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cover1209-X.qxd:AA Template 11/17/09 3:41 PM Page 1 1 1 December 2009 A E R O S P A C E A M E R IC A D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 9 The year in review A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS toc.DEC09.qxd:AA Template 11/17/09 4:24 PM Page 1 Page4 December2009 EDITORIAL:Inchingtowardreform 3 OUTOFTHEPAST 76 Page70 2009SUBJECTANDAUTHORINDEX 78 CAREEROPPORTUNITIES 82 Page30 THEYEARINREVIEW Adaptivestructures 58 Hypersonictechnologies Page36 Aeroacoustics 5 andaerospaceplane 75 Aerodynamicdecelerators 8 Intelligentsystems 30 Aerodynamicmeasurement Lifesciences 64 technology 15 Lighter-than-airsystems 23 Aerospacepower 5 Liquidpropulsion 38 Aerospacetrafficmanagement 74 Management 27 Air-breathingpropulsionsystems Materials 52 integration 43 Meshing,visualizationand Airtransportation 16 computationalenvironments 6 Aircraftdesign 17 Missilesystems 60 Aircraftoperations 18 Modelingandsimulation 49 Appliedaerodynamics 10 Multidisciplinarydesign Astrodynamics 14 optimization 26 Atmosphericandspace Nondeterministicapproaches 54 environments 9 Nuclearandfutureflight Atmosphericflightmechanics 11 propulsion 36 Page60 Balloonsystems 19 Plasmadynamicsandlasers 12 Computer-aidedenterprise Propellantsandcombustion 41 solutions 50 Sensorsystems 32 Computersystems 33 Softwaresystems 34 Designengineering 48 Spacecolonization 61 Page16 Digitalavionics 31 Spacelogistics 66 Economics 24 Spaceoperationsandsupport 69 Electricpropulsion 44 Spaceresourcesutilization 63 Energeticcomponents 46 Spacesystems 67 Flighttesting 20 Spacetethers 65 Fluiddynamics 4 Spacetransportation 68 Gasturbineengines 40 Structuraldynamics 57 Generalaviation 21 Structures 59 Groundtesting 51 Survivability 53 Guidance,navigation,andcontrol 7 Systemsengineering 28 High-speedair-breathing Unmannedsystems 73 propulsion 37 Terrestrialenergy 54 Page24 History 25 Thermophysics 13 Homelandsecurity 70 V/STOL 22 Hybridrockets 42 Weaponsystemeffectiveness 62 BULLETIN AIAAMeetingSchedule B2 AIAACoursesandTrainingProgram B4 AIAANews B5 MeetingProgram B13 CallsforPapers B19 Page48 Cover:TypebyJaneFitzgerald;imagefromspaceshuttleColumbia,2003. AerospaceAmerica(ISSN0740-722X)ispublishedmonthlybytheAmericanInstituteofAeronauticsandAstronautics,Inc.at1801AlexanderBellDrive,Reston,Va.20191-4344[703/264-7577]. Subscriptionrateis50%ofduesforAIAAmembers(andisnotdeductibletherefrom).Nonmembersubscriptionprice:U.S.andCanada,$163,foreign,$200.Singlecopies$20each. Postmaster:Sendaddresschangesandsubscriptionorderstoaddressabove,attentionAIAACustomerService,703/264-7500.PeriodicalpostagepaidatHerndon,VA,andatadditional mailingoffices.Copyright©2009bytheAmericanInstituteofAeronauticsandAstronautics,Inc.,allrightsreserved.ThenameAerospaceAmericaisregisteredbytheAIAAintheU.S.Patentand TrademarkOffice.40,000copiesofthisissueprinted.ThisisVolume47,No.11. dec09edit.qxd:AA Template 11/17/09 4:33 PM Page 1 ® isapublicationoftheAmericanInstitute ofAeronauticsandAstronautics ElaineJ.Camhi Editor-in-Chief PatriciaJefferson AssociateEditor Inchingtowardreform GregWilson ProductionEditor JerryGrey,Editor-at-Large ChristineWilliams,EditorAIAABulletin Asthenewyearbegan,anewadministrationandanewCongressopenedadoor tolong-soughteffortstorewritethetangleofcontrolsgoverningU.S.exports. Correspondents TheInternationalTrafficinArmsRegulationswereenactedin1976and RobertF.Dorr,Washington closelymirroredlawsinplaceineasternblocnations.Overthesubsequent30+ PhilipButterworth-Hayes,Europe years,politicalwindshaveshifted,bothdomesticallyandinternationally,and MichaelWestlake,HongKong thoseruleshavebeenreinterpreted,refocused,and,inmanycases,madeeven ContributingWriters morerestrictive. RichardAboulafia,JohnBinder,James Butrecentlymany,particularlyintheaerospaceindustry,havecometo W.Canan,MarcoCáceres,EdwardFlinn, recognizethattheveryregulationsdesignedtoprotectthenation’stechnologi- TomJones,ThéoPirard,DavidRockwell, FrankSietzen,J.R.Wilson caledgeandasymmetricaladvantageoverpotentialfoeshave,withtheirre- strictionsontheexportofpossibledual-usetechnologies,alsohamstrungthe FitzgeraldArt&Design abilityoftheU.S.toparticipateininternationaltradeinmanyareasonlymar- ArtDirectionandDesign ginallyrelatedtodefense. CraigByl,ManufacturingandDistribution Internationalaerospacecompaniesloathtoendurethemonthsofredtape DavidW.Thompson,President anddeliberationsrequiredforthepurchaseofsimplepartsinsteaddeveloped RobertS.Dickman,Publisher theirowncapabilities.Theriseofthe“ITAR-freesatellite”wasnotaone-off. Butwiththenewadministration,thereseemedtobegenuineinterestinre- STEERINGCOMMITTEE MichaelB.Bragg,UniversityofIllinois; examiningITARissues.MembersofbothhousesofCongressbeganholding PhilipHattis,DraperLaboratory;MarkS. hearings,andmanywhohadbeenadamantlyopposedtochangecametoun- Maurice,AFOSR;LauraMcGill,Raytheon; derstandthedamagebeingdonetotradeandnowsimplyurgedcautionin GeorgeMuellner,Boeing;MerriSanchez, movingforward.TheHousebillauthorizingappropriationsfortheDept.of NationalAeronauticsandSpaceAdministra- State,whereITARissuesreside,andcontainingasectiononreformofexport tion;MarySnitch,LockheedMartin controlswaspassedinJune.(Unfortunately,itsSenateequivalentremains EDITORIALBOARD stalled.)AndinAugust,PresidentObamaannouncedacomprehensivereview ofexportcontrols. NedAllen,LockheedMartinAeronautics; Jean-MichelContant,EADS;Eugene Thisallmightsuggestaloomingoverhaulofthemosttrade-restrictive Covert,MassachusettsInstituteofTechnol- partsofthelaws.However,thereareothertroublesweighingheavilyonthe ogy;L.S.“Skip”Fletcher,TexasA&MUni- presidentandtheCongress.Forexample,evenastheeconomyappearstobe versity;MichaelFrancis,UnitedTechnologies; turningaround,unemploymentisstillrising.Andtheworldclockistickingon ChristianMari,Teuchos;CamMartin, climatechange,asthelongerwewaittoact,themoredamagewillbedone NASADryden;DonRichardson,Donrich andthemoremitigationwillbenecessary. Research;DouglasYazell,Honeywell Buttheseissuesdotrulytietogether.Thelongerittakestomodifythean- ADVERTISING tiquatedsectionsoftheexportcontrols,thesmallertheU.S.exportmarketwill NationalDisplayandClassified: become.Asmoreandmoreofthosewhowereonceourcustomersbecome RobertSilverstein,240.498.9674 ourcompetitors,thatmarketshrinks,manufacturingnumbersdiminish,andthe [email protected] workforcerequireddeclines. WestCoastDisplay:GregCruse, ExportcontrolsalsohamperU.S.participationinGEOSS,theGlobal 949.361.1870/[email protected] EarthObservationSystemofSystems.Climatechangemitigationcanonly happenwhenactionistakenonaglobalscale.Butaccordingtoareportissued SendmaterialstoCraigByl,AIAA,1801 AlexanderBellDrive,Suite500,Reston,VA in2008bytheCenterforStrategic&InternationalStudies,“Exportcontrol 20191-4344.Changesofaddressshouldbe regulationsareafundamentaldisincentiveandsignificantstructuralimpediment senttoCustomerServiceatthesameaddress, toU.S.participationininternationalsystems,toforeigncooperationwiththe [email protected],orbyfaxat UnitedStates,andtothedevelopmentofGEOSS.” 703/264-7606. TherearethosewhoarguethatITARreformmusttakeabackseatasour SendLetterstotheEditortoElaineCamhi governmentgrappleswiththelargerissuesoftheday.Butacloserlookwould [email protected] suggesttheopposite,thatmajorstridesinrepairingwhatisbrokenorout-of- December2009,Vol.47,No.11 dateinITARwouldgoalongwayinhelpingsolvethoseissues. ElaineCamhi Editor-in-Chief AS-1209rev.qxd:AA-December 11/12/09 11:20 AM Page 2 AEROSPACESCIENCES Fluiddynamics tified for the first time. Regular orbiter instrumentation was augmented by high-resolution calibratedimageryobtainedbyaNavyNP-3D Theyearhasbroughtmanysignificantandex- Orion aircraft using a long-range infrared op- citing developments in the study of fluid dy- ticalpackageknownasCastGlance. namicphenomenawithabreadthofactivities In low Reynolds number aerodynamics, spanning from hypersonics to low Reynolds workcontinuesonunsteadyflowphenomena numberregimes. and control. Researchers at the University of Asignificantdevelopmenthasbeenthees- Michigan found that for low-aspect-ratio flap- tablishmentofthreenationalhypersonicscen- pingwings,tipvorticescanincreaseliftbycre- ters,overseenbyNASAandtheAirForceRe- ating a low-pressure region near the wing tip search Laboratory (AFRL) Office of Scientific anddelayingthesheddingoftheleading-edge Research, to help forge a national direction vortex (LEV). AFRL/RB researchers have forstudyinghypersonicflight.Onecenter,led demonstrated,withahigh-orderimplicitlarge- by Texas A&M University with several part- eddy simulation (ILES) approach, that stall ners, is called the National Center for Hyper- suppressioncanbeachievedwithsmall-ampli- sonic Laminar Turbulent Transition. It will tudehigh-frequencyoscillations.Theresulting specializeinboundary-layercontrolresearch. new flow regime has no LEV shedding or AFRL,Caltech,andtheUniversityofMin- thrust generation, and features the dramatic nesota have collaborated in a numerical and spanwisebreakdownofthedynamic-stallvor- experimental study on control of high-speed tex system. A joint effort by Caltech, Illinois boundary layers. The team has demonstrated InstituteofTechnology,Princeton,andNorth- significant eastern University has demonstrated signifi- delays in cant reduction of lift fluctuations in unsteady transition flows through flow control, with applicationsingustalle- viation. Balanced POD (proper orthogonal de- composition)/observer models were shown to stabilize vortex shedding using only two velocity sensors,withimportantbenefits Completetransitiontoturbulence forsmallautonomousairvehicles. wasinitiatedbyoneparticular through the suppression of instabilities with Control of the flow over a hemispheri- transitionmechanismfora theinjectionofCO .ResearchersattheUni- cal turret for aerooptic applications is an im- flat-plateboundarylayerat 2 Mach3.(Left)Isosurfacesof versity of Minnesota, CUBRC, NASA Lang- portantapplicationofcontrolof3Dflows,and thevortexidentificationcriterion ley,Purdue,andAFRLusedacombinationof has received considerable attention this year. “Q”andcontoursofspanwise stability analysis and ground test data to iden- Studies involving hybrid Reynolds-averaged vorticityatonespanwiseposition tify crossflow instability as a likely mechanism Navier-Stokes/ILESsimulationsbyresearchers illustratesmall-scalestructures closetotheendofthe fortransitionontheleeward side of the X-51 atAFRL,andexperimentsatAFRL,Syracuse computationaldomain. demonstratoraircraft. University, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, and (Right)Aclose-upviewshows Additionaleffortsinvolvinghighlyresolved the University of Florida demonstrated an ar- contoursofthespanwisevorticity (simulationscarriedoutbythe numerical studies include a University of Ari- ray of actuation strategies in both open and UniversityofArizona). zonaprogramexaminingtheentireprocessof closedloops. transition to turbulence in supersonic and hy- Researchers at the University of Vermont personic flows. The goal is to enable im- have teamed with NASA to study micropro- proved engineering and physical models for pulsion and control of nanosats, to enable transitionduringhigh-speedflight. new propulsion technologies for these very On space shuttle Discovery’s STS-119 smallspacecraftusingmicrofluidics. and -128 missions, NASA flew a specially Purdue and George Washington Univer- modified tile and instrumentation package to sity,underFAAfunding,conductedstudiesof monitor heating effects from boundary-layer air circulation patterns and particle transport transition during reentry. The airflow on the in model aircraft cabins. A key finding is that portwingwasdeliberatelydisruptedbyapro- people walking in the aisles disrupt the de- tuberance built into a modified tile, enabling signed ventilation flow patterns and can pro- theeffectsofaknownroughnessgeometryon mote the spread of airborne contaminants byLawrenceUkeiley theorbitersurfaceboundarylayertobequan- over10rows. 4 AEROSPACEAMERICA/DECEMBER2009 AS-1209rev.qxd:AA-December 11/12/09 11:20 AM Page 3 Aeroacoustics The development of civil supersonic aircraft capable of operating within the threshold of communitynoiseregulationsiscontinuingon different fronts. Wyle Laboratories, in collab- orationwithPennStateUniversityandEagle Aeronautics, has made significant strides in calculatingsonicboomfootprintsfromsuper- sonic flight vehicles. Enhancements include sonic boom predictions over georeferenced terrain encompassing varying ground imped- ance, as well as distortions imposed by at- mosphericturbulence. Meanwhile,scientistsatStanfordUniver- sity,withsupportfromNASA,aredeveloping large eddy simulations (LES) capable of pre- dicting the radiated sound from heated and TheFAAsponsoredanaircraft unheated supersonic jets with complex taxinoisestudyperformedby geometries. Databases obtained at the small AcollaborationbetweenGKNAerospace WyleLaboratories. hotjetacousticrigfacilityatNASAGlennare and Honeywell Aerospace brought continued being used to validate these models. Similar progress in reducing engine fan noise. The effortsatBoeing,underwaysince2004,have two companies designed, fabricated, and demonstrated continued progress in the de- tested a seamless double-layer engine inlet velopment and application of LES methodol- liner using a Hexcel HexWeb Acousti-Cap ogy.Accuratespectralpredictionsofjetnoise, honeycombcorewithaperforatedcomposite to within 2-3 dB over a meaningful range of facesheet. Far-field acoustic surveys on a full- frequencies, have been achieved from com- scale demonstrator engine at Honeywell’s plex single-stream and dual-stream nozzle AcousticTestFacilitydemonstratedcompara- geometries and a wide range of jet operating ble results over a substantial range of engine conditionswiththedevelopedmethodology. speedsforthenewdesignwhencomparedto ResearchersattheUniversityofIllinoisat traditional liners. Testing also confirmed im- Urbana-Champaignaredevelopingnewtheo- provements in sound attenuation at high en- riesforthedominantmechanismsresponsible ginepowersettingsusingtheseamlessliners. for the sources of core noise in aircraft en- The counterrotating open fan engine ar- gines. This effort is part of an NRA from chitecture, successfully developed and flight NASA’s subsonic fixed-wing program. The tested by GE in the 1980s, is a candidate for mechanism, often called “indirect combustion the next generation of narrowbody aircraft. noise,” is believed to be caused by thermody- To meet community noise regulations, CFM namic interactions (entropy fluctuations) with International (a 50/50 joint partnership be- the engine’s turbine blades. Nonlinear simula- tween GE and Snecma) has developed mod- tionsoftheflowandacousticradiationoveran ernopenrotorfansystemdesignsusingcom- idealizedturbinebladesupportthenewtheory. putationalaeroacousticpredictiontools.Joint Other activities in computational aero- GE/NASA testing is scheduled to continue acoustics and advanced measurement meth- throughearly2010todemonstratethesecon- ods were sponsored this year by the Aeroa- ceptsandvalidatethedesigntools. coustics Research Consortium. Managed by In the area of space-based launch plat- the Ohio Aerospace Institute, the consortium forms,existingliftoffacousticmodelsusedby isapartnershipamongNASAGlenn,Boeing, NASA Marshall are being updated with new General Electric Aircraft Engines, Honeywell empirical data. One such set of experiments, International, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls- conductedunderajointeffortofNASA,Wyle Royce. Its programs include assessing the ef- Labs, and ATK Launch Systems, comprised fectiveness of using phased microphone ar- threestaticfiringsincorporatingmorethan60 rays to identify engine noise sources, the acoustic free-field microphones. The new development of computational methods to acoustic models will be used to predict the predict high-speed jet noise, and the applica- liftoffacousticenvironmentsoftheAresIand tionofLEStoacousticliners. AresVlaunchvehicles. byCharlesE.Tinney AEROSPACEAMERICA/DECEMBER2009 5 AS-1209rev.qxd:AA-December 11/12/09 11:20 AM Page 4 AEROSPACESCIENCES Meshing,visualization, andcomputational environments Thelengthscaleratioforthe The overall problem of elucidating the coarseandmediummeshes interactionbetweenmeshandsolution intheLangleycell-centered is large and complex. Recent work by sequenceisnormalizedbymesh sizesothattheexpectedvalue CarlOllivier-GoochoftheUniversityof isone;theanalysissuggests British Columbia seeks to address a thatthemediummeshhas small but important part of the prob- cellsthataretoolargeonthe lem,thatofdeterminingwhetherase- surfaceofthefuselage. quence of meshes truly constitutes a mesh refinement sequence for a mesh convergence study. Two meshes are said to form an ideal refinement pair if their tion of error transport equations. Techniques cell sizes are uniformly proportional across forsimultaneousvisualizationofflowvariables theentiredomain,andifcellaspectratioand and their associated errors include multiple orientation are the same in anisotropic re- contours,multiplevectorsorstreamlines,tex- gions of the mesh. The size, shape, and ori- turing, and error bubbles. Error sources may entationofacellinanunstructuredmeshcan be used to drive local adaptive mesh refine- be computed in more than one way; one vi- ment, directly from the user interface. The able approach is to compute the moments system has been demonstrated for practical problem to find the size, aspect ratio, and turbulentflowson3Dunstructuredmeshes. principaldirectionsofthecell. Mesh generation developers worldwide cametogethertoshare technical information related to their research at the Interna- tional Meshing Round- table (IMR), a yearly conference devoted to mesh generation and Inacomparisonofoneofthe twocellaspectratios(roughly general preprocessing spanwisetostreamwise)forthe techniques. Started by coarseandmediummeshes Sandia National Labo- intheLangleycell-centered sequence,withtheexceptionof ratory in 1992, the afewsmallregionsonthewing meeting continues to andatthebaseofthetail,the be one of the premier aspectratioisnearlythesame events focusing on forbothmeshes,asexpected. mesh generation for field simulations and Once these quantities are known, a com- graphical display. The AIAA began cospon- parisonbetweenmeshescanbeaccomplished soring the conference starting with the 18th byprojectingdatafromonemeshtoanother. IMRheldinSaltLakeCityinOctober. Although this is still a research tool, meshes An award given each year by the AIAA from a Drag Prediction Workshop held this MVCETechnicalCommitteewasrenamedthe summerwereanalyzedsuccessfully. Shahyar Pirzadeh Memorial Award for the CRAFT Tech and CEI have jointly devel- Outstanding Paper in the discipline. The opedacomputationalenvironmentthatallows award was renamed in memory of a valued users to predict, visualize, and reduce grid-in- contributortothefieldofunstructurednumer- duced errors in CFD simulations. Through a ical mesh generation. Pirzadeh, who died on custom interface, the software system com- March 18, was best known for his work with binesanerrorquantificationandunstructured the VGRID unstructured mesh generator. His mesh adaptation code, CRISP CFD, with the many innovations included the advancing lay- renderingcapabilitiesofEnSight. ers method and early adoption of the Carte- Avarietyofmethodsmaybeusedtovisu- sianbackgroundgridtocontrolmeshspacing. byAnthonyC.Iannetti alize predicted errors obtained from the solu- Hewasalsotheaward’sfirstrecipient. 6 AEROSPACEAMERICA/DECEMBER2009 AS-1209rev.qxd:AA-December 11/12/09 11:20 AM Page 5 Guidance,navigation, andcontrol Rockwell Collins demonstrated a damage-tol- erantflightcontrolsystemforDARPA’sJoint Unmanned Combat Aircraft Systems program using an unmanned F/A-18 subscale aircraft model with 60% wing loss. The flight controller demonstrated automatic recovery andautonomouslanding. Aurora Flight Sciences demonstrated au- ASidewindermissile demonstratedsurface-to-air tonomous vertical takeoff, hover, and landing April in an operationally realistic test con- capabilitywhenitengaged of the Excalibur unmanned combat aircraft, ducted in Israel by the Israel Ministry of De- anunmannedairtarget. whichcombineshigh-speedflightwithvertical fenseandtheMissileDefenseAgency. takeoffandlanding(VTOL).ItsVTOLsystem Shuttle mission STS-126 delivered ISS gets its primary propulsion from a tilting jet component modules that doubled the space engineandsupplementalthrustandpitchcon- station’s crew capacity with new living quar- trolwithelectricliftfans. ters,regenerativeenvironmentalcontrols,and An X-plane pushing the limits of flight enhancedlifesupportsystem.Follow-upSTS controlsoftwareisthetailless,X-48Bblended missionsinstalledthefinalpairofsolarpanels, wingbodybuiltbyBoeingwithNASAandthe several new multinational science laboratory Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The modules, and a new astronaut treadmill. On X-48B’s flight controller is responsible for al- July 30, two 5-in.-cube picosatellites, Aggie- locating the autopilot commands among 20 Sat2 (Texas A&M University) and Bevo-1 movablesurfaces.Thecontrolsurfacesareall (University of Texas-Austin) were released independently actuated and clustered along from STS-127 Endeavour. They are the first the trailing edge. The centralized, highly cou- ofaseriesoftestsatellitepairsthatwilleven- pled, nonlinear flight control system also in- tually demonstrate autonomous rendezvous corporatesenvelopeprotectionalgorithmsvia anddocking. limiters. More robust alpha and beta sideslip On June 18, NASA launched LCROSS limiteralgorithmsarebeingdevelopedtopro- (LunarCraterObservationandSensingSatel- vide better envelope protection against unex- lite)andLRO(LunarReconnaissanceOrbiter). pected lateral-mode oscillations seen in stall Inanefforttodetectwatericetracesinalunar testsathighanglesofattack. polar crater, the LCROSS satellite flew into a NetFirescompletedthefirstmovingtarget heavydebrisplumecreatedwhenitsspentup- test flight of the non-line-of-sight launch sys- per-stageCentaurrocketimpactedtheMoon’s tem’s precision attack missile in July. Ray- Cabeus A crater on October 9. It collected theon’s AIM-9X Sidewinder missile demon- and analyzed debris samples and relayed the strated surface-to-air capability when it en- data to Earth. LRO’s one-year lunar surface gaged an unmanned air target in May. The mappingmissionforsubsequentlunarexpedi- AIM-9Xisafifth-generation,highoff-boresight tionsbeganwhenitentereditsmappingorbit infrared-guided missile developed for the air- September17andstartedrelayinghigh-reso- to-airmission. lutiontopographicimagery. LockheedMartinlaunchedDAGRrockets In October 2008, India launched its first from an airborne AH-6 Little Bird helicopter lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1, which demon- and hit the targets in two trials in July. Lock- stratedlaunchtoEarthorbit,departure,trans- heed Martin and the Missile Defense Agency fer, and insertion into low lunar orbit, finally demonstratedtheabilityoftheTerminalHigh releasingalunarimpactorforsurfaceanalysis Altitude Area Defense weapon system to de- missions.Chandrayaan-1carriedsciencepay- tect, track, and intercept a separating target loadsforNASAandESA,amongothers,and insideEarth’satmosphereinMarch. completeditsmissioninJune. A Boeing Harpoon Block II missile AnAFRLexperimentalsmallsatellite,Tac- equipped with a redesigned guidance control Sat-3, launched and deployed on May 19. unit hit its land-based target in its first test TacSat-3 hosts a hyperspectral sensor that flightinSeptember.TheArrowIIinterceptor, can be directly controlled by troops in the byLeenaSingh, produced by Boeing and Israel Aerospace In- field, an ocean data telemetry microsatellite DanielJ.Clancy,and dustries,shotdownaballisticmissiletargetin link,andaplug-and-playavionicspackage. BrettRidgely AEROSPACEAMERICA/DECEMBER2009 7 AS-1209rev.qxd:AA-December 11/12/09 11:20 AM Page 6 AEROSPACESCIENCES Aerodynamicdecelerator thecorrespondingopeningloadsandloadfac- systems tors. The cluster test provided the cluster degradation factor for the main parachute’s drag area, as well as an observation of the 2009 was a very productive year for para- parachute’sdeployment,inflation,andcluster chutedevelopment.Notableaccomplishments interactioncharacteristics. include testing of the Mars Science Labora- NASA’s Engineering and Safety Center developed and tested MLAS as a risk-mitiga- tion system should problems arise with Orion’slaunchabortdesign.Theeffortculmi- nated in a highly successful July flight test. During the test, two mortar-deployed parachutes separated the coast skirt from the for- wardfairing,followed3seclaterbytwomore mortar-deployed parachutes reorienting the fairing 180°, which placed the boilerplate CEVcrewmodule(CM)intheheat-shield-first orientation. With the fairing stabilized, the boilerplate CM was released from inside the fairing. After a brief ride on two drogues, the boilerplate CM released its simulated forward baycoveranddeployedfourmainparachutes. This test demonstrated that the fairing TheAresIrecoverysystemwillrequireparachutesthataremuchlargerand could be successfully reoriented and the CM strongerthanthoseusedforthespaceshuttle. released without detrimental recontact. Thus it showed that the MLAS system is a viable tory(MSL)parachute,theAresIrecoverysys- concept should the baseline launch abort system, and the Max Launch Abort System tem encounter significant difficulties during (MLAS),aswellassignificantworkinthearea development. ofautonomouspayloaddelivery. This year the Aerodynamic Decelerator TheMSLparachutefinisheditsfinaltest- Systems Center at the Naval Postgraduate ing, successfully completing structural qualifi- SchooldevelopedSnowflake,anautonomous cation and flight lot workmanship verification networking aerial delivery system for a 3-lb tests. The testing took place at the NASA payload. Networking capability allows target AmesFullScaleAerodynamicsComplex80x assignment and tracking from anywhere in 120-ft wind tunnel. The parachute was de- the world through the Internet. Snowflake is TheMarsScienceLaboratory parachutecompletedtesting ployed at conditions that produced inflation currentlybeingintegratedwiththeArcturusT- thisyear. loads 25% higher than the maximum ex- 20 UAV, which will be able to carry up to 12 pected flight limit load and included multiple systems inside the payload bay and two pay- inflations of the flight lot canopy. The final loadcontainersunderthewings. tally resulted in a single canopy withstanding Aerial delivery remains an increasingly 14 inflations at peak inflation loads ranging criticalandsuccessfulmethodofsupplydeliv- from360to290kN(81-65klbf). ery for the military in all types of environ- TheAresIsolidrocketbooster,whichwill ments. Airdrops have nearly doubled every launch the Orion crew exploration vehicle year since 2005 in Afghanistan, and are on (CEV) following retirement of the space shut- track to exceed 30 million lb this year. The tle,ismuchheavierthantheshuttle’sbooster JPADS (joint precision airdrop system) family and reenters the atmosphere at a much of autonomous air vehicle systems provides highervelocity;hencetheparachutesmustbe payload capability ranging from 1 to 42,000 larger and stronger. The 68-ft-diam drogue lb, with most already demonstrated or in use. parachute will experience a load of 500,000 The largest precision airdrop demonstration lb, while the three 150-ft-diam main para- everheld,conductedbytheArmyNatickSol- chutes will experience 300,000-lb loads. The dierResearch,Development,andEngineering final drogue parachute basic performance Center, took place in the U.S. October 19- drop test was completed this year, along with 22, 2008, allowing more than 500 U.S. and a drop test of the clustered three main para- allied participants the opportunity to witness chutes. The drogue drop test provided the thecapabilitiesandutilityofprecisionairdrop byElsaHennings drag area at various reefing ratios along with systems. 8 AEROSPACEAMERICA/DECEMBER2009 AS-1209rev.qxd:AA-December 11/12/09 11:20 AM Page 7 Atmosphericandspace environments Advancements in the areas of atmospheric and space environments continued, and this year saw a wide variety of developments in flight experiments, testing capabilities, terres- trialguidelines,andspaceweather. GoogleEarthdisplaysanimage oftheglobalionosphere. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, NASA Marshall, and Kyushu Institute of Technology arecollaboratingwiththeJapaneseAerospace Exploration Agency and the U.S. Naval Re- search Laboratory (NRL) on a flight experiment scheduled to launch aboard STS-134. The PASCAL (primary arc effects on solar cells at LEO) experiment will characterize the cumulative effects of low-power plasma-in- duced arcing on the performance of a variety of typical and state-of-the-art space solar cell The document contains considerable in- technologies.PASCALispartoftheMISSE-8 formation of general engineering and scien- (materials ISS experiment-8) and the first tific interest concerning the terrestrial envi- PRELSE(platformforretrievableexperiments ronment. It also has information on ground in a LEO space environment) program man- and in-flight winds, atmospheric thermody- aged by NRL. It will be an active experiment namic models, radiation, humidity, precipita- on the station with a design life of least two tion, severe weather, sea state, lightning, at- yearsandagoalofbeingreturnedtoEarthfor mospheric chemistry, and seismic criteria. It ground processing. Results will aid spacecraft includes a model to predict atmospheric dis- designers, operators, and insurers responsible persion of aerospace engine exhaust cloud for solar arrays operating in a space plasma riseandgrowth.Itisavailablefordownloadat environment conducive to producing electro- the NASA Technical Reports Server: http:// staticdischargesonthesolararraysurface. ntrs.nasa.gov. The Air Force is currently developing a Beginningthisyear,UtahStateUniversity new testing capability, the space threat as- ishostinganeworganizationtodevelopcom- sessment testbed (STAT), at its Arnold Engi- mercialspaceweatherapplications,withfund- neering Development Center. STAT will en- ingprovidedbytheUtahScienceTechnology able ground testing of space systems in the andResearch(USTAR)initiative.TheUSTAR complexnaturalspaceenvironmentatvarious Center for Space Weather (UCSW) is devel- orbits and will also provide the ability to in- oping innovative applications for mitigating duce man-made threats. An interactive con- adversespaceweathereffectsintechnological nection to satellite operations centers will be systems. Of the space environment domains included to bridge the gap between develop- affected by space weather, the ionosphere is ment and operational testing of space sys- the key region that impacts communication tems. This connectivity will allow ground sta- and navigation systems. The UCSW has de- tion hardware, software, and operators to be velopedproductsforusersofsystemsaffected involvedinrealistictestscenarios. byspace-weather-drivenionosphericchanges. NASA Marshall’s Natural Environments On September 1, in conjunction with Branch has published the latest revision to SpaceEnvironmentTechnologies,UCSWre- Terrestrial Environment (Climatic) Criteria leased the world’s first real-time space GuidelinesforUseinAerospaceVehicleDevel- weather via an iPhone app. Space WX dis- opment(NASA/TM-2008-215633).Thisdoc- plays the real-time current global ionosphere ument provides guidelines for the terrestrial total electron content along with its space environment(Earthsurfaceto90-kmaltitude) weather drivers. Also, the global assimilation thatarespecificallyapplicableinthedevelop- of ionospheric measurements system is now ment of design requirements and specifica- beingrunoperationallyinrealtimeatUCSW byDustinCriderandthe tions, plus associated operational criteria, for with the continuous ingestion of hundreds of AIAAAtmospheric NASA aerospace vehicles, payloads, and as- global data streams to dramatically improve andSpaceEnvironments sociatedgroundsupportequipment. characterizationoftheionosphere. TechnicalCommittee AEROSPACEAMERICA/DECEMBER2009 9 AS-1209rev.qxd:AA-December 11/12/09 11:20 AM Page 8 AEROSPACESCIENCES Appliedaerodynamics Preparations continue for Ares I-X flight tests.DevelopmenthasreliedheavilyonCFD to predict aerodynamic characteristics on the Heightenedfocusonenergyandtheenviron- pad,atliftoff,andduringascent,aswellasto menthasledtonewactivitiesintheaeronau- predict trajectories of vehicle components to tics community. NASA has initiated the Envi- oceanimpact. ronmentally Responsible Aviation project, The Fourth Drag Prediction Workshop which focuses on integrated system-level re- centeredaroundtheNASAcommonresearch search aimed at simultaneously achieving na- model and emphasized trim drag and Rey- tionalnoise,emissions,andfuelburngoalsfor noldsnumbereffects.Themodelwillbetested N+2 (generation after next) civil aircraft. to flight Reynolds numbers at NASA’s Na- NASA’s ongoing N+3 advanced concept tional Transonic Facility. A test in the Ames studies, involving four subsonic and two su- 11-ftwindtunnelwillfollow. personic civil missions, will be completed in NorthropGrummanconductedaseriesof spring2010.TheAirForceResearchLabora- tests to evaluate step excrescence effects on tory (AFRL) kicked off an 18-month study of boundarytransitioninthepresenceofapres- military transports, the Revolutionary Config- sure gradient. Results indicate that the allow- urations for Energy Efficiency Program, to able height of a step excrescence is larger identify ways of achieving 90% reductions in than previously thought, enabling design of fleetfuelusageby2050. full-scale, subsonic, low-sweep aircraft with a The European Smart Fixed Wing Aircraft betterunderstandingofthetolerancerequire- IntegratedTechnologyDemonstratorispursu- mentsforlaminarflow. ing active wing technologies that adapt wing NASA and Georgia Tech Research Insti- shapebasedonsensedairflow,aswellasnew tute are collaborating on fundamental 2D cir- aircraft configurations that can best incorpo- culation control experiments to be used for ratethesenovelconcepts. CFD validation. These data will provide the An AFRL/Scaled Composites/Northrop physical characteristics associated with sepa- Grumman/universityteamismaturingswept- ration and supercirculation flow control and winglaminarflowcontroltechnologiestoward willleadtoarefinementofturbulencemodels, revolutionary ISR (intelligence, surveillance, griddingtechniques,andtesttechniques. andreconnaissance)capabilitiesaspartofthe AFRL has begun an aggressive multidisci- SensorCraft concept. A variety of in-flight plinary project on micro air vehicle develop- measurement techniques have been used, in- ment, to include the flight sciences (aerody- cluding infrared thermography and unique namics, structures, and controls) and con- self-contained, in-flight boundary-layer meas- stituentsubjectssuchasefficientenergytrans- urement devices, to conduct flight tests of a duction and storage. AFRL engineers are 30-degswept-wingtestarticleattachedtothe combining wind/water tunnel testing, bench- A4%-scaleBoeingjoined-wing WhiteKnightOneaircraft. toptesting,computations,andanalysistoex- SensorCraftconfigurationwas ploit unsteady aerodynamics for improved optimizedandtestedinthe flight performance and flight control. These NASAAmes11-ftwindtunnel. Pressure-sensitivepaint,port efforts will leverage the Air Force Office of side,iscomparedtoCFD, Scientific Research multidisciplinary research starboardside.Sublimation on bio-inspired flight as well as the extensive andIRthermographywerealso employedtodetectthepresence andmultidisciplinaryresearchnowbeingper- ofsignificantlaminarflowon formed in the academic community. They in- theconfiguration. clude studies of bat flight, led by Brown Uni- versity, and fundamental physics of flapping wings,ledbytheUniversityofMichigan. Operational control units on flight projec- tiles were tested at the wind tunnel of the As part of the AFRL Aerodynamic Effi- Army Armament Research, Development, ciency Improvement program, Boeing per- and Engineering Center (Picatinny Arsenal). formedCFD-basedaerodynamicoptimization Full-scale models of various configurations onajoined-wingSensorCraftconfigurationto were tested at near-free-flight Reynolds num- minimize the configuration drag and inlet dis- berstovalidateperformance.Testingresulted byGaryDale,Andrew tortion. With NASA support, a 4% scale in a working software fix being implemented McComas,andtheAIAA model of the optimized geometry was built for a configuration that had failed during bal- AppliedAerodynamics TechnicalCommittee andtestedintheAmes11-ftwindtunnel. listicfiring. 10 AEROSPACEAMERICA/DECEMBER2009