Aeronautics Committee Report to the NASA Advisory Council

Gen. Lester Lyles (Chairman)Dr. John SullivanDr. Gene Covert

Dr. Ilan KrooDr. Ray Colladay (ex-officio)

July 10, 2008

Areas of Interest Explored at Current Meeting

• Jay Dryer, NASA Senior Technical Advisor, ARMD– Core Competencies and their Importance in Fulfilling NASA’s/ARMD’s

Mission

• Dr. Ajay Misra, NASA Deputy Program Director, Fundamental Aeronautics Program (FAP), ARMD– NASA’s/FAP’s “green aircraft initiative”

• Akbar Sultan, NASA Technical Integration Manager, Airspace Systems Program (ASP), ARMD– Research Transition Teams (RTTs) for NextGen

• Dr. John Cavolowsky, Deputy Program Director, Airspace Systems Program (ASP), ARMD– ARMD Cross-Program NRA; Integration of Advanced Concepts and

Vehicles into the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen)

• Discussion with OAI President, Dr. Mike Heil

• Focus for an Upcoming Administration Changeover/Transition

• ARMD is behind the target but ahead of its phasing plans for FY08 (not a linear plan)

• ARMD ahead of last year’s performance and Programs have contingency plans in place

• Aeronautics Committee will track continuously with ARMD

Review of ARMD Obligation/Costing Status

ARMD Competency Discussion

Jay Dryer, NASA Senior Technical Advisor, ARMD

July 9, 2008

Core Competencies – Key Questions

• How do we define core competencies?• What core competencies must NASA maintain ‘in-

house’?• What needs to be done to better track and manage

competencies across ARMD and the Agency?

Critical Skills Shortages

The following are areas where ARMD has experienced noticeable shortages of skilled personnel.

• Guidance, Navigation and Controls • Multi-disciplinary Design, Analysis and Optimization • Aero-Servo-Elasticity • Acoustics • Airframe/Propulsion Integration • Systems Analysis • Human Factors• Wind Tunnel Management and Operations

Current Management Practices

• Acquire needed skills from the external community (e.g. through the NRA).

• Focus skills in one project to maintain a critical mass and coordinate results with other related projects (e.g. aeroelasticity and turbulence modeling)

• Re-training • Hiring (even small numbers can make a difference)• Coordinate with other agencies (Force Balance

skill)

Fundamental Aeronautics ProgramFundamental Aeronautics ProgramDiscussion on Green Aircraft InitiativesDr. Ajay MisraPresentation to NACCleveland, OHJuly 9, 2008

Response from ARMD

• Requested from NASA ARMD– Specific candidates for systems-level

research projects– These are projects with discrete start and end

dates should be considered in addition to and as an augmentation of the existing funded effort

• First major potential projects– Green Aircraft Initiative

System Level Research Project

Multi-DisciplinaryAnalysis and Optimization

Foundational Research

System Level Research Project• Foundational Research reaches the right level

of maturity• With high impact indicated from MDAO

Chevron Hierarchy Example Chart

Candidate System Level Research Projects

• Laminar flow control

• Large geared turbofan

• Multi-objective wing with advanced features such as adaptive structures, active flow control

• Lightweight structures for BWB

• Sonic Boom Flight Test Aircraft

NASA and FAANextGen Research Transition Teams

Akbar SultanTechnical Integration Manager

Airspace Systems Program OfficeNASA

July 9, 2008

Technology Transfer Strategy

• Goal: Ensure that R&D needed for NextGen implementation is identified, conducted, and effectively transitioned to the implementing agency

• Objectives:– Provide a structured forum for researchers and

implementers to constructively work together on a continual basis

– Ensure that planned research results can be fully utilized and will be sufficient to enable implementation of NextGen Operational Improvements

R&D Progression

Concept Definition

Operational Evaluation

EngineeringModels & Algorithms

Target Site Adaptation

Operational Test Prep

DevelopmentProgress

NASA FocusFAA Consultation

NASA and FAACollaboration

FAA FocusNASA Consultation

Initial RTT Focus Areas

• Trajectory Based Operations: Joint collaboration with industry partners for near-term efficient and reduced environmental impact of arrival operations under constrained airspace conditions.

• Surface Management: Develop system level concept to accelerate NextGen arrival/departure and surface operations for the mid-term.

• Multi-Sector Planner: Engage System-Operations to determine roles and responsibilities for efficient flow of traffic for the mid-term.

• Dynamic Airspace Configuration: Develop far-term concept for efficient partitioning of airspace and allocation of resources to meet NextGen capacity needs.

ARMD Cross-Program NRA

Integration of Advanced Concepts and Vehicles into the Next Generation Air

Transportation System (NextGen)

Briefing to NAC Aeronautics Committee

John A. CavolowskyDeputy Program Director

Airspace Systems ProgramJuly 9, 2008

NRA Proposal Solicitation

Solicitation Background

ARMD solicited proposals in areas of research that are cross-program in scope. The Aeronautics enterprise is one of highly leveraged and integrated technologies. Cross-discipline systems level problems will be of high value to establishing an R&D portfolio with the broadest national value.

•Understand how advanced vehicles will operate within NextGen•Understand the tradeoffs involved for both vehicles and the air traffic management (ATM) system, including safety considerations, system performance, environmental constraints, and other relevant issues•Indicate the most productive areas for future ATM, vehicle, and safety research

Integration of Advanced Vehicles and Concepts into NextGen

• Awarded two NRAs focused on understanding tradeoffs involved for both vehicles and the ATM system, including safety considerations, system performance, environmental constraints

– “Integration of Advanced Concepts and Vehicles into NextGen Study”

• “Team A” (PI: Ed Stevens)

• $6M for 18 Months (Obligated $4.8M, June 13)

– “Advanced Vehicle Concepts and Implications for NextGen”

• “Team B” (PI: Fred Weiland)

• $6M for 18 months (Obligated $5.0M, June 10)

• Joint Kick-Off at NASA Headquarters, July 24– Awardees will describe their approaches– NASA will describe vehicle models that can be provided

to the contractors

• Workshop(s) will inform community of initial progress about 3 months after award

Summary

• Strong proposals with NASA relevance and responsive to NRA– Diverse, integrated, world-class team

– Integrated systems focus

– Dissemination of results to NASA and NextGen stakeholders in a non-proprietary manner including integrated software and databases

– Strong management approach

– Effective engagement with the aviation community

• Funding both proposals offers the opportunity for programmatic risk reduction, a larger vehicle and concept trade space, a wider range of analytical tools delivered, and framework validation with a comprehensive, integrated systems approach.

Dr. Mike Heil, President

Ohio Aerospace Institute

Discussion with OAI

• The NASA Aeronautics program, while currently conducting high quality research, is insufficient in scope to achieve the U.S. leadership objectives implicit in the President’s Aeronautical R&D Policy.

• NASA should maintain a robust foundational research program and ARMD should plan, develop and implement system level research projects of highest priority

• Some ARMD research and development is also critical to the needs of the agency’s Science and Exploration mission

Focus for an Upcoming Administration Changeover/Transition

• Request a presentation on the NSTC Aeronautics S&T Subcommittee draft appendix to the National Aeronautics R&D Plan (i.e. gap analysis)

• Dialogue with center ARMD POC and younger workforce during future meetings at the ARMD research centers

Committee Next Steps