Recapturing NASA's Aeronautics Flight Research Capabilities (2012) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
1 NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate - Why Flight Research?
1 NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate - Why Flight Research?
Pages 7-25
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From page 7... ...
But more importantly, flight testing is not simply the culmination of numerous other tests on the ground -- the final death-defying act-rather it is part of a continuum of efforts and experiments necessary to prove a new theory, technology, or aircraft. 1 Today flight testing is usually followed by further modeling and simulation and even wind tunnel testing.
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From page 8... ...
The agency and its predecessor conducted research across all areas of aeronautics research and development -- from computer simulation and modeling to wind tunnel testing to flight testing. During the past two decades, and particularly in the past decade, NASA's aeronautics budget has shrunk substantially, from more than $1 billion in 2000 to approximately $570 million in 2010.
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From page 9... ...
(See Box 1.1.) NASA's aeronautics research program funding has declined to the point that the agency is unable to advance many projects from the simulation/modeling and/or wind tunnel stage to the flight research stage, and the flight research projects it currently undertakes are not ambitious.
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From page 10... ...
But increasingly NASA has been imposing greater restrictions on the operation of small UAVs in this dedicated area. The X-48B has two GPS units and a Mode C transponder as well as a dual flight TABLE 1.2 Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Full Time Equivalents 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Aeronautics Full Time Equivalentsa 1,449.0 1,343.4 1,397.1 1,373.4 1,333.8 1,371.5 a Essentially full time employees, i.e., civil service employees.
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From page 11... ...
NASA Research Announcements Travel 56% 1% Other Procurement 13% FIGURE 1.4 NASA's aeronautics budget by research category, center, and expense category.
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From page 12... ...
The investment includes flight testing of critical advanced technologies for future air vehicles as well as important fundamental scientific data necessary for code development and prediction validation. Research will be conducted on advanced technologies related to low-boom supersonic aircraft design, and preparations for the fixed wing alternative fuels in-flight emissions tests and rotorcraft acoustic flight tests will continue.
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From page 13... ...
3 Unique, new aircraft Innovative, unique approach to Enables new industry New analysis and models necessary complex cyber-human-systems Enables new mission for performance predictions interactions, never done before High national visibility Significant risk, outcome uncertain International significance until demonstrated in flight 2 Add a new system to existing Highly integrated Improves existing mission aircraft Multi-disciplinary Additional industry capability Moderate reliance on modified Moderate risk Makes mission safer or more efficient existing analysis or performance models New approaches with multiple existing aircraft needed 1 Add a sensor to existing aircraft Minimal risk Improving research capability No analysis or aircraft model Well-known flight test approach Single interdisciplinary interest changes required NOTE: An X-factor of 3 is the most difficult level and also the most expensive. FIGURE 1.5 NASA "X-factor" levels determined from NASA flight research projects, 1946-present.
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From page 14... ...
Simulation and modeling, wind tunnels, and flight test are the three legs that support effective aeronautics research -- remove one and the research effort collapses. Today it is critical to understand systems operations and systems safety of the complex orchestration of humans and machines.
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From page 15... ...
In the committee's view, in recent years DOD has devoted a far greater percentage of its resources to flight testing already developed vehicles than to conducting flight research. This has occurred at the same time that NASA's aeronautics budget has decreased substantially.
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From page 16... ...
SOURCE: NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.
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From page 17... ...
NASA's current flight research programs are limited to relatively low-cost flight experiments and demonstrations that have to deal with the limitations of the available aircraft, and today these flight research programs represent less than 12 percent of the current NASA aeronautics research budget. In a budget-constrained environment it is often necessary to fit the size of the experiment to the budget and not the budget to the size of the experiment.
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From page 18... ...
These documents include the NASA charter documents, the National Research Council's Decadal Survey of Civil Aeronautics,6 the "National Aeronautics Research and Development Policy,"7 the "National Plan for Aeronautics Research and Development,"8 and "Vision 100 -- Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act and the Integrated Work Plan,"9 to name just a partial list. From these external documents and within the confines of the yearly congressional budget authorization NASA, as a whole, and specifically ARMD, must develop internal goals.
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From page 19... ...
NASA should use the 51 Challenges listed in Table ES-1 as the foundation for the future of NASA's civil aeronautics research program during the next decade.
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From page 20... ...
NASA ARMD Programs The five major programs that make up the ARMD organization are the Aviation Safety Program, the Airspace Systems Program, the Fundamental Aeronautics Program, the Integrated Systems Research Program, and the Aeronautics Test Program. A brief description of the programs is presented below, and a more detailed description of each of the programs within ARMD and the projects within each program is presented in Appendix B
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From page 21... ...
For instance, the ERA project is hosted at Langley Research Center, and its chief engineer is located at Dryden Flight Research Center. What this ARMD overview demonstrates is that even though aeronautics represents only 3 percent of NASA's overall budget, aeronautics research at NASA is part of a complex structure of five major programs spread over four geographically diverse field centers.
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From page 22... ...
Dryden operates a number of aircraft in support of ARMD programs, including F-15s and F-18s in support of the subsonic fixed wing and supersonic projects within the Fundamental Aeronautics Program. Dryden, because of its experience in modifying aircraft for aeronautics research and its location, also supports many aircraft for other mission directorates within NASA.
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From page 23... ...
The examination of the ERA project also enabled the committee to look for commonality with the subsonic fixed wing project within the Fundamental Aeronautics Program. Both the Supersonics and the Hypersonics projects were chosen to examine how these fundamental research projects actually used flight research.
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From page 24... ...
The United States currently needs aeronautics research for the national defense both militarily and economically. The 2006 NRC report Decadal Survey of Civil Aeronautics: Foundation for the Future identified 51 high-priority civil challenges that NASA is pursuing.
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From page 25... ...
The priority focused programs should be drawn from the research areas identified by the 2006 NRC decadal survey of civil aeronautics, in order to achieve progress for fundamental aeronautics as well as other relevant related military requirements. To implement this recommendation without additional funding for ARMD, NASA should phase out the majority of its lower-priority aeronau tics activities.
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