As mission operations grow in scale and complexity, there is a prevailing need for automating operational processes to increase efficiency, mitigate risks, and reduce operational costs. The need for automating operational processes has produced a few disparate automation systems...

Typically, the cost of a spaceborne imaging system is driven by the size and mass of the primary aperture. Innovative solutions for imagers that are less complex and are lightweight are very desirable. Currently, telescopes such as JWST and ATLAST are very expensive and very complex.

Innovators at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center are developing a collection of algorithms that can accurately determine the structural state of an aircraft. This work is in response to new airframe designs that save weight — and thereby improve fuel efficiency — by removing stiffness in...

Innovators at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center have developed a method of using aircraft lift airbags to support test aircraft during wing strain gage load calibration. In calibration testing, a set of known loads is applied to the wing, and the loads and strain gage responses are then recorded....

In the case of an aircraft system failure such as control surface or engine failure, an aircraft’s flight envelope may change. Notifying the pilots of these changes may improve situational awareness and, hence, increase flight safety because pilots...

Air traffic management research needs to adequately address all players, including flight crews, air traffic controllers/managers, and airline dispatchers. Interactions between the different stakeholders are crucial elements for the viability of a given concept. A simulation capable of addressing...

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center researchers have developed a new, stronger aluminum alloy, ideal for cast aluminum products that have powder or paint-baked thermal coatings. With advanced mechanical properties, the NASA-427 alloy shows greater tensile strength and increased...

New insulative carbon-fiber composite systems have been developed for use in structural and thermal applications for the aerospace vehicle interface. The sandwich-type composite structure, including carbon fiber and aerogel blanket materials, is based on the previously disclosed family of...