Aerospace

Converting in-situ resources such as CO2, which is the main component of the Mars atmosphere, into methane for rocket propellants can significantly reduce the cost and risk of human exploration while at the same time enabling new mission concepts and long-term exploration...

A recently developed 1,500-lbf (6,672-N) thrust-class liquid oxygen/liquid methane (LO2/LCH4) rocket engine was tested at both sea level and simulated altitude conditions. Sea-level tests were conducted using both a static horizontal test bed, and...

Hall thrusters normally use Xe propellant, which is expensive and scarce in the solar system. The weight of Xe is such that typical Hall thrusters are limited in specific impulse to approximately 3,000 s. The objective of this program was to improve and demonstrate Mg Hall thruster systems. Mg...

NASA required an aerodynamics model of a spent solid rocket booster (SRB) to predict trajectory and impact location of the Ares I first stage after separation. The software needed to be integrated into new simulations written in C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) had previously developed a solid...

Accurate measurements of airflow angles are among the most expensive and difficult to obtain in flight testing because of the complexity of the airflow near the aircraft and the consequent need to carefully mount and calibrate the sensors. A novel technique was developed...

A new technology has been developed for improving performance and stability of control systems. This method represents a significant advancement in the state-of-the-art of adaptive control technology. The present invention is a new type of adaptive...

To accommodate the predicted increase in air traffic, the next generation of air traffic management (ATM) systems relies on operational concepts where the responsibility for separation is distributed between airborne and ground systems. These distributed modes of operation...

The health and integrity of aircraft sensors and instruments play a critical role in aviation safety. Inaccurate or false readings due to icing of airspeed sensors in flight can lead to improper decision-making, resulting in serious consequences. Icing or blockages of pitot airspeed sensors provide very...

The NASA Aircraft Management Information System (NAMIS) is an Enterprise Resource Planning/Mission Support software suite designed to meet both the mission support requirements and the business management requirements of NASA Johnson Space Center’s (JSC) Aircraft Operations Division (AOD). The...

Sector 33 is a mobile app for the Apple and Android mobile platforms that provides a single-user, interactive air traffic control simulator (game) for mobile devices. The main features of the app include an interactive air traffic control simulation with numerous problems for two to five airplanes; introductory videos on air traffic...

This week's Question: Spanish designer Oscar Vinals recently developed a triple-decker aircraft design. The zero-emission AWWA-QG Progress Eagle would be powered by six hydrogen engines, a wind turbine, and solar panels. Vinals envisions that the plane would be able to take to the skies by 2030. Among...

Soft nanoparticles from a University of Pennsylvania research team stick to the plane where oil and water meet, but do not stick to one another. The interface presents a potentially useful set of properties. The nanoparticles freely move past one another while being confined to the interface, effectively acting as a 2D...