NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AEROSPACE ASSOCIATES

HYPERSONIC, COMMERCIAL TRANSPORTATION FEASIBILITY STUDY. THIS STUDY WILL EXPLORE THE FEASIBILITY, PRACTICALITY, AND AFFORDABILITY OF COMMERCIAL HYPERSONIC TRANSPORTS AND TO USE THE RESULTS TO GUIDE FUTURE NASA HYPERSONIC RESEARCH INVESTMENTS.

TRANSITION PHYSICS AND MODELING FOR HYPERSONIC VEHICLES. NASA LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER HAS FORMED A HIGH-SPEED LAMINAR-TURBULENT TRANSITION (HBLT) TEAM CONSISTING OF RESEARCHERS FROM MULTIPLE ORGANIZATIONS COLLABORATING IN AN EFFECT TO TACKLE BOUNDARY-LAYER TRANSITION PROBLEMS THAT ARISE IN THE HYPERSONIC FLOW REGIME. THE STUDY OF LAMINAR-TURBULENT BOUNDARY-LAYER TRANSITION IS AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF RESEARCH IN FLOWS OVER HYPERSONIC VEHICLES. THE ACCURATE PREDICTION OF TRANSITION LOCATIONS ON SUCH VEHICLES IS A VITAL COMPONENT OF THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS. THE LANGLEY STABILITY AND TRANSITION ANALYSIS CODE (LASTRAC) IS A PUBLICLY RELEASED CODE (US-PERSON ONLY) FOR BOUNDARY-LAYER TRANSITION ANALYSIS, AND IS BEING USED BY MANY IN THE INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS. FOR HYPERSONIC FLOWS SUCH AS THOSE OVER AN ATMOSPHERIC REENTRY VEHICLE, THERE ARE CHEMICAL REACTIONS TAKING PLACE AND NON-EQUILIBRIUM EFFECTS BECOME IMPORTANT. THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THIS TASK IS TO ENHANCE LASTRAC BY INCORPORATING CHEMICAL AND NON-EQUILIBRIUM CAPABILITIES, WHICH IS CURRENTLY VERY LIMITED. WITH THESE ADDITIONAL CAPABILITIES, A WIDER RANGE OF PROBLEMS IN HYPERSONIC FLOWS CAN BE SOLVED. THE WORK PROPOSED HERE IS FOR THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT ALONG THIS LINE TO INCLUDE NONLINEAR CHEMICAL REACTION MODELS IN LASTRAC.

STUDIES OF MATERIAL DAMAGE THROUGH NON-DESTRUCTIVE TECHNIQUES SUPPORT NASA LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER IN RESEARCH RELATED TO THE STUDY OF MATERIAL AND STRUCTURAL DAMAGE THROUGH NON-DESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION (NDE) IN GENERAL AND ACOUSTIC EMISSION (AE) IN PARTICULAR. THE OBJECTIVE IS TO ADVANCE NDE METHODS AS TESTING PROCESSES IN SUPPORT OF MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND APPLICATIONS. THE WORK ARISES FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES WITHIN OR RELATED TO NASA S MISSIONS AND CAN SUPPORT NUMEROUS MATERIAL TYPES (METAL, COMPOSITE, OR NEW AND UNIQUE MATERIALS) AND STRUCTURAL TYPES (FROM COMPONENTS TO FULL STRUCTURES) THAT MAY INVOLVE NOVEL COMPLEXITIES. OF INTEREST ARE MANY STRUCTURES FOR AERONAUTICS AND THE NEXT GENERATION OF SPACE VEHICLES AND SATELLITES, WHICH INCLUDE THE ORION CREW MODULE, COMPLEX MULTILAYERED PRESSURE VESSELS, STRUCTURAL COMPOSITE TEST STRUCTURES, AND TEST STRUCTURES THAT ARE YET TO BE NAMED. THIS EFFORT CONTINUES THE WORK CONDUCTED UNDER NIA IDIQ CONTRACT NNL13AA08B, TASK ORDER NNL14AA69T.

LUNAR METEOROID EJECTA MODEL REVIEW. PARTICIPATE AS A MEMBER OF THE LUNAR METEOROID EJECTA MODEL REVIEW TEAM TO PROVIDE AN EVALUATION OF THE NEW NASA LUNAR METEOROID EJECTA MODEL

SUSAN (SUBSONIC SINGLE AFT ENGINE)ELECTRIFIED AIRCRAFT PROPULSION REGULATORY ASSESSMENT. ASSESS ABILITY OF EXISTING EMERGING CIVIL AVIATION REGULATIONS, POLICY, GUIDANCE,INDUSTRY STANDARDS FOR ELECTRIC/HYBRID PROPULSION

IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT OF TECHNOLOGY PUSH FOR HUMAN LANDING SYSTEM APPLICATIONS

REVOLUTIONARY AVIATION TECHNOLOGIES BRANCH (RATB) MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT. THE MISSION OF THE REVOLUTIONARY AVIATION TECHNOLOGY BRANCH IS TO IDENTIFY, RESEARCH, AND DEVELOP INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND METHODOLOGIES THAT WILL REVOLUTIONIZE THE PERFORMANCE AND CAPABILITIES OF FUTURE AIR VEHICLES. TO ACCOMPLISH THIS, THE BRANCH: 1) INVESTIGATES AND MATURES HIGH-RISK, HIGH-PAYOFF TECHNOLOGIES BY CONDUCTING EXPERIMENTAL AND COMPUTATIONAL RESEARCH 2) DEVELOPS, PERFORMS, ASSESSES, AND APPLIES ADVANCED EXPERIMENTAL AND COMPUTATIONAL METHODS AND 3) CONDUCTS MULTIDISCIPLINARY SYSTEMS ANALYSIS STUDIES TO IDENTIFY CRITICAL ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES AND TO DETERMINE THE SYSTEM-LEVEL BENEFITS OF THESE EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES. AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY DEPENDENT ON ADVANCED MATERIALS TECHNOLOGIES. THE NEW PARADIGM IN PERFORMANCE DEMANDS MULTI-FUNCTIONALITY OF MATERIALS SYSTEMS WHILE MAINTAINING OR INCREASING STRENGTH AND DURABILITY. RESEARCH PERFORMED UNDER THIS TASK WILL FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT AREAS INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ELECTROMAGNETIC MEASUREMENTS, STRUCTURAL COMPOSITES, MULTIFUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, NANOCOMPOSITES, LOW TEMPERATURE ELASTOMERIC MATERIALS, NOVEL COATINGS, AND NOVEL INORGANIC-ORGANIC HYBRIDS. THE CONTRACTOR WILL WORK IN CONJUNCTION WITH NASA LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER RESEARCHERS TO COMPLETE THE PROGRAM OBJECTIVES AND MILESTONES.

EXTENDING CAPABILITIES AND IMPROVING SOLUTIONS OF CELL-CENTERED UNSTRUCTURED-GRID FLOW SOLVERS. CONDUCT COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH TO EXPAND CAPABILITIES OF USM3D SOLUTIONS, IMPROVE THE ACCURACY OF

MECHANICALLY COUPLED CONCEPT STUDY FOR THE VERSATILE ELECTRICALLY AUGMENTED TURBINE ENGINE

SUPPORT THE ELECTRIC POWERTRAIN FLIGHT DEMONSTRATOR (EPFD) PROJECT OFFICE IN THE IDENTIFICATION OF REGULATORY GAPS IN TRANSPORT-CATEGORY INTEGRATED MS-CLASS POWERTRAIN SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT.

METHODOLOGIES FOR EFFICIENT CALIBRATION OF HIGH-CAPACITY FORCE BALANCES

UNDERSTANDING EXPERIMENTAL REQUIREMENTS FOR MEASURING WAKE VORTICES

DEVELOP A DETAILED SOLID MODEL OF A CALIBRATION SYSTEM BASED ON AN EXTERNAL PLATFORM BALANCE WITH THE CAPABILITY OF 7,000 POUND CLASS NORMAL FORCE BALANCES.

PRODUCE AN EFFICIENT HIGH-FIDELITY TIME DOMAIN ACOUSTIC SCATTERING PREDICTION TOOL THAT ALLOWS COMPLETE AIRCRAFT SIMULATIONS, COVERING A FULL FREQUENCY RANGE OF INTEREST WITHIN A SHORT TURN-AROUND TIME.

MODEL BATTERY STORAGE REQUIREMENTS FOR "SURVIVE THE NIGHT" SCENARIOS, PERFORM TRADE STUDY ON MULTIPLE LIGHT BENDER COMPONENTS FOR REDUNDANCY VERSUS BATTERIES, AND RESEARCH USE OF MULTIPLE TANDEM REFLECTOR MIRRORS.

PROVIDE NASA X-57 PROJECT OFFICE SUPPORT AND LESSONS LEARNED ASSOCIATED WITH CERTIFICATION AND REGULATIONS COVERING AIRWORTHINESS STANDARDS FOR NORMAL CATEGORY AIRPLANES, AIRCRAFT ENGINES, AND PROPELLERS.

DIGITAL INFORMATION PLATFORM, SUSTAINABLE AVIATION 2 DEMO SUPPORT TO LANGLEY'S CREW SYSTEM AND AVIATION OPERATIONS BRANCH TO MATURE THE SUSTAINABLE AVIATION AND PAIR- WISE TRAJECTORY MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS.

TRAINING IN STATISTICAL ENGINEERING. THIS TASK PROVIDES COURSE I OF A 2-COURSE SERIES THAT WILL DEVELOP NASA RESEARCHERS INTO CONFIDENT PRACTITIONERS IN THE SCIENCE OF EXPERIMENT DESIGN, COMMONLY CALLED DESIGN OF EXPERIMENTS (DOE) AND PREPARE STUDEN

RESPONSE SURFACE METHODS

ENGINEERING DIRECTORATE (ED) TESTING OF MANNED AND UNMANNED FLIGHT PROGRAMS

NOIS3-TO-001 CONTINUING NASA'S PROBLEM SOLVING VIA THE REVOLUTIONARY AEROSPACE CONCEPTS - ACADEMIC LINKAGE (RASC-AL) CHALLENGE

ANALYSIS OF OPERATIONAL ASPECTS OF ON DEMAND AIR MOBILITY: VERTIPORTS, AIRSPACE AND CONCEPTS. THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AEROSPACE (NIA), WORKING WITH THE MIT INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR AIR TRANSPORTATION (ICAT), CONDUCTED PART I OF THE OPERATIONAL ASPECTS OF ON-DEMAND AIR MOBILITY STUDY FROM FEBRUARY 2016 THROUGH JULY 2017. THIS FIRST PART OF THE PROJECT COMPLETED A CASE STUDY IN LOS ANGELES TO IDENTIFY KEY SYSTEM-LEVEL CONSTRAINTS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ON DEMAND MOBILITY (ODM) AVIATION SERVICES IN THE CONTEXT OF URBAN AIR MOBILITY (UAM). PART II OF THE STUDY, TITLED FURTHER ANALYSIS OF THE OPERATIONAL ASPECTS OF ON-DEMAND MOBILITY, WAS CONDUCTED FROM JULY 2017 TO JANUARY 2019. PART II EXPANDED THE CASE STUDY METHODOLOGY DEVELOPED IN PART I TO TWO ADDITIONAL CITIES, PRIORITIZED AND CHARACTERIZED THE SEVERITY OF THE IDENTIFIED OPERATIONAL CONSTRAINTS, AND DEVELOPED INITIAL MODELING TECHNIQUES FOR VERTIPORT OPERATIONS AND AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL. THIS WORK WAS PERFORMED UNDER NASA/NIA CONTRACT NO: NNL13AA08B; TASK ORDER NO: 80LARC17F0074. THE INTENT OF THIS NEW TASK IS TO BUILD UPON THE FINDINGS AND OUTPUTS OF THE PART I AND II EFFORTS THROUGH A FOLLOW-ON STUDY. A PRIMARY GOAL OF THIS FOLLOW-ON WORK IS TO REFINE AND MATURE THE MODELS, TOOLS AND ANALYSIS METHODS DEVELOPED IN THE PREVIOUS PARTS OF THE PROJECT INTO A DOCUMENTED DELIVERABLE THAT CAN INFORM DEVELOPMENT OF THE NASA AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT-EXPLORATION (ATM-X) TESTBED FOR USE IN SIMULATION ENVIRONMENTS AND STUDIES. FURTHERMORE, WHERE REQUESTED BY NASA, IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THE CONTRACTOR WILL SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF UAM CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS (CONOPS) AND TECHNOLOGY ROAD MAPPING THROUGH RESEARCH BRIEFS, TELECONFERENCES, AND PARTICIPATION IN MEETINGS. THE CONTRACTOR WILL INTERFACE WITH OTHER RESEARCH PROGRAMS, SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS, AND CONSULTANTS AS NECESSARY, FOR RESEARCH INTO SPECIFIC TOPICS THAT MAY ARISE.

PULSED ENERGY DEPOSITION FOR REDUCTION IN GROUND SONIC BOOM SIGNATURE. NASA IS EVALUATING THE BENEFITS OF PULSED ENERGY DEPOSITION BY ELECTROMAGNETIC DEVICES FOR ENHANCED AERODYNAMIC PERFORMANCE AND REDUCTION IN BOOM SIGNATURE OF SUPERSONIC AIRCRAFT. POTENTIAL DEVICES INCLUDE FEMTOSECOND TO NANOSECOND LASERS, MICROWAVES AND DC DISCHARGES. PRIOR RESEARCH IN THE U.S., EUROPE AND RUSSIA ON SIMPLE AERODYNAMIC SHAPES (E.G., HEMISPHERE- AND CONE-CYLINDER MODELS) HAS SHOWN SIGNIFICANT AERODYNAMIC BENEFIT INCLUDING DRAG REDUCTION AT SUPERSONIC AND HYPERSONIC SPEEDS. THIS TASK IS AN EXTENSION OF THE WORK INITIATED UNDER NIA TASK 80LARC17F0050.

NASA ENGINEERING AND SAFETY CENTER (NESC) CROSS-PROGRAM ANALYSIS AND REVIEW OF EXPLORATION SYSTEMS DIRECTORATE (ESD) INTEGRATED VEHICLE MODAL TEST, MODEL CORRELATION, DEVELOPMENT FLIGHT INSTRUMENTATION (DFI) AND FLIGHT LOADS READINESS. THIS ASSESSMENT IS ENVISIONED TO BE A MULTI-YEAR ACTIVITY THAT SPANS THE COMPLETE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEMS (SLS) INTEGRATED VEHICLE STRUCTURAL DYNAMIC MODELS, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CERTIFICATION OF FLIGHT READINESS (COFR) FOR THE EXPLORATION MISSION (EM)-1 AND EM-2 VEHICLES AND THEIR VARIANTS. THE PROPOSED NESC TEAM WILL BE A COMBINATION OF NASA CIVIL SERVANTS AND CONTRACTORS WITH EXPERIENCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF STRUCTURAL DYNAMIC MODELS AND LOADS ENVIRONMENTS FROM PAST COMMERCIAL, MILITARY, AND NASA LAUNCH VEHICLE PROGRAMS, SUCH AS THE ATLAS, DELTA, SPACE SHUTTLE, AND NUMEROUS SPACECRAFT PROGRAMS. THIS TASK IS A JOINT EFFORT WITH THE ESD CROSS-PROGRAM SYSTEMS INTEGRATION OFFICE AND IS CO-LED BY A REPRESENTATIVE FROM THAT OFFICE. THIS REVIEW WILL TAKE A CROSS-PROGRAM APPROACH TO EVALUATE THE DIFFERENT TESTING UNDERTAKEN BY THE INDIVIDUAL PROGRAMS AND WILL INCLUDE EXAMINATION OF HOW THE SUM OF THE TESTS WILL SUPPORT INTEGRATED SYSTEM-LEVEL CORRELATION AND MODEL VALIDATION. THE REVIEW TEAM IS EXPECTED TO IDENTIFY CONCERNS AND GAPS WITHIN THESE PLANS AND SCHEDULES THAT AFFECT THE PROGRAMS ABILITY TO SUPPORT AN INTEGRATED SYSTEM VERIFICATION LOADS ANALYSES FOR EM-1, EM-2, AND SUBSEQUENT MISSIONS. THE TEAM IS ALSO EXPECTED TO PROPOSE MITIGATIONS BY TEST OR ANALYSIS THAT ADDRESS THE CONCERNS OR GAPS IDENTIFIED.

CONTINUATION OF FAR TERM TECHNOLOGY DASHBOARD TO SUPPORT THE AATT PROJECT. THE ADVANCED AIR TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY (AATT) PROJECT S OVERARCHING GOAL IS TO EXPLORE AND DEVELOP TECHNOLOGIES AND CONCEPTS TO REVOLUTIONIZE THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY, ENVIRONMENTAL COMPATIBILITY, AND ECONOMIC IMPACT OF FIXED WING TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT. TO IDENTIFY TECHNOLOGY AND VEHICLE SOLUTIONS THAT MEET THE PROJECT S GOALS REQUIRES THE USE OF SYSTEM-LEVEL ANALYSIS WITH THE APPROPRIATE LEVEL OF FIDELITY TO QUANTIFY FEASIBILITY, INTERDEPENDENCIES BETWEEN TECHNOLOGIES, BENEFITS, AND DEGRADATIONS. PRIOR WORK HAS RESULTED IN A DASHBOARD CAPABILITY THAT ESTIMATES THE BENEFITS OF AATT TECHNOLOGIES ON CONVENTIONAL TUBE AND WING CONFIGURATIONS. THIS PROVIDES THE AATT PROJECT AN ABILITY TO EXAMINE DIFFERENT SCENARIOS AND TRADEOFFS USING AN INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENT THAT ENABLES USER DEFINED TECHNOLOGY SCENARIOS TO BE SELECTED WITH RAPID ESTIMATES OF BENEFITS AGAINST METRICS OF INTEREST SUCH AS FUEL CONSUMPTION, NOISE, AND EMISSIONS. HOWEVER, THERE IS A NEED TO EXTEND THIS CAPABILITY TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT OF UNCONVENTIONAL CONFIGURATIONS AND TECHNOLOGIES, SUCH AS HYBRID-ELECTRIC PROPULSION. THERE IS ALSO A NEED TO UPDATE THE BASELINES USED TO DETERMINE TECHNOLOGY BENEFITS TO BE MORE REPRESENTATIVE OF NEW IN-SERVICE AIRCRAFT. THE MAJOR OBJECTIVE FOR THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO ENHANCE THE AATT TECHNOLOGY DASHBOARD BY UPDATING BASELINE REFERENCE VEHICLES AND INCORPORATING THE EVALUATION OF TECHNOLOGIES ON UNCONVENTIONAL CONFIGURATIONS. IN ADDITION, PREVIOUSLY COMPILED INFORMATION ON AATT TECHNOLOGIES WILL BE UPDATED AS NEEDED TO ENSURE THE COMPLETE TECHNOLOGY DATABASE IS CURRENT. STUDIES AND DATA RESULTING FROM NASA CONTRACT NNL13AA08B TASK ORDER NNL17AA71T SHALL BE THE INITIAL STARTING POINT FOR THIS TASK.