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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2009

Digital Beamforming Scatterometer

This paper discusses scatterometer measurements collected with multi-mode Digital Beamforming Synthetic Aperture Radar (DBSAR) during the SMAP-VEX 2008 campaign. The 2008 SMAP Validation Experiment was conducted to address a number of specific questions related to the soil moisture retrieval algorithms. SMAP-VEX 2008 consisted on a series of aircraft-based.flights conducted on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Delaware in the fall of 2008. Several other instruments participated in the campaign including the Passive Active L-Band System (PALS), the Marshall Airborne Polarimetric Imaging Radiometer (MAPIR), and the Global Positioning System Reflectometer (GPSR). This campaign was the first SMAP Validation Experiment. DBSAR is a multimode radar system developed at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center that combines state-of-the-art radar technologies, on-board processing, and advances in signal processing techniques in order to enable new remote sensing capabilities applicable to Earth science and planetary applications [l]. The instrument can be configured to operate in scatterometer, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), or altimeter mode. The system builds upon the L-band Imaging Scatterometer (LIS) developed as part of the RadSTAR program. The radar is a phased array system designed to fly on the NASA P3 aircraft. The instrument consists of a programmable waveform generator, eight transmit/receive (T/R) channels, a microstrip antenna, and a reconfigurable data acquisition and processor system. Each transmit channel incorporates a digital attenuator, and digital phase shifter that enables amplitude and phase modulation on transmit. The attenuators, phase shifters, and calibration switches are digitally controlled by the radar control card (RCC) on a pulse by pulse basis. The antenna is a corporate fed microstrip patch-array centered at 1.26 GHz with a 20 MHz bandwidth. Although only one feed is used with the present configuration, a provision was made for separate corporate feeds for vertical and horizontal polarization. System upgrades to dual polarization are currently under way. The DBSAR processor is a reconfigurable data acquisition and processor system capable of real-time, high-speed data processing. DBSAR uses an FPGA-based architecture to implement digitally down-conversion, in-phase and quadrature (I/Q) demodulation, and subsequent radar specific algorithms. The core of the processor board consists of an analog-to-digital (AID) section, three Altera Stratix field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), an ARM microcontroller, several memory devices, and an Ethernet interface. The processor also interfaces with a navigation board consisting of a GPS and a MEMS gyro. The processor has been configured to operate in scatterometer, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), and altimeter modes. All the modes are based on digital beamforming which is a digital process that generates the far-field beam patterns at various scan angles from voltages sampled in the antenna array. This technique allows steering the received beam and controlling its beam-width and side-lobe. Several beamforming techniques can be implemented each characterized by unique strengths and weaknesses, and each applicable to different measurement scenarios. In Scatterometer mode, the radar is capable to.generate a wide beam or scan a narrow beam on transmit, and to steer the received beam on processing while controlling its beamwidth and side-lobe level. Table I lists some important radar characteristics

Rincon, Rafael F.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Chirality in Organic and Mineral Systems: A Review of Reactivity and Alteration Processes Relevant to Prebiotic Chemistry and Life Detection Missions

Chirality is a central feature in the evolution of biological systems, but the reason for biology’s strong preference for specific chiralities of amino acids, sugars, and other molecules remains a controversial and unanswered question in origins of life research. Biological polymers tend toward homochiral systems, which favor the incorporation of a single enantiomer (molecules with a specific chiral configuration) over the other. There have been numerous investigations into the processes that preferentially enrich one enantiomer to understand the evolution of an early, racemic, prebiotic organic world. Chirality can also be a property of minerals; their interaction with chiral organics is important for assessing how post-depositional alteration processes could affect the stereochemical configuration of simple and complex organic molecules. In this paper, we review the properties of organic compounds and minerals as well as the physical, chemical, and geological processes that affect organic and mineral chirality during the preservation and detection of organic compounds. We provide perspectives and discussions on the reactions and analytical techniques that can be performed in the laboratory, and comment on the state of knowledge of flight-capable technologies in current and future planetary missions, with a focus on organics analysis and life detection.

chirality↗
NASA NTRS1995

Determination of stability and control derivatives from the NASA F/A-18 HARV from flight data using the maximum likelihood method

This report is a compilation of PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) results for both longitudinal and lateral directional analysis that was completed during Fall 1994. It had earlier established that the maneuvers available for PID containing independent control surface inputs from OBES were not well suited for extracting the cross-coupling static (i.e., C(sub N beta)) or dynamic (i.e., C(sub Npf)) derivatives. This was due to the fact that these maneuvers were designed with the goal of minimizing any lateral directional motion during longitudinal maneuvers and vice-versa. This allows for greater simplification in the aerodynamic model as far as coupling between longitudinal and lateral directions is concerned. As a result, efforts were made to reanalyze this data and extract static and dynamic derivatives for the F/A-18 HARV (High Angle of Attack Research Vehicle) without the inclusion of the cross-coupling terms such that more accurate estimates of classical model terms could be acquired. Four longitudinal flights containing static PID maneuvers were examined. The classical state equations already available in pEst for alphadot, qdot and thetadot were used. Three lateral directional flights of PID static maneuvers were also examined. The classical state equations already available in pEst for betadot, p dot, rdot and phi dot were used. Enclosed with this document are the full set of longitudinal and lateral directional parameter estimate plots showing coefficient estimates along with Cramer-Rao bounds. In addition, a representative time history match for each type of meneuver tested at each angle of attack is also enclosed.

Napolitano, Marcello R.↗
NASA NTRS2002

An Overview of Flight Test Results for a Formation Flight Autopilot

The first flight test phase of the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center Autonomous Formation Flight project has successfully demonstrated precision autonomous station-keeping of an F/A-18 research airplane with a second F/A-18 airplane. Blended inertial navigation system (INS) and global positioning system (GPS) measurements have been communicated across an air-to-air telemetry link and used to compute relative-position estimates. A precision research formation autopilot onboard the trailing airplane controls lateral and vertical spacing while the leading airplane operates under production autopilot control. Four research autopilot gain sets have been designed and flight-tested, and each exceeds the project design requirement of steady-state tracking accuracy within 1 standard deviation of 10 ft. Performance also has been demonstrated using single- and multiple-axis inputs such as step commands and frequency sweeps. This report briefly describes the experimental formation flight systems employed and discusses the navigation, guidance, and control algorithms that have been flight-tested. An overview of the flight test results of the formation autopilot during steady-state tracking and maneuvering flight is presented.

Curtis E Hanson↗
NASA NTRS2007

Dryden Flight Research Center: The World's Premiere Installation for Atmospheric Flight Research

This viewgraph presentation reviews NASA Dryden's capabilities, the work that Dryden has done for NASA, and its current research. Dryden's Mission is stated to advance technology and science through flight. The mission elements are: (1) Perform flight research and technology integration to revolutionize aviation and pioneer aerospace technology, (2) Validate space exploration concepts, (3) Conduct airborne remote sensing and science observations, (4) Support operations of the Space Shuttle and the ISS for NASA and the Nation.

Ratnayake, Nalin Asela↗
NASA NTRS2002

Profile-Following Entry Guidance Using Linear Quadratic Regulator Theory

This paper describes one of the entry guidance concepts that is currently being tested as part of Marshall Space Flight Center's Advance Guidance and Control Project. The algorithm is of the reference profile tracking type. The reference profile consists of the reference states, range-to-go, altitude, and flight path angle, and reference controls, bank angle and angle of attack, versus energy. A linear control law using state feedback is used with energy-scheduled gains. The gains are obtained offline using Matlab's steady state linear quadratic regulator function. Lateral trajectory control is effected by performing periodic bank sign reversals based on a heading error corridor. A description and results of the AG&C test cases on which it has been tested are given. Although it is not anticipated that the algorithm will be quite as robust as algorithms with onboard trajectory re-generation capability, the results nevertheless show it to be very robust with respect to varying initial conditions and works satisfactorily even for entries from widely different orbits than that of the reference profile. Moreover, the commanded bank and angle of attack histories are very smooth, making it easier for the attitude control system to implement the guidance commands. Finally, results indicate that the guidance gains are more or less trajectory-independent which is a potentially useful property.

Dukeman, Greg A.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Biocybernetic Closed-Loop System for Mitigating Hazardous States of Awareness

The past century of passenger flight has seen continuous improvement in aviation safety by the aerospace industry. However, while commercial aviation accident rates have continued to decline, human error-related incident and accident rates remain remarkably constant across all types of aviation (Shappell, et al., 2007). Unfortunately, this level of human error is unacceptable when considering projections for increased traffic volume (FAA, 2009), and is likely to yield more incidents and accidents unless a more complete understanding of operator error is achieved and remediations are implemented. One area of interest highlighted by researchers is Hazardous States of Awareness (HSAs) that can result from deficiencies in the design and inappropriate use of human-machine interfaces. Identifying and mitigating HSAs is critical for reducing operator errors. One promising approach uses psychophysiological measures which enable automated systems to adapt to the operator?s state and modify modes of operation to support optimal human performance (Scerbo, 2007). This paper will survey previous research and describe future directions for the application of psychophysiological measures of operators derived from cortical and autonomic assessment to perform real-time adaptive modulation of human-automation task mode mixes. The authors will present a summary of previous work done at NASA LaRC and Old Dominion University using a Psychophysiologically Adaptive System (PAS) in which the level of automation of the NASA Multi-Attribute Task Battery was modulated based on Engagement Indices derived from the users? electroencephalogram (Pope, Bogart, & Bartolome, 1995; for review see, Scerbo, Freeman, & Mikulka, 2003). Future theoretical and methodological directions for this type of closed-loop research will be discussed. Specifically, the capacity for this type of PAS to maintain effective operator state and to enable validation of candidate physiological indices will be described. Consideration will also be given to critical system characteristics (e.g., engagement indices, methods for invoking changes among system states, individual differences among users, etc.) that have been or still need to be studied. The potential of the PAS approach for interactive system design and prototyping will also be described. Examples of adaptive automation flight deck concepts in recent experiments will be highlighted and discussed.

Chad L Stephens↗
NASA NTRS1984

An intelligent flight-management aid for procedure execution

A computer program is described that contains a model of the procedures used in the operation of a twin engine aircraft. This program, by comparing the model to the aircraft state, can determine when a procedure (or checklist) should be or is invoked and when each step (detectable by a change in the aircraft state) is completed. Thus, the program tracks the flight crew's procedure execution through changes in the aircraft state. Data were used for evaluation from an earlier experiment on a Link GAT-II simulator. The program had been able to identify practically all of the errors identified by human judges as well as locate some missed by them. It is felt that this model could significantly aid flight crews.

Hammer, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Assessment Of Digital Control For Helicopters

Report provides assessment of digital electronic flight-control technology for advanced helicopters intended for use in combat. Reviews state of art of high-bandwidth digital flight-control systems for airplanes, with emphasis on topics of concern for development of such systems for modern combat helicopters.

Tischler, M. B.↗
NASA NTRS1996

The Integrated Mode Management Interface

Mode management is the processes of understanding the character and consequences of autoflight modes, planning and selecting the engagement, disengagement and transitions between modes, and anticipating automatic mode transitions made by the autoflight system itself. The state of the art is represented by the latest designs produced by each of the major airframe manufacturers, the Boeing 747-400, the Boeing 777, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11, and the Airbus A320/A340 family of airplanes. In these airplanes autoflight modes are selected by manipulating switches on the control panel. The state of the autoflight system is displayed on the flight mode annunciators. The integrated mode management interface (IMMI) is a graphical interface to autoflight mode management systems for aircraft equipped with flight management computer systems (FMCS). The interface consists of a vertical mode manager and a lateral mode manager. Autoflight modes are depicted by icons on a graphical display. Mode selection is accomplished by touching (or mousing) the appropriate icon. The IMMI provides flight crews with an integrated interface to autoflight systems for aircraft equipped with flight management computer systems (FMCS). The current version is modeled on the Boeing glass-cockpit airplanes (747-400, 757/767). It runs on the SGI Indigo workstation. A working prototype of this graphics-based crew interface to the autoflight mode management tasks of glass cockpit airplanes has been installed in the Advanced Concepts Flight Simulator of the CSSRF of NASA Ames Research Center. This IMMI replaces the devices in FMCS equipped airplanes currently known as mode control panel (Boeing), flight guidance control panel (McDonnell Douglas), and flight control unit (Airbus). It also augments the functions of the flight mode annunciators. All glass cockpit airplanes are sufficiently similar that the IMMI could be tailored to the mode management system of any modern cockpit. The IMMI does not replace the functions of the FMCS control and display unit. The purpose of the INMI is to provide flight crews with a shared medium in which they can assess the state of the autoflight system, take control actions on it, reason about its behavior, and communicate with each other about its behavior. The design is intended to increase mode awareness and provide a better interface to autoflight mode management. This report describes the IMMI, the methods that were used in designing and developing it, and the theory underlying the design and development processes.

Hutchins, Edwin↗
NASA NTRS2011

Hardware Specific Integration Strategy for Impedance-Based Structural Health Monitoring of Aerospace Systems

The Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) Project, sponsored by NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, is conducting research to advance the state of highly integrated and complex flight-critical health management technologies and systems. An effective IVHM system requires Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). The impedance method is one such SHM technique for detection and monitoring complex structures for damage. This position paper on the impedance method presents the current state of the art, future directions, applications and possible flight test demonstrations.

Owen, Robert B.↗
NASA NTRS2019

ASPIRE Aerodynamic Models and Flight Performance

The Advanced Supersonic Parachute Inflation Research Experiments (ASPIRE) project waslaunched to develop the capability for testing supersonic parachutes at Mars-relevant conditions.Three initial parachute tests, targeted as a risk-reduction activity for NASA's upcoming Mars2020 mission, successfully tested two candidate parachute designs and provided valuable data onparachute inflation, forces, and aerodynamic behavior. Design of the flight tests depended onflight mechanics simulations which in turn required aerodynamic models for the payload, andthe parachute. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to generate these models preflightand they are compared against the flight data after the tests. For the payload, thereconstructed aerodynamic behavior is close to the pre-flight predictions, but the uncertaintiesin the reconstructed data are high due to the low dynamic pressures and accelerations duringthe flight period of comparison. For the parachute, the predicted time to inflation agrees wellwith the pre-flight model; the peak aerodynamic force and the steady state drag on the parachuteare within the bounds of the pre-flight models, even as the models over-predict the parachutedrag at supersonic Mach numbers. Notably, the flight data do not show the transonic dragdecrease predicted by the pre-flight model. The ASPIRE flight tests provide previouslyunavailable valuable data on the performance of a large full-scale parachute behind a slenderleading body at Mars-relevant Mach number, dynamic pressure and parachute loads. TheASPIRE results are used to propose a new model for the parachute drag behind slender bodiesto aid future experiments.

Muppidi, Suman↗
NASA NTRS1976

Reduced state feedback gain computation

Because application of conventional optimal linear regulator theory to flight controller design requires the capability of measuring and/or estimating the entire state vector, it is of interest to consider procedures for computing controls which are restricted to be linear feedback functions of a lower dimensional output vector and which take into account the presence of measurement noise and process uncertainty. Therefore, a stochastic linear model that was developed is presented which accounts for aircraft parameter and initial uncertainty, measurement noise, turbulence, pilot command and a restricted number of measurable outputs. Optimization with respect to the corresponding output feedback gains was performed for both finite and infinite time performance indices without gradient computation by using Zangwill's modification of a procedure originally proposed by Powell. Results using a seventh order process show the proposed procedures to be very effective.

Kaufman, H.↗
NASA NTRS1997

X-31A Tactical Utility Flight Testing

The two X-31A were jointly built by Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG and Rockwell International. These German-American experimental aircraft were designed to explore the new realm of flight far beyond stall by employing advanced technologies like thrust vectoring and sophisticated flight control systems. The X-31A aircraft is equipped with a thrust vectoring system consisting of three aft mounted paddles to deflect the thrust vector in both pitch and yaw axes, thus providing the X-31A in this 'Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability program with an agility and maneuverability never seen before. The tactical utility of the X-31A using post stall technologies has been revealed in an extensive flight test campaign against various current state-of-the-art fighter aircraft in a close-in combat arena. The test philosophy included both simulation and flight test. The tremendous tactical advantage of the X-31A during the tactical utility evaluation flight test phase was accompanied by a deepened insight into post stall tactics its typical maneuvers, impacts on pilot-aircraft interfaces and requirements for future weapons to both engineers and the military community. Some selected aspects of the tactical utility of the X-31A using post stall technologies unveiled by the International Test Organization are presented here.

Holger Friehmelt↗
NASA NTRS2011

UAVSAR Active Electronically Scanned Array

The Uninhabited Airborne Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) is a pod-based, L-band (1.26 GHz), repeatpass, interferometric, synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) used for Earth science applications. Repeat-pass interferometric radar measurements from an airborne platform require an antenna that can be steered to maintain the same angle with respect to the flight track over a wide range of aircraft yaw angles. In order to be able to collect repeat-pass InSAR data over a wide range of wind conditions, UAVSAR employs an active electronically scanned array (AESA). During data collection, the UAVSAR flight software continuously reads the aircraft attitude state measured by the Embedded GPS/INS system (EGI) and electronically steers the beam so that it remains perpendicular to the flight track throughout the data collection

Sadowy, Gregory, A.↗
NASA NTRS2018

SCI 236 AGARDograph: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Armstrong Flight Research Center Annex - Part Two

NASA AFRC is a United States government entity that conducts the integration and operation of new and unproven technologies into proven flight vehicles as well as the flight test of one-of-a-kind experimental aircraft. AFRC also maintains and operates several platform aircraft that allow the integration of a wide range of sensors to conduct airborne remote sensing, science observations and airborne infrared astronomy. To support these types of operations AFRC has the organization, facilities and tools to support the experimental flight test of unique vehicles and conduct airborne sensing/observing.

AGARDgraph↗
NASA NTRS2002

Integrating NASA Dryden Research Endeavors into the Teaching-Learning of Mathematics in the K-12 Classroom via the WWW

The primary goal of this project was to continue populating the currently existing web site developed in 1998 in conjunction with the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center and California Polytechnic State University, with more mathematics lesson plans and activities that K-12 teachers, students, home-schoolers, and parents could access. All of the activities, while demonstrating some mathematical topic, also showcase the research endeavors of the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. The website is located at: http://daniel.calpoly.edu/~dfrc/Robin. The secondary goal of this project was to share the web-based activities with educators at various conferences and workshops. To address the primary goal of this project, over the past year, several new activities were posted on the web site and some of the existing activities were enhanced to contain more video clips, photos, and materials for teachers. To address the project's secondary goal, the web-based activities were showcased at several conferences and workshops. Additionally, in order to measure and assess the outreach impact of the web site, a link to the web site hitbox.com was established in April 2001, which allowed for the collection of traffic statistics against the web site (such as the domains of visitors, the frequency of visitors to this web site, etc.) Provided is a description of some of the newly created activities posted on the web site during the project period of 2001-2002, followed by a description of the conferences and workshops at which some of the web-based activities were showcased. Next is a brief summary of the web site's traffic statistics demonstrating its worldwide educational impact, followed by a listing of some of the awards and accolades the web site has received.

Ward, Robin A.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Critical Technologies for Hypersonic Vehicle Development

The objective of the present RTO/VKI Lecture Series is to focus attention on the technologies that play a critical role in hypersonic vehicle development. Owing to the demanding flight environment, successful development of hypersonic vehicles will require progress in understanding and surmounting specific technical problems in ground test, numerical simulation and flight test. Following the introductory remarks stating the objectives of the Lecture Series, a historical perspective on hypersonic vehicle development was given to establish the context and to highlight the emerging role of numerical simulation in vehicle design. A thorough review of ongoing vehicle development and flight-test programs completed the introductory portion. To provide sufficient background information, lectures were presented on compressible flows of perfect and imperfect gases, with special attention given to shock-wave boundary-layer interactions, laminar to turbulent transition, and high temperature gas properties. Advancements in computational modeling capabilities for hypersonic vehicle design were addressed, and the ongoing need for validation data, as well as a consistent validation methodology, where highlighted. Specific critical technology areas, including trajectory aerothermal environment definition, system trade studies, propulsion systems, aerodynamic control laws, flight instrumentation, thermal protection systems and flight experiments were all addressed in separate lectures given by international experts. Finally, the potential of plasma devices to ameliorate or avoid critical aerothermal phenomena was presented, providing a good example of the type of creative effort required for achieving progress. In all of the presentations the needs of future hypersonic flight vehicle development programs were addressed.

Research and Technology Organisation (RTO)↗