Senior Air Force science exec visits Edwards rocket lab

by Kenji Thuloweit
412th Test Wing Public Affairs

9/30/2015 - EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Dr. David E. Walker visited the Air Force Research Laboratory facilities here Sept. 23, 2015.

Walker is a member of the Senior Executive Service and is responsible for all science and technology for the U.S. Air Force. This includes preparing policy, guidance, and advocacy for the Air Force's annual $2 billion science and technology program. Walker provides annual testimony to Congress, technical advice and counsel to the Air Force Acquisition executive, and the Air Force's science and technology recommendations to the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Walker received updates on technology efforts in a variety of AFRL areas. He visited several in-house facilities supporting booster developments for a High Speed Strike Weapon, Hydrocarbon Booster engine development risk reduction and future tactical and strategic missile systems development supporting the Ground Based Strategic Deterrence, which will replace the current Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.

Other updates provided to Walker involved technologies to increase the range or throw weight of missiles by using newly developed composite rocket motor cases, improved insulation and nozzles, and new rocket propellants.

According to AFRL, since 2000, its Rocket Propulsion Division has seen more than 170 applications and transitions of its technology to government and commercial systems and has supported more than 30 research and development, and test and evaluation activities.

Walker is also responsible for overseeing a broad range of engineering and technical management policy spanning systems engineering; environmental safety and occupational health; industrial preparedness; and functional management of more than 14,000 military and civilian scientists and engineers.

He is a retired Air Force officer and graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School located at Edwards.

Transformed X-48c Flies Successfully

Michael Braukus

Headquarters, Washington     

202-358-1979

michael.j.braukus@nasa.gov

 

Gray Creech

Dryden Flight Research Center

661-276-2662

gray.creech-1@nasa.gov

 

Tom Koehler

Boeing Research & Technology Communications

425-373-2921

thomas.j.koehler@boeing.com

 

Edwards AFB, Calif. -- The remotely piloted X-48C aircraft successfully flew for the first time Tuesday at Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert.

The aircraft, designed by The Boeing Co. and built by Cranfield Aerospace Limited of the United Kingdom, is flying again in partnership with NASA. The new X-48C model, which was formerly the X-48B Blended Wing Body aircraft, was modified to evaluate the low-speed stability and control of a low-noise version of a notional, future Hybrid Wing Body (HWB) aircraft design. The HWB design stems from concept studies being conducted by NASA's Environmentally Responsible Aviation project of future potential aircraft designs 20 years from now.

"We are thrilled to get back in the air to start collecting data in this low-noise configuration," said Heather Maliska, X-48C project manager at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. "Our dedicated team has worked hard to get the X-48C off the ground for its first flight and we are excited learning about the stability and control characteristics of this low-noise configuration of the blended wing body."

Primary changes to the C model from the B model, which flew 92 flights at Dryden between 2007 and 2010, were geared to transforming it to an airframe noise-shielding configuration. External modifications included relocating the wingtip winglets inboard next to the engines, effectively turning them into twin tails. The aft deck of the aircraft was extended about 2 feet to the rear. Finally, the project team replaced the X-48B's three 50-pound thrust jet engines with two 89-pound thrust engines.

Because handling qualities of the X-48C will be different from those of the X-48B, the project team developed flight control system software modifications, including flight control limiters to keep the airplane flying within a safe flight envelope. This will enable a stronger and safer prototype flight control system suitable for future full-scale commercial hybrid or blended wing aircraft.

"We are very pleased to begin flight tests of the X-48C," said Mike Kisska, Boeing X-48C project manager. "Working with NASA, we've successfully passed another milestone in our work to explore and validate the aerodynamic characteristics and efficiencies of the blended wing body concept."

Additionally, the upcoming flight experiments with the X-48C will help researchers further develop methods to validate the design's aerodynamics and control laws, including a goal of reducing aerodynamic drag through engine yaw control tests.

During the planned second block of flight testing this fall, NASA will test engine yaw control software incorporated in the X-48C's flight computer. This research will use asymmetric engine thrust to create yaw, or nose left or right movements, for trim and for relatively slow maneuvers.

NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate and Boeing are funding the X-48 technology demonstration research effort, which supports NASA's goals of reduced fuel burn, emissions and noise.

The X-48C retains most dimensions of the B model, with a wingspan just longer than 20 feet, and a weight of about 500 pounds. The aircraft has an estimated top speed of about 140 mph, and a maximum altitude of 10,000 feet.

The Air Force Research Laboratory, Dayton, Ohio, also is a member of the project team.

For more information about the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, visit http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov.

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ONR Researcher Tapped for Role in National Materials Genome Initiative

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy  (OSTP) has selected an Office of Naval Research  (ONR) director to serve as co-deputy chair of an interagency subcommittee tasked with speeding the advancement of new materials.

Dr. Julie Christodoulou, division director of naval materials in ONR’s Sea Warfare and Weapons  department, became one of three co-deputy chairs of the National Science and Technology Council’s Subcommittee for the Materials Genome Initiative. The subcommittee is supporting the Materials Genome Initiative for Global Competitiveness  (MGI), part of President Obama’s plan  to accelerate the standard decades-long process to discover, mature and manufacture new materials.

Just as the Human Genome Project  rejuvenated and spurred the growth of biological sciences by decoding the fundamental building blocks of human genetics, MGI is a national effort to build a materials innovation infrastructure that will accelerate the discovery and incorporation of materials in half the time and at a reduced cost of traditional approaches.

It took nearly 40 years for lithium-ion batteries to go from material discovery and development to mass market consumption.

With investment in the MGI, officials aim to gain efficiency in the scientific discovery process and accelerate commercial adaptation. Scientists supporting the initiative will advance computational tools that encourage collaboration throughout the development, certification, implementation and manufacturing processes of new materials, which will also shorten the transition time into commercial products.

“The purpose is to advance our experimental and computational tools, and to establish data-sharing protocols and ways of working together,” said Christodoulou. “That’s what all of this is about—trying to seed that infrastructure so that people have a way to work in this collaborative environment, which we believe is really going to make a difference in the world of materials science.”

Christodoulou will help oversee the effort with her co-deputy chairs, Dr. Charles Ward of the Air Force Research Laboratory  and Dr. Ian Robertson of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Dr. Cyrus Wadia, who is OSTP’s assistant director for clean energy and materials research and development, is the subcommittee chairman.

Federal agencies participating in the initiative include the departments of energy, commerce and defense; the National Institute of Standards and Technology; NSF; and NASA .

ONR has been at the forefront of funding basic research to help scientists discover, improve and incorporate new materials. The MGI will assist in focusing national attention, allowing the collective harnessing of similar but disparate interests, ultimately leading to more rapid advancement of materials for national security needs.

U.S. Air Force Develops NASA’s New MUTT

NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center soon will have a new dog in the yard, and it’s a real MUTT. That’s short for the Multi-Use Technology Testbed, a small unmanned aircraft being developed by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to test technologies that will be needed for new kinds of lightweight, flexible aircraft.

MUTT is one of the Air Force‘s newest X-planes, designated X-56A. The 7.5-foot-long aircraft has a 28-foot wingspan and will be powered by two 52-pound thrust JetCat P200-SX turbine engines. It is being built in California under contract to Lockheed Martin Corp., which will conduct the flight experiments for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).

Dryden will oversee the flights for AFRL during summer 2012, and then take ownership of the X-56A MUTT for follow-on research after the Air Force tests are finished in early autumn.

“Flexible wings and fuselages can result in significant reductions in the structural weight of aircraft,” says Gary Martin, deputy project manager for NASA’s Subsonic Fixed Wing Project at Dryden.

But unlike the short, stiff wings found on most aircraft today, long, thin wings like those on the X-56A are susceptible to uncontrollable vibrations, called flutter, that result from the force of air flowing over them. Thin wings can also be stressed by bending forces from wind gusts and atmospheric turbulence.

“To maintain the long-term health of the structure and ride quality in a more flexible airplane, we need to actively alleviate gust loads on the airplane and suppress flutter, so gust load alleviation and active flutter suppression are two of the key technologies that NASA is working to advance,” Martin said.

MUTT is designed to address this problem by enabling engineers to practice suppressing flutter by adjusting software programs in the aircraft’s flight control computer. With MUTT, researchers also expect to learn how better to ease gust loads, which will make flexible airplanes safer when they experience in-flight turbulence.

Although the X-56A MUTT is a low-speed, subsonic, sub-scale research aircraft, aircraft that fly faster than the speed of sound also can benefit from this research. The knowledge gained about flutter and gust suppression will be used in designing the proposed supersonic X-54, an aircraft that will demonstrate sonic boom-quieting technologies that could someday alleviate the noise concerns currently preventing supersonic commercial flight over land in the United States.

Written by Gray Creech, public affairs

 NASA Dryden Flight Research Center

Ohio Airmen Help F-16 Go ‘Green’

By Tech. Sgt. Mareshah Haynes
Defense Media Activity

TOLEDO, Ohio (AFNS) – In a joint effort by airmen from the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and Airmen from the Ohio Air National Guard’s 180th Fighter Wing, the F-16 Fight Falcon is currently undergoing a field service evaluation of biofuel.

As the largest consumer of energy in the Defense Department and $8 billion spent on fuel in fiscal 2011, Air Force officials are working toward making the fleet a little “greener” by researching, testing and ultimately implementing the use of alternative fuels.

Although other airframes, such as the C-17 Globemaster III, have been certified to use biofuel for unrestricted operations, this is the first evaluation of the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Two F-16s from the 180th FW fleet have been designated to test the 50/50 blend of Jet Propellant-8 petroleum and Hydroprocessed Renewable Jet fuel derived from the camelina plant. Camelina is essentially a weed that grows throughout the United States and requires very little horticulture.

The 180th FW was an ideal location for the fuel test because of its proximity to Wright-Patterson AFB, where the Air Force Research Laboratory is located, and its continued focus on green energy. In 2011, the wing was awarded the Reduced Energy Appreciation Program Award by the Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency’s Air Force Facility Energy Center.

“It’s part of the Air Force’s strategic goals to be able to reduce energy across the Air Force, so we really embrace that,” said Col. Steve Nordhaus, the 180th FW commander. “We’re trying to do everything we can to reduce energy costs because we know that every dollar we save there, we can use to buy more aircraft that protect our country or help support Airmen who are out there doing critical missions that affect our homeland defense.”

The jets have been flying with the blend since mid-December and will continue until the test sample is depleted.

“Our ability to exercise and use this stuff on a small scale or case-by-case basis makes us ideally suited to test the fuel,” said Col. William Gieze, the 180th Mission Support Group commander.

The staff at AFRL worked with commercial fuel manufacturers to develop a blend that would meet Air Force specifications. Considerations such as the flash and freeze points of the fuel were some of the major factors when determining the specifications for the F-16.

“Manufacturers are making alternative fuels for both the military and commercial customers,” said Dr. Tim Edwards, a senior chemical engineer for the AFRL fuels division. “Typically, they’ll send samples of their fuel, and we’ll evaluate and say, ‘Yes, you’re on the right track, this could be a jet fuel.’ When they get to the point where they can make large enough quantities, we’ll hand them over them off to the Alternative Fuels Certification office.”

The Air Force goal, by 2016, is to have half of the fuel that is purchased domestically to be at least a 50/50 blend of conventional and alternative fuel, Edwards said.

Another goal for the researchers and developers was to make the transition as seamless as possible. To date, there has been no additional training, equipment or maintenance required to begin using the fuel.

“When we first started this we were a little concerned because a few years ago we made the switch from JP4 to JP8 jet fuel,” said Col. Scott Reed, the 180th Maintenance Group commander. “The difference between the two caused a few hiccups initially. Some of the gaskets and O-rings didn’t expand as they normally would in the presence of the fuel, so we had leaks.”

The colonel likened the process to driving a car from Los Angeles at sea level to the Rocky Mountains. Adjustments need to be made for the car to operate at peak performance at different elevations. But with the new fuel blend, the transition has been totally transparent.

After each flight, the pilots complete a debrief form and each week the fuels technicians complete a debrief form to provide data to the Alternative Fuels Certification office about how the jets are performing with the new fuel blend.

And just as in real world operations, the jets designated for the test can refuel from the same tanker as the rest of their fleet during mission. Since biofuels may not be available at every base, or some overseas locations, the fuel blend must be interchangeable with standard JP-8.

“The truth of it is there has been absolutely no noticeable difference whatsoever,” Reed said. “There have been no fuel leaks, no operational impact.”

Once all of the data is collected and analyzed and any issues are rectified, the fuel can be certified to be used for all F-16s.

“The fact that we’re going to be doing something that not only affects the Air National Guard, but the total force was really our end goal,” Gieze said. “We really want to see the F-16 get certified on this and allow our country some other avenues for fuel.”

Simulation of Hypersonic Vehicle Structures at the Air Force Research Lab

Dr. Mike Spottswood is a aerospace research engineer at the Structural Sciences Center at the Air Force Research Lab. He is the recipient of the 2010 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers for his research simulating extreme environments on hypersonic vehicle structures.

As a civilian researcher for the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), I work on many exciting projects. It is very rewarding to have a job that allows me to continually explore new concepts in the development of aircraft technologies. Currently, I am part of the Structural Sciences Center (SSC), a small basic research group within AFRL. The objective of our group is to explore and develop methods for the simulation of hypersonic vehicle structures operating in extreme environments such as excessive temperatures, thermally-induced stresses and aeroacoustic loading. To put it simply, we would like the ability to simulate the response, material evolution and ultimately predict the useful life of these extreme-environment structures. In order to achieve this goal, the SSC conducts in-house research and experimentation, and we also have collaborative efforts with targeted groups in the aerospace industry, NASA, and the academic community.

I have worked for the U.S. Air Force for eight years as an active duty officer and for nine years as a civilian researcher at the Air Force Research Lab in Dayton, Ohio. In that time, and through various stages of technical work, I have recognized the need to accurately predict the response and life of realistic and representative aircraft structures. The state-of-the-art in aircraft analysis and design in many cases is to linearize the problem, while superposing the worst expected loading conditions. This approach has been sufficient for most traditional aircraft structures, but the difficulties encountered with extreme-environment structures are often nonlinear in nature.  Our group operates at the intersection of many disciplines and scales. Addressing the difficulties associated with extreme-environment structures is an enormous and exciting challenge. The audacity and technical difficulties of this goal, as well as the ability to learn from experts throughout the aerospace community and academia, is what drives me.

Recently, I was honored for my research efforts with the Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering (PECASE). This altogether unexpected honor was quite humbling, and is a reflection of our whole team’s efforts toward developing greater understanding of hypersonic structures and their unique operational environments. I hope to build upon this honor by continuing the research in this important field, hopefully someday studying large-scale, realistic and representative structures in a true hypersonic environment, either through wind tunnel testing or through flight test. By studying these structures in realistic, high-speed environments, we would be able to gain a more accurate understanding of the unique phenomena encountered under these conditions. Our team is always building toward the future, accumulating our knowledge base and learning more all the time.

Flight Test

In this image from November 2010, the U.S. Air Force's ACAT F-16D flew through Sierra Nevada canyons and past peaks during ground collision avoidance test flights.

The ACAT, which stands for Automatic Collision Avoidance Technology, aircraft took off from Edwards Air Force Base on a flight originating from NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center. Researchers at Dryden are working with the Air Force Research Laboratory in the ACAT Fighter Risk Reduction Project to develop collision avoidance technologies for fighter/attack aircraft that would reduce the risk of ground and mid-air collisions.

Image Credit: NASA/Carla Thomas

Want $20K? Design a System for Sensing People at a Distance

By John Ohab

Interested in winning money for solving some of the U.S. Air Force’s toughest challenges?

The U.S. Air Force Research Lab and the Wright Brothers Institute have launched the Open Innovation Pavilion, an online innovation marketplace where more than a quarter million of the world’s brightest minds solve tough problems for cash awards. This week, we’ll run through each of the ongoing challenges, which feature more than $100,000 in prizes. Hey, count me in!

First up: Remote Human Demographic Characterization.

The Air Force Research Lab is offering up to $20,000 for a system that can determine approximate age (adult, teen, child) and gender of small groups of people at a distance. You, the Solver, will propose a system and make suggestions for a potential hardware configuration that meets the requirements and justify it with arguments and relevant references. Evidence that the proposed system will work (from previous applications, existing data, literature, etc.) will be very important. The proposal will be evaluated on a theoretical basis considering the current state of the art knowledge.

This challenge requires a written proposal only. Submit your solutions by May 2, 2011. Are you up to the Challenge?

Photo: U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt Joshua Strang

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable: The X-51A Waverider

The Air Force is making final preparations for the second hypersonic flight test by the X-51A Waverider slated to launch this spring from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The X-51A team made some slight vehicle modifications following the May 26, 2010 longest-ever hypersonic flight powered by a supersonic combustion ramjet engine. Charlie Brink, Air Force Research Laboratorys X-51A technology demonstrator program manager; Joseph Vogel, Boeing Phantom Works/Defense, Space & Security Director of Hypersonics X-51A program manager; and George Thum, X-51A Program Manager, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, will participate in a Roundtable to discuss the upcoming X-51A test flight.