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NASA Armstrong Marks Milestones in 2020

Despite challenges with the global pandemic, NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California continued agency work in a mostly remote environment. With innovative thinking and using electronic meeting tools, a number of tasks were enabled. Engineers also came together to design devices to help local hospitals with the pandemic. The highlights for 2020 are:

In the X-Press: X-57 Future Wing, Cruise Motors Advance
Engineers at Empirical Systems Aerospace, or ESAero, perform fit checks on the future wing to be used on the final configurations of NASA’s all-electric X-57 Maxwell, at their facility in San Luis Obispo, California. Using a “fit check” fuselage, seen here, the team is able to determine the safest and most efficient method of integrating the wing to be used in Mods III and IV of X-57, while the primary fuselage prepares for ground, taxi and flight tests at NASA Armstrong. Credits: Photo courtesy of Empirical Systems Aerospace

X-57

NASA’s first all-electric X-plane, the X-57 Maxwell, made significant progress with assembly and qualification testing on the vehicle’s cruise motors, as well as the wing that will fly as part of X-57’s final configuration, called Mod IV. Meanwhile, successful telemetry testing at Armstrong demonstrated the X-57’s ability to transmit its signal as intended, which will allow teams to track mission-critical data during flight. The public also got its first look at one of the more innovative Mod IV features, as recent wind tunnel testing of the high lift motors and propellers proved the ability of the propeller blades to deploy and stow as designed, depending on flight profile conditions.

The wing and cockpit sections of NASA’s X-59 QueSST are coming together at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works, in CA.
The wing and cockpit sections of NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) are coming together at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works ® factory in Palmdale, California. Credits: Lockheed Martin

X-59

Assembly of the agency’s next supersonic X-plane, the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology demonstrator, proceeded closer toward completion. While progress led to the anticipated closeout of the aircraft’s wing, delivery of several major aircraft segments took place, presenting glimpses of the vehicle starting to come together. These included delivery of the F414-GE-100 turbofan engine, the aircraft’s vertical tail, and the one-of-a-kind, extended-length nose. Meanwhile, as the team met and overcame challenges presented by production, as well as the global pandemic, NASA announced the target dates for major milestones, including first flight in X-59’s mission and its potential to open the future to supersonic flight over land.

SOFIA lifts off from Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., at sunset.
SOFIA lifts off from Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., at sunset. Credits: NASA Photo / Carla Thomas

Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)

SOFIA, a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft with an onboard telescope, helped scientists discover water on the sunlit surface of the moon for the first time. This discovery indicates that water may be distributed across the lunar surface and not limited to cold, shadowed places. SOFIA allows astronomers to study the solar system and beyond in ways that are not possible with ground-based telescopes.

G-III aircraft used to transport JPL staff from California to Florida.
A great example of commitment to the agency mission is the critical work of personnel in the Flight Operations Office at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The agency approved use of its G-III (pictured) & C-20 aircraft at Armstrong for transport of mission-critical JPL staff from California to Florida. Credits: NASA Photo / Lauren Hughes

C-20 and G-III Gulfstream

After science missions were delayed, the agency’s airborne science aircraft such as the C-20 and G-III Gulfstream had a new goal – get the Mars Perseverance 2020 team from California to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida to prepare the rover for launch. NASA’s Mars 2020 mission launched June 30, which avoided the need to wait more than two years for the planets to align again.

As California experienced an extreme wildfire season, NASA’s C-20A aircraft took off from Armstrong’s Building 703 in Palmdale, California, carrying the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) instrument developed and operated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The flights were used to identify structures damaged in the fires while also mapping burn areas that may be at future risk of landslides and debris flows. They’re part of the ongoing effort by NASA’s Applied Sciences Disaster Program in the Earth Sciences Division, which utilizes NASA airborne and satellite instruments to generate maps and other data products. In a related effort, NASA Armstrong pilot Scott Howe flew fire missions for the California National Guard to image the fires and provide information to commanders to maximize resources.

NASA research engineer Jonathan Lopez works on preparing a Compact Fiber Optic Sensing System unit.
NASA research engineer Jonathan Lopez works on preparing a Compact Fiber Optic Sensing System unit, also known as a FOSS rocket box, which was developed at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. The unit is a new variant of aircraft technology that researchers have advanced to withstand the harsh environments of a rocket launch and space travel. Credits: NASA Photo / Ken Ulbrich

Fiber Optic Sensing System

system originally developed to collect strain and other measurements on aircraft has been advanced and its durability enhanced for potential use in space. NASA Armstrong researchers hope to validate the new version of their Fiber Optic Sensing System (FOSS) through environmental testing. If successful, the system offers the ability to take thousands of measurements along a fiber optic wire about the thickness of a human hair. Armstrong is also collaborating with companies to mature fiber optic technology.

The Hybrid Quadrotor 90C (HQ-90) is displayed at AFRC.
The Hybrid Quadrotor 90C (HQ-90) is displayed outside the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Lab in California on Oct. 1, 2020. The Resilient Autonomy project will use this vertical lift and transition remotely piloted aircraft for software testing. Credits: NASA Photo / Ken Ulbrich

Resilient Autonomy

In collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Department of Defense, the Resilient Autonomy project is developing the Expandable Variable Autonomy Architecture (EVAA) mostly from their homes. The testing of this new autonomous technology will help inform FAA certification guidelines to enable future autonomy, such as link-less operations in an unpiloted aircraft, while providing enhanced automatic safety to modern piloted aircraft. The project will use the Hybrid Quadrotor 90C (HQ-90) to test the EVAA software, which arrived to Armstrong in October.  

The Bell Textron Inc. APT 70 Unmanned Aircraft System in flight.
The Bell Textron Inc. APT 70 Unmanned Aircraft System flew for 10 minutes from Bell’s facility on Floyd Carlson Field, near Fort Worth, Texas, on Sept. 28, 2020. Credits: Bell Textron Inc.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration in the National Airspace System (UAS in the NAS)

NASA’s UAS-NAS project concluded in September after nearly a decade of research to help make it possible for UAS to have routine access to the NAS. This year the Systems Integration and Operationalization (SIO) demonstration activity completed two demonstrations under the UAS-NAS project and the third will happen under leadership of the Advanced Air Mobility project. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) flew the SkyGuardian UAS during their SIO demonstration in April and Bell Textron Inc. flew the APT 70 UAS during their SIO demonstration in September. The final SIO partner, American Aerospace Technologies Inc. (AATI), is set to fly the AiRanger for the final SIO demonstration early next year. The project is currently working on reports and lessons learned from the work conducted with the FAA.

Wisk’s autonomous all-electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (eVTOL) air taxi.
This is Wisk’s autonomous all-electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (eVTOL) air taxi. Wisk will join other industry partners to prepare for NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) National Campaign NC-1 beginning in 2022, where NASA will begin to assess vehicle readiness. Credits: Wisk

Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign

The agency’s campaign to advance airspace mobility continues to progress with research, partnership agreements and flight testing. In early 2020, the project signed Space Act Agreements for the National Campaign (formerly the Grand Challenge) to bring together industry intending to develop and/or operate air mobility (UAM) vehicles or airspace management services within the urban air mobility (UAM) ecosystem. Industry partners were established including Joby Aviation, Wisk and Alaka’i and others will be added early next year. The project also completed the the NC Integrated Dry Run Test in early December using a helicopter as a surrogate UAM to develop a data baseline for future industry partnership flight testing.

NASA research pilot Jim Less is fitted with a VigilOX oxygen monitoring system.
In the early phase of the pilot breathing research in 2018, NASA research pilot Jim Less is fitted with a VigilOX oxygen monitoring system. The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California prototype mask was tested in conjunction with this current VigilOX system, which measures the pilot’s oxygen concentration, breathing pressures and flow rates at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. Credits: NASA Photo / Carla Thomas

Pilot Breathing Assessment

The second and final phase of NASA’s Pilot Breathing Assessment (PBA) program to analyze pilot breathing in high-performance fighter jet aircraft concluded in fall 2020. Several milestones were added to phase two, which focused on refined methods to gather data from Navy and Air Force oxygen mask regulator systems and in testing cabin pressure in the F-18 A/B. The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) at Langley Research Center in Virginia will publish a report from the data collected in both phases. Researchers will compare data among pilots, flights, configurations, aircraft performance and look for patterns or unexpected results that may help researchers understand the causes of a physiological episode.

Masten Space Systems vertical takeoff vertical landing rocket launched September 10, 2020
Masten Space Systems vertical takeoff vertical landing rocket launched September 10, 2020 to flight test NASA-licensed Psionic navigation doppler lidar technology that enables precision landing on celestial bodies where GPS for navigation only available on Earth is not an option. Credits: NASA Photo / Lauren Hughes

Flight Opportunities

By supporting the testing of promising space innovations aboard commercial suborbital flight vehicles, the Flight Opportunities program has a significant impact on advancing technologies that address NASA mission goals. The program selected 31 new technologies for commercial flight tests this year that included an option for non-NASA researchers to add payloads. In 2020, the program facilitated 12 flights on five different commercial suborbital vehicles including parabolic fights on Zero-G aircraft. Other flights include Masten Space Systems testing a navigation doppler lidar and technologies relating to dust and sample return technologies on the lunar surface. Blue Origin launched eight technologies including investigating sustainable ways to grow foods in microgravity. A solicitation for additional flight providers was released in 2020 and Virgin Galactic and Masten Space Systems were selected as flight providers. 2020 also marked a decade of Flight Opportunities.

NASA Armstrong engineer Mike Buttigieg works on an oxygen hood system prototype.
NASA Armstrong engineer Mike Buttigieg works on an oxygen hood system prototype worn by Dr. Daniel Khodabakhsh from the Antelope Valley Hospital. The hood is designed to help coronavirus patients who don’t yet need a ventilator, but who are experiencing breathing troubles. The hood forces oxygen into patients with mild coronavirus symptoms, minimizing the likelihood that the patient will need to use a ventilator. Credits: NASA Photo / Carla Thomas

Development of COVID-19 Solutions

NASA Armstrong joined a task force in the Antelope Valley to build medical devices to help patients with coronavirus. The team partnered with Antelope Valley Hospital, the City of Lancaster, Virgin Galactic, The Spaceship Company (TSC), and Antelope Valley College to come up with innovative ideas to solve possible shortages of critical medical equipment. This included an oxygen hood developed by engineer Mike Buttigieg for patients exhibiting minor symptoms to help minimize the need for these patients to use ventilators. Engineer Allen Parker and team designed a canopy that protects health care workers by safely covering patients while still allowing health care providers access to the patients. Armstrong’s Life Support team built a plan for a proposed oxygen distribution system to be used if the need arises.

NASA at Home

Although much in-person outreach was cancelled this year, the NASA at Home page provides a place for NASA to connect with the public online. Visit the Aero at Home page for hands-on aeronautics activities, videos and more, many that relate directly to Armstrong. The Kids and Families page includes even more ideas for family fun while at home. Also check out Armstrong’s virtual tour for a behind-the-scenes look.

The 2020 Highlights Photo Gallery is located at:

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/multimedia/imagegallery/2020_achievements/index.html

The 2020 Highlight Video is available at: