Langley Professor Dr. Dimitri Mavris of the Georgia Tech Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory hosted a virtual event this past week in which graduate student teams presented the results of their two-semester Grand Challenge projects. Three of the projects were conducted under the auspices of the Langley Professor Program.

Directorate:  E4 – Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate
Key POCs:  E402 – Dale Arney; E403 – Michael Patterson
Event Date:  4/21-4/23/20

The Grand Challenge Projects presented were:

APPLE: ANALYTICAL PERSISTENT PLATFORM LIFECYCLE EVALUATOR

Grand Challenge Abstract:
A persistent platform is a spacecraft concept that is to act as a bus for universally accepted payloads.  The platform would provide power, thermal, communication, computation, and ADCS to a number of payloads with the ability to grow using On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (OSAM) capabilities. Additionally, the platform is to have an indefinite lifetime. For this concept to become a reality, a need exists for persistent platform architecture lifecycle evaluation. Different architecture possibilities for a persistent platform were generated. A sizing and synthesis methodology for sizing the architectures was developed by applying traditional spacecraft sizing methods in a new way, placing emphasis on possible geometric configurations. With all architectures having been sized, the architectures were then evaluated in a discrete event simulation environment to model performance in both the build-up and maintenance phases. Multi-attribute decision-making methods were applied to select an architecture, at which point the architecture design was fleshed-out.

• • • • LaRC POC:
        E402 – Dale Arney
      • Technical Advisor:
        Dr. Bradford Robertson, Research Engineer II, Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory
      • Graduate Student Team Members:
        Sean Gilfether, Nadir Ougazzaden, Andrew Rater, Michael Szostak

TOP2: THIN-HAUL OPERATIONS OPTIMIZATION

Grand Challenge Abstract:
Thin-haul operations aim at re-energizing the commuter market segment defined as flight operations on short-haul routes (less than 350 miles) with very thin passenger demand. In the past decades, fierce competition led regional airlines and commuter operators to focus on more profitable routes. This resulted in both an overall increase in the average flight length and a demand for larger and larger aircraft. Aircraft manufacturers thus focused their business on larger gauge aircraft and progressively abandoned the commuter market segment. As a result, commuter operators rely on older aircraft with older powerplants, which impact their efficiency and the reliability of their operations. This adversely affects the profitability of commuter operations that have essentially vanished from the skies. Despite maintaining expensive airport facilities, many smaller communities have thus lost access and connection to the National Airspace System.

Thin-haul operations aim at benefitting from the convergence of new technologies (autonomy, energy storage, electric propulsion) and favorable regulations to come up with new game-changing aircraft concepts with significantly improved economics and reduced environmental footprint. To succeed, the design requirements for these new aircraft must be driven by the thin-haul concept of operations. They must provide clear benefits in terms of economics while alleviating environmental concerns. The focus of the Thin Haul Operation Optimization (TOP2) Grand Challenge is to investigate the viability of thin-haul operations by developing an environment that captures the interrelationship between vehicle design, flight operations, operational economics, and environmental footprint. The research aims at a concurrent aircraft and operation optimization, which yields insights into the optimum class of vehicle for thin-haul missions. The parametric environment is used to investigate various design and operation tradeoffs and a use case is implemented on a network of 1,800 routes in the North East U.S. Corridor. 

• • • • LaRC POC:
        E403 – Michael Patterson
      • Technical Advisor:
        Dr. Cédric Justin, Research Engineer II, Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory
      • Graduate Student Team Members:
        Sasha Madar, Thayna Oliveira, Douglas George Dobbin, H. Irem Caglar

SOLUBL: SIMULATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF LUNAR GATEWAY BUILDUP LOGISTICS

Grand Challenge Abstract:
As space exploration campaigns become more complex and ambitious, their accompanying logistics planning must also evolve and grow in complexity, requiring more sophisticated analysis methods. Previous research into these topics has produced models that capture the physics of the problem but did not have an emphasis on conducting trade-offs to support decision-making. In this Grand Challenge, we develop a framework for evaluating different campaign options for the build-up of the Lunar Gateway, based on discrete event simulation. We couple the modeling and simulation framework with an evolutionary optimization algorithm to determine an optimized build-up campaign for a given Lunar Gateway concept with respect to metrics such as cost and schedule. Once an optimized campaign is obtained, it is being re-evaluated in the modeling and discrete event simulation environment to capture uncertainty and risks associated with this campaign. Although this Grand Challenge focused on the Lunar Gateway as a use case, the methodology developed during this process applies to any space logistics problem.

• • • • Technical Advisor:
        Dr. Alexia Payan, Research Engineer II, Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory
      • Graduate Student Team Members:
        H. Irem Caglar, Sean Gilfether, Allan Zhang