Aeronautics Committee Report

to the NASA Advisory Council

Gen. Lester Lyles (Chairman)
Dr. John Sullivan
Dr. Gene Covert
Dr. Ilan Kroo
Dr. 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 NASAs/ARMDs
Mission

Dr. Ajay Misra, NASA Deputy Program Director, Fundamental

Aeronautics Program (FAP), ARMD
NASAs/FAPs 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

Review of ARMD Obligation/Costing Status

ARMD is behind the target but ahead of its
phasing plans for FY08 (not a linear plan)
ARMD ahead of last years performance
and Programs have contingency plans in
place
Aeronautics Committee will track
continuously with ARMD

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 inhouse?
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 Program

Discussion on Green Aircraft Initiatives
Dr. Ajay Misra
Presentation to NAC
Cleveland, OH
July 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-Disciplinary
Analysis and
Optimization

System Level Research Project

Foundational Research reaches the right level
of maturity
With high impact indicated from MDAO

Foundational Research

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 FAA

NextGen Research Transition Teams

Akbar Sultan
Technical Integration Manager
Airspace Systems Program Office
NASA
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
Development
Progress

Operational Evaluation

Operational Test Prep

Target Site Adaptation
Engineering
Models & Algorithms
Concept Definition
NASA Focus
FAA Consultation

NASA and FAA

Collaboration

FAA Focus
NASA 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 farterm 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. Cavolowsky
Deputy Program Director
Airspace Systems Program
July 9, 2008

NRA Proposal Solicitation

Solicitation Background
ARMD solicited proposals in areas of research that are crossprogram 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 nonproprietary 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.

Discussion with OAI

Dr. Mike Heil, President

Ohio Aerospace Institute

Focus for an Upcoming Administration

Changeover/Transition
The NASA Aeronautics program, while currently
conducting high quality research, is insufficient
in scope to achieve the U.S. leadership
objectives implicit in the Presidents 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 agencys Science and
Exploration mission

Committee Next Steps

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