Sep 22 2015

From The Space Library

Release 15-023 NASA Glenn Establishes Hall Of Fame; First Class Inducted September 25

In recognition of those who built exemplary careers and contributed to NASA Glenn Research Center’s success, six individuals and one group of researchers will be inducted into Glenn’s new Hall of Fame.

The inaugural ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 25 at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The program will feature remarks by Glenn Center Director Jim Free and NASA Chief Historian Dr. William Barry from headquarters, inductee videos, and presentation of plaques to honorees or a representative.

The first class of inductees includes:

• Annie J. Easley, computer programmer and equal opportunity pioneer;
• Bruce T. Lundin, former center director and advocate for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ (NACA) evolution as a space agency;
• James J. Modarelli, designer of the NASA insignia and outreach program;
• I. Irving Pinkel, leader in aerospace safety research;
• Edward “Ray” Sharp, first center director and champion of early center advocacy and growth;
• Dr. Abraham “Abe” Silverstein, former center director and architect of the early space program;
• “The Giants of Heat Transfer,” Dr. Robert Deissler, Dr. Simon Ostrach and Dr. Robert Siegel, world-renown researchers whose theories transformed the body of knowledge of heat transfer.

The NASA Glenn Hall of Fame was established to recognize individuals who had a far-reaching influence on the direction and mission of the center, made fundamental advancements in their field, or served as an inspiration to employees through their character and embodiment of the NASA spirit.

This first induction is being held in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the NACA, which became NASA in 1958. The next induction is planned for 2016 in celebration of Glenn’s 75th anniversary. Subsequent ceremonies will take place on milestone anniversaries.

Release M15-143 NASA TV to Broadcast Cargo Ship Departure from Space Station

Five weeks after delivering approximately five tons of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station, an unpiloted Japanese cargo ship is scheduled to depart the station Monday, Sept. 28. NASA Television will provide live coverage of the departure beginning at 11 a.m. EDT.

Robotic flight controllers in the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will begin preparing the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) H-II Transport Vehicle-5 (HTV-5) for unberthing from its port on the station’s Harmony module several hours before its release.

Expedition 45 Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui of JAXA, backed up by NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren, will command the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to release HTV-5, loaded with station trash at about 11:20 a.m. A few hours after its release, the cargo ship will fire its engines to begin a controlled deorbit and entry through Earth’s atmosphere, where it will burn up over the Pacific Ocean.

HTV-5 carried a variety of experiments and supplies to the space station, including the NanoRacks External Payload Platform, which can house multiple investigations in the open-space environment of the station, and the CALorimetric Electron Telescope investigation, an astrophysics mission that measures high energy particles to search for dark matter and the origin of cosmic rays.

Also aboard were various nanosatellites used for space research, known as CubeSats, including 14 Planet Labs Dove satellites, which will capture images of Earth for use in humanitarian, environmental and commercial applications. GomSpace GOMX-3 is a small satellite containing three radios. One radio receives beacons from commercial aircraft to improve air traffic monitoring, while the other two test reception and data downlink in the L-band, used by GPS satellites, and the X-band, used by the military and for weather monitoring, air traffic control and other uses.

HTV-5 also delivered materials to support the Twins Study, a compilation of 10 investigations designed to gain broader insights into the subtle effects of and changes that occur in the environment of space as compared to that of Earth by studying two individuals who have the same genetics, but are in different environments. NASA astronaut Scott Kelly is participating from the space station while his identical twin Mark Kelly, a retired astronaut, is participating on Earth. The study includes a suite of integrated human space physiology and cellular-level experiments.

Release 15-192 NASA Developed Technology Aims to Save Commercial Airlines Fuel, Time

Two passenger airlines soon will test NASA-developed software designed to help air carriers save time and reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

During the next three years, Virgin America and Alaska Airlines will use the Traffic Aware Planner (TAP) application, to make "traffic aware strategic aircrew requests" (TASAR).

"TAP connects directly to the aircraft avionics information hub on the aircraft," said David Wing, TASAR project lead at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. "It reads the current position and altitude of the aircraft, its flight route, and other real-time information that defines the plane's current situation and active flight plan. Then it automatically looks for a variety of route and/or altitude changes that could save fuel or flight time and displays those solutions directly to the flight crew."

TAP also can connect with the plane's Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) receiver and scan the ADS-B signals of nearby air traffic to avoid potential conflicts in any proposed flight path changes, making it easier for air traffic controllers to approve a pilot's route change request. Aircraft used for TASER testing.

For airlines with Internet connectivity in the cockpit, TAP also can access information -- such as real-time weather conditions, wind forecast updates and restricted airspace status -- to further increase flight efficiency. The software is loaded onto a tablet computer, which many airline pilots already use for charts and flight calculations.

Wing and his team already have tested the TASAR software twice aboard a Piaggio P180 Avanti aircraft, a high-performance technology test bed owned and operated by Advanced Aerospace Solutions, LLC of Raleigh, North Carolina. The system worked well on its initial test flight from Virginia to Kentucky, according to its test pilot, former airline captain William Cotton.

"We used it to make a route change request from air traffic control, which they granted," said Cotton. "We got a shortcut that saved four minutes off the flight time."

Even four minutes of flight time shaved off of each leg of a trip made by an airline could result in massive fuel and time savings, according to researchers. The software provided similar results as flight tests continued in the northeast corridor. A second round of flight tests was recently completed to ensure readiness for operational use by partner airlines.

The TASAR flight tests came after a dozen pilots provided feedback on the technology in a simulation at the University of Iowa Operator Performance Laboratory in Iowa City, Iowa. In addition, aerospace systems manufacturer Rockwell Collins of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, analyzed TASAR to make sure it is safe and can be readily certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.

"We’re excited to partner with NASA to test this new technology that has the potential to help reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions and save our guests time in the air.” said Virgin America Chief Operating Officer Steve Forte in Burlingame, California.

"Up until now there has been no way to deliver comprehensive wind and congestion data to pilots in near-real time," said Tom Kemp, Alaska Airlines’ vice president of operations in Seattle, Washington. "TASAR is a 'super app' that will give our pilots better visibility to what’s happening now versus three hours earlier when the flight plan was prepared."

Developers say the new technology won't require changes to the roles and responsibilities of pilots or air traffic controllers, which would allow the system to be implemented fast and start producing benefits right away.

"The system is meant to help pilots make better route requests that air traffic controllers can more often approve," said Wing. "This should help pilots and controllers work more effectively together and reduce workload on both sides from un-approvable requests. TASAR takes advantage of NASA's state-of-the-art TAP software, flight information directly from the aircraft and the emerging ADS-B and Internet infrastructure to help pilots get approved to fly the most efficient or time-saving trajectory possible."

NASA researchers expect this and other aviation technologies under development will help revolutionize the national airspace system, reducing delays and environmental impacts and improving passenger comfort and efficiency, even as the demand for air travel continues to grow.