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At least 559 records · Page 31

Evolution and Reengineering of NASA's Flight Dynamics Facility (FDF)

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Flight Dynamics Facility (FDF) is a multimission support facility that performs ground navigation and spacecraft trajectory design services for a wide range of scientific satellites. The FDF also supports the NASA Space Network by providing orbit determination and tracking data evaluation services for the Tracking Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). The FDF traces its history to early NASA missions in the 1960's, including navigation support to the Apollo lunar missions. Over its 40 year history, the FDF has undergone many changes in its architecture, services offered, missions supported, management approach, and business operation. As a fully reimbursable facility (users now pay 100% of all costs for FDF operations and sustaining engineering activities), the FDF has faced significant challenges in recent years in providing mission critical products and services at minimal cost while defining and implementing upgrades necessary to meet future mission demands. This paper traces the history of the FDF and discusses significant events in the past that impacted the FDF infrastructure and/or business model, and the events today that are shaping the plans for the FDF in the next decade. Today's drivers for change include new mission requirements, the availability of new technology for spacecraft navigation, and continued pressures for cost reduction from FDF users. Recently, the FDF completed an architecture study based on these drivers that defines significant changes planned for the facility. This paper discusses the results of this study and a proposed implementation plan. As a case study in how flight dynamics operations have evolved and will continue to evolve, this paper focuses on two periods of time (1992 and the present) in order to contrast the dramatic changes that have taken place in the FDF. This paper offers observations and plans for the evolution of the FDF over the next ten years. Finally, this paper defines the mission model of the future for the FDF based on NASA's current mission list and planning for the Constellation Program. As part of this discussion the following are addressed: the relevance and benefits of a multi-mission facility for NASA's navigation operations in the future; anticipated technologies affecting ground orbit determination; continued incorporation of Commercial Off-the-shelf (COTS) software into the FDF; challenges of a business model that relies entirely on user fees to fund facility upgrades; anticipated changes in flight dynamics services required; and considerations for defining architecture upgrades given a set of cost drivers.

Stengle, Thomas↗

Weather Impact on Airport Arrival Meter Fix Throughput

Time-based flow management provides arrival aircraft schedules based on arrival airport conditions, airport capacity, required spacing, and weather conditions. In order to meet a scheduled time at which arrival aircraft can cross an airport arrival meter fix prior to entering the airport terminal airspace, air traffic controllers make regulations on air traffic. Severe weather may create an airport arrival bottleneck if one or more of airport arrival meter fixes are partially or completely blocked by the weather and the arrival demand has not been reduced accordingly. Under these conditions, aircraft are frequently being put in holding patterns until they can be rerouted. A model that predicts the weather impacted meter fix throughput may help air traffic controllers direct arrival flows into the airport more efficiently, minimizing arrival meter fix congestion. This paper presents an analysis of air traffic flows across arrival meter fixes at the Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). Several scenarios of weather impacted EWR arrival fix flows are described. Furthermore, multiple linear regression and regression tree ensemble learning approaches for translating multiple sector Weather Impacted Traffic Indexes (WITI) to EWR arrival meter fix throughputs are examined. These weather translation models are developed and validated using the EWR arrival flight and weather data for the period of April-September in 2014. This study also compares the performance of the regression tree ensemble with traditional multiple linear regression models for estimating the weather impacted throughputs at each of the EWR arrival meter fixes. For all meter fixes investigated, the results from the regression tree ensemble weather translation models show a stronger correlation between model outputs and observed meter fix throughputs than that produced from multiple linear regression method.

Machine Learning Model.↗

Flash Drought Onset and Development Mechanisms Captured With Soil Moisture and Vegetation Data Assimilation

Flash droughts evolve and intensify rapidly under the influence of anomalous atmospheric conditions. In this study, we investigate the role of assimilating remotely sensed soil moisture (SM) and vegetation properties in capturing the evolution and impacts of two flash droughts in the Northern Great Plains. We find that during 2016 drought triggered by anomalously high temperatures and excessive evaporative demands, multivariate data assimilation (DA) of MODIS-derived leaf area index (LAI) and Soil Moisture Active Passive SM within Noah-Multiparameterization model helps capture elevated transpiration at onset. Assimilation of LAI particularly helped model the resulting rapid decline in SM during onset with as high as 10.0% steeper rate of decline compared to the simulation without any assimilation. Modeled-SM anomalies exhibit a 7.5% and 11.7% increase in similarity with Evaporative Stress Index (ESI) data and U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) maps, respectively. In contrast, during 2017 flash drought driven by record-low precipitation during summers, SM assimilation resulted in largest rates of decline in rootzone SM, as large as 48.4% compared to results from no assimilation. Multivariate DA of SM and LAI results in 6.7% and 14.3% higher spatial similarity with ESI and USDM, respectively, and is necessary to model rapid intensification caused by anomalous precipitation deficits. This study elucidates the need to incorporate multiple observational constraints from remote sensing to effectively capture rapid onset rates, intensification, and severity of flash drought following different propagation mechanisms. This is fundamental for drought early detection to provide a wider window of response and implement efficient mitigation strategies.

Shahryar K. Ahmad↗

Recent Advancements in Modeling and Simulation of Entry Systems at NASA

This paper describes recent development of modeling and simulation technologies for entry systems in support of NASA’s exploration missions. Mission-tailored research and development in modeling of entry systems occurs across the Agency (e.g., within the Orion and Mars 2020 Programs), however the aim of this paper is to discuss the broad, cross-mission research conducted by NASA’s Entry Systems Modeling (ESM) Project, which serves as the Agency’s only concerted effort toward advancing entry systems across a range of technical disciplines. Technology development in ESM is organized and prioritized from a system-level perspective, resulting in four broad technical areas of investment: (1) Predictive material modeling, (2) Shock layer kinetics and radiation, (3) Computational and experimental aerosciences, and (4) Guidance, navigation, and control. Investments in thermal protection material modeling are geared toward high-fidelity, predictive models capable of handling complex structures, with an eye toward optimizing design performance and quantifying thermal protection system reliability. New computational tools have been developed to characterize material properties and behavior at the microstructural level, and experimental techniques (molecular beam scattering, micro-computed tomography, among others) have been developed to measure material kinetics, morphology, and other parameters needed to inform and validate detailed simulations. Advancements have also been made in macrostructural simulation capability to enable 3-D system-scale calculations of material response with complex topological features, including differential recession of tile gaps. Research and development in the area of shock layer kinetics has focused on air and CO2-based atmospheres. Capacity and capability of the NASA Ames Electric Arc Shock Tube (EAST) have been expanded in recent years and analysis of resulting data has led to several improvements in kinetic models, while simultaneously reducing uncertainties associated with radiative heat transfer predictions. First-principles calculations of fundamental kinetic, thermodynamic, and transport data, along with state-specificmodels for non-equilibrium flow regimes, have also yielded new insights and have the potential to vastly improve model fidelity. Aerosciences is a very broad area of interest in entry systems, yet a number of important challenges are being addressed: Coupled fluid-structure simulations of parachute inflation and dynamics; Experimental and computational studies of vehicle dynamics; Multi-phase flow with dust particles to simulate entry environments at Mars during dust storms; Studies of roughness-induced heating augmentation relevant to tiled and woven thermal protection systems; and Advanced numerical methods to optimize computational analyses for desired accuracy versus cost. Guidance and control in the context of entry systems has focused on development of methods for multi-axis control (i.e. pitch and yaw, rather than bank angle alone) of spacecraft during entry and descent. With precision landing requirements driven by Mars human exploration goals, recent efforts have yielded 6-DOF models of multi-axis control with propulsive descent of both inflatable and rigid ellipsled-like architectures. Results for both configurations have demonstrated the ability to land within the 50-meter precision requirement demanded by Mars human exploration missions, while also reducing propellant requirements by enabling more efficient control through entry and descent. Ongoing research in GN&C is developing mechanical specifications for the systems and establishing engineering feasibility.

aerothermodynamics↗

Measurement of tree canopy architecture

The lack of accurate extensive geometric data on tree canopies has retarded development and validation of radiative transfer models. A stratified sampling method was devised to measure the three-dimensional geometry of 16 walnut trees which had received irrigation treatments of either 100 or 33 per cent of evapotranspirational (ET) demand for the previous two years. Graphic reconstructions of the three-dimensional geometry were verified by 58 independent measurements. The distributions of stem- and leaf-size classes, lengths, and angle classes were determined and used to calculate leaf area index (LAI), stem area, and biomass. Reduced irrigation trees have lower biomass of stems, leaves and fruit, lower LAI, steeper leaf angles and altered biomass allocation to large stems. These data can be used in ecological models that link canopy processes with remotely sensed measurements.

Martens, S. N.↗

Ohio River Basin Water Resources: Monitoring Flash Drought Potential and Quantifying the Hydrologic Impacts in the Ohio River Basin

Flash drought conditions emerge in a matter of weeks following persistent weather anomalies, such as high temperatures or large vapor pressure deficits, that drive increased evaporative demand. Vegetation response rapidly depletes soil moisture, threatening surface water supplies, triggering significant crop loss, and increasing wildfire risk. Drought indices sensitive to flash drought are currently not included in drought forecast models in the Ohio River Basin (ORB). The team assessed and compared drought indices, gauge-based data, and satellite measurements over the course of the September 2019 flash drought event in the Ohio River Basin to investigate environmental fingerprints throughout flash drought evolution. Potential leading flash drought indicators were compared to the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) to aid the National Weather Service (NWS) Ohio River Forecast Center and Kentucky Climate Center in producing early warning flash drought forecasts. These drought indices included Evaporative Demand Drought Index (EDDI), Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), and Landscape Evaporative Response Index (LERI) (derived from Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)). Drought index behavior inherently varies based on parameters incorporated - EDDI measures evaporative demand through potential evapotranspiration, and demonstrates more variations due to sensitivity to seasonal changes in evaporative demand throughout the 2010-2019 study period. Conversely, LERI measures evaporative response through actual evapotranspiration, representing different environmental changes. Soil moisture response was evaluated using Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) L-band radiometer data and Kentucky Mesonet gauge-based measurements. This analysis enables climatologists and weather forecasters to keep decision-makers and stakeholders better informed about drought risks, and to implement the appropriate actions for preparation of drought onset.

Adelaide Schmid↗

Ohio River Basin Water Resources: Monitoring Flash Drought Potential and Quantifying the Hydrologic Impacts in the Ohio River Basin Utilizing NASA Earth Observations

Flash drought conditions emerge in a matter of weeks following persistent weather anomalies, such as high temperatures or large vapor pressure deficits, that drive increased evaporative demand. Vegetation response rapidly depletes soil moisture, threatening surface water supplies, triggering significant crop loss, and increasing wildfire risk. Drought indices sensitive to flash drought are currently not included in drought forecast models in the Ohio River Basin (ORB). The team assessed and compared drought indices, gauge-based data, and satellite measurements over the course of the September 2019 flash drought event in the Ohio River Basin to investigate environmental fingerprints throughout flash drought evolution. Potential leading flash drought indicators were compared to the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) to aid the National Weather Service (NWS) Ohio River Forecast Center and Kentucky Climate Center in producing early warning flash drought forecasts. These drought indices included Evaporative Demand Drought Index (EDDI), Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), and Landscape Evaporative Response Index (LERI) (derived from Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)). Drought index behavior inherently varies based on parameters incorporated -EDDI measures evaporative demand through potential evapotranspiration, and and demonstrates more variations due to sensitivity to seasonal changes in evaporative demand throughout the 2010-2019 study period. Conversely, LERI measures evaporative response through actual evapotranspiration, representing different environmental changes. Soil moisture response was evaluated using Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) L-band radiometer data and Kentucky Mesonet gauge-based measurements. This analysis enables climatologists and weather forecasters to keep decision-makers and stakeholders better informed about drought risks to implement the appropriate actions for preparation of drought onset.

DEVELOP Project Summary↗

Computational Modeling Program

An Integrated Product Team (IPT) has been formed at NASA Ames Research Center which has set objectives to investigate devices and processes suitable for meeting NASA requirements on ultrahigh performance computers, fast and low power devices, and high temperature wide bandgap materials. These devices may ultimately be sub-100nm feature-size. Processes and equipment must meet the stringent demands posed by the fabrication of such small devices. Until now, the reactors for Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) and plasma processes have been designed by trial and error procedures. Further, once the reactor is in place, optimum processing parameters are found through expensive and time-consuming experimentation. If reliable models are available that describe processes and the operation of the reactors, that chore would be reduced to a routine task while being a cost-effective option. The goal is to develop such a design tool, validate that tool using available data from current generation processes and reactors, and then use that tool to explore avenues for meeting NASA needs for ultrasmall device fabrication. Under the present grant, ARL/Penn State along with other IPT members has been developing models and computer code to meet IPT goals. Some of the accomplishments achieved during the first year of the grant are described in this report

Govindan, T. R.↗

Simulation and Analysis of Technology and Operational Procedures to Reduce the Combined Effects of Emissions and Contrails

The development and evaluation of concepts and technology to support future air traffic management systems require a hierarchy of models ranging from real-time simulations to extensive field evaluations. Air traffic simulation models such as Airspace Concept Evaluation System, Center Tracon Automation System, Future Air traffic management Concept Evaluation Tool and others are used to design air traffic systems balancing the conflicting objectives of maximizing safety, meeting future demands for airports and airspace and increase efficiency of traffic flows in the presence of uncertain weather. The impact of aviation emissions and contrails on climate imposes another constraint on the design of aircraft and aviation operations. The understanding of the complex interaction between physical climate system, the carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions and aviation activity can be improved by the development of integrated assessment models that include emission and climate models together with air traffic simulations. The modeling of aircraft emissions and their interaction with each other to change the concentration levels of different gasses in the atmosphere and the resulting impact of the radiative forcing on the equilibrium of the Earth's atmosphere is complex and requires the use of coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models together with three-dimensional models of carbon cycle and chemistry of other non-CO2 greenhouse gases. These models are computationally intensive and unsuitable for studies involving the generation of multiple scenarios. Simple emission and climate models, based on the input-output relations of linear systems, capture the fundamental emission to climate impact behavior by careful selection of key variables and their dynamics. The impact of various greenhouse gases depends on the total concentration, effect per unit change in atmospheric concentration and the spatial distribution of the gas. All these quantities are influenced by the lifetime of the gas. The impact of a greenhouse gas depends on the interval of assessment, which may vary from a few decades to a few centuries. Climate metrics are aimed at providing a common scale to compare different greenhouse gases. If the metrics are to be used as a tool in developing and evaluating aviation operations, they should be transparent and easy to apply. Global Warming Potential and Aggregate Global Temperature Potential are some of the commonly used metrics. This paper integrates a national-level air traffic simulation and optimization capability with simple climate models and carbon cycle models, and climate metrics to assess the impact of aviation on climate. The capability brings together metrics, which are useful in aviation operations together with metrics used in climate studies. The capability can be used to make trade-offs between extra fuel cost and reduction in climate impact. There is considerable uncertainty in our understanding of the radiative forcing associated with emissions and contrails. The parameters in the simulation can be used to evaluate the effect of various uncertainties in emission models and contrails. It can also be used to evaluate the impact of different decision horizons. Alternatively, the optimization results from the simulation can be used as inputs to other tools that monetize global climate impacts like the FAA's Aviation Environmental Portfolio Management Tool for Impacts.

impact of aviation on the environment↗

Phase change energy storage for solar dynamic power systems

This paper presents the results of a transient computer simulation that was developed to study phase change energy storage techniques for Space Station Freedom (SSF) solar dynamic (SD) power systems. Such SD systems may be used in future growth SSF configurations. Two solar dynamic options are considered in this paper: Brayton and Rankine. Model elements consist of a single node receiver and concentrator, and takes into account overall heat engine efficiency and power distribution characteristics. The simulation not only computes the energy stored in the receiver phase change material (PCM), but also the amount of the PCM required for various combinations of load demands and power system mission constraints. For a solar dynamic power system in low earth orbit, the amount of stored PCM energy is calculated by balancing the solar energy input and the energy consumed by the loads corrected by an overall system efficiency. The model assumes an average 75 kW SD power system load profile which is connected to user loads via dedicated power distribution channels. The model then calculates the stored energy in the receiver and subsequently estimates the quantity of PCM necessary to meet peaking and contingency requirements. The model can also be used to conduct trade studies on the performance of SD power systems using different storage materials.

Chiaramonte, F. P.↗

A format for the interchange of scheduling models

In recent years a variety of space-activity schedulers have been developed within the aerospace community. Space-activity schedulers are characterized by their need to handle large numbers of activities which are time-window constrained and make high demands on many scarce resources, but are minimally constrained by predecessor/successor requirements or critical paths. Two needs to exchange data between these schedulers have materialized. First, there is significant interest in comparing and evaluating the different scheduling engines to ensure that the best technology is applied to each scheduling endeavor. Second, there is a developing requirement to divide a single scheduling task among different sites, each using a different scheduler. In fact, the scheduling task for International Space Station Alpha (ISSA) will be distributed among NASA centers and among the international partners. The format used to interchange scheduling data for ISSA will likely use a growth version of the format discussed in this paper. The model interchange format (or MIF, pronounced as one syllable) discussed in this paper is a robust solution to the need to interchange scheduling requirements for space activities. It is highly extensible, human-readable, and can be generated or edited with common text editors. It also serves well the need to support a 'benchmark' data case which can be delivered on any computer platform.

Jaap, John P.↗

Evaluating the Impact of Agricultural Soil NOx Emissions on Air Quality Using Advanced Satellite, Ground-based, and Model Data

Soil moisture can also influence the concentration of atmospheric trace gases by moderating the emission of nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2) from agricultural fields. Human activities can play an important role in controlling the available soil moisture depending on irrigation demand and agricultural management. To further complicate matters, nitrogen fertilizer use has also been found to be a significant source of NOx emissions in agricultural areas. In fact, some of the highest emissions have been reported from fertilized soils in high-temperature agricultural regions, such as the Imperial Valley of California. Since NO2 is an important precursor to ozone formation in the troposphere, which is a leading cause of premature death in humans, it is critical to understand how natural and anthropogenic factors contribute to NOx emissions in these areas. O3 pollution is also a growing threat to global food security due to its detrimental impacts on crop production. This work uses a suite of satellite, ground-based, and model data to investigate how agricultural soil NOx emissions from natural (rainfall) and anthropogenic factors (irrigation, nitrogen fertilizer) govern air quality over California. We evaluate the capabilities of using SMAP retrievals and SMAP Land Information System (LIS) output for monitoring irrigation activities over the major agricultural areas of California by conducting intensive analyses of soil moisture and precipitation data. High-resolution trace gas observations from the new generation TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) sensor are used to characterize and monitor the variability of trace gases and air quality conditions associated with soil NOx emissions. We also synthesize satellite, ground-based, and agriculture data to estimate the separate contributions from rainfall, irrigation, and nitrogen fertilizer practices on soil NOx emissions and associated air quality conditions. Finally, unprecedented hourly trace gas retrievals from the NASA Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) geostationary satellite sensor are used to monitor the diurnal evolution of NO2 and O3 concentrations from soil NOx emissions.

Aaron R Naeger↗

Engineered Structured Sorbents for the Adsorption of Carbon Dioxide and Water Vapor from Manned Spacecraft Atmospheres: Applications and Modeling 2007/2008

In NASA s Vision for Space Exploration, humans will once again travel beyond the confines of earth s gravity, this time to remain there for extended periods. These forays will place unprecedented demands on launch systems. They must not only blast out of earth s gravity well as during the Apollo moon missions, but also launch the supplies needed to sustain a larger crew over much longer periods. Thus all spacecraft systems, including those for the separation of metabolic carbon dioxide and water from a crewed vehicle, must be minimized with respect to mass, power, and volume. Emphasis is also placed on system robustness both to minimize replacement parts and ensure crew safety when a quick return to earth is not possible. This paper describes efforts to improve on typical packed beds of sorbent pellets by making use of structured sorbents and alternate bed configurations to improve system efficiency and reliability. The development efforts described offer a complimentary approach combining testing of subscale systems and multiphysics computer simulations to characterize the regenerative heating substrates and evaluation of engineered structured sorbent geometries. Mass transfer, heat transfer, and fluid dynamics are included in the transient simulations.

Knox, James C.↗

Additional Developments in Atmosphere Revitalization Modeling and Simulation

NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) program is developing prototype systems, demonstrating key capabilities, and validating operational concepts for future human missions beyond Earth orbit. These forays beyond the confines of earth's gravity will place unprecedented demands on launch systems. They must launch the supplies needed to sustain a crew over longer periods for exploration missions beyond earth's moon. Thus all spacecraft systems, including those for the separation of metabolic carbon dioxide and water from a crewed vehicle, must be minimized with respect to mass, power, and volume. Emphasis is also placed on system robustness both to minimize replacement parts and ensure crew safety when a quick return to earth is not possible. Current efforts are focused on improving the current state-of-the-art systems utilizing fixed beds of sorbent pellets by evaluating structured sorbents, seeking more robust pelletized sorbents, and examining alternate bed configurations to improve system efficiency and reliability. These development efforts combine testing of sub-scale systems and multi-physics computer simulations to evaluate candidate approaches, select the best performing options, and optimize the configuration of the selected approach. This paper describes the continuing development of atmosphere revitalization models and simulations in support of the Atmosphere Revitalization Recovery and Environmental Monitoring (ARREM)

Coker, Robert F.↗

Additional Developments in Atmosphere Revitalization Modeling and Simulation

NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) program is developing prototype systems, demonstrating key capabilities, and validating operational concepts for future human missions beyond Earth orbit. These forays beyond the confines of earth's gravity will place unprecedented demands on launch systems. They must launch the supplies needed to sustain a crew over longer periods for exploration missions beyond earth's moon. Thus all spacecraft systems, including those for the separation of metabolic carbon dioxide and water from a crewed vehicle, must be minimized with respect to mass, power, and volume. Emphasis is also placed on system robustness both to minimize replacement parts and ensure crew safety when a quick return to earth is not possible. Current efforts are focused on improving the current state-of-the-art systems utilizing fixed beds of sorbent pellets by evaluating structured sorbents, seeking more robust pelletized sorbents, and examining alternate bed configurations to improve system efficiency and reliability. These development efforts combine testing of sub-scale systems and multi-physics computer simulations to evaluate candidate approaches, select the best performing options, and optimize the configuration of the selected approach. This paper describes the continuing development of atmosphere revitalization models and simulations in support of the Atmosphere Revitalization Recovery and Environmental Monitoring (ARREM) project within the AES program.

Coker, Robert F.↗

Selected Diagnostics for Microgravity Combustion Science

The evolution of our understanding of combustion phenomena occurring under reduced gravity conditions poses a continuing demand for diagnostic tools of increased sophistication. Existing methods have become insufficient to keep pace with emerging refinements in the underlying theories and predictive models. The coupling of physical mechanisms inherent in combustion systems mandates the simultaneous determination of numerous thermophysical quantities, principally temperature, velocity, and species concentrations. Observed differences attributable to variations in experimental configuration, fuels and diluents, and initial conditions enhance the difficulty of developing diagnostic methods suitable for the acquisition of the required data over the desired range of experimental parameters. Efforts to provide for ongoing diagnostic development supporting microgravity combustion science experiments are conducted within the Microgravity Science Division at the NASA-Lewis Research Center. The following describes recent results from several diagnostic development efforts conducted under this project.

Greenberg, Paul S.↗

The Terrestrial Planet Finder coronagraph dynamics error budget

The Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph (TPF-C) demands extreme wave front control and stability to achieve its goal of detecting earth-like planets around nearby stars. We describe the performance models and error budget used to evaluate image plane contrast and derive engineering requirements for this challenging optical system.

coronagraph↗

Federal Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management: Concept and Joint Evaluation with the Department of Defense

There has been growing demand for the use of small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) domestically and globally. The versatility of vehicles to support many use cases and business models with broad advances in technology has created an industry with clear growth and continued growth potential. However, an early barrier to operations at scale has been the lack of a coordinated airspace management approach. To address that barrier, NASA pioneered a revolutionary airspace management paradigm that incorporated a federated, service-based approach to enable fair, safe, and scalable operations of small UAS in the nation’s airspace. This paradigm came to be known as UAS Traffic Management (UTM) [1]. During the UTM Project, NASA worked closely with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Industry to develop a system and supporting concept that incorporated the needs and perspectives of Industry and balanced them with the regulatory and operational needs of the FAA. Through development and rigorous testing, NASA evolved and strengthened the UTM concept and associated system architecture hand-in-hand with partners and stakeholders, which has gone on to take hold globally and move forward toward dedicated implementation in the US through rulemaking and standards bodies.

Abhay R. Borade↗