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103 records · Page 6

Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC) Overview and Results: NASA to FAA Research Transition

NASA researchers developed the Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC) concept to improve the tactical departure scheduling process. The PDRC system is comprised of: 1) a surface automation system that computes ready time predictions and departure runway assignments, 2) an en route scheduling automation tool that uses this information to estimate ascent trajectories to the merge point and computes release times and, 3) an interface that provides two-way communication between the two systems. To minimize technology transfer issues and facilitate its adoption by TMCs and Frontline Managers (FLM), NASA developed the PDRC prototype using the Surface Decision Support System (SDSS) for the Tower surface automation tool, a research version of the FAA TMA (RTMA) for en route automation tool and a digital interface between the two DSTs to facilitate coordination.

PDRC↗

NextGen Operations in a Simulated NY Area Airspace

A human-in-the-loop simulation conducted in the Airspace Operations Laboratory (AOL) at NASA Ames Research Center explored the feasibility of a Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) solution to address airspace and airport capacity limitations in and around the New York metropolitan area. A week-long study explored the feasibility of a new Optimal Profile Descent (OPD) arrival into the airspace as well as a novel application of a Terminal Area Precision Scheduling and Spacing (TAPSS) enhancement to the Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) arrival scheduling tool to coordinate high volume arrival traffic to intersecting runways. In the simulation, four en route sector controllers and four terminal radar approach control (TRACON) controllers managed traffic inbound to Newark International Airport's primary runway, 22L, and its intersecting overflow runway, 11. TAPSS was used to generate independent arrival schedules for each runway and a traffic management coordinator participant adjusted the arrival schedule for each runway 11 aircraft to follow one of the 22L aircraft. TAPSS also provided controller-managed spacing tools (slot markers with speed advisories and timelines) to assist the TRACON controllers in managing the arrivals that were descending on OPDs. Results showed that the tools significantly decreased the occurrence of runway violations (potential go-arounds) when compared with a Baseline condition with no tools. Further, the combined use of the tools with the new OPD produced a peak arrival rate of over 65 aircraft per hour using instrument flight rules (IFR), exceeding the current maximum arrival rate at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) of 52 per hour under visual flight rules (VFR). Although the participants rated the workload as relatively low and acceptable both with and without the tools, they rated the tools as reducing their workload further. Safety and coordination were rated by most participants as acceptable in both conditions, although the TRACON Runway Coordinator (TRC) rated neither as acceptable in the Baseline condition. Regarding the role of the TRC, the two TRACON controllers handling the 11 arrivals indicated that the TRC was very much needed in the Baseline condition without tools, but not needed in the condition with tools. This indicates that the tools were providing much of the sequencing and spacing information that the TRC had supplied in the Baseline condition.

NextGen↗

Optical Design of WFIRST-AFTA Wide-Field Instrument

The WFIRSTAFTA Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope TMA optical design provides 0.28-sq FOV at 0.11 pixel scale, operating between 0.6 2.4m, including a spectrograph mode (1.3-1.95m.) An IFU provides a discrete 3x3.15 field at 0.15 sampling.

Optical Equipment↗

The String Stability of a Trajectory-Based Interval Management Algorithm in the Midterm Airspace

NASA's first Air Traffic Management (ATM) Technology Demonstration (ATD-1) was created to facilitate the transition of mature ATM technologies from the laboratory to operational use. The technologies selected for demonstration are the Traffic Management Advisor with Terminal Metering (TMA-TM), which provides precise time-based scheduling in the terminal airspace; Controller Managed Spacing (CMS), which provides terminal controllers with decision support tools enabling precise schedule conformance; and Interval Management (IM), which consists of flight deck automation that enables aircraft to achieve or maintain a precise spacing interval behind a target aircraft. As the percentage of IM equipped aircraft increases, controllers may provide IM clearances to sequences, or strings, of IM-equipped aircraft. It is important for these strings to maintain stable performance. This paper describes an analytic analysis of the string stability of the latest version of NASA's IM algorithm and a fast-time simulation designed to characterize the string performance of the IM algorithm. The analytic analysis showed that the spacing algorithm has stable poles, indicating that a spacing error perturbation will be reduced as a function of string position. The fast-time simulation investigated IM operations at two airports using constraints associated with the midterm airspace, including limited information of the target aircraft's intended speed profile and limited information of the wind forecast on the target aircraft's route. The results of the fast-time simulation demonstrated that the performance of the spacing algorithm is acceptable for strings of moderate length; however, there is some degradation in IM performance as a function of string position.

Swieringa, Kurt A.↗

System Performance of an Integrated Airborne Spacing Algorithm with Ground Automation

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) first Air Traffic Management (ATM) Technology Demonstration (ATD-1) was created to facilitate the transition of mature ATM technologies from the laboratory to operational use. The technologies selected for demonstration are the Traffic Management Advisor with Terminal Metering (TMA-TM), which provides precise time-based scheduling in the Terminal airspace; Controller Managed Spacing (CMS), which provides controllers with decision support tools to enable precise schedule conformance; and Interval Management (IM), which consists of flight deck automation that enables aircraft to achieve or maintain precise spacing behind another aircraft. Recent simulations and IM algorithm development at NASA have focused on trajectory-based IM operations where aircraft equipped with IM avionics are expected to achieve a spacing goal, assigned by air traffic controllers, at the final approach fix. The recently published IM Minimum Operational Performance Standards describe five types of IM operations. This paper discusses the results and conclusions of a human-in-the-loop simulation that investigated three of those IM operations. The results presented in this paper focus on system performance and integration metrics. Overall, the IM operations conducted in this simulation integrated well with ground-based decisions support tools and certain types of IM operational were able to provide improved spacing precision at the final approach fix; however, some issues were identified that should be addressed prior to implementing IM procedures into real-world operations.

Swieringa, Kurt A.↗

Airport Traffic Conflict Detection and Resolution Algorithm Evaluation

Two conflict detection and resolution (CD&R) algorithms for the terminal maneuvering area (TMA) were evaluated in a fast-time batch simulation study at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center. One CD&R algorithm, developed at NASA, was designed to enhance surface situation awareness and provide cockpit alerts of potential conflicts during runway, taxi, and low altitude air-to-air operations. The second algorithm, Enhanced Traffic Situation Awareness on the Airport Surface with Indications and Alerts (SURF IA), was designed to increase flight crew awareness of the runway environment and facilitate an appropriate and timely response to potential conflict situations. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the performance of the aircraft-based CD&R algorithms during various runway, taxiway, and low altitude scenarios, multiple levels of CD&R system equipage, and various levels of horizontal position accuracy. Algorithm performance was assessed through various metrics including the collision rate, nuisance and missed alert rate, and alert toggling rate. The data suggests that, in general, alert toggling, nuisance and missed alerts, and unnecessary maneuvering occurred more frequently as the position accuracy was reduced. Collision avoidance was more effective when all of the aircraft were equipped with CD&R and maneuvered to avoid a collision after an alert was issued. In order to reduce the number of unwanted (nuisance) alerts when taxiing across a runway, a buffer is needed between the hold line and the alerting zone so alerts are not generated when an aircraft is behind the hold line. All of the results support RTCA horizontal position accuracy requirements for performing a CD&R function to reduce the likelihood and severity of runway incursions and collisions.

Jones, Denise R.↗

Optical Design of the WFIRST Phase-A Wide Field Instrument

The WFIRST Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope TMA optical design provides 0.28-sq degrees FOV at 0.11” pixel scale to the Wide Field Instrument, operating between 0.48-2.0 micrometers, including a spectrograph mode (1.0-2.0 micrometers). An Integral Field Channel provides 2-D discrete spectroscopy at 0.15” & 0.3” sampling.

Pasquale, Bert A.↗

Optical Design and Predicted Performance of the WFIRST Phase-B Imaging Optics Assembly and Wide Field Instrument

Now in Phase-B, the architecture of the Wide-Field Infra-Red Survey Telescope (WFIRST) payload has matured since 2013 to accommodate various opto-mechanical constraints. Based on a 2.4-meter aperture Forward Optical Assembly (FOA), the Imaging Optics Assembly (IOA) provides corrected optical fields to each on-board instrument. Using a Three Mirror Anastigmat (TMA) optical design, the Wide-Field Channel (WFC) provides ~1/3-square degree of instantaneous field coverage at 0.11 arcsecond pixel scale. The WFC as-built predictive analysis anticipates near diffraction-limited imaging over a focal plane of 300.8 million pixels, operating in seven panchromatic bands between 0.48 - 2.0μm, or a 1-octive multi-spectral imaging mode from ~0.95-1.93μm. The IOA provides the Coronagraph Instrument (CGI) a collimated beam with very specific wavefront constraints. We present configuration changes since 2013 that improved interfaces, improved testability, and reduced technical risk. We provide an overview of our Integrated Modeling results, performed at an unprecedented level for a phase-A study, to illustrate performance margins with respect to static wavefront error, jitter, and thermal drift.

Dark Energy↗

System-Level Performance Evaluation of ATD-1 Ground-Based Technologies

A series of large-scale human-in-the-loop simulations were conducted in the Airspace Operations Laboratory (AOL) at NASA Ames Research Center to evaluate the system-level performance of NASA Air Traffic Management Technology Demonstration-1 (ATD-1) ground-based technologies. The ATD-1 ground-based technologies are the Traffic Management Advisor for Terminal Metering (TMA-TM) and Controller-Managed Spacing (CMS) tools. The simulations compared current operations to ATD-1 operations for peak-period arrivals to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX). Results indicate that controllers new to ATD-1 operations can increase the use of Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) in complex arrival flows without undue increases in workload.

Callantine, Todd J.↗

The Origins Space Telescope Integration and Testing

This paper describes the plans, flows, key facilities, test beds, pathfinders, simulators and ground support equipment that could be used to fully integrate, functionally test and qualify the Origins Space Telescope (Origins). The Origins Observatory consists of the Spacecraft Bus Module (SBM) and the Cryogenic Payload Module (CPM), which comprises the telescope and three science instruments. The telescope is a Three Mirror Anastigmat (TMA) and is composed of four mirrors: three with optical power (the elliptical primary, hyperbolic secondary, and elliptical tertiary mirrors) and a flat field-steering mirror (FSM). The three science instruments spanning the wavelength range 2.8 to 588 μm provide the powerful new spectroscopic and imaging capabilities required to achieve the scientific objectives. The Origins Survey Spectrometer (OSS) uses six gratings in parallel to take multi-beam spectra simultaneously across the 25 to 588 μm window through long slits enabling deep 3D extra-galactic surveys. The Far-IR Imager/Polarimeter (FIP) provides imaging and polarimetric measurement capabilities at 50 and 250 μm. Its fast mapping enables rapid follow-up of transient or variable sources and efficient monitoring campaigns. The Mid-Infrared Spectrometer (MISC-T) provides spectroscopy simultaneously over 2.8 to 20 μm with exquisite stability and precision (<5 ppm between 2.8 to 10 μm, <20 ppm between 11 to 20 μm). All the instruments are delivered for Integration and Test fully qualified and calibrated. The Integration and Test program implemented at each level of assembly is discussed as well as the separation of thermal vacuum testing between the hot and cold zones of the Observatory. Portions of this manuscript appear in the Origins Study Final Report.

Origins↗

Microbial Characteristics of ISS Environmental Surfaces

The microbiome of environmental surfaces from the International Space Station were characterized in order to examine the relationship to crew and hardware maintenance. The Microbial Observatory (ISS-MO) experiment generated a microbial census of ISS environments using advanced molecular microbial community analyses along with traditional culture-based methods. Since the “omics” methodologies generated an extensive microbial census, significant insights into spaceflight-induced changes in the populations of beneficial and/or potentially harmful microbes were gained. Surface samples were collected from several ISS surface locations from three flight opportunities, and were returned to Earth via the Soyuz TMA-14M or the Space X Dragon capsule. In addition to cultivation methods, viable microbial burden, iTag-based sequencing, and metagenome analyses were carried out. The cultivable microbial bioburden differed by location and sampling event. Exploring the ISS environmental microbiome revealed presence of opportunistic pathogens and antibiotic resistant microbes. Genes involved in ATP binding cassette transporters, two component systems, and beta-lactam resistance were among a diverse set of metabolic and genetic information processing pathways. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) of 50 ISS strains exhibiting resistance to various antibiotics was carried out. The antibiotic resistant genes deduced from the WGS were compared with the resistomes generated directly from the gene pool of the environmental samples. Two unique Aspergillus fumigatus strains isolated from the ISS were characterized and compared to the experimentally established clinical isolates Af293 and CEA10. A virulence assessment in a neutrophil-deficient larval zebrafish model of invasive aspergillosis indicated that both ISSFT-021 and IF1SW-F4 were significantly more lethal compared to Af293 and CEA10. The findings from this Environmental “Omics” project should be exploited to enhance human health and well-being of a closed system. In other words, the ISS-MO research aims to "translate" findings in fundamental research into medical practice (pathogen detection) and meaningful health outcomes (countermeasure development).

Perry, Jay↗

PMT F7 Silver Standard Material Properties Characterization

PMT F7 epoxy resin was characterized to capture the material's thermochemical and thermo-mechanical properties. DSC testing was performed and the data was used to develop a cure kinetics model which predicts the material cure response and specific heat capacity. TMA and DMA testing were performed and the data was used to develop thermo-mechanical models which predict the material CTE, cure shrinkage, and modulus evolution with cure. Convergent Manufacturing Technologies US determined test parameters, analyzed data, and performed model fitting. NASA completed tests and provided data to Convergent Manufacturing Technologies US.

Epoxy↗

Object-Oriented Geographical Database Model

Terbase is an Object-Oriented database system under development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Terbase is designed for flexibility, reusability, maintenace ease, multi-user collaboration and independence, and efficiency. This paper details the design and development of Terbase as a geographic data server...

Terbase Object-Oriented database system Tactical M↗