Aeronautics Committee Report to the NASA Advisory Council

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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 year’s performance and Programs have contingency plans in place • Aeronautics Committee will track continuously with ARMD

4. ARMD Competency DiscussionJay Dryer, NASA Senior Technical Advisor, ARMDJuly 9, 2008

5. 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?

6. 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

7. 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)

8. Discussion on Green Aircraft Initiatives Dr. Ajay Misra Presentation to NAC Cleveland, OH July 9, 2008 Fundamental Aeronautics Program

9. 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

10. System Level Research Project • Foundational Research reaches the right level • of maturity • With high impact indicated from MDAO Multi-Disciplinary Analysis and Optimization Foundational Research System Level Research Project

11. Chevron Hierarchy Example Chart

12. 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

13. NASA and FAANextGen Research Transition Teams Akbar Sultan Technical Integration Manager Airspace Systems Program Office NASA July 9, 2008

14. Technology TransferStrategy • 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

15. R&D Progression Development Progress Operational Evaluation FAA Focus NASA Consultation Operational Test Prep Target Site Adaptation NASA and FAA Collaboration Engineering Models & Algorithms Concept Definition NASA Focus FAA Consultation

16. 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.

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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.

21. Discussion with OAI Dr. Mike Heil, President Ohio Aerospace Institute

22. 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 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

23. 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