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By NASA
Ohio State graduate research assistant Alec Schnabel, left, University of Wisconsin doctoral candidate James Swanke, center, and Ohio State graduate research engineer Robert Borjas conduct tests on aircraft hardware at NASA’s Electric Aircraft Testbed (NEAT). Credit: NASA/Jef Janis Each year, Aviation Week (AW) Network recognizes a limited number of innovators who achieve extraordinary accomplishments in the global aerospace arena with AW’s prestigious Laureate Award. These innovators represent the values and vision of the global aerospace community and change the way people work and move through the world.
On March 6, NASA’s Glenn Research Center accepted an AW Laureate Award in commercial aviation for NASA’s Electric Aircraft Testbed (NEAT) located at NASA Glenn’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. NEAT allows government, industry, and academia to collaborate and conduct testing of high-powered electric powertrains, which generate power and propel aircraft forward. The goal is to transform commercial flight by creating more sustainable, fuel-efficient commercial aircraft.
NASA’s Electric Aircraft Testbed (NEAT) is located at NASA’s Glenn Research Center at Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio.Credit: NASA/Bridget Caswell NEAT enables ground testing of cutting-edge systems prior to experimental flight testing. As a result, researchers can troubleshoot issues that only occur at altitude and improve them earlier in the design cycle, which both accelerates the path to flight and makes it safer.
A number of “firsts” have been accomplished in the electric aircraft testbed.
NASA and GE Aerospace completed the first successful ground tests of a high-power hybrid electric aircraft propulsion system at simulated altitude in 2022. A megawatt-class electric machine was tested at NEAT by a university team led by The Ohio State University and the University of Wisconsin, under NASA’s University Leadership Initiative. Under the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project, magniX tested its high-power megawatt-class powertrain with a goal to achieve approximately 5% reduced fuel use. Systems tested at NEAT from General Electric and magniX will be flown on modified passenger aircraft currently being reconfigured for flight testing. Return to Newsletter Explore More
1 min read NASA Glenn Experts Join Law College to Talk Human Spaceflight
Article 33 mins ago 2 min read NASA Releases its Spinoff 2025 Publication
Article 34 mins ago 1 min read NASA Glenn Welcomes Spring 2025 Interns
Article 34 mins ago View the full article
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By NASA
The 2025 Spinoff publication features more than 40 commercial infusions of NASA technologies. Credit: NASA The work NASA conducts in space leads to ongoing innovations benefiting people on Earth. Some of these latest technologies, which have been successfully transferred from NASA to the commercial sector, are featured in the latest edition of NASA’s Spinoff 2025 publication now available online.
The publication features more than 40 commercial infusions of NASA technologies, including research originated at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
Parallel Flight Technologies’ Firefly aircraft is designed to run for 100 minutes while fully loaded, allowing the aircraft to perform agricultural surveys as well as assist in the aftermath of natural disasters. Credit: Parallel Flight Technologies Inc. Bringing Hybrid Power to the Rescue
A NASA-funded hybrid power system makes drones more capable in disasters.
With Small Business Innovation Research funding from NASA Glenn, Parallel Flight Technologies of La Selva Beach, California, was able to test its hybrid propulsion technology, enabling longer-running, remotely piloted aircraft for use in agricultural and rescue applications. See the full Spinoff article for more information.
EnerVenue Inc. brought down the cost of nickel-hydrogen technology and encased it in safe, robust vessels, like the battery pictured here. These batteries store renewable energy in a wide range of terrestrial situations. Credit: EnerVenue Inc. Hubble Battery Tech Holds Power on Earth
Nickel-hydrogen technology is safe, durable, and long-lasting – and now it’s affordable, too.
Nickel-hydrogen batteries store renewable energy for power plants, businesses, and homes, thanks to innovations from Fremont, California-based EnerVenue, informed by papers published by NASA Glenn about the technology’s performance on the Hubble Space Telescope, International Space Station, and more. See the full Spinoff article for more information.
Spinoff 2025 also features 20 technologies available for licensing with the potential for commercialization. Check out the Spinoffs of Tomorrow section to learn more.
Return to Newsletter Explore More
1 min read NASA Glenn Experts Join Law College to Talk Human Spaceflight
Article 3 mins ago 1 min read NASA Glenn Welcomes Spring 2025 Interns
Article 4 mins ago 5 min read NASA’s Chevron Technology Quiets the Skies
Article 22 hours ago View the full article
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By NASA
Students from colleges and universities across the country gather to start their adventure as spring interns at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis NASA’s Glenn Research Center is hosting 45 spring interns at its Cleveland and Sandusky, Ohio, campuses through May 16. This group represents 43 universities across the country, spanning from Arizona to Ohio to Texas.
Through NASA’s internship programs, students gain practical experience while working side-by-side with scientists, engineers, and individuals from many other professions. The interns are contributing to a broad range of innovative projects, such as AI-driven aerospace design, electrified aircraft visualization, spaceflight material flammability, superconducting coil testing, fission surface power for sustained lunar and Martian exploration, and more.
Their research supports NASA’s mission in advancing aeronautics, space technology, and scientific discovery. Several students are returning for repeat internships, reinforcing NASA Glenn’s role as a leader in STEM workforce development.
Return to Newsletter Explore More
1 min read NASA Glenn Experts Join Law College to Talk Human Spaceflight
Article 3 mins ago 2 min read NASA Releases its Spinoff 2025 Publication
Article 4 mins ago 5 min read NASA’s Chevron Technology Quiets the Skies
Article 22 hours ago View the full article
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By NASA
6 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Risks Concept Risk is inherent in human spaceflight. However, specific risks can and should be understood, managed, and mitigated to reduce threats posed to astronauts. Risk management in the context of human spaceflight can be viewed as a trade-based system. The relevant evidence in life sciences, medicine, and engineering is tracked and evaluated to identify ways to minimize overall risk to the astronauts and to ensure mission success. The Human System Risk Board (HSRB) manages the process by which scientific evidence is utilized to establish and reassess the postures of the various risks to the Human System during all of the various types of existing or anticipated crewed missions. The HSRB operates as part of the Health and Medical Technical Authority of the Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer of NASA via the JSC Chief Medical Officer.
The HSRB approaches to human system risks is analogous to the approach the engineering profession takes with its Failure Mode and Effects Analysis in that a process is utilized to identify and address potential problems, or failures to reduce their likelihood and severity. In the context of risks to the human system, the HSRB considers eight missions which different in their destinations and durations (known as Design Reference Missions [DRM]) to further refine the context of the risks. With each DRM a likelihood and consequence are assigned to each risk which is adjusted scientific evidence is accumulated and understanding of the risk is enhanced, and mitigations become available or are advanced.
Human System Risks This framework enables the principles of Continuous Risk Management and Risk Informed Decision Making (RIDM) to be applied in an ongoing fashion to the challenges posed by Human System Risks. Using this framework consistently across the 29 risks allows management to see where risks need additional research or technology development to be mitigated or monitored and for the identification of new risks and concerns. Further information on the implementation of the risk management process can be found in the following documents:
Human System Risk Management Plan – JSC-66705 NASA Health and Medical Technical Authority (HMTA) Implementation – NPR 7120.11A NASA Space Flight Program and Project Management Requirements – NPR 7120.5 Human System Risk Board Management Office
The HSRB Risk Management Office governs the execution of the Human System Risk management process in support of the HSRB. It is led by the HSRB Chair, who is also referred to as the Risk Manager.
Risk Custodian Teams
Along with the Human System Risk Manager, a team of risk custodians (a researcher, an operational researcher or physician, and an epidemiologist, who each have specific expertise) works together to understand and synthesize scientific and operational evidence in the context of spaceflight, identify and evaluate metrics for each risk in order to communicate the risk posture to the agency.
Directed Acyclic Graphs
Summary
The HSRB uses Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAG), a type of causal diagramming, as visual tools to create a shared understanding of the risks, improve communication among those stakeholders, and enable the creation of a composite risk network that is vetted by members of the NASA community and configuration managed (Antonsen et al., NASA/TM– 20220006812). The knowledge captured is the Human Health and Performance community’s knowledge about the causal flow of a human system risk, and the relationships that exist between the contributing factors to that risk.
DAGs are:
Intended to improve communication between: Managers and subject matter experts who need to discuss human system risks Subject matter experts in different disciplines where human system risks interact with one another in a potentially cumulative fashion Visual representations of known or suspected relationships Directed – the relationship flows in one direction between any two nodes Acyclic – cycles in the graph are not allowed Example of a Directed Acyclic Graph. This is a simplified illustration of how and the individual, the crew, and the system contribute to the likelihood of successful task performance in a mission. Individual readiness is affected by many of the health and performance-oriented risks followed by the HSRB, but the readiness of any individual crew is complemented by the team and the system that the crew works within. Failures of task performance may lead to loss of mission objectives if severe.NASA View Larger (Example of a Directed Acyclic Graph) Image
Details
At NASA, the Human System Risks have historically been conceptualized as deriving from five Hazards present in the spaceflight environment. These are: altered gravity, isolation and confinement, radiation, a hostile closed environment, and distance from Earth. These Hazards are aspects of the spaceflight environment that are encountered when someone is launched into space and therefore are the starting point for causal diagramming of spaceflight-related risk issues for the HSRB.
These Hazards are often interpreted in relation to physiologic changes that occur in humans as a result of the exposure; however, interaction between human crew (behavioral health and performance), which may be degraded due to the spaceflight environment – and the vehicle and mission systems that the crew must operate – can also be influenced by these Hazards.
Each Human System Risk DAG is intended to show the causal flow of risk from Hazards to Mission Level Outcomes. As such, the structure of each DAG starts with at least one Hazard and ends with at least one of the pre-defined Mission Level Outcomes. In between are the nodes and edges of the causal flow diagrams that are relevant to the Risk under consideration. These are called ‘contributing factors’ in the HSRB terminology, and include countermeasures, medical conditions, and other Human System Risks. A graph data structure is composed of a set of vertices (nodes), and a set of edges (links). Each edge represents a relationship between two nodes. There can be two types of relationships between nodes: directed and undirected. For example, if an edge exists between two nodes A and B and the edge is undirected, it is represented as A–B, (no arrow). If the edge were directed, for example from A to B, then this is represented with an arrow (A->B). Each directed arrow connecting one node to another on a DAG indicates a claim of causality. A directed graph can potentially contain a cycle, meaning that, from a specific node, there exists a path that would eventually return to that node. A directed graph that has no cycles is known as acyclic. Thus, a graph with directed links and no cycles is a DAG. DAGs are a type of network diagram that represent causality in a visual format.
DAGs are updated with the regular Human System Risk updates generally every 1-2 years. Approved DAGs can be found in the NASA/TP 20220015709 below or broken down under each Human System Risk.
Documents
Directed Acyclic Graph Guidance Documentation – NASA/TM 20220006812 Directed Acyclic Graphs: A Tool for Understanding the NASA Human Spaceflight System Risks – NASA/TP 20220015709 Publications
npj Microgravity – Causal diagramming for assessing human
system risk in spaceflight
Apr 22, 2024
PDF (3.09 MB)
npj Microgravity –
Levels of evidence for human system risk
evaluation
Apr 22, 2024
PDF (2.47 MB)
npj Microgravity –
Updates to the NASA human system risk management process
for space exploration
Apr 22, 2024
PDF (2.24 MB)
Points of Contact
Mary Van Baalen
Dan Buckland
Bob Scully
Kim Lowe
Human System Risks Share
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Last Updated Mar 11, 2025 EditorRobert E. LewisLocationJohnson Space Center Related Terms
Human Health and Performance Human System Risks Explore More
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By NASA
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Astronaut Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor Examines Her Eyes in SpaceNASA Exposure to altered gravity can cause ocular and brain structural changes to develop during spaceflight; these changes could lead to vision alterations, cognitive effects, or other deleterious health effects. SANS is a syndrome unique to humans that fly in space, and there is no terrestrial disease equivalent. Brain structural changes appear small but seem to indicate that over half of crewmembers experience one or more symptoms of SANS. Determining intracranial pressure during spaceflight could improve our understanding of SANS mechanisms and improve our ability to target countermeasures for determining risk for future missions.
NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, Expedition 36 flight engineer, conducts an ocular health exam on herself in the Destiny laboratory of the Earth-orbiting International Space Station. (NASA)NASA Directed Acyclic Graph Files
+ DAG File Information (HSRB Home Page)
+ SANS Risk DAG and Narrative (PDF)
+ SANS Risk DAG Code (TXT)
Human Research Roadmap
+ Risk of Spaceflight Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome
+ 2022 April Evidence Report (PDF)
Human System Risks Share
Details
Last Updated Mar 11, 2025 EditorRobert E. LewisLocationJohnson Space Center Related Terms
Human Health and Performance Human System Risks Explore More
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