SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Operations coordination plan”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 127 records · Page 7

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS2004

Research on International Space Station - Building a Partnership for the Future

As its name implies, the International Space Station is a platform where the research programs of 16 partner nations are conducted. While each partner pursues its own research priorities, cooperation and coordination of the various national and agency research programs occurs at multiple levels, from strategic through tactical planning to experiment operations. Since 2000, a significant number of experiments have been carried out in the Russian ISS utilization program, which consists of the Russian national program of fundamental and applied research in 11 research areas and international cooperative programs and contract activities. The US research program began with simple payloads in 2000 and was significantly expanded with the addition of the US Laboratory module Destiny in 2001, and its outfitting with seven research racks to date. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have made use of international cooperative arrangements with both the US and Russia to implement a variety of investigations in diverse research areas, and in the case of ESA included the flights of crewmembers to ISS as part of Soyuz Science Missions. In the future, ESA and JAXA will add their own research modules, Columbus and Kibo, respectively, to expand research capabilities both inside and outside ISS. In the aftermath of the Columbia accident and the temporary grounding of the Space Shuttle fleet, all ISS logistics have relied on Russian Progress and Sopz vehicles. The Russian national program has continued as before the Shuttle accident, as have international cooperative programs and contract activities, both during long-duration expeditions and visiting taxi missions. In several instances, Russian international cooperative activities with JAXA and ESA have also involved the use of US facilities and crewmembers in successful truly multilateral efforts. The US research program was rapidly refocused after the Shuttle accident to rely on greatly reduced upmass, and for the first time in the ISS program, US research hardware was launched on Progress vehicles and returned with crews on Soyuz spacecraft. It is hoped that these small but significant steps in international cooperation will lead to even greater endeavors once the remaining research modules are added to ISS.

Gindl, Heinz↗

NASA NTRS2008

Large Unmanned Aircraft System Operations in the National Airspace System - the NASA 2007 Western States Fire Missions

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) Ikhana (ee-kah-nah) project executed the 2007 Western States Fire Missions over several of the western United States using an MQ-9 unmanned aircraft system (UAS) in partnership with the NASA Ames Research Center, the United States Forest Service, and the National Interagency Fire Center. The missions were intended to supply infrared imagery of wildfires to firefighters on the ground within 10 minutes of data acquisition. For each of the eight missions, the NASA DFRC notified the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of specific flight plans within three or fewer days of the flight. The FAA Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (commonly referred to as a COA ) process was used to obtain access to the United States National Airspace System. Significant time and resources were necessary to develop the COA application, perform mission planning, and define and approve emergency landing sites. Unique aspects of flying unmanned aircraft created challenges to mission operations. Close coordination with FAA headquarters and air traffic control resulted in safe and successful missions that assisted firefighters by providing near-real-time imagery of selected wildfires.

Buoni, Gregory P.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Future operational plans for the National Space Transportation System

In March 1985, the NASA/DOD Space Transportation System Master Plan was published. This document establishes objectives and plans for operating the Space Transportation System (STS) for the next decade. In the present paper, some key points are discussed, and the significance of the weather forecasting capability is indicated. The STS is to become fully operational by the later 1980's and is to support fully the national needs into the mid-1990's. Attention is given to NASA/DOD STS coordination, NASA/DOD STS Master Plan Traffic Models, the Orbiter Launch-Rate Capability, Launch-Rate Capabilities for Shuttle Processing Facilities at Kennedy Space Center, and Launch-Rate Capabilities for Shuttle Processing Facilities at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Neubauer, C. H., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2006

Human-Robot Site Survey and Sampling for Space Exploration

NASA is planning to send humans and robots back to the Moon before 2020. In order for extended missions to be productive, high quality maps of lunar terrain and resources are required. Although orbital images can provide much information, many features (local topography, resources, etc) will have to be characterized directly on the surface. To address this need, we are developing a system to perform site survey and sampling. The system includes multiple robots and humans operating in a variety of team configurations, coordinated via peer-to-peer human-robot interaction. In this paper, we present our system design and describe planned field tests.

Fong, Terrence↗

NASA NTRS2013

Requirements, Resource Planning, and Management for Decrewing/Recrewing Scenarios of the International Space Station

Following the failure of 44 Progress (44P) on launch in August 2011, and the subsequent grounding of all Russian Soyuz rocket based launches, the International Space Station (ISS) ground teams engaged in an effort to determine how long the ISS could remain crewed, what would be required to safely configure the ISS for decrewing, and what would be required to recrew the ISS upon resumption of Soyuz rocket launches if decrewing became necessary. This White Paper was written to capture the processes and lessons learned from real-time time events and to provide a reference and training document for ISS Program teams in the event decrewing of the ISS is needed. Through coordination meetings and assessments, teams identified six decrewing priorities for ground and crew operations. These priorities were integrated along with preflight priorities through the Increment re-planning process. Additionally, the teams reviewed, updated, and implemented changes to the governing documentation for the configuration of the ISS for a contingency decrewing event. Steps were taken to identify critical items for disposal prior to decrewing, as well as identifying the required items to be strategically staged or flown with the astronauts and cosmonauts who would eventually recrew the ISS. After the successful launches and dockings of both 45P and 28 Soyuz (28S), the decrewing team transitioned to finalizing and publishing the documentation for standardizing the decrewing flight rules. With the continued launching of crews and cargo to the ISS, utilization and science is again a high priority; both Increment pairs 29 and 30, and Increment 31 and 32 reaching the milestone of at least 35 hours per week average utilization.

Bach, David A.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Data Quality: 1979 Southeastern Virginia Urban Plume Study (SEV-UPS): Surface and Airborne studies

The SEV-UPS field study conducted during August 1979 involved the coordinated air quality data collection efforts of three different organizations operating a total of four aircraft and 12 ground stations. Incorporated into plans for that program were numerous quality assurance activities designed to identify potential hazards for data quality in time for their correction and to take data to allow assessment of the consistency of the data from different stations. The purpose of this study was to document QA procedures that were performed by participating agencies and revise data from all platforms for mutual compatibility. For the latter effort, cases were identified on 21 occasions on seven different days where two or more monitoring systems were operating in the same location at nearly the same time. Data from the systems involved were tabulated in 200 m altitude segments, averaged and compared to detect any bias between measurements made from different systems. The results of these comparisons along with the results of independent performance audits are presented.

White, J. H.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Space Station Freedom Program preliminary design review process

To conduct the Program Requirements Review of the Space Station Freedom, a Preliminary Design Review Board (PDR) has been established. The PDR will assess the preliminary design of the assembled manned base including the assembly process, the launch, and on-orbit stage configuration, the design approach, the on-orbit verification plans, supportability, reliability, safety, interfaces with the NASA infrastructure (the NSTS, TDRSS, and Ground operations) and international partners. Issues such as the coordination of a common interpretation of design requirements, coordination of interfaces, and convergence of design perspectives vs. proper allocation of resources are discussed. The impact of the resolution of the secondary ripple effect of design decisions which may cause programmatic difficulties is also addressed.

Carlise, R. F.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Center for Advanced Computational Technology

The Center for Advanced Computational Technology (ACT) was established to serve as a focal point for diverse research activities pertaining to application of advanced computational technology to future aerospace systems. These activities include the use of numerical simulations, artificial intelligence methods, multimedia and synthetic environments, and computational intelligence, in the modeling, analysis, sensitivity studies, optimization, design and operation of future aerospace systems. The Center is located at NASA Langley and is an integral part of the School of Engineering and Applied Science of the University of Virginia. The Center has four specific objectives: 1) conduct innovative research on applications of advanced computational technology to aerospace systems; 2) act as pathfinder by demonstrating to the research community what can be done (high-potential, high-risk research); 3) help in identifying future directions of research in support of the aeronautical and space missions of the twenty-first century; and 4) help in the rapid transfer of research results to industry and in broadening awareness among researchers and engineers of the state-of-the-art in applications of advanced computational technology to the analysis, design prototyping and operations of aerospace and other high-performance engineering systems. In addition to research, Center activities include helping in the planning and coordination of the activities of a multi-center team of NASA and JPL researchers who are developing an intelligent synthesis environment for future aerospace systems; organizing workshops and national symposia; as well as writing state-of-the-art monographs and NASA special publications on timely topics.

Noor, Ahmed K.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Miles In Trail (MIT) Restrictions: A Perspective

Miles-in-trail restrictions are issued to meet the airport and/or airspace capacity. The purpose of this paper is to review the currently practiced miles-in-trail operations for traffic flow management at a typical en route Air Traffic Control Center. The paper describes roles and considerations of both traffic management coordinators and the controllers in planning, coordination, execution, and monitoring of miles-in-trail restrictions. The paper addresses the type of decisions that traffic management coordinators must make and the different information required to plan and monitor miles-in-trail restrictions. The implications of miles-in-trail restrictions on controller workload are also addressed. Using the Cleveland center as an example, the paper also identified some challenging traffic situations that required miles-in-trail restrictions on a regular basis. The paper is expected to benefit the research and development community as it provides the current challenges in traffic flow management and strengths and weakness of miles-in-trail operations.

Kopardekar, Parimal↗

NASA NTRS2014

Mars Relay Operations Service (MaROS): A Present Service Preparing for the Future

The Mars Relay Operations Service (MaROS) has been deployed by NASA's Mars Program Office and the Multimission Ground Systems and Services (MGSS) Project into mission operations to aid in the coordination of relay activities at Mars. This live system presents standardized interfaces and a centralized infrastructure to current and future participants in the Mars Relay Network for the purpose of reliably and securely exchanging and storing all relay-related planning and operations data. The initial development of this system leveraged over eight years of experience performing relay operations between the various spacecraft at Mars. Now, four years after its initial deployment, MaROS continues to undergo further refinement to better meet the needs of the Mars Relay Network. The most substantial, recent update was focused on providing capabilities needed by the Mars Science Laboratory project, which landed on Mars in August of 2012. This paper will describe the nature of that update and describe additional features being added to the system to better serve the needs of current and future Mars missions.

Gladden, Roy E.↗

NASA NTRS2010

High-Volume Airborne Fluids Handling Technologies to Fight Wildfires

NASA recently partnered with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) on a project to examine mission suitability and recommend policies and procedures for the use of very large aerial firefighting aircraft such as the Boeing 747 and DC-10 aerial retardant delivery aircraft. The aircraft under study included a 10Tanker DC-10 and an Evergreen B-747. NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center and Ames Research Center worked with the USFS to help determine the safe flight envelope for these Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT) aircraft for the USFS and the Department of the Interior (DOI). This new generation of supertankers includes aircraft like these that have as much as four times the delivery capacity of the previous generation of aerial firefighting aircraft. Dryden performed operational test and evaluation assessments and reported findings and recommendations on these aircraft in cooperation with Ames. The team developed, implemented, and directed an evaluation test plan for use in flight test and in simulation. Ames provided support using pilot-in-the-loop simulations and coordinated simulator models, flight profiles, and data analysis with Dryden. The test plan was designed to evaluate the suitability of VLAT aircraft as a function of mission environment. Based on this analysis, NASA generated interim flight envelope limitations to enhance safety and operational utility in the fire-retardant delivery mission. These recommended flight limitations were adopted by the USFS. The 10Tanker DC-10 has been in use for several years with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection(Cal-Fire), but until NASA took on the challenge of reviewing VLAT capabilities and limitations, the USFS was hesitant to add them to the federal wildfire arsenal. The DC-10 delivery system is based on an externally mounted set of tanks and a bomb-bay style set of clamshell doors that are opened in precisely calibrated ways to deliver the amounts and concentrations of retardant called for by the specific wildfire situation. The system was manufactured by Jordan Air of Central Point, OR, and was installed by Victorville Aerospace in Victorville, CA. It can deliver 12,000 gallons (45.4 kL) of retardant in as little as eight seconds. The aircraft can deliver a partial load of retardant and make multiple drops on the same flight, or the entire load can be rapidly delivered in one pass if required for maximum coverage. The Evergreen 747 uses internal tankage and a pressurized delivery system to enable volume and coverage levels that also meet USFS requirements, but enables computer control of flow for desired precision. This system was designed and built by Adaptive Aerospace of Tehachapi, CA and can deliver about 20,000 gallons (75.7 kL) of retardant in approximately ten seconds. The 747 can also make multiple independent drops, or deliver the entire load at once. NASA found that both of these VLAT aircraft are compatible with the wildfire suppression mission when used to supplement other aerial retardant delivery platforms. The major recommendations for deployment that resulted from this study relate to terrain clearance, the type of terrain in the drop area, availability of qualified lead planes to guide the VLAT approach to the drop area, and low-altitude maneuvering limitations. NASA s analysis suggests that with the appropriate flight procedures, these aircraft will provide a powerful set of tools to fight wildfires.

Dickerson, Mark↗

NASA NTRS2004

High Altitude Long Endurance Remotely Operated Aircraft - National Airspace System Integration - Simulation IPT: Detailed Airspace Operations Simulation Plan. Version 1.0

The primary goal of Access 5 is to allow safe, reliable and routine operations of High Altitude-Long Endurance Remotely Operated Aircraft (HALE ROAs) within the National Airspace System (NAS). Step 1 of Access 5 addresses the policies, procedures, technologies and implementation issues of introducing such operations into the NAS above pressure altitude 40,000 ft (Flight Level 400 or FL400). Routine HALE ROA activity within the NAS represents a potentially significant change to the tasks and concerns of NAS users, service providers and other stakeholders. Due to the complexity of the NAS, and the importance of maintaining current high levels of safety in the NAS, any significant changes must be thoroughly evaluated prior to implementation. The Access 5 community has been tasked with performing this detailed evaluation of routine HALE-ROA activities in the NAS, and providing to key NAS stakeholders a set of recommended policies and procedures to achieve this goal. Extensive simulation, in concert with a directed flight demonstration program are intended to provide the required supporting evidence that these recommendations are based on sound methods and offer a clear roadmap to achieving safe, reliable and routine HALE ROA operations in the NAS. Through coordination with NAS service providers and policy makers, and with significant input from HALE-ROA manufacturers, operators and pilots, this document presents the detailed simulation plan for Step 1 of Access 5. A brief background of the Access 5 project will be presented with focus on Steps 1 and 2, concerning HALE-ROA operations above FL400 and FL180 respectively. An overview of project management structure follows with particular emphasis on the role of the Simulation IPT and its relationships to other project entities. This discussion will include a description of work packages assigned to the Simulation IPT, and present the specific goals to be achieved for each simulation work package, along with the associated deliverables necessary to achieve these goals and the needs of other Access 5 IPTs. The simulation environment chosen for this task is then outlined. This section includes a description of the system architecture, a list of the necessary assumptions made by the Simulation IPT, and the roles, responsibilities and interactions of simulation participants. The method of simulation conduct is presented in the next section with particular emphasis on scenario development and applicability to evaluation of Step 1 HALE-ROA operations. Following, data collection and analysis methods are discussed for air traffic specialists and air vehicle control station operators. Lastly, a schedule of Step 1 simulation activities is presented for reference.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1978

Study of the storm time fluxes of heavy ions

The characteristics of the storm time ring current ions in the energy range of 0.5 to 16 keV were investigated. Data were processed and analyzed from the energetic ion mass spectrometer aboard the S3-3 satellite. Results are used for planning and operating the ion mass spectrometer experiment on the ISEE spacecraft, for selecting and processing the ISEE ion data, and for planning and conducting coordinated satellite experiments in support of the International Magnetospheric Study (IMS). It is established from the S3-3 ion data that relatively large fluxes of energetic (keV) 0(+) and H(+) ions are frequently flowing upward from the ionosphere along magnetic field lines in the polar auroral regions. Also, from investigations with the same instrument during the main phase of three moderate (D sub ST approximately 100) magnetic storms, it is found that the number density of 0(+) ions in the ring current was comparable to H(+) ion density the range 0.5 to 15 keV.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1992

Ulysses operations at Jupiter - Planning for the unknown

The operational preparations for the Ulysses encounter with Jupiter are described with particular attention given to requirements for survival in the Jovian environment, ground-segment planning, a deep-space network, and encounter activities. It is concluded that the successful operation of the Ulysses spacecraft at Jupiter was the culmination of many years of activity, from spacecraft design and mission planning to the coordination of the encounter activities and production of the detailed timeline.

Angold, N.↗

NASA NTRS1994

The IUE Science Operations Ground System

The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) Science Operations System provides full realtime operations capabilities and support to the operations staff and astronomer users. The components of this very diverse and extremely flexible hardware and software system have played a major role in maintaining the scientific efficiency and productivity of the IUE. The software provides the staff and user with all the tools necessary for pre-visit and real-time planning and operations analysis for any day of the year. Examples of such tools include the effects of spacecraft constraints on target availability, maneuver times between targets, availability of guide stars, target identification, coordinate transforms, e-mail transfer of Observatory forms and messages, and quick-look analysis of image data. Most of this extensive software package can also be accessed remotely by individual users for information, scheduling of shifts, pre-visit planning, and actual observing program execution. Astronomers, with a modest investment in hardware and software, may establish remote observing sites. We currently have over 20 such sites in our remote observers' network.

Pitts, Ronald E.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Denver TMA assessment

This report describes the assessment of the Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) conducted at the Denver Center and TRACON, January 11-February 5, 1993. The assessment addressed the effectiveness of TMA for supporting various traffic management activities. At the Center, traffic management coordinators (TMC's) shadowed traffic operations, using TMA to make metering time and internal release decisions. At the TRACON, TMC's accessed TMA in an advisory mode for different planning activities such as staffing, distributing the traffic load, and changing the airport acceptance rate. These different opportunities for assessing TMA provide insight into TMA as a potential communication aid and planning tool. Findings from this assessment indicate that TMA can be used to support traffic management planning and decisions. TMC's at the center were able to use information provided by TMA to determine metering times as well as internal release times. At the TRACON, TMA supported decisions on airport configuration, airport acceptance rate, load distribution, proactive coordination with the center, and staffing. While findings of TMA use are generally positive, it must be kept in mind that this assessment is a snapshot in time. Not all TMA capabilities were assessed, nor were TMC's fully trained and knowledgeable on all features. Feature use will continue to evolve and strategies emerge as the TMC's gain experience with TMA over a variety of traffic situations and their understanding of TMA capabilities broadens with continued training.

Harwood, Kelly↗

NASA NTRS1989

NASA ground communications

As part of the Communications Requirements and Constraints, NASA's two major Ground Data Networks were briefly described. The NASA Communication Network, called NASCOM, is the worldwide operational telecommunications system which interconnects as the tracking and telemetry acquisition sites, launch areas, mission and project control centers, data capture facilities, and network control centers in support of space flight. For the Space Station era, NASCOM plans are set for higher data rate service utilizing data packet switched technology. Increased use of fiber optics is expected in a much more diverse network topology. The second major ground network, the Program Support Communications Network (PSCN), interconnects all NASA Centers and NASA contractor locations for intercenter non-operation communications. The primary functions are to transport voice, video, data and facsimile information for intercenter coordination, and to provide user access to space science and applications data bases. For the Space Station era, PSCN plans address the significant increase in forecast requirements for science data distribution and access to the Numerical Aerodynamics Simulator, and increased use of the Video Teleconference System.

Roeder, John↗

NASA NTRS2011

TPSAS-NF1676L-12441-DND

The increasing presence of airport surface surveillance technologies has spawned a strong interest in airport surface traffic management research; the vast majority has assumed that the airport’s runway configuration is known and constant. Tactical Runway Configuration Management (TRCM), one component of NASA’s System Oriented Runway Management concept, plans the airport configuration to optimize traffic efficiency for the forecast weather, traffic, and other factors. While planning runway configuration can provide benefit and is required by other automation concepts, larger benefits are possible by planning other airport configuration decisions, such as runway assignment policies, that are currently made manually by controllers. A laboratory prototype of the TRCM algorithm which selects optimal airport configuration schedules has been implemented and studied within a simulation environment. The presentation will describe simulation results for several airports, under various weather and traffic conditions. The sequence of airport configurations recommended by TRCM result in significantly less delay than the airport configurations that were actually used by controllers, illustrating both the potential benefit from airport configuration optimization and the ability of TRCM to provide effective airport configuration schedules. The application to several, distinct airports demonstrates the approach is capable of handling the differences between airports with a common algorithm, while providing decision support that respects the current procedures at those airports. Consequently, TRCM is able to be deployed to any airport within the current National Airspace System. The TRCM algorithmic approach is also extensible to future operational scenarios. NASA is in the process of transferring the initial TRCM technology to the FAA. Future research will extend the concept and algorithm to provide coordinated plans for metroplex airports and study NextGen applications.

Stephen Atkins↗