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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Artist’s concept of a future airliner based on the NASA Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability 2050 submission from awardee Electra. The team’s project focuses on electric propulsion, integrated aircraft technologies, and vehicle design.Electra Picture yourself at an airport a few decades from now. What does your airliner look like? It’s more efficient, with lower emissions than today’s aircraft – what kinds of designs or technology make that possible? NASA is working to answer those questions by commissioning five new design studies looking to push the boundaries of possibility for sustainable aircraft.
Through NASA’s Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability (AACES) 2050 initiative, the agency asked industry and academia to come up with studies looking at aircraft concepts, key technologies, and designs that could offer the transformative solutions needed to secure commercial aviation’s sustainable future by 2050. NASA issued five awards, worth a total of $11.5 million, to four companies and one university. These new NASA-funded studies will help the agency identify and select promising aircraft concepts and technologies for further investigations.
Artist’s concept of a future airliner based on the NASA Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability 2050 submission from awardee Georgia Institute of Technology. The team’s project focuses on exploring scenarios and technologies based on an aircraft concept the institute has developed, known as ATH2ENA.Georgia Institute of Technology “Through initiatives like AACES, NASA is positioned to harness a broad set of perspectives about how to further increase aircraft efficiency, reduce aviation’s environmental impact and enhance U.S. technological competitiveness in the 2040s, 2050s, and beyond,” said Bob Pearce, NASA associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. “As a leader in U.S. sustainable aviation research and development, these awards are one example of how we bring together the best ideas and most innovative concepts from the private sector, academia, research agencies, and other stakeholders to pioneer the future of aviation.”
For decades, NASA has connected government agencies, industry, and academia to develop sustainable aviation technologies. In 2021, NASA launched its Sustainable Flight National Partnership, focused on technologies that could be incorporated into aircraft by the 2030s. The partnership’s research and development led to current NASA work including the experimental X-66 Sustainable Flight Demonstrator aircraft, its Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project, and the development of more efficient engine cores and processes for the rapid manufacturing of lightweight composite materials.
Artist’s concept of a Pratt & Whitney advanced propulsion concept for the NASA Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability 2050 initiative. The Pratt & Whitney project focuses on commercial aviation propulsion technologies targeting thermal and propulsive efficiency improvements to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.Pratt & Whitney The new AACES awards are initiating a similar process, but on a longer timeline, focusing on technologies to help transform aviation beyond SFNP with aircraft that could enter service by 2050. The kinds of partnerships NASA develops through SFNP and AACES are critical for the agency to support the U.S. goal of net-zero aviation emissions by 2050 and to help put aviation on a path toward energy-resilience.
“The AACES 2050 solicitation drew significant interest from the aviation community and as a result the award process was highly competitive,” said Nateri Madavan, director for NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program. “The proposals selected come from a diverse set of organizations that will provide exciting and wide-ranging explorations of the scenarios, technologies, and aircraft concepts that will advance aviation towards its transformative sustainability goals.”
An artist’s concept of JetZero’s blended wing body, which the company’s team will use to evaluate technologies for the NASA Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability 2050 initiative. JetZero’s project will explore technologies that enable cryogenic, liquid hydrogen to be used as a fuel for commercial aviation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.JetZero The AACES 2050 awards went to organizations that will form networks of university and corporate partners to advance their studies. NASA expects the awardees to complete their studies by mid-2026. The new awardee institutions are:
Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing Company, whose team will perform a comprehensive, “open-aperture” exploration of technologies and aircraft concepts for the 2050 timeframe. This will include examining new alternative aviation fuels, propulsion systems, aerodynamic technologies, and aircraft configurations along with other technology areas that arise throughout the study. The Electra-led team will explore extending Electra’s novel distributed electric propulsion and its unique aerodynamic design capabilities to develop innovative wing and fuselage integrations that deliver sustainable aviation focused on enabling community-friendly emission reduction, noise reduction, and improved air travel access. The company’s existing small aircraft prototype has been flying for over a year, demonstrating Electra’s technology that aims to transform air travel with reduced environmental impact and improved operational efficiency. Georgia Institute of Technology will perform a comprehensive exploration of sustainability technologies, including alternative fuels, propulsion systems, and aircraft configurations. The institute’s team will then explore new aircraft concepts incorporating the selected technologies with their Advanced Technology Hydrogen Electric Novel Aircraft (ATH2ENA) as a starting point. JetZero will explore technologies that enable cryogenic, liquid hydrogen to be used as a fuel for commercial aviation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These technologies will be evaluated on both tube-and wing and JetZero’s blended wing body – an airplane shape that provides more options for larger hydrogen fuel tanks within the aircraft. Pratt and Whitney a division of RTX Corporation, will explore a broad suite of commercial aviation propulsion technologies targeting thermal and propulsive efficiency improvements to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The Pratt & Whitney team will then down-select high-priority and alternative propulsion concepts for potential integration studies with various airframe concepts for aircraft in 2050 and beyond. Artist’s concept of a 50-60 passenger hydrogen fuel cell electric plane created by Boeing through its future flight concept efforts. Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing Company, received an award through NASA’s Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability (AACES) 2050 initiative to examine new alternative aviation fuels propulsion systems, aerodynamic technologies, and aircraft configurations, along with other technology areas.Boeing AACES 2050 is part of NASA’s Advanced Air Transport Technology project, which explores and develops technology to further NASA’s vision for the future development of fixed-wing transport aircraft with revolutionary energy efficiency. The project falls under NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program, which evaluates and develops technologies for new aircraft systems and explores promising air travel concepts.
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Last Updated Nov 12, 2024 EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related Terms
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By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s C-130 Hercules is prepared for departure from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, on October 15, 2024, for a cargo transport mission to India. The C-130 is supporting the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission.NASA/Madison Griffin NASA’s globetrotting C-130 Hercules team is carrying out a cargo transport mission to Bengaluru, India, in support of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission.
The C-130 departed from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, Tuesday, Oct. 15, to embark on the multi-leg, multi-day journey. The flight path will take the aircraft coast to coast within the United States, across the Pacific Ocean with planned island stops, and finally to its destination in India. The goal: safely deliver NISAR’s radar antennae reflector, one of NASA’s contributions to the mission, for integration on the spacecraft. NISAR is a joint mission between NASA and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation).
The cargo transport mission will encompass approximately 24,500 nautical miles and nearly 80 hours of flight time for the C-130 and crew. The flight plan includes strategic stops and rest days to service the aircraft and reduce crew fatigue from long-haul segments of the flight and multiple time zone changes.
The flight crew inspects the aircraft prior to departure from NASA Wallops.NASA/Madison Griffin The C-130’s cargo compartment has plenty of space to hold the more than 2,800-pound payload containing the radar antennae reflector once retrieved from California.NASA/Madison Griffin The first stop for the C-130 was March Air Reserve Base located in Riverside County, California, to retrieve the radar antennae reflector from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Additional stops during the mission include Hickman Air Force Base, Hawaii; Andersen Air Force Base, Guam; Clark Air Base, Philippines; and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Airport in Bengaluru, India.
This is the C-130 and crew’s third cargo transport to India in support of the NISAR mission, with prior flights in July 2023 and March 2024.
For more information, visit nasa.gov/wallops.
By Olivia Littleton
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va.
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Last Updated Oct 17, 2024 EditorOlivia F. LittletonContactOlivia F. Littletonolivia.f.littleton@nasa.gov Related Terms
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By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A laser powder directed energy deposition (LP-DED) 3D printer at RPM Innovations’ facility additively manufactures a large-scale aerospike rocket engine nozzle from one of Elementum 3D’s specialized, 3D-printable aluminum alloys.RPM Innovations Inc. In the fall of 2023, NASA hot fire tested an aluminum 3D printed rocket engine nozzle. Aluminum is not typically used for 3D printing because the process causes it to crack, and its low melting point makes it a challenging material for rocket engines. Yet the test was a success.
Printing aluminum engine parts could save significant time, money, and weight for future spacecraft. Elementum 3D Inc., a partner on the project, is now making those benefits available to the commercial space industry and beyond.
The hot fire test was the culmination of a relationship between NASA and Elementum that began shortly after the company was founded in 2014 to make more materials available for 3D printing. Based in Erie, Colorado, the company infuses metal alloys with particles of other materials to alter their properties and make them amenable to additive manufacturing. This became the basis of Elementum’s Reactive Additive Manufacturing (RAM) process.
A rocket engine nozzle 3D printed from Elementum 3D’s A6061 RAM2 aluminum alloy undergoes hot fire testing at Marshall Space Flight Center. Credit: NASA NASA adopted the technology, qualifying the RAM version of a common aluminum alloy for 3D printing. The agency then awarded funding to Elementum 3D and another company to print the experimental Broadsword rocket engine, demonstrating the concept’s viability.
Meanwhile, a team at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, was working to adapt an emerging technology to print larger engines. In 2021, Marshall awarded an Announcement of Collaborative Opportunity to Elementum 3D to modify an aluminum alloy for printing in what became the Reactive Additive Manufacturing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution project.
The project also made a commonly used aluminum alloy available for large-scale 3D printing. It is already used in large satellite components and could be implemented into microchip manufacturing equipment, Formula 1 race car parts, and more. The alloy modified for the Broadsword engine is already turning up in brake rotors and lighting fixtures. These various applications exemplify the possibilities that come from NASA’s collaboration and investment in industry.
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Last Updated Sep 12, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
The NASA Ames Fire Department will conduct emergency response fire training on the west ramp of the Moffett Federal Airfield between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. PDT Tuesday, Sept. 10 through Saturday, Sept. 14. The media and the public are advised that sirens may be audible and smoke plumes and flames may be visible from U.S. Highway 101 during this time. However, officials generally expect little to no smoke.
The session will include a live burn created by a propane-fueled aircraft fire simulator at the field. The drill is intended to prepare Ames fire responders and Ames Emergency Operations Center staff for real-life fire emergencies.
For more information about NASA’s Ames Research Center, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/ames
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Rachel Hoover
Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley
650-604-4789
rachel.hoover@nasa.gov
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics researcher notes the conditions on the P-39L after its first test run in the Icing Research Tunnel on Sept. 13, 1944. The aircraft was too large to fit in the test section, so it was installed downstream in a larger area of the tunnel. The initial tests analyzed ice buildup on the nose, propeller blades, and antennae. In the summer of 1945, the P-39L was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of a thermal pneumatic boot ice-prevention system and heated propeller blades.Credit: NASA On Sept. 13, 1944, researchers subjected a Bell P-39L Airacobra to frigid temperatures and a freezing water spray in the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA)’s new Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) to study inflight ice buildup. Since that first run at the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory (now NASA’s Glenn Research Center) in Cleveland, the facility has operated on a regular basis for 80 years and remains the oldest and one of the largest icing tunnels in the world.
Water droplets in clouds can freeze on aircraft surfaces in certain atmospheric conditions. Ice buildup on the forward edges of wings and tails causes significant decreases in lift and rapid increases in drag. Ice can also block engine intakes and add weight. NASA has a long tradition of working to understand the conditions that cause icing and developing systems that prevent and remove ice buildup.
The NACA decided to build its new icing tunnel adjacent to the lab’s Altitude Wind Tunnel to take advantage of its powerful cooling equipment and unprecedented refrigeration system. The system, which can reduce air temperature to around –30 degrees Fahrenheit, produces realistic and repeatable icing conditions using a spray nozzle system that creates small, very cold droplets and a drive fan that generates airspeeds up to 374 miles per hour.
View upstream of the Icing Research Tunnel’s 25-foot-diameter drive fan in 1944. The original 12-bladed wooden fan and its 4,100-horsepower motor could produce air speeds up to 300 miles per hour. The motor and fan were replaced in 1987 and 1993, respectively.Credit: NASA Two rudimentary icing tunnels had briefly operated at the NACA’s Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in Hampton, Virginia, but icing research primarily relied on flight testing. The sophisticated new tunnel in Cleveland offered a safer way to study icing physics, test de-icing systems, and develop icing instrumentation.
During World War II, inlet icing was a key contributor to the heavy losses suffered by C-46s flying supply missions to allied troops in China. In February 1945, a large air scoop from the C-46 Commando was installed in the tunnel, where researchers determined the cause of the issue and redesigned the scoop to prevent freezing water droplets entering. The modifications were later incorporated into the C–46 and Convair C–40.
A National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics engineer experiments with an Icing Research Tunnel water spray system design in September 1949. Researchers used data taken from research flights to determine the proper droplet sizes. The atomizing spray system was perfected in 1950.Credit: NASA Despite these early successes, NACA engineers struggled to improve the facility’s droplet spray system because of a lack of small nozzles able to produce sufficiently small droplets. After years of dogged trial and error, the breakthrough came in 1950 with an 80-nozzle system that produced the uniform microscopic droplets needed to properly simulate a natural icing cloud.
Usage of the IRT increased in the 1950s, and the controlled conditions produced by the facility helped researchers define specific atmospheric conditions that produce icing. The Civil Aeronautics Authority (the precursor to the Federal Aviation Administration) used this data to establish regulations for all-weather aircraft. The facility also contributed to new icing protections for antennae and jet engines and the development of cyclical heating de-icing systems.
The success of the NACA’s icing program, along with the increased use of jet engines – which permitted cruising above the weather – reduced the need for additional icing research. In early 1957, just before the NACA transitioned to NASA, the center’s icing program was terminated. Nonetheless, the IRT remained active throughout the 1960s and 1970s supporting industry testing.
The Icing Research Tunnel is highlighted in this 1973 aerial photograph. The larger Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT) is located behind it, and the Refrigeration Building that supported both tunnels is immediately to the left of the AWT.Credit: NASA By the mid-1970s, new icing issues were arising due to the increased use of helicopters, regional airliners, and general aviation aircraft. The center held an icing workshop in July 1978 where over 100 icing experts from across the world converged and lobbied for a reinstatement of NASA’s icing research program.
The agency agreed to provide funding to support a small team of researchers and increase operation of the icing facility. In 1982, a deadly icing-related airline crash spurred NASA to bring back a full-fledged icing research program.
Nearly all the tunnel’s major components were subsequently upgraded. Use of the IRT skyrocketed, and there was at least a one-year wait for new tests during this period. In 1988, the facility operated more hours than any year since 1950.
This model was installed in the Icing Research Tunnel in 2023 as part of the Advanced Air Mobility Rotor Icing Evaluation Study, which sought to refine testing of rotating models in the tunnel, validate 3D computational models, and study propeller icing issues.Credit: NASA The facility was used in a complementary way with the Twin Otter aircraft and computer simulation to improve de-icing systems, predictive tools, and instrumentation. IRT testing also accelerated the all-weather certification of the OH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. In the 1990s, the icing program turned its attention to combatting super-cooled large droplets, which can cause ice buildup in areas not protected by leading edge de-icing systems, and tailplane icing, which can cause commuter aircraft to pitch forward.
The IRT was one of the busiest facilities at the center in the 2000s and continues to maintain a steady test schedule today, investigating icing on turbofan engines and propellers, refining testing of rotating models, validating 3D models, and much more. The IRT been used to develop nearly every modern ice protection system, provided key icing environment data to regulatory agencies, and validated leading ice prediction software. After 80 years, it remains a critical tool for sustaining NASA’s leadership in the icing field.
More Resources:
“We Freeze to Please”: A History of NASA’s Icing Research Tunnel and the Quest for Flight Safety Icing Research Tunnel Website International Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark NASA Glenn’s Aeronautics Research NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Explore More
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