beginning a 19+ year need to provide potable water to the crew, as well as water to key life support systems. For the first 8 years of ISS operations, the water systems' operations were relatively simple. It consisted of manifesting water via cargo ships or generated via the Space Shuttle fuel cells and stored on ISS to supplement the water processing systems on the Russian segment of the ISS. In 2008, the Water Processor Assembly (WPA), Urine Processor Assembly (UPA), along with a U.S. provided toilet arrived onboard, supplementing the Oxygen Generator Assembly (OGA). This new equipment, known as Regen ECLSS (Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support Systems), provided a significant capability in recycling fluid within the ISS and minimized manifestation needs. Early in the operations of the Regen ECLSS system, it became clear that the tank capacities were under sized. This led to excessive use of costly crew time to perform water operations. In 2012, a group of ISS flight controllers and engineers proposed and developed a new system that would provide integrated water tanks that could be fully operated from Mission Control on the ground to move water around within the systems. This system has very recently been installed on the ISS and commissioning operations have occurred. This paper will provide a general history of water operations on the ISS, as new systems arrived, and new operations were required. Challenges with water balance, to both avoid overfilling the system as well as avoid running out of water, will be discussed, along with touching on the convoluted steps the Flight Control team had to perform daily to predict future water needs. Finally, the new water storage system will be discussed and the benefits it brings to ISS water operations.

Christopher A Brown↗
NASA NTRS2010

Walking the Walk/Talking the Talk: Mission Planning with Speech-Interactive Agents

The application of simulation technology to mission planning and rehearsal has enabled realistic overhead 2-D and immersive 3-D "fly-through" capabilities that can help better prepare tactical teams for conducting missions in unfamiliar locales. For aircrews, detailed terrain data can offer a preview of the relevant landmarks and hazards, and threat models can provide a comprehensive glimpse of potential hot zones and safety corridors. A further extension of the utility of such planning and rehearsal techniques would allow users to perform the radio communications planned for a mission; that is, the air-ground coordination that is critical to the success of missions such as close air support (CAS). Such practice opportunities, while valuable, are limited by the inescapable scarcity of complete mission teams to gather in space and time during planning and rehearsal cycles. Moreoever, using simulated comms with synthetic entities, despite the substantial training and cost benefits, remains an elusive objective. In this paper we report on a solution to this gap that incorporates "synthetic teammates" - intelligent software agents that can role-play entities in a mission scenario and that can communicate in spoken language with users. We employ a fielded mission planning and rehearsal tool so that our focus remains on the experimental objectives of the research rather than on developing a testbed from scratch. Use of this planning tool also helps to validate the approach in an operational system. The result is a demonstration of a mission rehearsal tool that allows aircrew users to not only fly the mission but also practice the verbal communications with air control agencies and tactical controllers on the ground. This work will be presented in a CAS mission planning example but has broad applicability across weapons systems, missions and tactical force compositions.

Bell, Benjamin↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Regulatory Approach for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Reactor Systems

Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) is being developed to support crewed or cargo transfer missions to Mars. Obtaining regulatory approval for NTP engine testing proves a challenge for not only the technology maturation required but also the fabrication, launch and operational nuclear regulatory environments. Existing regulations currently apply to either (1) high power, long duration commercial power plants, or (2) low power, short duration research reactors. NTP systems find themselves in a separate and unique area due to their higher power but short operating duration. This is supplemented by use of the reactor coolant as propellant. When planning the regulatory approach for NTP systems, operations in space and testing on Earth must be considered – each have their own challenges. This paper identifies a preliminary pathway for regulatory approval to operate a NTP demonstration engine as well as supporting test data that is recommended to be generated during the development program to support major regulatory milestones and deliverables.

Regulatory↗
NASA NTRS2018

Information Displays and Crew Configurations for UTM Operations

In this paper we discuss how team configuration may influence how infor-mation is shared among team members for low-altitude Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) operations. NASA collected and analyzed observation data gathered during a series of field tests for the UAS Traffic Management (UTM) project. The field tests were part of a larger effort aimed at advancing the UTM concept, conducted at six test-sites spread across the USA. Ground control station (GCS) concepts, flight-crew composition, and crew-size var-ied within and across test-sites. Flight crews took two strategic approaches to organizing their teams. The first of the two approaches was implemented by one third of the flight crews. These crews integrated the role of UTM opera-tor into the duties of existing crew members, merging the current roles with this new one, keeping the UTM Operator collocated with the flight crew. The remaining two thirds implemented a distributed team configuration, where a single UTM operator distributed support across multiple crews. Results from our data collection efforts revealed that UTM Operator location influenced whether flight crews used verbal communication versus displays to acquire UTM information.

teams↗
NASA NTRS2000

Using Model-Based Reasoning for Autonomous Instrument Operation

Multiprobe missions are an important part of NASA's future: Cluster, Magnetospheric Multi Scale, Global Electrodynamics and Magnetospheric Constellation are representatives from the Sun-Earth Connections Theme. To make such missions robust, reliable, and affordable, ideally the many spacecraft of a constellation must be at least as easy to operate as one spacecraft is today. To support this need for scalability, science instrumentation must become increasingly easy to operate, even as this same instrumentation becomes more capable and advanced. Communication and control resources will be at a premium for future instruments. Many missions will be out of contact with ground operators for extended periods either to reduce operations cost or because of orbits that limit communication to weekly perigee transits. Autonomous capability is necessary if such missions are to effectively achieve their operational objectives. An autonomous system is one that acts given its situation in a mission appropriate manner without external direction to achieve mission goals. To achieve this capability autonomy must be built into the system through judicious design or through a built-in intelligence that recognizes system state and manages system response. To recognize desired or undesired system states, the system must have an implicit or explicit understanding of its expected states given its history and self observations. The systems we are concerned with, science instruments, can have stringent requirements for system state knowledge in addition to requirements driven by health and safety concerns. Without accurate knowledge of the system state, the usefulness of the science instrument may be severely limited. At the same time, health and safety concerns often lead to overly conservative instrument operations further reducing the effectiveness of the instrument. These requirements, coupled with overall mission requirements including lack of communication opportunities and tolerance of environmental hazards, frame the problem of constructing autonomous science instruments. we are developing a model of the Low Energy Neutral Atom instrument (LENA) that is currently flying on board the Imager for Magnetosphere-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) spacecraft. LENA is a particle detector that uses high voltage electrostatic optics and time-of-flight mass spectrometry to image neutral atom emissions from the denser regions of the Earth's magnetosphere. As with most spacecraft borne science instruments, phenomena in addition to neutral atoms are detected by LENA. Solar radiation and energetic particles from Earth's radiation belts are of particular concern because they may help generate currents that may compromise LENA's long term performance. An explicit model of the instrument response has been constructed and is currently in use on board IMAGE to dynamically adapt LENA to the presence or absence of energetic background radiations. The components of LENA are common in space science instrumentation, and lessons learned by modelling this system may be applied to other instruments. This work demonstrates that a model-based approach can be used to enhance science instrument effectiveness. Our future work involves the extension of these methods to cover more aspects of LENA operation and the generalization to other space science instrumentation.

Johnson, Mike↗
NASA NTRS2004

Pilot in Command: An Illustration of Autonomous Flight Management

Several years of NASA research have produced the concept for air traffic management called "Distributed Air/Ground Traffic Management," a major operational advancement that should significantly increase the capacity of the National Airspace System. A key component, "Autonomous Flight Management," introduces a new class of aircraft operations in which pilots are authorized to freely maneuver and execute optimal trajectories independent from air traffic controllers. These aircraft operators would benefit from significant increases in flexibility to optimize all flight operations and from avoiding most of the delays associated with ground-controlled operations. Responsibilities for aircraft separation and arrival flow conformance are transferred to the flight deck, and the pilots use computerized decision-support tools to accomplish these tasks. A research prototype of these tools called the "Autonomous Operations Planner" is being developed at the NASA Langley Research Center. This 14-minute video illustrates Autonomous Flight Management from the airline pilot's perspective.

Wing, David J.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Development of the Self-Powered Extravehicular Mobility Unit Extravehicular Activity Data Recorder

The Self-Powered Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Data Recorder (SPEEDR) is a field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based device designed to collect high-rate EMU Primary Life Support Subsystem (PLSS) data for download at a later time. During EVA, the existing EMU PLSS data downlink capability is one data packet every 2 minutes and is subject to bad packets or loss of signal. Higher-rate PLSS data is generated by the Enhanced Caution and Warning System but is not normally captured or distributed. Access to higher-rate data will increase the capability of EMU anomaly resolution team to pinpoint issues remotely, saving crew time by reducing required call-down Q&A and on-orbit diagnostic activities. With no Space Shuttle flights post Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11), and potentially limited down-mass capability, the ISS crew and ground support personnel will have to be capable of on-orbit operations to maintain, diagnose, repair, and return to service EMU hardware, possibly through 2028. Collecting high-rate EMU PLSS data during both intravehicular activity (IVA) and EVA operations will provide trending analysis for life extension and/or predictive performance. The SPEEDR concept has generated interest as a tool/technology that could be used for other International Space Station subsystems or future exploration-class space suits where hardware reliability/availability is critical and low/variable bandwidth may require store then forward methodology. Preliminary work in FY11 produced a functional prototype consisting of an FPGA evaluation board, custom memory/interface circuit board, and custom software. The SPEEDR concept includes a stand-alone battery that is recharged by a computer Universal Serial Bus (USB) port while data are being downloaded.

Bernard, Craig↗
NASA NTRS2014

Analyzing the Impacts of Natural Environments on Launch and Landing Availability for NASA's Exploration Systems Development Programs

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is developing new capabilities for human and scientific exploration beyond Earth orbit. Natural environments information is an important asset for NASA's development of the next generation space transportation system as part of the Exploration Systems Development (ESD) Programs, which includes the Space Launch System (SLS) and Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) Programs. Natural terrestrial environment conditions - such as wind, lightning and sea states - can affect vehicle safety and performance during multiple mission phases ranging from pre-launch ground processing to landing and recovery operations, including all potential abort scenarios. Space vehicles are particularly sensitive to these environments during the launch/ascent and the entry/landing phases of mission operations. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Natural Environments Branch provides engineering design support for NASA space vehicle projects and programs by providing design engineers and mission planners with natural environments definitions as well as performing custom analyses to help characterize the impacts the natural environment may have on vehicle performance. One such analysis involves assessing the impact of natural environments to operational availability. Climatological time series of operational surface weather observations are used to calculate probabilities of meeting/exceeding various sets of hypothetical vehicle-specific parametric constraint thresholds. Outputs are tabulated by month and hour of day to show both seasonal and diurnal variation. This paper will discuss how climate analyses are performed by the MSFC Natural Environments Branch to support the ESD Launch Availability (LA) Technical Performance Measure (TPM), the SLS Launch Availability due to Natural Environments TPM, and several MPCV (Orion) launch and landing availability analyses - including the 2014 Orion Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1) mission.

Altino, Karen M.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Field Campaign to Study Lightning that Ignites the Bush

The impact of recent wildland fires in the United States and Australia have received much attention in the past several years. As a result, NASA has developed a new Earth Science program to better understand, predict, and manage this phenomenon, as well as a future suborbital mission to studying pyro-cumulonimbus clouds and their effects on the Earth system. In Australia, government and philanthropic stakeholders are supporting a series of field campaigns over the next few years to inform science requirements and advance technology for a future satellite mission to monitor Bushfires. Lightning flashes are a major source of wildland fires, but uncertainties remain about the physical characteristics of lightning and their parent thunderstorms responsible for igniting wildfires. It was long believed that most lightning-ignited wildfires are largely caused by positive flashes to the ground (CGs) and multi-stroke CGs, but a recent study looking at 26-years of NLDN data indicate otherwise. Perhaps this finding is due to statistical chance—there are more negative CGs that occur globally—or perhaps there is some unknown electrical property of the thundercloud from which the igniting flashes emanate. Regardless, new observing strategies are needed. Additionally, long continuing current CGs, which are more likely to ignite a fire, can elude detection by operational ground-based lightning location systems, making it difficult to efficiently identify potential wildland fires and manage them before they have adverse impacts. To address these science and operational gaps, NASA’s Lightning Mapping Array along with electric and magnetic field change meters will be deployed for the Australian Bushfire campaign to document the electrical structure and properties of thunderstorms and lightning that occur in a wildland fire susceptible region. Another aspect of the campaign will be the use of NASA’s airborne lightning observatory, which includes a spectrometer and high-speed imager, to document the radiometric attributes of these flashes coincident with the ground-based RF observations. These observations will be used to better understand the properties of lightning that ignite wildland fires as well as inform design of a lightning detection system for the future Bushfire Monitoring satellite mission.

lightning↗
NASA NTRS2015

Replacement of Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) -225 Solvent for Cleaning and Verification Sampling of NASA Propulsion Oxygen Systems Hardware, Ground Support Equipment, and Associated Test Systems

Since the 1990's, NASA's rocket propulsion test facilities at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Stennis Space Center (SSC) have used hydrochlorofluorocarbon-225 (HCFC-225), a Class II ozone-depleting substance, to safety clean and verify the cleanliness of large scale propulsion oxygen systems and associated test facilities. In 2012 through 2014, test laboratories at MSFC, SSC, and Johnson Space Center-White Sands Test Facility collaborated to seek out, test, and qualify an environmentally preferred replacement for HCFC-225. Candidate solvents were selected, a test plan was developed, and the products were tested for materials compatibility, oxygen compatibility, cleaning effectiveness, and suitability for use in cleanliness verification and field cleaning operations. Honewell Soltice (TradeMark) Performance Fluid (trans-1-chloro-3,3, 3-trifluoropropene) was selected to replace HCFC-225 at NASA's MSFC and SSC rocket propulsion test facilities.

Burns, H. D.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Pressurized Lunar Rover

The pressurized lunar rover (PLR) consists of a 7 m long, 3 m diameter cylindrical main vehicle and a trailer which houses the power and heat rejection systems. The main vehicle carries the astronauts, life support systems, navigation and communication systems, directional lighting, cameras, and equipment for exploratory experiments. The PLR shell is constructed of a layered carbon-fiber/foam composite. The rover has six 1.5 m diameter wheels on the main body and two 1.5 m diameter wheels on the trailer. The wheels are constructed of composites and flex to increase traction and shock absorption. The wheels are each attached to a double A-arm aluminum suspension, which allows each wheel 1 m of vertical motion. In conjunction with a 0.75 m ground clearance, the suspension aids the rover in negotiating the uneven lunar terrain. The 15 N-m torque brushless electric motors are mounted with harmonic drive units inside each of the wheels. The rover is steered by electrically varying the speeds of the wheels on either side of the rover. The PLR trailer contains a radiosotope thermoelectric generator providing 6.7 kW. A secondary back-up energy storage system for short-term high-power needs is provided by a bank of batteries. The trailer can be detached to facilitate docking of the main body with the lunar base via an airlock located in the rear of the PLR. The airlock is also used for EVA operation during missions. Life support is a partly regenerative system with air and hygiene water being recycled. A layer of water inside the composite shell surrounds the command center. The water absorbs any damaging radiation, allowing the command center to be used as a safe haven during solar flares. Guidance, navigation, and control are supplied by a strapdown inertial measurement unit that works with the on-board computer. Star mappers provide periodic error correction. The PLR is capable of voice, video, and data transmission. It is equipped with two 5 W X-band transponder, allowing simultaneous transmission and reception. An S-band transponder is used to communicate with the crew during EVA. The PLR has a total mass of 6197 kg. It has a nominal speed of 10 km/hr and a top speed of 18 km/hr. The rover is capable of towing 3 metric tons (in addition to the RTG trailer).

Creel, Kenneth↗
NASA NTRS1995

AstroNet: A Tool Set for Simultaneous, Multi-Site Observations of Astronomical Objects

Earth-based, fully automatic "robotic" telescopes have been in routine operation for a number of years. As their number grows and their distribution becomes global, increasing attention is being given to forming networks of various sorts that will allow them, as a group, to make observations 24 hours a day in both hemispheres. We have suggested that telescopes based in space be part of this network. We further suggested that any telescope on this network be capable of asking, almost in real time, that other robotic telescopes perform support observations for them. When a target of opportunity required support observations, the system would determine which telescope(s) in the network would be most appropriate to make the observations and formulate a request to do so. Because the network would be comprised of telescopes located in widely distributed regions, this system would guarantee continuity of observations This report summarizes our efforts under this contract. We proposed to develop a set of data collection and display tools to aid simultaneous observation of astronomical targets from a number of observing sites. We planned to demonstrate the usefulness of this toolset for simultaneous multi-site observation of astronomical targets. Possible candidates or the proposed demonstration included the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE), International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE), and ALEXIS, sounding rocket experiments. Ground-based observatories operated by the University of California, Berkeley, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Fairborn Observatory in Mesa, Arizona were to be used to demonstrate the proposed concept. Although the demonstration was to have involved astronomical investigations, the tools were to have been applicable to a large number of scientific disciplines. The software tools and systems developed as a result of the work were to have been made available to the scientific community.

Chakrabarti, Supriya↗
NASA NTRS2016

Evidence Report: Risk of Performance Errors Due to Training Deficiencies

Substantial evidence supports the claim that inadequate training leads to performance errors. Barshi and Loukopoulos (2012) demonstrate that even a task as carefully developed and refined over many years as operating an aircraft can be significantly improved by a systematic analysis, followed by improved procedures and improved training (see also Loukopoulos, Dismukes, & Barshi, 2009a). Unfortunately, such a systematic analysis of training needs rarely occurs during the preliminary design phase, when modifications are most feasible. Training is often seen as a way to compensate for deficiencies in task and system design, which in turn increases the training load. As a result, task performance often suffers, and with it, the operators suffer and so does the mission. On the other hand, effective training can indeed compensate for such design deficiencies, and can even go beyond to compensate for failures of our imagination to anticipate all that might be needed when we send our crew members to go where no one else has gone before. Much of the research literature on training is motivated by current training practices aimed at current training needs. Although there is some experience with operations in extreme environments on Earth, there is no experience with long-duration space missions where crews must practice semi-autonomous operations, where ground support must accommodate significant communication delays, and where so little is known about the environment. Thus, we must develop robust methodologies and tools to prepare our crews for the unknown. The research necessary to support such an endeavor does not currently exist, but existing research does reveal general challenges that are relevant to long-duration, high-autonomy missions. The evidence presented here describes issues related to the risk of performance errors due to training deficiencies. Contributing factors regarding training deficiencies may pertain to organizational process and training programs for spaceflight, such as when training programs are inadequate or unavailable. Furthermore, failure to match between tasks on the one hand, and learning and memory abilities on the other hand is a contributing factor, especially when individuals' relative efficiency with which new information is acquired, and adjustments made in behavior or thinking, are inconsistent with mission demands. Thus, if training deficiencies are present, the likelihood of errors or of the inability to successfully complete a task increases. What's more, the overall risk to the crew, the vehicle, and the mission increases.

Barshi, Immanuel↗
NASA NTRS1981

Semantic definitions of space flight control center languages using the hierarchical graph technique

In this paper a method is described by which the semantic definitions of the Goddard Space Flight Control Center Command Languages can be specified. The semantic modeling facility used is an extension of the hierarchical graph technique, which has a major benefit of supporting a variety of data structures and a variety of control structures. It is particularly suited for the semantic descriptions of such types of languages where the detailed separation between the underlying operating system and the command language system is system dependent. These definitions were used in the definition of the Systems Test and Operation Language (STOL) of the Goddard Space Flight Center which is a command language that provides means for the user to communicate with payloads, application programs, and other ground system elements.

Zaghloul, M. E.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Intelligent user interface concept for space station

The space station computing system must interface with a wide variety of users, from highly skilled operations personnel to payload specialists from all over the world. The interface must accommodate a wide variety of operations from the space platform, ground control centers and from remote sites. As a result, there is a need for a robust, highly configurable and portable user interface that can accommodate the various space station missions. The concept of an intelligent user interface executive, written in Ada, that would support a number of advanced human interaction techniques, such as windowing, icons, color graphics, animation, and natural language processing is presented. The user interface would provide intelligent interaction by understanding the various user roles, the operations and mission, the current state of the environment and the current working context of the users. In addition, the intelligent user interface executive must be supported by a set of tools that would allow the executive to be easily configured and to allow rapid prototyping of proposed user dialogs. This capability would allow human engineering specialists acting in the role of dialog authors to define and validate various user scenarios. The set of tools required to support development of this intelligent human interface capability is discussed and the prototyping and validation efforts required for development of the Space Station's user interface are outlined.

Comer, Edward↗
NASA NTRS1991

Transformation reborn: A new generation expert system for planning HST operations

The Transformation expert system (TRANS) converts proposals for astronomical observations with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) into detailed observing plans. It encodes expert knowledge to solve problems faced in planning and commanding HST observations to enable their processing by the Science Operations Ground System (SOGS). Among these problems are determining an acceptable order of executing observations, grouping of observations to enhance efficiency and schedulability, inserting extra observations when necessary, and providing parameters for commanding HST instruments. TRANS is currently an operational system and plays a critical role in the HST ground system. It was originally designed using forward-chaining provided by the OPS5 expert system language, but has been reimplemented using a procedural knowledge base. This reimplementation was forced by the explosion in the amount of OPS5 code required to specify the increasingly complicated situations requiring expert-level intervention by the TRANS knowledge base. This problem was compounded by the difficulty of avoiding unintended interaction between rules. To support the TRANS knowledge base, XCL, a small but powerful extension to Commom Lisp was implemented. XCL allows a compact syntax for specifying assignments and references to object attributes. XCL also allows the capability to iterate over objects and perform keyed lookup. The reimplementation of TRANS has greatly diminished the effort needed to maintain and enhance it. As a result of this, its functions have been expanded to include warnings about observations that are difficult or impossible to schedule or command, providing data to aid SPIKE, an intelligent planning system used for HST long-term scheduling, and providing information to the Guide Star Selection System (GSSS) to aid in determination of the long range availability of guide stars.

Gerb, Andrew↗
NASA NTRS1991

Optical studies in the holographic ground station

The Holographic Group System (HGS) Facility in rooms 22 & 123, Building 4708 has been developed to provide for ground based research in determining pre-flight parameters and analyzing the results from space experiments. The University of Alabama, Huntsville (UAH) has researched the analysis aspects of the HGS and reports their findings here. Some of the results presented here also occur in the Facility Operating Procedure (FOP), which contains instructions for power up, operation, and powerdown of the Fluid Experiment System (FES) Holographic Ground System (HGS) Test Facility for the purpose of optically recording fluid and/or crystal behavior in a test article during ground based testing through the construction of holograms and recording of videotape. The alignment of the optical bench components, holographic reconstruction and and microscopy alignment sections were also included in the document for continuity even though they are not used until after optical recording of the test article) setup of support subsystems and the Automated Holography System (AHS) computer. The HGS provides optical recording and monitoring during GCEL runs or development testing of potential FES flight hardware or software. This recording/monitoring can be via 70mm holographic film, standard videotape, or digitized images on computer disk. All optical bench functions necessary to construct holograms will be under the control of the AHS personal computer (PC). These include type of exposure, time intervals between exposures, exposure length, film frame identification, film advancement, film platen evacuation and repressurization, light source diffuser introduction, and control of realtime video monitoring. The completed sequence of hologram types (single exposure, diffuse double exposure, etc.) and their time of occurrence can be displayed, printed, or stored on floppy disk posttest for the user.

Workman, Gary L.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Operation Heli-STAR - Atlanta Communications Experiment (ACE)

Operation Heli-STAR (Helicopter Short-Haul Transportation and Aviation Research) was established and operated in Atlanta, Georgia, during the period of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games. Heli-STAR had three major thrusts: (1) the establishment and operation of a helicopter-based cargo transportation system, (2) the management of low-altitude air traffic in the airspace of an urban area, and (3) the collection and analysis of research and development data associated with items 1 and 2. Heli-STAR was a cooperative industry/government program that included parcel package shippers and couriers in the Atlanta area, the helicopter industry, aviation electronics manufacturers, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and support contractors. Several detailed reports have been produced as a result of Operation Heli-STAR. These include four reports on acoustic measurements and associated analyses, and reports on the Heli-STAR tracking data including the data processing and retrieval system, the Heli-STAR cargo simulation, and the community response system. In addition, NASA's Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments (AGATE) program has produced a report describing the Atlanta Communications Experiment (ACE) which produced the avionics and ground equipment using automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) technology. This latter report is restricted to organizations belonging to NASA's AGATE industry consortium. A complete list of these reports is shown on the following page.

Source record↗