Aeronautics

Innovators at NASA's Glenn Research Center have developed an engine control mode that improves an engine's responsiveness to throttle commands during emergency landing conditions. The high speed idle (HSI) control mode increases the speed of the engine's fan and core shafts, allowing faster response and increased...

NASA's National Airspace System Constraint Evaluation and Notification Tool (NASCENT) is a dynamic constraint avoidance system that automatically analyzes routes of aircraft flying, or to be flown, in or near constraint regions, and attempts to find more time- and...

This week's Question: In recent years, hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested into space ventures. SpaceX, an advanced spacecraft manufacturer founded by Elon Musk, has completed more than 30 successful launches since 2006, delivered cargo to the International Space Station, and secured...

NASA has developed a unique innovation to compute passed back spacing requirements in air traffic management. The air traffic managers of the National Airspace System (NAS) in the United States regularly implement various Traffic Management Initiatives (TMI) to handle...

Researchers at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center have dramatically improved upon existing ground collision avoidance technology for aircraft. NASA’s system leverages leading-edge fighter safety technology, adapting it to civil aviation use as an advanced warning system. It offers higher...

The purpose of this work is to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of acoustic measurements made in a wind tunnel with a microphone phased array. The functional beamforming method is improved to compensate for effects of acoustic propagation through turbulence, and to correct for inaccurate steering...

North Carolina State University researchers will use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and insect cyborgs, or biobots, to map large, unfamiliar locations.

This week's Question: A new home security technology called the Sunflower Home Awareness System deploys a drone to patrol one’s property. The combination of intelligent outdoor sensors and an aerial drone-based camera detects motion, vibration, and sound, and provides users with a view of the home’s...

This week’s Question: Ride-hailing company Uber recently released a white paper outlining its new transport service: the flying car. The company envisions a “network of small, electric aircraft that take off and land vertically.” The proposal aims to use airspace to relieve transportation...

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...

The control system in modern commercial aircraft engines is designed to operate the engine in a safe manner throughout its operating envelope. In order to utilize the existing safety margins more effectively, innovators at NASA’s Glenn Research Center have developed a modification to current min-max...