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At least 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2009

Complexity Science Applications to Dynamic Trajectory Management: Research Strategies

The promise of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) is strongly tied to the concept of trajectory-based operations in the national airspace system. Existing efforts to develop trajectory management concepts are largely focused on individual trajectories, optimized independently, then de-conflicted among each other, and individually re-optimized, as possible. The benefits in capacity, fuel, and time are valuable, though perhaps could be greater through alternative strategies. The concept of agent-based trajectories offers a strategy for automation of simultaneous multiple trajectory management. The anticipated result of the strategy would be dynamic management of multiple trajectories with interacting and interdependent outcomes that satisfy multiple, conflicting constraints. These constraints would include the business case for operators, the capacity case for the Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP), and the environmental case for noise and emissions. The benefits in capacity, fuel, and time might be improved over those possible under individual trajectory management approaches. The proposed approach relies on computational agent-based modeling (ABM), combinatorial mathematics, as well as application of "traffic physics" concepts to the challenge, and modeling and simulation capabilities. The proposed strategy could support transforming air traffic control from managing individual aircraft behaviors to managing systemic behavior of air traffic in the NAS. A system built on the approach could provide the ability to know when regions of airspace approach being "full," that is, having non-viable local solution space for optimizing trajectories in advance.

Sawhill, Bruce↗
NASA NTRS2010

NASA's Participation in Joint SatOPS Compatibility Efforts 2009-2010

Many U.S. government organizations build or fly space systems: a) NASA, NOAA, Navy, Air Force, NRO, ORS. Others? b) Through the Joint SatOps Compatibility Committee (JSCC) we have increased the grass-roots interaction between many of these organizations. c) We all deal with many of the same challenges: More rapid deployments, lower budgets; Advancing technologies - frameworks, clouds, virtualization; Evolving concepts - automation, situational awareness, enterprise mngt. Standardization - formal or by common use. There is an inherently governmental role in creating the business case for contractors and commercial product vendors to move in directions beneficial to multiple government space organizations.

Smith, Danford↗
NASA NTRS2010

Advanced Vehicle Concepts and Implications for NextGen

This report presents the results of a major NASA study of advanced vehicle concepts and their implications for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). Comprising the efforts of dozens of researchers at multiple institutions, the analyses presented here cover a broad range of topics including business-case development, vehicle design, avionics, procedure design, delay, safety, environmental impacts, and metrics. The study focuses on the following five new vehicle types: Cruise-efficient short takeoff and landing (CESTOL) vehicles Large commercial tiltrotor aircraft (LCTRs) Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) Very light jets (VLJs) Supersonic transports (SST). The timeframe of the study spans the years 2025-2040, although some analyses are also presented for a 3X scenario that has roughly three times the number of flights as today. Full implementation of NextGen is assumed.

Air traffic control↗
NASA NTRS2011

Technology Applications that Support Space Exploration

Several enabling technologies have been identified that would provide significant benefits for future space exploration. In-Space demonstrations should be chosen so that these technologies will have a timely opportunity to improve efficiencies and reduce risks for future spaceflight. An early window exists to conduct ground and flight demonstrations that make use of existing assets that were developed for the Space Shuttle and the Constellation programs. The work could be mostly performed using residual program civil servants, existing facilities and current commercial launch capabilities. Partnering these abilities with the emerging commercial sector, along with other government agencies, academia and with international partners would provide an affordable and timely approach to get the launch costs down for these payloads, while increasing the derived benefits to a larger community. There is a wide scope of varied technologies that are being considered to help future space exploration. However, the cost and schedule would be prohibitive to demonstrate all these in the near term. Determining which technologies would yield the best return in meeting our future space needs is critical to building an achievable Space Architecture that allows exploration beyond Low Earth Orbit. The best mix of technologies is clearly to be based on our future needs, but also must take into account the availability of existing assets and supporting partners. Selecting those technologies that have complimentary applications will provide the most knowledge, with reasonable cost, for future use The plan is to develop those applications that not only mature the technology but actually perform a useful task or mission. These might include such functions as satellite servicing, a propulsion stage, processing lunar regolith, generating and transmitting solar power, cryogenic fluid transfer and storage and artificial gravity. Applications have been selected for assessment for future consideration and are addressed in this paper. These applications have been made available to the various NASA study groups that are determining the next steps the Agency must take to secure a sound foundation for future space exploration The paper also addresses how follow-on demonstrations, as launch performance grows, can build on the earlier applications to provide increased benefits for both the commercial and scientific communities. The architecture of incrementally building upon previous successes and insights dramatically lowers the overall associated risk for developing and maturing the key enabling technologies. The goal is to establish a potential business case that encourages commercial activity, thereby reducing the cost for the demonstration while using the technology maturation in developing readiness for future space exploration with overall less risk.

Henderson, Edward M.↗
NASA NTRS2011

NASA's Space Launch System Progress Report

Exploration beyond Earth will be an enduring legacy for future generations, confirming America's commitment to explore, learn, and progress. NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) Program, managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center, is responsible for designing and developing the first exploration-class rocket since the Apollo Program's Saturn V that sent Americans to the Moon. The SLS offers a flexible design that may be configured for the MultiPurpose Crew Vehicle and associated equipment, or may be outfitted with a payload fairing that will accommodate flagship science instruments and a variety of high-priority experiments. Both options support a national capability that will pay dividends for future generations. Building on legacy systems, facilities, and expertise, the SLS will have an initial lift capability of 70 metric tons (mT) and will be evolvable to 130 mT. While commercial launch vehicle providers service the International Space Station market, this capability will surpass all vehicles, past and present, providing the means to do entirely new missions, such as human exploration of asteroids and Mars. With its superior lift capability, the SLS can expand the interplanetary highway to many possible destinations, conducting revolutionary missions that will change the way we view ourselves, our planet and its place in the cosmos. To perform missions such as these, the SLS will be the largest launch vehicle ever built. It is being designed for safety and affordability - to sustain our journey into the space age. Current plans include launching the first flight, without crew, later this decade, with crewed flights beginning early next decade. Development work now in progress is based on heritage space systems and working knowledge, allowing for a relatively quick start and for maturing the SLS rocket as future technologies become available. Together, NASA and the U.S. aerospace industry are partnering to develop this one-of-a-kind asset. Many of NASA's space centers across the country will provide their unique expertise to the Space Launch System endeavor. Unique infrastructure to be used includes the Michoud Assembly Facility for tank manufacturing, Stennis Space Center for engine testing, and Kennedy Space Center for processing and launch. As this panel will discuss, the SLS team is dedicated to doing things differently-from applying lean oversight/insight models to smartly using legacy hardware and existing facilities. Building on the foundation laid by over 50 years of human and scientific space flight--and on the lessons learned from the Apollo, Space Shuttle, and Constellation Programs-the SLS team has delivered both technical trade studies and business case analyses to ensure that the SLS architecture will be safe, affordable, reliable, and sustainable.

Singer, Joan A.↗
NASA NTRS2012

NASA's Space Launch System Progress Report

Exploration beyond Earth orbit will be an enduring legacy for future generations, as it provides a platform for science and exploration that will define new knowledge and redefine known boundaries. NASA s Space Launch System (SLS) Program, managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center, is responsible for designing and developing the first exploration-class rocket since the Apollo Program s Saturn V that sent Americans to the Moon in the 1960s and 1970s. The SLS offers a flexible design that may be configured for the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle with associated life-support equipment and provisions for long journeys or may be outfitted with a payload fairing that will accommodate flagship science instruments and a variety of high-priority experiments. Building on legacy systems, facilities, and expertise, the SLS will have an initial lift capability of 70 tonnes (t) in 2017 and will be evolvable to 130 t after 2021. While commercial launch vehicle providers service the International Space Station market, this capability will surpass all vehicles, past and present, providing the means to do entirely new missions, such as human exploration of Mars. Building on the foundation laid by over 50 years of human and scientific space flight and on the lessons learned from the Apollo, Space Shuttle, and Constellation Programs the SLS team is delivering both technical trade studies and business case analyses to ensure that the SLS architecture will be safe, affordable, reliable, and sustainable. This panel will address the planning and progress being made by NASA s SLS Program.

May, Todd A.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Safety and IVHM

When we address safety in a book on the business case for IVHM, the question arises whether safety isn t inherently in conflict with the need of operators to run their systems as efficiently (and as cost effectively) as possible. The answer may be that the system needs to be just as safe as needed, but not significantly more. That begs the next question: How safe is safe enough? Several regulatory bodies provide guidelines for operational safety, but irrespective of that, operators do not want their systems to be known as lacking safety. We illuminate the role of safety within the context of IVHM.

Goebel, Kai↗
NASA NTRS2013

New Approaches in Reusable Booster System Life Cycle Cost Modeling

This paper presents the results of a 2012 life cycle cost (LCC) study of hybrid Reusable Booster Systems (RBS) conducted by NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The work included the creation of a new cost estimating model and an LCC analysis, building on past work where applicable, but emphasizing the integration of new approaches in life cycle cost estimation. Specifically, the inclusion of industry processes/practices and indirect costs were a new and significant part of the analysis. The focus of LCC estimation has traditionally been from the perspective of technology, design characteristics, and related factors such as reliability. Technology has informed the cost related support to decision makers interested in risk and budget insight. This traditional emphasis on technology occurs even though it is well established that complex aerospace systems costs are mostly about indirect costs, with likely only partial influence in these indirect costs being due to the more visible technology products. Organizational considerations, processes/practices, and indirect costs are traditionally derived ("wrapped") only by relationship to tangible product characteristics. This traditional approach works well as long as it is understood that no significant changes, and by relation no significant improvements, are being pursued in the area of either the government acquisition or industry?s indirect costs. In this sense then, most launch systems cost models ignore most costs. The alternative was implemented in this LCC study, whereby the approach considered technology and process/practices in balance, with as much detail for one as the other. This RBS LCC study has avoided point-designs, for now, instead emphasizing exploring the trade-space of potential technology advances joined with potential process/practice advances. Given the range of decisions, and all their combinations, it was necessary to create a model of the original model and use genetic algorithms to explore results. A strong business case occurs when viable paths are identified for an affordable up-front investment, and these paths can credibly achieve affordable, responsive operations, characterized by smaller direct touch labor efforts at the wing level from flight to flight. The results supporting this approach, its potential, and its conclusions are presented here.

Zapata, Edgar↗
NASA NTRS2013

New Approaches in Reuseable Booster System Life Cycle Cost Modeling

This paper presents the results of a 2012 life cycle cost (LCC) study of hybrid Reusable Booster Systems (RBS) conducted by NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The work included the creation of a new cost estimating model and an LCC analysis, building on past work where applicable, but emphasizing the integration of new approaches in life cycle cost estimation. Specifically, the inclusion of industry processes/practices and indirect costs were a new and significant part of the analysis. The focus of LCC estimation has traditionally been from the perspective of technology, design characteristics, and related factors such as reliability. Technology has informed the cost related support to decision makers interested in risk and budget insight. This traditional emphasis on technology occurs even though it is well established that complex aerospace systems costs are mostly about indirect costs, with likely only partial influence in these indirect costs being due to the more visible technology products. Organizational considerations, processes/practices, and indirect costs are traditionally derived ("wrapped") only by relationship to tangible product characteristics. This traditional approach works well as long as it is understood that no significant changes, and by relation no significant improvements, are being pursued in the area of either the government acquisition or industry?s indirect costs. In this sense then, most launch systems cost models ignore most costs. The alternative was implemented in this LCC study, whereby the approach considered technology and process/practices in balance, with as much detail for one as the other. This RBS LCC study has avoided point-designs, for now, instead emphasizing exploring the trade-space of potential technology advances joined with potential process/practice advances. Given the range of decisions, and all their combinations, it was necessary to create a model of the original model and use genetic algorithms to explore results. A strong business case occurs when viable paths are identified for an affordable up-front investment, and these paths can credibly achieve affordable, responsive operations, characterized by smaller direct touch labor efforts at the wing level from flight to flight. The results supporting this approach, its potential, and its conclusions are presented here.

Zapata, Edgar↗
NASA NTRS2013

An Operational Safety and Certification Assessment of a TASAR EFB Application

This paper presents an overview of a Traffic Aware Strategic Aircrew Requests (TASAR) Electronic Flight Bag application intended to inform the pilot of trajectory improvement opportunities while en route that result in operational benefits. The results of safety analyses and a detailed review of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulatory documents that establish certification and operational approval requirements are presented for TASAR. The safety analyses indicate that TASAR has a likely Failure Effects Classification of “No Effect,” and at most, is no worse than “Minor Effect.” Based on this safety assessment and the detailed review of FAA regulatory documents that determine certification and operational approval requirements, this study concludes that TASAR can be implemented in the flight deck as a Type B software application hosted on a Class 2 Portable Electronic Device (PED) Electronic Flight Bag (EFB). This implementation approach would provide a relatively low-cost path to certification and operational approval for both retrofit and forward fit implementation, while at the same time facilitating the business case for early ADS-B IN equipage. A preliminary review by FAA certification and operational approvers of the analyses presented here confirmed that the conclusions are appropriate and that TASAR will be considered a Type B application.

Koczo, Stefan↗
NASA NTRS2014

Life Cycle Analysis of Dedicated Nano-Launch Technologies

Recent technology advancements have enabled the development of small cheap satellites that can perform useful functions in the space environment. Currently, the only low cost option for getting these payloads into orbit is through ride share programs - small satellites awaiting the launch of a larger satellite, and then riding along on the same launcher. As a result, these small satellite customers await primary payload launches and a backlog exists. An alternative option would be dedicated nano-launch systems built and operated to provide more flexible launch services, higher availability, and affordable prices. The potential customer base that would drive requirements or support a business case includes commercial, academia, civil government and defense. Further, NASA technology investments could enable these alternative game changing options. With this context, in 2013 the Game Changing Development (GCD) program funded a NASA team to investigate the feasibility of dedicated nano-satellite launch systems with a recurring cost of less than $2 million per launch for a 5 kg payload to low Earth orbit. The team products would include potential concepts, technologies and factors for enabling the ambitious cost goal, exploring the nature of the goal itself, and informing the GCD program technology investment decision making process. This paper provides an overview of the life cycle analysis effort that was conducted in 2013 by an inter-center NASA team. This effort included the development of reference nano-launch system concepts, developing analysis processes and models, establishing a basis for cost estimates (development, manufacturing and launch) suitable to the scale of the systems, and especially, understanding the relationship of potential game changing technologies to life cycle costs, as well as other factors, such as flights per year.

nanolaunch↗
NASA NTRS2014

Life Cycle Analysis of Dedicated Nano-Launch Technologies

Recent technology advancements have enabled the development of small cheap satellites that can perform useful functions in the space environment. Currently, the only low cost option for getting these payloads into orbit is through ride share programs. As a result, these launch opportunities await primary payload launches and a backlog exists. An alternative option would be dedicated nano-launch systems built and operated to provide more flexible launch services, higher availability, and affordable prices. The potential customer base that would drive requirements or support a business case includes commercial, academia, civil government and defense. Further, NASA technology investments could enable these alternative game changing options.With this context, in 2013 the Game Changing Development (GCD) program funded a NASA team to investigate the feasibility of dedicated nano-satellite launch systems with a recurring cost of less than $2 million per launch for a 5 kg payload to low Earth orbit. The team products would include potential concepts, technologies and factors for enabling the ambitious cost goal, exploring the nature of the goal itself, and informing the GCD program technology investment decision making process. This paper provides an overview of the life cycle analysis effort that was conducted in 2013 by an inter-center NASA team. This effort included the development of reference nano-launch system concepts, developing analysis processes and models, establishing a basis for cost estimates (development, manufacturing and launch) suitable to the scale of the systems, and especially, understanding the relationship of potential game changing technologies to life cycle costs, as well as other factors, such as flights per year.

modeling↗
NASA NTRS2014

An Analysis and Review of Measures and Relationships in Space Transportation Affordability

The affordability of transportation to or from space is of continued interest across numerous and diverse stakeholders in our aerospace industry. Such an important metric as affordability deserves a clear understanding among stakeholders about what is meant by affordability, costs, and related terms, as otherwise it's difficult to see where specific improvements are needed or where to target specific investments. As captured in the famous words of Lewis Carroll, "If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there". As important as understanding a metric may be, with terms such as costs, prices, specific costs, average costs, marginal costs, etc., it is equally important to understand the relationship among these measures. In turn, these measures intermingle with caveats and factors that introduce more measures in need of a common understanding among stakeholders. These factors include flight rates, capability, and payload. This paper seeks to review the costs of space transportation systems and the relationships among the many factors involved in costs from the points of view of diverse decision makers. A decision maker may have an interest in acquiring a single launch considering the best price (along with other factors in their business case), or an interest in many launches over time. Alternately, a decision maker may have a specific interest in developing a space transportation system that will offer certain prices, or flight rate capability, or both, at a certain up-front cost. The question arises for the later, to reuse or to expend? As it is necessary in thinking about the future to clearly understand the past and the present, this paper will present data and graphics to assist stakeholders in visualizing trends and the current state of affairs in the launch industry. At all times, raw data will be referenced (or made available separately) alongside detailed explanations about the data, so as to avoid the confusion or misleading conclusions that occur more often than not with complex graphs or statements when such context is lacking.

affordability↗
NASA NTRS2015

Techniques for Conducting Effective Concept Design and Design-to-Cost Trade Studies

Concept design plays a central role in project success as its product effectively locks the majority of system life cycle cost. Such extraordinary leverage presents a business case for conducting concept design in a credible fashion, particularly for first-of-a-kind systems that advance the state of the art and that have high design uncertainty. A key challenge, however, is to know when credible design convergence has been achieved in such systems. Using a space system example, this paper characterizes the level of convergence needed for concept design in the context of technical and programmatic resource margins available in preliminary design and highlights the importance of design and cost evaluation learning curves in determining credible convergence. It also provides techniques for selecting trade study cases that promote objective concept evaluation, help reveal unknowns, and expedite convergence within the trade space and conveys general practices for conducting effective concept design-to-cost studies.

Design To Cost↗
NASA NTRS2015

Techniques for Conducting Effective Concept Design and Design-to-Cost Trade Studies

Concept design plays a central role in project success as its product effectively locks the majority of system life cycle cost. Such extraordinary leverage presents a business case for conducting concept design in a credible fashion, particularly for first-of-a-kind systems that advance the state of the art and that have high design uncertainty. A key challenge, however, is to know when credible design convergence has been achieved in such systems. Using a space system example, this paper characterizes the level of convergence needed for concept design in the context of technical and programmatic resource margins available in preliminary design and highlights the importance of design and cost evaluation learning curves in determining credible convergence. It also provides techniques for selecting trade study cases that promote objective concept evaluation, help reveal unknowns, and expedite convergence within the trade space and conveys general practices for conducting effective concept design-to-cost studies.

Trade Studies↗
NASA NTRS2015

Progress in Open Rotor Research: A U.S. Perspective

In response to the 1970s oil crisis, NASA created the Advanced Turboprop Project (ATP) to mature technologies for high-speed propellers to enable large reductions in fuel burn relative to turbofan engines of that era. Both single rotation and contra-rotation concepts were designed and tested in ground based facilities as well as flight. Some novel concepts configurations that were not well publicized at the time, were proposed as part of the effort. The high-speed propeller concepts did provide fuel burn savings, albeit with some acoustics and structural challenges to overcome. When fuel prices fell, the business case for radical new engine configurations collapsed and the research emphasis returned to high bypass ducted configurations. With rising oil prices and increased environmental concerns there is renewed interest in high-speed propeller based engine architectures. Contemporary analysis tools for aerodynamics and aeroacoustics have enabled a new era of blade designs that have both high efficiency and acceptable noise characteristics. A recent series of tests in the U.S. have characterized the aerodynamic performance and noise from these modern contra-rotating propeller designs. Additionally the installation and noise shielding aspects for conventional airframes and blended wing bodies have been studied. Historical estimates of propfan performance have relied on legacy propeller performance and acoustics data. Current system studies make use of the modern propeller data with higher fidelity installation effects data to estimate the performance of a contemporary aircraft system with favorable results. This paper presents the current state of high-speed propeller open rotor research within the U.S. from an overall viewpoint of the various efforts ongoing. The current projections for the technology are presented.

Aerodynamics↗
NASA NTRS2015

Analysis of a Stretched Derivative Aircraft with Open Rotor Propulsion

Research into advanced, high-speed civil turboprops received significant attention during the 1970s and 1980s when fuel efficiency was the driving focus of U.S. aeronautical research. But when fuel prices declined sharply there was no longer sufficient motivation to continue maturing the technology. Recent volatility in fuel prices and increasing concern for aviation's environmental impact, however, have renewed interest in unducted, open rotor propulsion and revived research by NASA and a number of engine manufacturers. Recently, NASA and General Electric have teamed to conduct several investigations into the performance and noise of an advanced, single-aisle transport with open rotor propulsion. The results of these initial studies indicate open rotor engines have the potential to provide significant reduction in fuel consumption compared to aircraft using turbofan engines with equivalent core technology. In addition, noise analysis of the concept indicates that an open rotor aircraft in the single-aisle transport class would be able to meet current noise regulations with margin. The behavior of derivative open rotor transports is of interest. Heavier, "stretched" derivative aircraft tend to be noisier than their lighter relatives. Of particular importance to the business case for the concept is how the noise margin changes relative to regulatory limits within a family of similar open rotor aircraft. The subject of this report is a performance and noise assessment of a notional, heavier, stretched derivative airplane equipped with throttle-push variants of NASA's initial open rotor engine design.

Aircraft Engines↗
NASA NTRS2015

Progress in Open Rotor Research: A U.S. Perspective

In response to the 1970s oil crisis, NASA created the Advanced Turboprop Project (ATP) to mature technologies for high-speed propellers to enable large reductions in fuel burn relative to turbofan engines of that era. Both single rotation and contra- rotation concepts were designed and tested in ground based facilities as well as flight. Some novel concepts/configurations were proposed as part of the effort. The high-speed propeller concepts did provide fuel burn savings, albeit with some acoustics and structural challenges to overcome. When fuel prices fell, the business case for radical new engine configurations collapsed and the research emphasis returned to high bypass ducted configurations. With rising oil prices and increased environmental concerns there is renewed interest in high-speed propeller based engine architectures. Contemporary analysis tools for aerodynamics and aeroacoustics have enabled a new era of blade designs that have both high efficiency and lower noise characteristics. A recent series of tests in the U.S. have characterized the aerodynamic performance and noise from these modern contra-rotating propeller designs. Additionally the installation and noise shielding aspects for conventional airframes and blended wing bodies have been studied. Historical estimates of 'propfan' performance have relied on legacy propeller performance and acoustics data. Current system studies make use of the modern propeller data and higher fidelity installation effects data to estimate the performance of a contemporary aircraft system. Contemporary designs have demonstrated high net efficiency, approximately 86%, at 0.78 Mach, and low noise, greater than 15 EPNdB cumulative margin to Chapter 4 when analyzed on a NASA derived aircraft/mission. This paper presents the current state of high-speed propeller/open rotor research within the U.S. from an overall viewpoint of the various efforts ongoing. The remaining technical challenges to a production engine include propulsion airframe integration, acoustic sensitivity to aircraft weight and certification issues.

Aerodynamics↗