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At least 19 records

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NASA NTRS1993

The FAA satellite communications program

The Federal Aviation Administration is developing satellite communications capabilities to enhance air traffic services, first in oceanic and remote regions, and later for United States domestic services. The program includes four projects which develop technical standards, assure adequate system performance, support implementation, and provide for research and development for selected areas of U.S. domestic satellite communications. The continuing focus is the application of automated data communications, which is already permitting enhanced and regular position reporting. Voice developments, necessary for non-routine communications, are also included among the necessary activities to improve ATC communications.

Burcham, Karen L.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Integration of Dynamic Weather Routes Automation with Air/Ground Data Communications

The Dynamic Weather Routes (DWR) toolcontinuously and automatically analyzes airborne flights in en route airspace to identify flights where a route correction could save significant flight time and still avoid weather. A partnership between NASA, American Airlines (AA), and the FAA has enabled testing of DWR in real-world air traffic operations. En route Data Communications (Data Comm) could significantly reduce the controller and pilot workload needed to communicate DWR route changes under today’s voice-based operations and thereby enable more timely and frequent high-value corrections to weather avoidance routes. Sample data from the DWR trial at AA illustrate how Data Comm could improve DWR operations. Two operating concepts that integrate DWR with Data Comm are described:(1) route corrections are initiated by air traffic control and implemented using Airborne Reroutes and Data Comm, and (2) route corrections are initiated by the dispatcher and pilot and implemented via Data Comm. Both concepts align with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plans for implementation ofData Comm in en route airspace.

weather avoidance↗

NASA NTRS1993

HP upgrade operational streamlining

New computer technology and resources must be successfully integrated into CDSLR station operations to manage new complex operational tracking requirements, support the on site production of new data products, support ongoing station performance improvements, and to support new station communication requirements. The NASA CDSLR Network is in the process of upgrading station computer resources with HP UNIX workstations, designed to automate a wide range of operational station requirements. The primary HP upgrade objective was to relocate computer intensive data system tasks from the controller computer to a new advanced computer environment designed to meet the new data system requirements. The HP UNIX environment supports fully automated real time data communications, data management, data processing, and data quality control. Automated data compression procedures are used to improve the efficiency of station data communications. In addition, the UNIX environment supports a number of semi-automated technical and administrative operational station tasks. The x window user interface generates multiple simultaneous color graphics displays, providing direct operator visibility and control over a wide range of operational station functions.

Edge, David R.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Flight deck benefits of integrated data link communication

A fixed-base, piloted simulation study was conducted to determine the operational benefits that result when air traffic control (ATC) instructions are transmitted to the deck of a transport aircraft over a digital data link. The ATC instructions include altitude, airspeed, heading, radio frequency, and route assignment data. The interface between the flight deck and the data link was integrated with other subsystems of the airplane to facilitate data management. Data from the ATC instructions were distributed to the flight guidance and control system, the navigation system, and an automatically tuned communication radio. The co-pilot initiated the automation-assisted data distribution process. Digital communications and automated data distribution were compared with conventional voice radio communication and manual input of data into other subsystems of the simulated aircraft. Less time was required in the combined communication and data management process when data link ATC communication was integrated with the other subsystems. The test subjects, commercial airline pilots, provided favorable evaluations of both the digital communication and data management processes.

Waller, Marvin C.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Technology-enabled Airborne Spacing and Merging

Over the last several decades, advances in airborne and groundside technologies have allowed the Air Traffic Service Provider (ATSP) to give safer and more efficient service, reduce workload and frequency congestion, and help accommodate a critically escalating traffic volume. These new technologies have included advanced radar displays, and data and communication automation to name a few. In step with such advances, NASA Langley is developing a precision spacing concept designed to increase runway throughput by enabling the flight crews to manage their inter-arrival spacing from TRACON entry to the runway threshold. This concept is being developed as part of NASA s Distributed Air/Ground Traffic Management (DAG-TM) project under the Advanced Air Transportation Technologies Program. Precision spacing is enabled by Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), which provides air-to-air data exchange including position and velocity reports; real-time wind information and other necessary data. On the flight deck, a research prototype system called Airborne Merging and Spacing for Terminal Arrivals (AMSTAR) processes this information and provides speed guidance to the flight crew to achieve the desired inter-arrival spacing. AMSTAR is designed to support current ATC operations, provide operationally acceptable system-wide increases in approach spacing performance and increase runway throughput through system stability, predictability and precision spacing. This paper describes problems and costs associated with an imprecise arrival flow. It also discusses methods by which Air Traffic Controllers achieve and maintain an optimum interarrival interval, and explores means by which AMSTAR can assist in this pursuit. AMSTAR is an extension of NASA s previous work on in-trail spacing that was successfully demonstrated in a flight evaluation at Chicago O Hare International Airport in September 2002. In addition to providing for precision inter-arrival spacing, AMSTAR provides speed guidance for aircraft on converging routes to safely and smoothly merge onto a common approach. Much consideration has been given to working with operational conditions such as imperfect ADS-B data, wind prediction errors, changing winds, differing aircraft types and wake vortex separation requirements. A series of Monte Carlo simulations are planned for the spring and summer of 2004 at NASA Langley to further study the system behavior and performance under more operationally extreme and varying conditions. This will coincide with a human-in-the-loop study to investigate the flight crew interface, workload and acceptability.

Hull, James↗

NASA NTRS2011

Deep Space Networking Experiments on the EPOXI Spacecraft

NASA's Space Communications & Navigation Program within the Space Operations Directorate is operating a program to develop and deploy Disruption Tolerant Networking [DTN] technology for a wide variety of mission types by the end of 2011. DTN is an enabling element of the Interplanetary Internet where terrestrial networking protocols are generally unsuitable because they rely on timely and continuous end-to-end delivery of data and acknowledgments. In fall of 2008 and 2009 and 2011 the Jet Propulsion Laboratory installed and tested essential elements of DTN technology on the Deep Impact spacecraft. These experiments, called Deep Impact Network Experiment (DINET 1) were performed in close cooperation with the EPOXI project which has responsibility for the spacecraft. The DINET 1 software was installed on the backup software partition on the backup flight computer for DINET 1. For DINET 1, the spacecraft was at a distance of about 15 million miles (24 million kilometers) from Earth. During DINET 1 300 images were transmitted from the JPL nodes to the spacecraft. Then, they were automatically forwarded from the spacecraft back to the JPL nodes, exercising DTN's bundle origination, transmission, acquisition, dynamic route computation, congestion control, prioritization, custody transfer, and automatic retransmission procedures, both on the spacecraft and on the ground, over a period of 27 days. The first DINET 1 experiment successfully validated many of the essential elements of the DTN protocols. DINET 2 demonstrated: 1) additional DTN functionality, 2) automated certain tasks which were manually implemented in DINET 1 and 3) installed the ION SW on nodes outside of JPL. DINET 3 plans to: 1) upgrade the LTP convergence-layer adapter to conform to the international LTP CL specification, 2) add convergence-layer "stewardship" procedures and 3) add the BSP security elements [PIB & PCB]. This paper describes the planning and execution of the flight experiment and the validation results.

automated data communication↗

NASA NTRS1998

Recent Productivity Improvements to the National Transonic Facility

Productivity gains have recently been made at the National Transonic Facility wind tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center. A team was assigned to assess and set productivity goals to achieve the desired operating cost and output of the facility. Simulations have been developed to show the sensitivity of selected process productivity improvements in critical areas to reduce overall test cycle times. The improvements consist of an expanded liquid nitrogen storage system, a new fan drive, a new tunnel vent stack heater, replacement of programmable logic controllers, an increased data communications speed, automated test sequencing, and a faster model changeout system. Where possible, quantifiable results of these improvements are presented. Results show that in most cases, improvements meet the productivity gains predicted by the simulations.

Popernack, Thomas G., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Management by Trajectory: Trajectory Management Study Report

In order to realize the full potential of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), improved management along planned trajectories between air navigation service providers (ANSPs) and system users (e.g., pilots and airline dispatchers) is needed. Future automation improvements and increased data communications between aircraft and ground automation would make the concept of Management by Trajectory (MBT) possible.

Leiden, Kenneth↗

NASA NTRS2019

Simulation-to-Flight 1 (STF-1): Automating the Planning, Scheduling, Assessment and Data Processing/Reduction for a Small Satellite

On December 16, 2019, a 3-U CubeSat named STF-1 launched as West Virginia's first spacecraft. This event marked the culmination of a run-up to launch involving the production of the spacecraft, creation/configuration of command and control infrastructure, and the evolution of its co-creation, the NASA Operational Simulator for Small Satellites (NOS3). This event also marked the beginning of a new phase: operations. While plans, procedures, and infrastructure were already in place or started for operations, many lessons were learned during the operations phase, especially during early operations (first month/commissioning phase). Additional plans, procedures, and infrastructure, especially related to communication planning and automated data processing, were created and developed to fill needs for the operation of the STF-1 mission.This paper and presentation will overview the STF-1 operations team's solutions to addressing the many needs of operating a low-earth orbiting CubeSat mission with a single ground antenna that is shared and scheduled with several other missions. The STF-1 operations team deployed a combination of virtualization technologies, ground station technology solutions, collaboration software, custom planning software solutions, and existing ground antenna scheduling solutions to create an effective and efficient CubeSat operations environment. The end-solution satisfied the operations stakeholders, which include NASA, its industry partner TMC Technologies, and four independent professor-student teams at West Virginia University.

CubeSat↗

NASA NTRS2019

STF-1 Ground Operations - Automating the Planning, Scheduling, Assessment and Data Processing/Reduction for a Small Satellite

On December 16, 2018, a 3-U CubeSat named STF-1 launched as West Virginia's first spacecraft. This event marked the culmination of a run-up to launch involving the production of the spacecraft, creation/configuration of command and control infrastructure, and the evolution of its co-creation, the NASA Operational Simulator for Small Satellites (NOS3). This event also marked the beginning of a new phase: operations. While plans, procedures, and infrastructure were already in place or started for operations, many lessons were learned during the operations phase, especially during early operations (first month/commissioning phase). Additional plans, procedures, and infrastructure, especially related to communication planning and automated data processing, were created and developed to fill needs for the operation of the STF-1 mission.This paper and presentation will overview the STF-1 operations team's solutions to addressing the many needs of operating a low-earth orbiting CubeSat mission with a single ground antenna that is shared and scheduled with several other missions. The STF-1 operations team deployed a combination of virtualization technologies, ground station technology solutions, collaboration software, custom planning software solutions, and existing ground antenna scheduling solutions to create an effective and efficient CubeSat operations environment. The end-solution satisfied the operations stakeholders, which include NASA, its industry partner TMC2 Technologies, and four independent professor-student teams at West Virginia University.

Suder, Mark↗

NASA NTRS2017

Cyber Safety and Security for Reduced Crew Operations (RCO)

NASA and the Aviation Industry is looking into reduced crew operations (RCO) that would cut today's required two-person flight crews down to a single pilot with support from ground-based crews. Shared responsibility across air and ground personnel will require highly reliable and secure data communication and supporting automation, which will be safety-critical for passenger and cargo aircraft. This paper looks at the different types and degrees of authority delegation given from the air to the ground and the ramifications of each, including the safety and security hazards introduced, the mitigation mechanisms for these hazards, and other demands on an RCO system architecture which would be highly invasive into (almost) all safety-critical avionics. The adjacent fields of unmanned aerial systems and autonomous ground vehicles are viewed to find problems that RCO may face and related aviation accident scenarios are described. The paper explores possible data communication architectures to meet stringent performance and information security (INFOSEC) requirements of RCO. Subsequently, potential challenges for RCO data communication authentication, encryption and non-repudiation are identified.

Communications↗

NASA NTRS2017

Cyber Safety and Security for Reduced Crew Operations (RCO)

Aircraft Communication↗

NASA NTRS2001

Future Evolution of NASA's SLR and VLBI Networks

Over the first half of this decade the NASA Space Geodesy Program is planning a major transformation of its existing (Satellite Laser Ranging) SLR network of stations and also further evolutionary changes to its network of (Very Long Base Interferometry) VLBI stations. These network changes will be made to meet the ever more demanding requirements of the earth and space science programs that these networks support while seeking through automation and electronic data communications to increase efficiency and decrease cost of operations and maintenance. The major aspects of the NASA plan will be outlined and the benefits to the scientific community will be addressed.

Bosworth, John M.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF): World-Class Systems Integration Capabilities and Research

The Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF), located at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) South Table Mountain campus, is a world-renowned user facility for research and development of modern, advanced, and clean energy technologies. ESIF is distinguished by its continuously evolving, highly integrated systems that span throughout the building, connecting research capabilities across multiple laboratories and test areas. The primary ESIF research systems include: [1] data, cyber, and control networks, [2] research electrical distribution buses (REDB), [3] thermal integration infrastructure, and [4] hydrogen systems. The data, cyber, and control networks provide monitoring, control, communication, automation, visualization, and time series data storage and tagging capabilities for research projects and ESIF systems, including facility safety functions. The REDB system consists of four dedicated AC and DC electrical power networks that can connect devices located across the facility through versatile, automatic circuit configuration to support complex power electronics experiments up to the megawatt-scale. The thermal integration infrastructure consists of three temperature-conditioned water loops that provide heating and cooling interfaces and capabilities for thermal energy research. The hydrogen systems provide megawatt-scale hydrogen production, drying, compression, high-pressure storage, and delivery to laboratory end uses, including hydrogen fuel cell vehicle fueling. The ESIF research systems interconnect and extend throughout the various lab areas of the facility to create elaborate networks composed of diverse technologies for cutting-edge research. The ESIF capabilities are operated and stewarded by the ESIF Research Operations group, who also actively upgrade and advance the systems to ensure they remain ahead of anticipated research - enabling the success of many pioneering energy integration projects. The poster, created by members of the ESIF Research Operations team, highlights and summarizes the four core integrated systems at ESIF. The poster was first presented at the internal NREL Energize Forum on May 13th, 2024, and received the "Best Poster" award.

capabilities↗

NASA NTRS1991

The impact of cockpit automation on crew coordination and communication. Volume 1: Overview, LOFT evaluations, error severity, and questionnaire data

The purpose was to examine, jointly, cockpit automation and social processes. Automation was varied by the choice of two radically different versions of the DC-9 series aircraft, the traditional DC-9-30, and the glass cockpit derivative, the MD-88. Airline pilot volunteers flew a mission in the simulator for these aircraft. Results show that the performance differences between the crews of the two aircraft were generally small, but where there were differences, they favored the DC-9. There were no criteria on which the MD-88 crews performed better than the DC-9 crews. Furthermore, DC-9 crews rated their own workload as lower than did the MD-88 pilots. There were no significant differences between the two aircraft types with respect to the severity of errors committed during the Line-Oriented Flight Training (LOFT) flight. The attitude questionnaires provided some interesting insights, but failed to distinguish between DC-9 and MD-88 crews.

Wiener, Earl L.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Pilot and Controller Evaluations of Separation Function Allocation in Air Traffic Management

Two human-in-the-loop simulation experiments were conducted in coordinated fashion to investigate the allocation of separation assurance functions between ground and air and between humans and automation. The experiments modeled a mixed-operations concept in which aircraft receiving ground-based separation services shared the airspace with aircraft providing their own separation service (i.e., self-separation). Ground-based separation was provided by air traffic controllers without automation tools, with tools, or by ground-based automation with controllers in a managing role. Airborne self-separation was provided by airline pilots using self-separation automation enabled by airborne surveillance technology. The two experiments, one pilot-focused and the other controller-focused, addressed selected key issues of mixed operations, assuming the starting point of current-day operations and modeling an emergence of NextGen technologies and procedures. In the controller-focused experiment, the impact of mixed operations on controller performance was assessed at four stages of NextGen implementation. In the pilot-focused experiment, the limits to which pilots with automation tools could take full responsibility for separation from ground-controlled aircraft were tested. Results indicate that the presence of self-separating aircraft had little impact on the controllers' ability to provide separation services for ground-controlled aircraft. Overall performance was best in the most automated environment in which all aircraft were data communications equipped, ground-based separation was highly automated, and self-separating aircraft had access to trajectory intent information for all aircraft. In this environment, safe, efficient, and highly acceptable operations could be achieved for twice today's peak airspace throughput. In less automated environments, reduced trajectory intent exchange and manual air traffic control limited the safely achievable airspace throughput and negatively impacted the maneuver efficiency of self-separating aircraft through high-density airspace. In a test of scripted conflicts with ground-managed aircraft, flight crews of self-separating aircraft prevented separation loss in all conflicts with detection time greater than one minute. In debrief, pilots indicated a preference for at least five minute's alerting notice and trajectory intent information on all aircraft. When intent information on ground-managed aircraft was available, self-separating aircraft benefited from fewer conflict alerts and fewer required deviations from trajectory-based operations.

Wing, David↗

NASA NTRS2008

Lightweight Trauma Module - LTM

Current patient movement items (PMI) supporting the military's Critical Care Air Transport Team (CCATT) mission as well as the Crew Health Care System for space (CHeCS) have significant limitations: size, weight, battery duration, and dated clinical technology. The LTM is a small, ~20 lb., system integrating diagnostic and therapeutic clinical capabilities along with onboard data management, communication services and automated care algorithms to meet new Aeromedical Evacuation requirements. The Lightweight Trauma Module is an Impact Instrumentation, Inc. project with strong Industry, DoD, NASA, and Academia partnerships aimed at developing the next generation of smart and rugged critical care tools for hazardous environments ranging from the battlefield to space exploration. The LTM is a combination ventilator/critical care monitor/therapeutic system with integrated automatic control systems. Additional capabilities are provided with small external modules.

Hatfield, Thomas↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Lunar Command and Control Interoperability (LuCCI) Project Overview

The Lunar Command and Control Interoperability (LuCCI) project was formed to address a gap in how Lunar Surface Systems (LSS) would interoperate across multiple programs, commercial partners, and international partners. The project objective is to define, prototype, integrate, and evaluate an interoperable lunar command, control, data, and software reference architecture to enable autonomy and informatics capability through common standards across LSS.

Communications↗