NASA Announces 2012 Aeronautics Scholarship Recipients

Michael Braukus

Headquarters, Washington                                   

202-358-1979

michael.j.braukus@nasa.gov

WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected 25 students to receive the agency's Aeronautics Scholarship for the 2012-2013 school year.

This scholarship program, which is in its fifth year, is designed to aid undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in fields of study related to aeronautics and aviation. Recipients were selected from hundreds of applications to the program.

"These scholars represent the future aeronautical innovators who will be key players in enabling the advances in air transportation that will help us maintain the United States as a world leader in aviation," said Jaiwon Shin, associate administrator for NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate in Washington.

"We look forward to serving as their mentors and hearing their fresh perspective on solving the most pressing challenges facing the aeronautics community today," Shin said.

The students will have the opportunity to intern with NASA researchers and work on developing technologies for managing air traffic more efficiently; reducing aircraft noise, fuel consumption and emissions; and improving safety.

This year's recipients are enrolled at universities in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York and Texas. The 2012 scholarship recipients' names and their schools are depicted on an interactive map of the United States located at http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/aeronautics_scholarships/index.html.

Undergraduate scholarship winners will receive $15,000 per year to cover tuition costs for two years and a $10,000 stipend during a summer internship with NASA. Graduate scholarship winners will receive approximately $45,000 per year for as many as three years and $10,000 stipends for as many as two summer internships. To maintain their scholarship awards, all recipients must continue to meet the academic standards of the universities they attend.

The NASA Aeronautics Scholarship Program annually awards 20 two-year undergraduate scholarships plus summer internships, and five two- or three-year graduate scholarships plus summer internships. Acceptance of online applications for the 2013 school year will begin in September. Applicants must be citizens of the United States or its territories. The application requirements include information on the students' proposed area of study.

For more information about aeronautics research at NASA, visit http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov.

For information about NASA and its programs, visit http://www.nasa.gov.

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An Engine Of Ice and Fire

Preps Continue for Launching Engine Icing Research

By Jim Banke

NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate

NASA scientists are making progress in their preparations to mount a detailed research campaign aimed at solving a modern-day aviation mystery involving the unlikely combination of fire and ice inside a running jet engine.

The investigation deals with the seemingly strange notion that ice crystals associated with warm-weather storms can be ingested into the core of a jet engine, melt and then re-freeze, potentially causing the engine to lose power or shut down altogether. Safety officials have documented more than 150 incidents of this phenomenon since 1988. Most of the incidents have occurred in the tropics.

“It doesn’t seem intuitive that ice can form in the core of a warm engine,” said Ron Colantonio, manager of the Atmospheric Environment Safety Technologies Project at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.

So in order to make sense of the mystery, NASA and its research partners are planning to gather information by flying a specially-outfitted business jet in high-altitude, warm-weather conditions suspected of having a large amount of ice crystals.

Technicians in California are currently modifying a Gulfstream G2 airplane to hold a suite of meteorological instruments, with hopes of having everything ready for initial trial runs of the full setup in Florida this August.

The research team then will take the lessons learned from their trial runs, make appropriate changes and prepare for the primary campaign, which is now targeted between January and March, 2013. These flights will take place over Darwin, Australia, an area known for having the type of storms that include high levels of ice crystals.

Meanwhile, another set of investigators will be preparing the ground segment of the research, which involves simulating the engine icing conditions in an engine test facility at Glenn, as well as refining new computer codes to help predict where and when the engine icing conditions exist.

For now, pilots are being trained to recognize the potential existence of these ice crystals, which are about the same size as baking soda, and advised to avoid the weather conditions as best they can. Although a potential hazard, no accident has been attributed to the phenomenon in the 23 years since it was identified.

In most of the known cases, pilots have managed to restore engine power and reach their destinations without further problems. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, there have been two forced landings.

For example, in 2005, both engines of a Beechcraft business jet failed at 38,000 feet above Jacksonville, Fla. The pilot safely glided the aircraft to an airport, dodging thunderstorms and ominous clouds on the way down.

It is expected that updated flight safety rules and engine testing standards will be adopted once all the research is compiled and analyzed during the next few years.

NASA Announces Aeronautics Research Institute

Beth Dickey

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1600

beth.dickey-1@nasa.gov

Jessica Culler

Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

650-604-4789

jessica.culler@nasa.gov

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- NASA's Ames Research Center will host a virtual institute to solicit and foster innovative ideas that address technological challenges facing aviation and the U.S. air transportation system today and in the future.

Jaiwon Shin, NASA's associate administrator for aeronautics research in Washington, and Ames Director S. Pete Worden signed an agreement Tuesday establishing the NASA Aeronautics Research Institute (NARI).

"This institute will fulfill NASA's desire to make deliberate investments in innovative, early stage and potentially revolutionary aviation concepts and technologies," Shin said. "We want innovation not only within our technical portfolio, but also in the management of it. NARI represents a new approach to introduce fresh lines of research."

NARI will be comprised of multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary research teams creating new tools and technologies for reducing air traffic congestion and environmental impacts, improving safety and designing aircraft with unconventional capabilities. One goal of the institute is to stimulate collaboration between technical disciplines and among NASA, academic institutions, and other government and industry organizations dedicated to aeronautics research.

With $10 million per year to distribute for early stage concepts, the institute will complement NASA's existing research programs. As a virtual institute, NARI will facilitate technical exchanges, solicit research proposals, award research grants and use advanced communication technologies such as Web-based seminars to disseminate research findings.

NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate will provide policy guidance for the institute, including review and approval of implementation plans; review and concurrence for interagency agreements; and compliance with agency requirements. Ames, which also manages similar virtual institutes focused on astrobiology and lunar science, will host NARI in its NASA Research Park and provide staff and infrastructure for the institute.

"Ames is delighted to host a third virtual institute, focused on another one of our core areas of expertise," Worden said. "We look forward to building new communities of innovation around aeronautics."

For more information on aeronautics at NASA, visit http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov.

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