2023 Key Activities
Week Ending July 14, 2023
2023 FAA Data Challenge Forum
The 2023 FAA Data Challenge Forum was held June 21-22, 2023, at the MITRE Corporation campus in McLean, VA. Ten university finalist teams were selected to participate in the two-day culminating event and network with FAA and industry representatives. This year’s FAA Data Challenge focused on the use of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) and advanced analytics to explore aviation-related problems and opportunities. AI/ML is rapidly transforming many industries including aviation. Finalist teams were challenged to provide solutions that will push the boundary and introduce novel approaches to aviation problems as the FAA moves further towards an info-centric National Airspace System (NAS).
Following evaluation of each team’s technical paper, presentation to the Challenge Steering Committee and other FAA and industry representatives, and poster session discussions, three teams were named winners of the 2023 FAA Data Challenge:
$25,000 Overall Winner
Georgia Institute of Technology
“A Deep Learning Approach Using Social Media Data to Estimate Ground Risk
of UAS in Urban Areas”
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Dimitri Mavris and Dr. Michael Balachanos
Team Member: Jeffrey Pattison
$10,000 Second Place (Tie)
Duke University
“An Optimization of Airport Surface Congestion to Minimize Taxi Times”
Advisor: Dr. Mark Borsuk
Team Member: Matthew Brune
George Mason University
“Proposal for a Modernized Flight Risk Assessment Tool for
General Aviation Pre-Flight Planning”
Advisor: Dr. Isaac Gang
Team Members: Kathleen Hill, Chi Quinn, Erick Torres, and Hunter Walden
In collaboration with the FAA, Shelley Spears (Program Director), Shannon Verstynen (Program Manager), and Lazaro Bosch (Program Coordinator) from the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) organized and managed the schedule, logistics, submissions process, evaluation components, live forum, and awards ceremony. Robin Ford (Program Coordinator) managed the presentations, both live and livestreamed, throughout the Forum.
For more details about the 2023 FAA Data Challenge, please visit https://faadatchallenge.nianet.org.
For more details about the 2023 FAA Data Challenge Forum, please visit https://faadatachallenge.nianet.org/forum-information/.
Week Ending July 7, 2023
2023 RASC-AL Competition Forum and Winning Team Announcement
Additional awards presented during the 2023 RASC-AL Competition Forum included:
• Best in Homesteading Mars Theme
• Project Title: “Pale Red Dot: Polis-based Architecture for the Long-term Exploration of the Red planet, with Exciting and Diverse Developmental Opportunities to Thrive”
• Advisors: Jeffrey Hoffman, Olivier de Weck, Alexandros Lordos, Chloe Gentgen, Kir Latyshev
• Best in Lunar North Pole Tourism Theme
• Project Title: “Project Hestia”
• Advisor: Jarred Young
• Best in Lunar Surface Transporter Vehicle Theme
• Project Title: “ANTS: Artemis Navigating Transporter System”
• Advisor: Todd Letcher
• Best in Multi-Use Platform at L1 Theme
• Project Title: “SciNAP: Science & Network Access Platform”
• Advisor: Navid Nakhjir
• Best Technical Paper
• Project Title: “Multi-Use L1 Platform: L1 Orbiting Tracking & Uplink Spacecraft (LOTUS)”
• Advisor: Álvaro Romero-Calvo
• Best Prototype
• Project Title: “ANTS: Artemis Navigating Transporter System”
• Advisor: Todd Letcher
• Best Presentation
• Project Title: “Multi-Use Lunar Environment Cargo Carrier (MULE-CC)”
• Advisor: Kevin Shinpaugh
RASC-AL is sponsored by the Moon to Mars Architecture Development Office within the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters and by the Space Mission Analysis Branch at NASA’s Langley Research Center.
NASA Feature Story: NASA Announces Winning Collegiate Teams at 2023 RASC-AL Forum
To view the 2023 RASC-AL Finalist Teams’ presentations, posters, and technical papers, please visit: https://rascal.nianet.org/2023-teams/.
RASC-AL Website: http://rascal.nianet.org/
2024 BIG Idea Challenge Theme Preview
On July 6, 2023, the National Institute of Aerospace sent out a theme preview for the 2024 Breakthrough, Innovative, and Game-changing (BIG) Idea Challenge, a university level design competition that invites multidisciplinary teams of science and engineering students to propose innovative solutions for inflatable technologies, structures, and systems for lunar operations. The theme preview was sent to over 4,000 contacts, including top aerospace engineering universities, Space Grant affiliated schools, and minority serving institutions.
The 2024 BIG Idea Challenge is open to teams of ~5-25 students from colleges and universities officially affiliated with their state’s Space Grant Consortium (or partnered with an affiliated school). Between 5 and 8 teams will be selected to receive funding and provide results for robust verification testing. A wide range of award sizes is expected (between $50,000 to $180,000), depending on the scope of the work proposed.
The 2024 BIG Idea Challenge is a sponsored by NASA through a unique collaboration between the Space Technology Mission Directorate (Game Changing Development Program), the Office of STEM Engagement (Space Grant Consortium) and is managed by the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) in partnership with Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL).
Full competition details will be available by July 26, 2023, on the BIG Idea Challenge Website: http://bigidea.nianet.org/
Week Ending June 2, 2023
2023 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition Forum and Winning Team Announcement
Eight finalist teams gathered in Cleveland, Ohio on June 1-2, 2023, to attend NASA’s 2023 Gateways to Blue Skies: Clean Aviation Energy Competition Forum held at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. This year, students were asked by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) to conceptualize the source-to-flight lifecycle of one potential clean aviation energy source of the 2050s, in terms of feasibility, viability, and environmental impact. Sixty-two (62) individuals (students, faculty/industry advisors, NASA/industry representatives, and NIA program staff) participated in this event, while 49 students and faculty/industry advisors actively participated in the competition on finalist teams throughout the academic year.
Teams were evaluated based on the merits of their 25-minute presentation and 20-minute Q&A session with the Judging Panel during the Forum and their previously submitted Final Research Paper and Infographic. The 2023 Judging Panel included subject matter experts and representatives from NASA, LIFTE H2, and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Boston University’s “Aluminum Powder Combustion” Team was chosen as the 1st Place Overall Winner, and the University of California, San Diego Team was chosen as the 2nd Place Overall Winner for their project, titled “Aircraft Propulsion by Directed Energy Beam Bursts (DEB-B).” NASA’s ARMD has set aside 6 internships for students on teams that advance as Competition Finalists, with the first opportunities being offered to members from the 1st Place Overall Winning Team.
Additional awards presented during the 2023 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition Forum included:
- Best Presentation:
- Carnegie Mellon University | “The Role of Hydrogen in Aviation Decarbonization”
- Best Infographic (Tie):
- University of California, San Diego | “Aircraft Propulsion by Directed Energy Beam Bursts (DEB-B)”
- Manhattan College | “High on Hydrogen!”
NASA Feature Story Announcing Competition Results: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/winners-announced-in-gateways-to-blue-skies-aeronautics-competition
Official record of the 2023 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition, including links to research papers, infographics, presentation chart decks, and proposal videos: https://blueskies.nianet.org/2023-record/.
To learn more about the Gateways to Blue Skies Competition, visit: https://blueskies.nianet.org/.
Add Your Heading Text Here
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Week Ending May 26, 2023
Solar Eclipses at Your Camp! Presentation at the American Camp Association Conference
The Solar Eclipses at Your Camp! presentation was delivered to 25 participants attending the American Camp Association Conference on February 10, 2023, in Orlando, Florida. The session was led by Carolyn Ng, NASA Heliophysics Education Activation Team (NASA HEAT) and Joan Harper-Neely, STEM Education Specialist from the National Institute of Aerospace’s Center for Integrative STEM Education (NIA-CISE).
The NASA HEAT and NIA-CISE teams modeled best practices for the participants as they learned about the challenges and opportunities that the 2023 and 2024 solar eclipses will present for their camps. The group discussion focused on how to access resources and technologies to safely observe eclipses, and implementation strategies. The engagement activities included creating images of the Sun with paint and model eclipses and showing how to use a NASA Pinhole Projector 2023 Annular Solar Eclipse USA Map and 2024 Total Solar Eclipse USA Map. Both the 3D printed and 2D printed 2023 and 2024 pinhole projectors can be downloaded from https://nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov/detail/usa-eclipse-2023 and https://nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov/detail/usa-eclipse-2024.
NASA eClips Guide Lites: Solar Images: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/teachertoolbox/download/81
Our World: The Sun, A Real Star: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/video/ourworld/our-world-the-sun-a-real-star
Real World: Satellites and Solar Eruptions: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/video/realworld/real-world-satellites-and-solar-eruptions
Launchpad: Solar Eclipses: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/video/launchpad/launchpad-solar-eclipses
To view the collection of NASA eClips resources, please visit https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/.
To learn more about the NASA Heliophysics Education Activation Team, please visit https://science.nasa.gov/science-activation-team/nasa-heliophysics-education-activation-team.
To learn more about NASA’s solar eclipse efforts, please visit https://solarysystem.nasa.gov/eclipses.
NASA eClips Prepares Students and Their Families for Upcoming Solar Eclipses
Around 40 inquisitive elementary-aged learners and their families visited the NASA eClips exhibit table at the Armstrong Elementary School for the Arts Science/STEM fair in Hampton, VA, on March 20, 2023. The NASA eClips team shared educational resources and hands-on engagement activities to teach about the Sun and prepare the learners for the 2023-2024 solar eclipses.
In the spirit of inspiring the next generation of engineers and scientists, learners explored the features of the Sun by creating solar images using art supplies. Learners used solar images they painted to explain the attributes of the Sun by comparing them to NASA telescope images. Using tubes wrapped in different colors of cellophane, learners identified Sun characteristics in the images, such as prominences, coronal mass ejections, solar flares, and sunspots. Learners enjoyed discovering which colors created the clearest image and explored how different filters on telescopes allow NASA scientists to observe different aspects of the Sun.
The exhibit was facilitated by Joan Harper-Neely, STEM Education Specialist, National Institute of Aerospace Center for Integrative STEM Education (NIA-CISE), Betsy McAllister, Educator-in-Residence, Hampton City Schools and NIA-CISE and Latonya Waller, NASA eClips Science Communications Intern.
NASA eClips Guide Lites: Solar Images: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/teachertoolbox/download/81
Our World: The Sun, A Real Star: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/video/ourworld/our-world-the-sun-a-real-star
Real World: Satellites and Solar Eruptions: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/video/realworld/real-world-satellites-and-solar-eruptions
Launchpad: Solar Eclipses: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/video/launchpad/launchpad-solar-eclipses
To view the collection of NASA eClips resources, please visit https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/.
To learn more about NASA’s solar eclipse efforts, please visit https://solarysystem.nasa.gov/eclipses.
NASA eClips Education Team and Student Presenters Host Second Pre-Earth Day Event
Student presenters from Florida to California to Virginia presented Earth-friendly activities with the NASA eClips Education Team from 10 am to 2:30 pm ET on April 18th as part of the virtual NASA eClips Pre-Earth Day Celebration. This is the second consecutive year that the NASA eClips Team has hosted a Pre-Earth Day event.
The 539 youth and adults in attendance, who represented homeschools and classrooms from Iowa to Mexico, signed up for sessions they were interested in attending and received a comprehensive materials list prior to the event so they could complete hands-on activities along with the presenters. Attendees had a choice of nine different sessions that each addressed one of Earth’s Systems.
Youth from She Can STEM Academy in Suffolk, Virginia kicked off the event with a video they created explaining the history of Earth Day. The 30-minute sessions included Charlotte, a senior from St. Margaret’s Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano, California, who showed attendees how to beautify their backyards and provide nectar for pollinators by creating Earth-shaped seed bombs with native seeds. Darius and the Kecoughtan High School Ecology Club and their sponsor Sally Lewis from Hampton, Virginia led participants in making bird feeders and planters using repurposed materials.
Students from Storm Grove Middle School in Vero Beach, Florida, and their teacher NASA eClips Advisory Board Member Melissa Sleeper, illustrated how to make an oyster restoration mat. They also showed learners how to reduce the heat island effect at their schools. Sophomore students from Heather Overkamp’s science class presented their research on “The Effects of Saltwater on Eastern White Cedar Trees.” Paige from Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, California led a session on generators and how they work. The event wrapped up with presentations by NASA eClips intern Latonya Waller. Waller first engaged participants in creating a water filtration system before leading students in building a barometer using everyday household materials.
The NASA eClips team from the National Institute of Aerospace’s Center for Integrative STEM Education (NIA-CISE) consists of Senior STEM Education Specialists Dr. Sharon Bowers and Joan Harper-Neely, Hampton City School Educator in Residence Betsy McAllister, and Project Coordinator Lazaro Bosch.
To learn more about NASA eClips resources related to Earth Day, please visit: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TlQsZOXIxJ463A-NQgvG2RuBoRwm92YQ/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109872337177444596451&rtpof=true&sd=true.
To learn more about NASA eClips resources, please visit: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/.
NASA eClips Team Engages Educators at the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association 2023 Conference
Fifty educators serving learners in grades K-12 collaborated to complete challenges during the workshop session, Bring the Universe to Our Classroom with NASA Resources, during the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) Conference in Minneapolis, MN, April 12-15, 2023. Dr. Sharon Bowers and Joan Harper-Neely, STEM Education Specialists at the National Institute of Aerospace and members of the NASA eClips team challenged attendees to build a pyramid without touching the cups, build and launch a foam rocket to consistently hit a target, and build and test boomerangs from different materials.
Over 200 educators visited the NASA eClips table at the ITEEA Conference’s STEM Showcase on April 14, 2023. The STEM Showcase is an exciting event highlighting best practices in Integrative STEM education! The NASA eClips team shared black boxes, the engineering design packets, and educator guides. Conference attendees also learned about the NASA Spotlite challenge and how they can guide their learners to become content creators as they produce videos to address science misconceptions and demonstrate to others how to make a claim and gather the evidence before reasoning why the evidence supports the claim.
Resources Shared:
- NASA eClips Engineering Design Packets and Implementation Guide – https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/resources/guides#Engineering_Design_Packet
- NASA eClips Solar Images Guide – https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/resources/download/81
- NASA Spotlite Design Challenge Resources – https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/resources/sdchallenge
- NASA eClips STEMify Summer Activities – bit.ly/STEMifySummerActivities
- NASA eClips Website – https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/
NIA Principal Engineer Flight Path Management Software Installed at Sikorsky Memorial Airport
On May 30, 2023, David Karr, Principal Engineer at the National Institute of Aerospace, had Flight Path Management software, collaborated on under the IAS-1 effort, installed on site at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Bridgeport, CT for flight tests to be held next week. The software was subjected to ground testing, including a simulated flight before installation.
Week Ending May 5, 2023
Key Activity: 2024 Human Lander Challenge Q&A Session
NIA and NASA sponsors hosted an online Question and Answer Session for teams interested in participating in the Human Lander Challenge (HuLC) on Friday, April 28, 2023. Through the 2024 HuLC competition, NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS) Program provides college students the opportunity to explore innovations and potential solutions to lunar Plume-Surface Interaction risks and challenges.
NASA Sponsors Jamshid Samareh, Lynn Bowman and Bill Jacobs attended to answer questions during the live Q&A Session. HuLC Judges and SMEs Wesley Chambers, Samantha Harris, Ashley Korzun and Manish Mehta were also in attendance to address technical questions. HuLC Program Staff from NIA, Robin Ford, Victoria O’Leary, and Stacy Dees, responded to programmatic questions.
Questions and answers, as well as the audio recording of the Q&A Session are posted on the FAQs page of the HuLC website: https://hulc.nianet.org/faqs. Another Q&A session is scheduled for Nov. 8, 2023, and proposals are due on March 4, 2024
FLOATing DRAGON Balloon Challenge All Hands Meeting
NIA supported a virtual All-Hands Meeting with the finalist teams in the FLOATing DRAGON (Formulate, Lift, Observe, And Testing; Data Recovery And Guided On-board Node) Balloon Challenge on Monday, April 17, 2023.
NASA Sponsors Sarah Roth, Andrew Hynous and Christopher Yoder from Wallop’s Balloon Program Office attended along with the teams’ assigned NASA mentors to discuss the status of mission-critical items, such as data vaults; mounting schematics; upcoming review milestones, and miscellaneous dates and deliverables. Robin Ford and Stacy Dees were available to answer programmatic questions and capture program record changes.
Through the FLOATing DRAGON Challenge, finalist teams are developing prototypes for a guided data vault recovery system consisting of a deployer that can be mounted to a HASP-type balloon gondola, and a node that can be dropped and fall gracefully to a pre-determined, safe waypoint for recovery. Once passing mission requirements, finalist teams will ultimately be able to conduct a test drop of their data recovery system in Ft. Sumner, New Mexico, in Aug. 2023.
Week Ending April 21, 2023
NIA Senior Research Engineer Speaks at New Mexico State University Seminar
Dr. Pedro Paredes Gonzalez, Senior Research Engineer at the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), presented “Convective and Global Instabilities Over Cone-Cylinder-Flare Models at Mach 6,” during the Graduate Seminar Series at New Mexico State University (NMSU). Dr. Paredes was invited by the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at NMSU. The seminar was held April 21, 2023.
https://mae.nmsu.edu/news-events/2023/march/graduate-seminar-series-dr.-pedro-paredes.html
Week Ending April 14, 2023
Moon to Mars Strategy and Objectives Document Published for NASA HQ
On the heels of Exploration Frontiers (2021), NIA Higher Education Program Team member Janice Kurbjun Miller was commissioned by RASC-AL Competition sponsor Pat Troutman (NASA ESDMD) and Director of Space Architectures Kurt “Spuds” Vogel to support the final edition of NASA’s cornerstone strategic document, Moon to Mars Strategy and Objectives Development, which was published digitally on April 5, ahead of the April 17-20, 2023 Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, CO. Janice Kurbjun Miller served as a technical writer and content editor for the new strategic document, as well as design consultant alongside the Langley Research Center’s Advanced Concept Laboratory to develop infographics, graphics, and overall document design.
The document follows a year of strategy and goals/objectives development, town hall informational meetings across Centers, and a rigorous input and review process to arrive at the final goals/objectives and associated strategy that will guide NASA’s approach to space exploration for the foreseeable future as well as serve as an informational overview for the White House, Congress, and other political leaders. The Strategy and Objectives document is an anchor informational piece and strategic guide for future space exploration architecture iterations. It is the precursor to the Architecture Definition Document (ADD), scheduled for initial release during the 2023 Space Symposium.
Current and future RASC-AL teams will use the Moon to Mars Strategy and Objectives Development document as a foundational resource supporting their RASC-AL concept development. The 2023 RASC-AL Competition is sponsored by the Moon to Mars Architecture Development Office within the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) at NASA Headquarters and by the Space Mission Analysis Branch (SMAB) at NASA’s Langley Research Center (LaRC).
See NASA’s feature story announcing the digital document online at: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-details-strategy-behind-blueprint-for-moon-to-mars-exploration.
To learn more about the RASC-AL Competition, please visit: https://rascal.nianet.org/.
NIA Senior Research Program Administrator Judges FIRST Robotics Competition
Yolanda Hinton, Senior Research Program Administrator at the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), served as a Dean’s List Judge for the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Chesapeake District Championship held April 6-8, 2023, on the campus of George Mason University. Sixty teams competed at the event with robots built during a six-week build season to compete in a game released in January. The teams qualified for the championship based on robot performance or awards received at qualifying tournaments held in March and April. Winners from this event will compete at the FIRST Championship in Houston on April 19- 22. Students are nominated by their mentors for the Dean’s List Award.
FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.” It is the world’s leading youth-serving nonprofit advancing STEM Education with activities for students K-12.
Week Ending March 24, 2023
2024 New NASA ESDMD Challenge Announced
On March 21, 2023, NIA and NASA officially announced a new joint Higher Education Competition, the Human Lander Challenge (HuLC), which is sponsored by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center’s Advance Development Office.
The HuLC competition is an initiative supporting NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate’s (ESDMD’s) efforts to explore innovative solutions for a variety of known Human Landing System (HLS) challenge areas.
When Artemis astronauts land on the Moon, their spacecraft will stir up a cloud of dust. This effect is called plume-surface interaction (PSI) and it can increase risks caused by lunar dust. Through the 2024 HuLC competition, NASA’s HLS Program provides college students the opportunity to explore innovations and potential solutions to lunar PSI risks and challenges.
The 2024 HuLC competition asks U.S. teams of undergraduate and graduate students to design innovative systems-level solutions addressing the mitigation of lunar PSI that can be implemented within 3-5 years.
Based on a review of initial proposals received by March 2024, up to 12 teams will be selected to continue developing their proposed concepts and compete at the Forum in Huntsville, Alabama in June 2024. Each finalist team will receive a $7,000 stipend to facilitate participation in the Forum. The top three placing teams will share a total prize purse of $18,000.
Notices of Intent (NOI)s are due October 22, 2023. The proposal deadline is March 4, 2024.
NASA’s feature story announcing the challenge: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-seeks-student-solutions-for-managing-moon-landing-dust-cloud
Human Lander Challenge Website: https://hulc.nianet.org
2023 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition Finalist Teams Selected and Announced
On Friday, March 24, 2023, members of the 2023 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition Judging Panel and an additional online reviewer attended the virtual Down-Select Meeting to review and deliberate the merits of proposal and video submissions to determine program finalists. Sponsored by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD), this year’s competition asked teams of university-level students to conceptualize the source-to-flight lifecycle of one potential clean aviation energy source of the 2050s, in terms of feasibility, viability, and environmental impact.
Eight (8) teams were selected as finalists and invited to present their concepts at the 2023 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition Forum June 1-2, 2023, at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. University teams were notified of their selection status via individual emails on March 28, 2023. Stipends totaling $6,000 per Finalist Team will be issued in early April, to facilitate full participation during the Forum.
2023 Gateways to Blue Skies Finalist Teams:
- Boston University
- Project Title: “Aluminum Powder Combustion”
- Advisor: James Geiger
- Boston University
- Project Title: “Iron Powder as a Clean Aviation Fuel Source”
- Advisor: Dr. Anthony Linn
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Project Title: “A Pathway to the Fuel of the Future: Hydrogen’s Role in Aviation Decarbonization”
- Advisors: Dr. Peter Zhang, Dr. Jared Cohon
- Manhattan College
- Project Title: “High on Hydrogen!”
- Faculty Advisor: Dr. Bahareh Estejab
- Ohio State University
- Project Title: “Project Source to Soar”
- Faculty Advisor: Dr. Bhavik Bakshi
- Texas A&M University
- Project Title: “Nuclear Aviation Project”
- Faculty Advisor: Dr. Ahmed Abdelaal
- University of California, San Diego
- Project Title: “Aircraft Propulsion by Directed Energy Beam Bursts (DEB-B)”
- Faculty Advisor: Dr. Sylvia Herbert
- University of Texas, Austin
- Project Title: “A Life Cycle Analysis of Space-Based Solar Power for Aircraft”
- Faculty Advisor: Dr. Christian Claudel
NASA Feature Story Announcing Finalist Teams: University Teams Selected as Finalists to Reimagine Aviation Energy Sources of the Future
To learn more about the Gateways to Blue Skies Competition, please visit: https://blueskies.nianet.org/.
Week Ending March 18, 2022
NASA’s BIG Idea Challenge Program Staff and Co-Chairs Conduct Feedback Sessions with Finalist Teams
Between March 13-17, the BIG Idea Challenge Program Staff (Stacy Dees, Amy McCluskey and Janice Kurbjun Miller) and 2023 BIG Idea Co-Chairs Kevin Kempton and Karen Taminger of NASA Langley, conducted virtual Feedback Sessions with each of the seven finalist university teams. Teams received feedback on their projects’ budget, scope, and timeline and were given the opportunity to ask technical or programmatic questions. Teams were also encouraged to join and actively contribute to NASA’s Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC) and the 2023 BIG Idea LinkedIn networking group.
Students on the BIG Idea Finalist Teams will continue to work toward their originally proposed concepts while incorporating the given feedback. Teams will submit a mid-project review in June detailing their progress.
Full competition details, information on judges, and a full detailed timeline can also be found on the BIG Idea Challenge Website: http://bigidea.nianet.org.
NIA Senior Research Engineer Publishes Article in Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets
Dr. Pedro Paredes Gonzalez, Senior Research Engineer at the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), published “Modal Instabilities over Blunted Cones at Angle of Attack in Hypersonic Flow” in the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets. The article is available online as of March 17, 2023.
Pedro Paredes, Anton Scholten, Meelan M. Choudhari, and Fei Li, “Modal Instabilities over Blunted Cones at Angle of Attack in Hypersonic Flow,” Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets (2023). doi: 10.2514/1.A35590
Week Ending March 3, 2022
NASA eClips Resources Featured in Earth to Sky Webinar: NASA Spotlites in Environmental Education Young Learners as Science Communicators
Geneviève de Messières, lead for the Earth to Sky team, invited NASA eClips’ educators to join a webinar and share NASA eClips’ collaboration with Guana Tolomato Matanzas (GTM) National Estuarine Research Reserve. Earth to Sky (ETS) is a partnership between NASA, the National Parks Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Last summer, Joan Harper-Neely, STEM Education Specialist for the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), and Josie Spearman, GTM Education Coordinator, created a program where students honed their critical thinking skills and developed technological and science literacy through the process of producing NASA Spotlite videos. By bringing together NASA Spotlites’ tools for student-produced videos that challenge science misconceptions, and the place-based environmental stories unique to the GTM Research Reserve, campers were immersed in a real-world challenge of communicating science to the general public. The webinar was designed to show science centers, parks, refugees, and other conserved sites digital tools to use in their summer camps and multiday group engagements. The team shared tips and strategies with 10 attendees for planning, training staff, and implementing the NASA Spotlite Design Challenge.
To learn more about NASA eClips and the NASA Spotlite Design Challenge, please visit https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/.
To learn more about Earth to Sky, please visit https://earthtosky.org/.
NASA eClips Education Team Shares Resources in 3-D Thursday Webinar for Rural Educators
The NASA eClips Education Team presented at the 3-D Thursdays NASA Series for K-12 Rural Educators webinar held on March 3, 2022, to 21 educators from across the nation. The webinar series is hosted by Rachel Arens, Associate Researcher at NAU PLANETS (Northern Arizona University’s Planetary Learning that Advances the Nexus of Engineering, Technology, and Science) and Michael Guarraia (Albert Einstein Distinguished Fellow at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate). The monthly Three-Dimensional Thursdays webinar series aims to enhance rural educators’ access to NASA resources, networking, and professional development. While focused on rural educators, the webinar series is open to all educators.
The NASA eClips Education Team introduced participants to the suite of resources which support standards-based instruction by increasing STEM literacy in both formal and nonformal settings. Participants explored the resources in greater depth through a series of scavenger hunts in the NASA eClips website. They identified the short length of NASA eClips videos and the ability to download them easily and on-demand as some of the reasons eClips are ideal resources for rural areas where bandwidth may be a limiting factor.
NASA eClips videos consist of Our World, Real World, Launchpad and Ask SME: Close-up with a NASA Subject Matter Expert videos, as well as student-produced Spotlite videos. NASA Our World videos are created for students in grades 3-5 to help them understand the difference between science (the natural world) and engineering (the designed world). Real World segments are created for students in grades 6-8 and connect classroom mathematics to 21st-century careers and innovations. NASA Launchpad videos focus on NASA innovations and technologies that will take us into the future. Ask SME: Close-up with a NASA Subject Matter Expert (SME) videos gives the audience a chance “meet” NASA SMEs and learn about their personal interests and career journeys, expanding student awareness of STEM careers. Participants identified the use of diverse hosts and SMEs as reasons they will use the eClips for introducing and engaging audiences, building conceptual understanding, and extending learning with audiences.
Participants also took a deeper dive to learn more about NASA eClips Guides. They expressed that both the Educator Guides, which provide ways to effectively use eClips videos, and the shorter Guide Lites will excite and engage learners in both formal and nonformal settings. Guide Lites focus on a single activity from an Educator Guide. Participants identified that VALUE (Varied & Accessible Learning Resources for Universal Engagement) Bundles give students choices in how they learn about a topic. The carefully curated NASA eClips and partner resources within a VALUE Bundle provide a cohesive and intriguing set of materials that meets the needs of a wide variety of learners. Participants believed the newly redesigned Engineering Design Packets will be a valuable tool their learners could use with any design challenge.
The NASA eClips Education Team also introduced the NASA Spotlite Design Challenge to the audience. In that challenge, student teams write an engaging script and produce a 90-120 second Spotlite video that addresses a science misconception. Participants detailed supporting materials and the intuitive nature of the challenge as reasons participants expressed their plan to use the resource with learners in the future.
The NASA eClips Education Team from the National Institute of Aerospace’s Center for Integrative STEM Education (NIA-CISE) consists of Dr. Sharon Bowers (Senior STEM Educator), Joan Harper-Neely (STEM Education Specialist), and Betsy McAllister (Educator in Residence).
Resources Shared:
To learn more about NASA eClips, please visit: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/.
- Our World videos: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/video/ourworld
- Real World videos: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/video/realworld
- Launchpad videos: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/video/launchpad
- Ask SME: Close-up with a NASA Subject Matter Expert videos: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/careerconnection
- Guides: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/resources/guides
- VALUE Bundles: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/resources/valuebundle
- NASA Spotlite Design Challenge: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/resources/sdchallenge
NASA eClips Highlights NASA Spotlite Design Challenge at 2022 ITEEA Conference
Over 100 teachers visited the NASA eClips exhibit table at the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) Conference’s Showcase in Orlando, FL, on March 10, 2022. Joan Harper-Neely, STEM Education Specialist at the National Institute of Aerospace and member of the NASA eClips team, challenged attendees to organize the steps for the engineering design process to produce a NASA Spotlite video. ITEEA educators can guide their learners to become content creators as they produce videos to address science misconceptions and demonstrate to others how to make a claim and gather evidence before reasoning why the evidence supports the claim.
Resources Shared:
To learn more about NASA eClips, please visit https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/.
To learn more about the NASA Spotlite Design Challenge, please visit https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/resources/sdchallenge.
Week Ending March 3, 2023
FLOATing DRAGON Balloon Challenge Finalists Announced
Six finalist teams were announced for the FLOATing DRAGON (Formulate, Lift, Observe, And Testing; Data Recovery And Guided On-board Node) Balloon Challenge on Tuesday, January 30, 2023. The selected university teams are:
Princeton University
Balloon Research Glider Recovery (BRGR)
Advisor: Daniel Marlow
Purdue University
Purdue DRAGONfly
Advisor: Steven Collicott
South Dakota State University
Project Jack Drop
Advisor: Todd Letcher
The University of Texas at Austin
Floating Longhorns
Advisor: Adam Nokes
University of California, Davis
HERMES (High-altitude Experimental Rogallo Mission to Escort Safely)
Advisor: Stephen Robinson
University of Notre Dame
IRIS v3
Advisor: Scott Howard
NIA program staff, Robin Ford and Stacy Dees, facilitated an independent online review of 17 Conceptual Design Review (CDR) submissions with a panel of 22 NASA subject matter experts (SME). In their CDRs, teams addressed feedback received from the judging panel on their previously submitted Preliminary Design Review (PDR) packages.
NIA staff compiled the judges scores, then facilitated a down select meeting on January 27 with the sponsors and other judges. NIA compiled the judges’ feedback and provided it to the university teams along with their final selection notifications.
Each finalist team will receive a hardware package from NASA and small stipend to offset costs associated with the development and construction of their proposed data recovery system concept.
Over the next few months, they will work hand-in-hand with Balloon Program Office Mission Managers at Wallops to refine their designs that allow for the safe release and retrieval of crucial data collected during planned scientific balloon missions. Upon successfully passing a rigorous mission review process, the plan is for finalist teams to conduct a test drop of their system in Ft. Sumner, New Mexico in August 2023. The winner may even have the opportunity to integrate their system in a future official NASA mission.
2023 BIG Idea Challenge Team Finalists Selected
The 2023 BIG Idea Challenge Steering Committee and NIA Program Staff (Shelley Spears, Stacy Dees, Amy McCluskey and Janice Kurbjun Miller) met virtually from Feb. 22-23, 2023, for a panel review of proposals submitted for the 2023 Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-changing (BIG) Idea Challenge. They deliberated the merits of 25 university-submitted proposals for creating a metal production pipeline on the Moon. The ability to extract metal and build needed infrastructure on the Moon advances the Artemis Program goal of a sustained human presence on the lunar surface.
Seven university teams were selected to receive funding to move forward with designs. Funding comes from NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Game-Changing Development Program and from the Space Grant Project.
Selected teams include:
- Colorado School of Mines
Title: Lunar Alloy Metal Production Plant (LAMPP)
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Christopher Dreyer, Dr. George Sowers
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Honeybee Robotics
Title: Artemis Steelworks: Advancing Reactor Technologies for Electrolytic Manufacturing of In-Situ Steel
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Jeffrey Hoffman, Dr. Antoine Allanore, Dr. Olivier De Weck, Dr. Martin Culpepper, George Lordos
- Missouri University of Science and Technology
Title: Lunar In-Situ Aluminum Production Through Molten Salt Electrolysis (LISAP-MSE)
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Daoru Han, Dr. Jeffrey Smith, Dr. Fateme Rezaei, Dr. David Bayless, Dr. William Schonberg, Dr. Daniel Stutts
- Northwestern University with Wearifi, Inc.
Title: ACRE: Autonomous Casting RovEr
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Ian McCue
- Pennsylvania State University with RFHIC and Jacobs Space Exploration Group
Title: Development of the Smelting with Microwave Energy for Lunar Technologies (SMELT) System for In-Situ Resource Processing
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Sven Bilén, Dr. Aleksandra Radlińska
- University of North Texas with Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Processes Institute, UNT; Enabled Engineering
Title: Solid-state Integrated Manufacturing Process for Lunar Environment (SIMPLE)
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Rajiv S. Mishra, Dr. Hector Siller, Dr. Ravi Sankar Haridas
- University of Utah with Powder Metallurgy Research Laboratory
Title: Production of Steel from Lunar Regolith through Carbonyl Iron Refining (CIR)
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Hong Y. Sohn, Dr. Michael F. Simpson, Dr. Michael L Free
NASA published a feature story on March 3, 2023, announcing the awardees: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/game_changing_development/University_Teams_Forge_Forward_in_NASA_Moon_Metal_Production_Challenge
Teams were encouraged to only ask for funding needed to complete their project as proposed, up to a maximum of $180,000. Approximately $1.1M was awarded between the finalist teams. Awardees will present the results of their testing to the BIG Idea Judges via an in-person presentation in Nov. 2023.
Full competition details, information on judges, and a full detailed timeline can also be found on the BIG Idea Challenge Website: http://bigidea.nianet.org/.
Soja Serves on Review Panel for FIRET-22 Step 2
On Feb. 28 – March 1, Dr. Amber Soja served on a review panel for Technology Development for Support of Wildfire Science, Management, and Disaster Mitigation (FireTech).
Soja Participates in International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF) Board Meeting
Dr. Amber Soja attended the International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF) Board Meeting on Feb. 28, 2023, as one of the Board of Directors. This is a professional association for wildland fire professionals who are uniquely positioned as an independent organization whose membership includes experts in all aspects of Wildland fire management. Soja interacts with IAWF to maintain global wildland fire professional associations; built community consensus on wildland fire issues; and to plan community events for the benefit of wildland fire professionals. Soja is also a co-chair in leading the IAWF Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity Committee.
Soja Conducts Applied Sciences Wildland Fire Management Project and PI Reviews
As part of Dr. Amber Soja’s Applied Sciences task in the Wildland Fire Management program, she recently conducted three reviews of PIs and their teams. The goal is to ensure the projects are on track and to provide support, as necessary. The Applied Sciences program supports the transition of useful NASA data, products, models, and tools in stakeholder and partner organizations, which can include partner agencies, Universities, non-profits, and businesses
Week Ending Feb. 10, 2023
NIA Research Scientist Presents at NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop
Dr. Kathleen Miller presented “Brain Aging Hallmarks: A Primer for Future Studies on Space Radiation” at the NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop. The workshop was held 6-9 Feb. 2023 in Galveston, TX.
“Brain Aging Hallmarks: A Primer for Future Studies on Space Radiation”
Authors: Kathleen B. Miller, Vivian Lu, Amina R. Zeidan, Kaitlyn L. Mi, Ryan B. Norman, Zarana S. Patel, Janice L. Huff
NIA Associate Principal Engineer Presents Preliminary Recommendations on Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Noise Modeling to FAA with NASA Team
Menachem Rafaelof, Associate Principal Engineer at the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), along with the team members at NASA’s Langley Research Center, Stephan Rizzi, and Kevin Shepherd, compiled a set of recommendations to help improve FAA’s Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT). This initial list focused on improving modeling capabilities by AEDT specifically to address the flight of UAM vehicles individually and as a fleet in urban environments. The presentation was well received with good technical discussion and actions aimed at collaboration and discussion of objectives leading to the release of NASA’s final set of recommendations.
NIA Senior Research Engineer Publishes AIAA Papers and Presents at AIAA SciTech 2023
Dr. Pedro Paredes Gonzalez, Senior Research Engineer at the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), published the following AIAA papers and presented during SciTech 2023. SciTech 2023 was held in National Harbor, MD, Jan. 23-27, 2023.
- Davami, J., Juliano, T., Scholten, A., Paredes, P., “Hypersonic Shock-Wave/Boundary-Layer Interactions on the ROTEX-T Cone/Flare,“ AIAA-2023-1245
- Benitez, L, Borg, M., Hill, J.H., Scholten, A., Paredes, P., Jewell, J. “Measurements on a Blunt Cone-Cylinder-Flare at Mach 6,” AIAA-2023-1245
- Vogel, E., Venkatachari, B., Paredes, P., Li, F., Choudhari, M. “CFD Integrated Transition Modeling for High-Speed Flows via Coupled OVERFLOW-LASTRAC Analysis,“ AIAA-2023-0438
- Leidy, A., Kegerise, M., Hannon, J., Venkatachari, B., Paredes, P., and Choudhari, M., “Measurements and Computations of Natural Transition on the NASA Juncture-Flow Model with a Symmetric Wing,” AIAA-2023-0441
Oral presentation:
Li, F., Choudhari, M., Berry, S., Paredes, P. “Basic State Computations and Streamline Analysis for Selected BOLT-II Flight Conditions” AIAA Scitech 2023, Washington DC, January 23-27, 2023
Week Ending Jan. 27, 2023
2023 Gateway to Blue Skies: Clean Aviation Energy Competition Q&A Session #2
The second virtual Question and Answer Session for NASA’s 2023 Gateways to Blue Skies: Clean Aviation Energy was held on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, from 3:30-4:30 PM ET. Hosted by the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) in an open-call format, the session provided an opportunity for interested teams to interact and ask the program sponsors questions about the upcoming competition.
During the session, technical and miscellaneous questions were answered by Blue Skies Chairs Steven Holz and Andrew Provenza of NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate’s (ARMD’s) University Innovation Project, while programmatic questions were answered by Janice Miller and Stacy Dees (NIA, Higher Education Competitions). The webinar, attended by 23 participants, was hosted by Janice Miller (Program Lead) and Genevieve Ebarle (Program Coordinator). Questions and answers, as well as the audio recording of the Q&A Session will be posted on the FAQs webpage of the Blue Skies website: http://rascal.nianet.org/faqs/.
In the 2023 competition, teams of 2 to 6 collegiate-level students have been asked to conceptualize the source-to-flight lifecycle of a potential clean aviation energy source of the 2050s, in terms of feasibility, viability, and environmental impact. For consideration in the competition, teams must submit a 5-7-page proposal and video by February 28, 2023. Up to 8 teams will be selected as Competition Finalists, each receiving a $6,000 stipend to present their concepts at the 2023 Blue Skies Forum, taking place June 1-2, 2023, at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH.
NIA Senior Research Engineer and Research Scholar Complete Level 2 TTT Milestone
Drs. Saikumar Yeratapally, Senior Research Engineer, and Joshua Pribe, Research Scholar, at the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), both supporting LaRC branch D-309, completed a Level 2 milestone for the Transformational Tools and Technologies (TTT) additive manufacturing project at NASA LaRC. The milestone involved developing and demonstrating an uncertainty quantified process-structure-property simulation framework for additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V. The simulations account for uncertainty associated with microstructural variability, process-induced porosity defects, and microstructure-porosity interactions. The milestone report was reviewed by Ed Glaessgen at LaRC and submitted to TTT management.
NIA Senior Research Engineer Serves as Ph.D. Defense External Examiner
Dr. Pedro Paredes Gonzalez, Senior Research Engineer at the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), participated as the external examiner of a PhD defense at the University of Waterloo, in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Francis Lacombe, “Stability of compressible boundary layers in presence of smooth roughness and wall temperature effects,” Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Jan. 2023.
NIA Senior Research Scientist Presents Three Papers at SciTech 2023
Dr. Prahladh Iyer, Senior Research Scientist at the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), presented the following papers at the SciTech 2023 conference:
Iyer, P. S., & Malik, M. R. (2023). Wall-modeled LES of the Three-dimensional Speed Bump Experiment. In AIAA SCITECH 2023 Forum, AIAA Paper 2023-0253.
Balakumar, P., Iyer, P. S., & Malik, M. R. (2023). Turbulence Simulations of Transonic Flows over an NACA-0012 Airfoil. In AIAA SCITECH 2023 Forum, AIAA Paper 2023-0254.
Wang, L., Anderson, W. K., Nielsen, E. J., Iyer, P. S., & Diskin, B. (2023). Wall-Modeled Large Eddy Simulation Method for Unstructured-Grid Navier-Stokes Solvers. In AIAA SCITECH 2023 Forum, AIAA Paper 2023-0251.
NIA Senior Research Program Administrator Judges FIRST Tech Challenge
Yolanda Hinton, Senior Research Program Administrator at the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), served as a Judge Advisor for the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Norfolk Qualifier Robotics Tournament held on Jan. 29, 2023, at Norfolk State University (NSU). The robotics competition was hosted by the NSU Engineering Department and the NSU College of Science, Engineering, and Technology. It is a qualifier tournament and first step towards competing at an international championship event being held in April in Houston, TX.
Hinton led a team of 12 judges who evaluated the student robotics teams in a combination of awards categories based on robot design, creativity and innovation, and team attributions including outreach and connection with the broader STEM community.
The event attracted 22 teams, mostly from Virginia and Maryland with one team traveling from Lexington, MA. FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology” and FTC is the fasting growing component of FIRST Robotics family of events.
Week Ending Jan. 6, 2023
NASA eClips Partners to Host 2nd Annual STEM Exploration Community Event Highlighting National STEM Day and the Launch of Artemis 1
The National Institute of Aerospace’s Center for Integrative STEM Education (NIA-CISE) partnered with NASA’s Langley Research Center; Virginia Space Grant Consortium; Hampton City, Portsmouth and Newport News Public Schools; Coastal Virginia STEM Hub; the City of Newport News; and Old Dominion University to host the 2nd Annual STEM Exploration Community Event at the Brooks Crossing Innovation and Opportunity Center in Newport News, Virginia on Oct. 15.
The event aimed to expose youth to STEM and STEM careers through interactions with exciting speakers and hands-on experiences with STEM-centric exhibitors. It served as a lead-up to the upcoming launch of Artemis 1 and National STEM Day (Nov. 8) for more than 420 elementary- and middle-school-aged learners and their families from around southeastern Virginia.
Featured speakers included Julie Williams-Byrd (Center Chief Technologist), Michelle Ferebee (Deputy Director of the Office of Strategic Analysis, Communications and Business Development), Emily Judd (Aerospace Engineer) and Nicole Pointek (System Analyst) — all from NASA’s Langley Research Center. Emily Judd and Nicole Pointek delighted students with their interactive presentation about Artemis and space exploration. Julie Williams-Byrd and Michelle Ferebee electrified participants as they emphasized that there is a place for everyone in STEM.
Joan Harper-Neely (NIA STEM Education Specialist), Jonathan Hernandez (NIA Researcher II), Judy Deichman and Isaiah Marriner (members of the NASA eClips Educator Advisory Board) shared NASA eClips resources and engaged participants in creating star life cycle bracelets that illustrate the journeys of Sun-like and massive stars at the NASA eClips exhibit and in creating chalk corona images.
Attendees used the Brooks Crossing computer lab to watch Launchpad: Engineering Design to Support Scientific Discovery, Launchpad: Life Cycle of a Star, and NASA Ask SME Close-up with a Subject Matter Expert video Center Chief Technologist – Julie Williams-Byrd.
Hampton City School’s PEG TV captured the event’s excitement in a short video clip.
Resources:
To view Launchpad: Engineering Design to Support Scientific Discovery, please visit: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/video/launchpad/launchpad-engineering-design-to-support-scientific-discovery.
To view Launchpad: Life Cycle of a Star, please visit: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/video/launchpad/launchpad-life-cycle-of-a-star.
To view the NASA eClips Ask SME video Center Chief Technologist: Julie Williams-Byrd, please visit: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/videosingular/asksme/center-chief-technologist-julie-williams-byrd.
To view the NASA/MAD Science Seeing Starlight with the James Webb Space Telescope, please visit: https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/education/SeeingStarlightMadScience.8.11.21.pdf.
To view Eclipse Chalk Art, please visit: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/2711/eclipse-chalk-art.
2022 Gateways to Blue Skies Competitors Present to Houston Airport Systems (HAS) on Sustainable Airport Designs
University of Texas-Austin’s Bluebonnet Skies team, a competitor in the 2022 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition (Blue Skies), presented in early Fall to Houston Airport System (HAS) Domestic Terminal Redevelopment Program (DTRP) – Terminal A planners. The team’s Blue Skies work may help guide energy efficiencies implemented in the terminal renovation project, which will be funded by $43M in FAA funding awarded in July 2022.
The teams’ input may also carry over to potential Terminal B renovations by United Airlines and HAS (United has also contacted the team), as well as the International Terminal Redevelopment Program (ITRP), which plans to accommodate up to 15 jumbo jets and potential smaller modular terminals for smaller aircraft. The DTRP has been in planning stages for five years, with the goal of completion by 2030. The ITRP is aiming for completion by 2024.
The FAA-funded HAS renovation project will focus on improving energy efficiencies, ticketing, security screening, checkpoints, baggage systems, and gates, as well as modernizing curbside access and loading bridges. The HAS planning team was most interested in Bluebonnet Skies’ solar canopies concept. According to team representatives, HAS planning officials are discussing ways to make the energy system more resilient, cleaner, and better able to accommodate electric aircraft.
Bluebonnet Skies presented a Pan Am Worldport design in their Blue Skies project. HAS officials expressed interest in revisiting that 1950s concept, with a modern energy twist – by adding solar to the canopy. By constructing a solar canopy over the entire ramp area, operations wouldn’t cease during thunderstorms and other weather events.
“We were elated to hear the news that we may actually be influencing the design of a real airport!” wrote team member Michael Reilly in an email. “Because our research and proposal tie so closely with their current project, they wanted to hear what we pitched to (Blue Skies). We modified our presentation to price it for them and made calculations and a report about how much energy our plan would generate, and at what cost.”
In addition, the United Airlines Corporate Real Estate Department Airport Planning managers from the airline’s Chicago headquarters reached out to the team in late October regarding their Blue Skies project. United is interested in the team’s proposed modular terminal and solar canopies.
One member of the Bluebonnet Skies team has interned for two summers at HAS, and the group met with airport representatives in late 2021 for a facility tour to inform initial Blue Skies Competition design work.
The inaugural Blue Skies competition asked teams of 2-6 university students to design a 2050’s airport (focusing on the exterior of the airport) that can support the climate-friendly planes and aviation markets of the future. Teams submitted proposals in March 2022, with eight teams selected as finalists to present at NASA’s Langley Research Center in June 2022.
NASA eClips Team Presents and Exhibits at the Virginia Association of Science Teachers Conference
The NASA eClips Education team presented Balloon Aerodynamics Challenge to middle school educators on Nov. 10 in a Pre-Conference Workshop and shared NASA eClips resources as an exhibitor during the Virginia Association of Science Teachers Professional Development Institute in Williamsburg, Virginia, from Nov. 10-12.
During the Pre-Conference session, middle school educators explored the 5E learning model and were introduced to the NASA eClips Real World: Aerodynamics Balloon Challenge 1 & 2. Participants worked through the eight steps of the design process, utilizing the newly released Secondary Engineering Design Packet to modify a helium balloon to make it neutrally buoyant and able to collect data. In the process, educators learned best practices for engaging their learners in understanding buoyancy, density, and the aerodynamic forces of lift, drag and thrust.
The NASA eClips team videotaped the educators hard at work modifying their helium balloons and then introduced them to the Spotlite Design Challenge. The Spotlite Design Challenge tasked participants with creating a short video confronting a science misconception. Producers gather their own evidence through observations and explorations to debunk the misconception. During the workshop, participants worked in teams to create a Spotlite video, discovering the ease with which one can be produced. One team created a Spotlite video confronting a misconception about movement of the helium balloon.
The NASA eClips Education team of Dr. Sharon Bowers (Senior STEM Educator), Joan Harper-Neely (STEM Education Specialist), and Betsy McAllister (Educator in Residence) shared NASA eClips resources with over 192 educators during the conference.
Resources:
- To access the NASA eClips website, please visit: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov.
- To access NASA eClips Real World: Balloon Aerodynamics Challenge 1 and 2, please visit: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/resources/download/68.
- To access the Spotlite Design Challenge, please visit: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/resources/sdchallenge.
- To access NASA eClips Launchpad: Newton’s Laws On-Board the International Space Station, please visit: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/video/launchpad/launchpad-newtons-laws-on-board-the-international-space-station.
- To access NASA’s Eyes on Earth, please visit: https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/earth/#.
NIA Associate Principal Engineer Completes RVLT Milestone
Menachem Rafaelof, Associate Principal Engineer at the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), has completed RVLT L2 milestone – RVLT.02.03.L220: Gen 3A Fleet Noise Assessment. There is a substantial effort to develop a new class of vehicles for Urban Air Mobility (UAM). In contrast to most commercial air traffic today, these vehicles will operate in communities close to the public. As such, there is a concern about their noise and the impact of noise on the public. This effort examined the use of an existing analysis tool (FAA’s Aviation Environmental Design Tool [AEDT]) for predicting noise by this new class of vehicles. Specifically, an approach has been developed to predict noise by UAM vehicles to assess their impact under mixed fixed-wing (F) and helicopter (H) modes.
NIA Research Scientist’s Proposal Selected for International Emerging Actions
Dr. Floriane Poignant, a Research Scientist at the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) and a team of collaborators and partners in France and the U.S., have had their proposal selected for the International Emerging Actions. International Emerging Actions are PI-to-PI projects whose purpose is to explore new fields of research and international partnerships through short-term mobility of scientists, the organization of working meetings, and the initiation of early-stage joint research works for shared scientific projects. These actions have a duration of two years. Dr. Poignant’s team will be funded through the French research organization, Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), for the proposal titled, “Mechanistic modeling of the impact of delivery order of low and high linear energy transfer ions on space radiation induced cancer risks.”