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NASA NTRS2005

Demonstration of Four Operating Capabilities to Enable a Small Aircraft Transportation System

The Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) project has been a five-year effort fostering research and development that could lead to the transformation of our country s air transportation system. It has become evident that our commercial air transportation system is reaching its peak in terms of capacity, with numerous delays in the system and the demand keeps steadily increasing. The SATS vision is to increase mobility in our nation s transportation system by expanding access to more than 3400 small community airports that are currently under-utilized. The SATS project has focused its efforts on four key operating capabilities that have addressed new emerging technologies and procedures to pave the way for a new way of air travel. The four key operating capabilities are: Higher Volume Operations at Non-Towered/Non-Radar Airports, En Route Procedures and Systems for Integrated Fleet Operations, Lower Landing Minimums at Minimally Equipped Landing Facilities, and Increased Single Pilot Performance. These four capabilities are key to enabling low-cost, on-demand, point-to-point transportation of goods and passengers utilizing small aircraft operating from small airports. The focus of this paper is to discuss the technical and operational feasibility of the four operating capabilities and demonstrate how they can enable a small aircraft transportation system.

Viken, Sally A.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Overview of the Small Aircraft Transportation System Project Four Enabling Operating Capabilities

It has become evident that our commercial air transportation system is reaching its peak in terms of capacity, with numerous delays in the system and the demand still steadily increasing. NASA, FAA, and the National Consortium for Aviation Mobility (NCAM) have partnered to aid in increasing the mobility throughout the United States through the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) project. The SATS project has been a five-year effort to provide the technical and economic basis for further national investment and policy decisions to support a small aircraft transportation system. The SATS vision is to enable people and goods to have the convenience of on-demand point-to-point travel, anywhere, anytime for both personal and business travel. This vision can be obtained by expanding near all-weather access to more than 3,400 small community airports that are currently under-utilized throughout the United States. SATS has focused its efforts on four key operating capabilities that have addressed new emerging technologies, procedures, and concepts to pave the way for small aircraft to operate in nearly all weather conditions at virtually any runway in the United States. These four key operating capabilities are: Higher Volume Operations at Non-Towered/Non-Radar Airports, En Route Procedures and Systems for Integrated Fleet Operations, Lower Landing Minimums at Minimally Equipped Landing Facilities, and Increased Single Pilot Performance. The SATS project culminated with the 2005 SATS Public Demonstration in Danville, Virginia on June 5th-7th, by showcasing the accomplishments achieved throughout the project and demonstrating that a small aircraft transportation system could be viable. The technologies, procedures, and concepts were successfully demonstrated to show that they were safe, effective, and affordable for small aircraft in near all weather conditions. The focus of this paper is to provide an overview of the technical and operational feasibility of the four operating capabilities, and explain how they can enable a small aircraft transportation system.

Viken, Sally A.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Definition of technology development missions for early space stations orbit transfer vehicle serving. Phase 2, task 1: Space station support of operational OTV servicing

Representative space based orbital transfer vehicles (OTV), ground based vehicle turnaround assessment, functional operational requirements and facilities, mission turnaround operations, a comparison of ground based versus space based tasks, activation of servicing facilities prior to IOC, fleet operations requirements, maintenance facilities, OTV servicing facilities, space station support requirements, and packaging for delivery are discussed.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2017

Creative Analytics of Mission Ops Event Messages

Historically, tremendous effort has been put into processing and displaying mission health and safety telemetry data; and relatively little attention has been paid to extracting information from missions time-tagged event log messages. Todays missions may log tens of thousands of messages per day and the numbers are expected to dramatically increase as satellite fleets and constellations are launched, as security monitoring continues to evolve, and as the overall complexity of ground system operations increases. The logs may contain information about orbital events, scheduled and actual observations, device status and anomalies, when operators were logged on, when commands were resent, when there were data drop outs or system failures, and much much more. When dealing with distributed space missions or operational fleets, it becomes even more important to systematically analyze this data. Several advanced information systems technologies make it appropriate to now develop analytic capabilities which can increase mission situational awareness, reduce mission risk, enable better event-driven automation and cross-mission collaborations, and lead to improved operations strategies: Industry Standard for Log Messages. The Object Management Group (OMG) Space Domain Task Force (SDTF) standards organization is in the process of creating a formal standard for industry for event log messages. The format is based on work at NASA GSFC. Open System Architectures. The DoD, NASA, and others are moving towards common open system architectures for mission ground data systems based on work at NASA GSFC with the full support of the commercial product industry and major integration contractors. Text Analytics. A specific area of data analytics which applies statistical, linguistic, and structural techniques to extract and classify information from textual sources. This presentation describes work now underway at NASA to increase situational awareness through the collection of non-telemetry mission operations information into a common log format and then providing display and analytics tools to provide in-depth assessment of the log contents. The work includes: Common interface formats for acquiring time-tagged text messages Conversion of common files for schedules, orbital events, and stored commands to the common log format Innovative displays to depict thousands of messages on a single display Structured English text queries against the log message data store, extensible to a more mature natural language query capability Goal of speech-to-text and text-to-speech additions to create a personal mission operations assistant to aid on-console operations. A wide variety of planned uses identified by the mission operations teams will be discussed.

events↗

NASA NTRS2020

Fit2Fly: A Proof of Concept for Testing the Commercial Feasibility of Unmanned Aerial System Operations

As autonomous Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) become more prevalent, improvements in airworthiness assessments, data security, establishing vehicle trust, and more will become necessary to make fleet operations of these systems routine. Currently, these are verified for every UAS vehicle through a time-intensive manual inspection performed by human individuals. This process becomes infeasible when introduced into large-scale operations, so the Fit2Fly project is attempting to address these concerns. Fit2Fly is a multi-year project with a large scope, so we chose to narrow our focus to building a proof-of-concept feasibility simulation in tandem with physical UAS demonstration. This work resulted in a software simulation capable of running asynchronous commercial operations with persistent data modeling in coordination with several autonomous drones using integrated radio and GPS configurations.

Ryan Bonk↗

NASA NTRS1998

Development and Preliminary Results of CTAS on Airline Operational Control Center Operations

Continued growth and expansion of air traffic and increased air carrier economic pressures have mandated greater flexibility and collaboration in air traffic management. The ability of airspace users to select their own routes, so called "free-flight", and to more actively manage their fleet operations for maximum economic advantage are receiving great attention. A first step toward greater airspace user and service provider collaboration is information sharing. In this work, arrival scheduling and airspace management data generated by the NASA/FAA Center/TRACON Automation System (CTAS) and used by the FAA service provider is shared with an airline with extensive operations within the CTAS operational domain. The design and development of a specialized airline CTAS "repeater" system is described, as well as some preliminary results of the impact and benefits of this information on the air carrier's operations. FAA controller per aircraft scheduling information, such as that provided by CTAS, has never before been shared in real-time with an airline. Expected airline benefits include improved fleet planning and arrival gate management, more informed "hold-go" decisions, and avoidance of costly aircraft diversions to alternate airports when faced with uncertain airborne arrival delays.

Zelenka, Richard↗

NASA NTRS2004

Development and Preliminary Results of CTAS on Airline Operational Control Center Operations

Continued growth and expansion of air traffic and increased air carrier economic pressures have mandated greater flexibility and collaboration in air traffic management. The ability of airspace users to select their own routes, so called "free-flight", and to more actively manage their fleet operations for maximum economic advantage are receiving great attention. A first step toward greater airspace user and service provider collaboration is information sharing. In this work, arrival scheduling and airspace management data generated by the NASA/FAA Center/TRACON Automation System (CTAS) and used by the FAA service provider is shared with an airline with extensive operations within the CTAS operational domain. The design and development of a specialized airline CTAS "repeater" system is described, as well as some preliminary results of the impact and benefits of this information on the air carrier's operations. FAA controller per aircraft scheduling information, such as that provided by CTAS, has never before been shared in real-time with an airline. Expected airline benefits include improved fleet planning and arrival gate management, more informed "hold-go decisions, and avoidance of costly aircraft diversions to alternate airports when faced with uncertain airborne arrival delays.

Zelenka, Richard↗

NASA NTRS2019

Cyber Physical Security (CPS) Extension to Air Traffic Management (ATM) Testbed

The Air Traffic Management (ATM) Testbed is being developed at NASA to enable benefit, impact, safety and cost assessments for accelerating the deployment of Concept and Technologies (C&T) in the National Airspace System (NAS). Today, C&T introduction into the NAS takes decades. The primary reason for this is an inability to assess the operational impact of the interaction between the proposed C&T and operationally deployed systems (Realistic Technologies) in terms of NAS-wide safety, traffic flow efficiency, roles and workload of controllers and traffic managers, and impact on airline fleet operations. Transition of C&T to operations requires mathematical modeling and simulation, Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) testing and shadow-mode evaluation driven by operational data. Whereas interaction with the operational system during testing and stages of deployment is not permissible due to safety concerns, it is certainly possible to create a simulation environment that closely mimics the NAS using the same operational systems/hardware for enabling such assessments. This presentation focuses on a proposed Cyber Physical Security extension to the ATM Testbed for creating a modeling and simulation architecture to study how well the Air Traffic Management system will perform and analyze effectiveness of mitigating security measures against particular cyber-attack scenarios.

Datta, Koushik↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Second-Generation UAM Community Noise Assessment Using the FAA Aviation Environmental Design Tool

Vehicles serving the urban air mobility (UAM) market are anticipated to operate in communities close to the public at large. The approved model for assessing environmental impact of air traffic actions in the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration’s Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT), does not support analysis of such operations due to a combined lack of a UAM aircraft performance model and aircraft noise data. This paper discusses second-generation developments to assess the acoustic impact of UAM fleet operations on the community using AEDT and demonstrates its use for representative UAM operations. In particular, methods were developed to add broadband self noise into computed noise-power-distance data, and vertiport-centric operations were evaluated for two concept vehicles.

urban air mobility↗

NASA NTRS2012

An Assessment of Civil Tiltrotor Concept of Operations in the Next Generation Air Transportation System

Based on a previous Civil Tiltrotor (CTR) National Airspace System (NAS) performance analysis study, CTR operations were evaluated over selected routes and terminal airspace configurations assuming noninterference operations (NIO) and runway-independent operations (RIO). This assessment aims to further identify issues associated with these concepts of operations (ConOps), and their dependency on the airspace configuration and interaction with conventional fixed-wing traffic. Safety analysis following a traditional Safety Management System (SMS) methodology was applied to CTR-unique departure and arrival failures in the selected airspace to identify any operational and certification issues. Additional CTR operational cases were then developed to get a broader understanding of issues and gaps that will need to be addressed in future CTR operational studies. Finally, needed enhancements to National Airspace System performance analysis tools were reviewed, and recommendations were made on improvements in these tools that are likely to be required to support future progress toward CTR fleet operations in the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen).

Chung, William W.↗

NASA NTRS1978

SSTs, nitrogen fertiliser and stratospheric ozone

A recently revised model of the stratosphere is used to show that a substantial enhancement in the ozone layer could accompany worldwide SST fleet operations and that water vapor may be an important factor in SST assessments. Revised rate coefficients for various ozone-destroying reactions are employed in calculations which indicate a slight increase in the total content of stratospheric ozone for modest-sized fleets of SSTs flying below about 25 km. It is found that water-vapor chemical reactions can negate in large part the NOx-induced ozone gains computed below 25 km and that increased use of nitrogen fertilizer might also enhance the ozone layer.

Turco, R. P.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Flight problem evaluation for Space Shuttle Orbiter

The flight problems experienced with the reusable Space Shuttle Orbiter have decreased during subsequent flights of each vehicle. By comparison to first flights of previous vehicles, the problems encountered on the initial flight of each new vehicle entering the fleet decreased. This improvement in turn has reduced the turnaround time between flights significantly and thus greatly enhanced the increased Space Shuttle launch frequency. The reusable manned space vehicle concept necessitated the development of a flight problem recognition and resolution system which would enable a thorough and timely vehicle turnaround flow. Flight evaluation, testing, and repair of manned spacecraft to enhance reliability and to ensure mission success is a unique activity. Real-time recognition of the flight problem, prompt isolation of the cause, and timely implementation of the corrective action are the keys to maintaining an operational fleet. Examples of flight problems that have been encountered as well as the corrective actions implemented during the first 24 Space Shuttle missions are presented. The corrective actions taken to preclude problem recurrence include modifications of hardware designs, manufacturing processes, flight software, test methods, and operational procedures.

Mechelay, Joseph E.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Effects of engine emissions from high-speed civil transport aircraft: A two-dimensional modeling study, part 1

The AER two-dimensional chemistry-transport model is used to study the effect on stratospheric ozone (O3) from operations of supersonic and subsonic aircraft. The study is based on six emission scenarios provided to AER. The study showed that: (1) the O3 response is dominated by the portion of the emitted nitrogen compounds that is entrained in the stratosphere; (2) the entrainment is a sensitive function of the altitude at which the material is injected; (3) the O3 removal efficiency of the emitted material depends on the concentrations of trace gases in the background atmosphere; and (4) evaluation of the impact of fleet operations in the future atmosphere must take into account the expected changes in trace gas concentrations from other activities. Areas for model improvements in future studies are also discussed.

Ko, Malcolm K. W.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Designing a Methodology for Future Air Travel Scenarios

The growing demand on air travel throughout the world has prompted several proposals for the development of commercial aircraft capable of transporting a large number of passengers at supersonic speeds. Emissions from a projected fleet of such aircraft, referred to as high-speed civil transports (HSCT's), are being studied because of their possible effects on the chemistry and physics of the global atmosphere, in particular, on stratospheric ozone. At the same time, there is growing concern about the effects on ozone from the emissions of current (primarily subsonic) aircraft emissions. Evaluating the potential atmospheric impact of aircraft emissions from HSCT's requires a scientifically sound understanding of where the aircraft fly and under what conditions the aircraft effluents are injected into the atmosphere. A preliminary set of emissions scenarios are presented. These scenarios will be used to understand the sensitivity of environment effects to a range of fleet operations, flight conditions, and aircraft specifications. The baseline specifications for the scenarios are provided: the criteria to be used for developing the scenarios are defined, the required data base for initiating the development of the scenarios is established, and the state of the art for those scenarios that have already been developed is discussed. An important aspect of the assessment will be the evaluation of realistic projections of emissions as a function of both geographical distribution and altitude from an economically viable commercial HSCT fleet. With an assumed introduction date of around the year 2005, it is anticipated that there will be no HSCT aircraft in the global fleet at that time. However, projections show that, by 2015, the HSCT fleet could reach significant size. We assume these projections of HSCT and subsonic fleets for about 2015 can the be used as input to global atmospheric chemistry models to evaluate the impact of the HSCT fleets, relative to an all-subsonic future fleet. The methodology, procedures, and recommendations for the development of future HSCT and the subsonic fleet scenarios used for this evaluation are discussed.

Wuebbles, Donald J.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Noise Impact Analysis for Urban Air Mobility in Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex

This study supports re-design of airspace and procedures for management of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) fleet operations in a given metropolitan area. A goal of UAM is to maintain geographic separation of UAM flight tracks from densely populated areas in order to reduce the potential negative community impact of UAM and manage flight trajectory in anticipation of allowable noise levels and current land use. A UAM route inventory and a demographic-data-optimized topographic map are developed for the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex to identify routes or baseline route segments for reduction of noise impact. Noise contours are computed for baseline route and alternative route design given the desired UAM demand level. The impact of UAM fleet noise is predicted based on predicted number of people and noise-sensitive facilities located inside the noise contours.

Urban Air Mobility↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Noise Impact Analysis for Urban Air Mobility in Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex

Urban Air Mobility↗

NASA NTRS2002

Optimal Aircraft Control Upset Recovery With and Without Component Failures

This paper treats the problem of recovering sustainable nondescending (safe) flight in a transport aircraft after one or more of its control effectors fail. Such recovery can be a challenging goal for many transport aircraft currently in the operational fleet for two reasons. First, they have very little redundancy in their means of generating control forces and moments. These aircraft have, as primary control surfaces, a single rudder and pairwise elevators and aileron/spoiler units that provide yaw, pitch, and roll moments with sufficient bandwidth to be used in stabilizing and maneuvering the airframe. Beyond this, throttling the engines can provide additional moments, but on a much slower time scale. Other aerodynamic surfaces, such as leading and trailing edge flaps, are only intended to be placed in a position and left, and are, hence, very slow-moving. Because of this, loss of a primary control surface strongly degrades the controllability of the vehicle, particularly when the failed effector becomes stuck in a non-neutral position where it exerts a disturbance moment that must be countered by the remaining operating effectors. The second challenge in recovering safe flight is that these vehicles are not agile, nor can they tolerate large accelerations. This is of special importance when, at the outset of the recovery maneuver, the aircraft is flying toward the ground, as is frequently the case when there are major control hardware failures. Recovery of safe flight is examined in this paper in the context of trajectory optimization. For a particular transport aircraft, and a failure scenario inspired by an historical air disaster, recovery scenarios are calculated with and without control surface failures, to bring the aircraft to safe flight from the adverse flight condition that it had assumed, apparently as a result of contact with a vortex from a larger aircraft's wake. An effort has been made to represent relevant airframe dynamics, acceleration limits, and actuator limits faithfully, since these contribute to the lack of agility and control power that plays an important role in defining what can be achieved with the vehicle when it is in extremis.

Sparks, Dean W.↗

NASA NTRS1998

A Cognitive-System Model for En Route Air Traffic Management

NASA Ames Research Center has been engaged in the development of advanced air traffic management technologies whose basic form is cognitive aiding systems for air traffic controller and flight deck operations. In the design and evaluation of such systems the dynamic interaction between the airborne aiding system and the ground-based aiding systems forms a critical coupling for control. The human operator is an integral control element in the system and the optimal integration of human decision and performance parameters with those of the automation aiding systems offers a significant challenge to cognitive engineering. This paper presents a study in full mission simulation and the development of a predictive computational model of human performance. We have found that this combination of methodologies provide a powerful design-aiding process. We have extended the computational model Man Machine Integrated Design and Analysis System (N13DAS) to include representation of multiple cognitive agents (both human operators and intelligent aiding systems), operating aircraft airline operations centers and air traffic control centers in the evolving airspace. The demands of this application require the representation of many intelligent agents sharing world-models, and coordinating action/intention with cooperative scheduling of goals and actions in a potentially unpredictable world of operations. The operator's activity structures have been developed to include prioritization and interruption of multiple parallel activities among multiple operators, to provide for anticipation (knowledge of the intention and action of remote operators), and to respond to failures of the system and other operators in the system in situation-specific paradigms. We have exercised this model in a multi-air traffic sector scenario with potential conflict among aircraft at and across sector boundaries. We have modeled the control situation as a multiple closed loop system. The inner and outer loop alerting structure of air traffic management has many implications that need to be investigated to assure adequate design. First, there are control and stability factors implicit in the design. As the inner loop response time approaches that of the outer loop, system stability may be compromised in that controllers may be solving a problem the nature of which has already been changed by pilot action. Second, information exchange and information presentation for both air and ground must be designed to complement as opposed to compete with each other. Third, the level of individual and shared awareness in trajectory modification and flight conformance needs to be defined. Fourth, the level of required awareness and performance impact of mixed fleet operations and failed-mode recovery must be explored.

Corker, Kevin M.↗