Smart Controls Save Fuel by Gray Creech to Reduce Aerodynamic Drag
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National Aeronautics and Space Administration Volume 55 Number 1 January 4, 2013 Smart controls save fuel By Gray Creech to reduce aerodynamic drag. Dryden Public Affairs Large jetliners and cargo aircraft Dryden’s versatile F/A-18 Full consume most of their fuel during Scale Advanced Systems Testbed, or the cruise portion of flight, so FAST, aircraft recently completed optimizing fuel consumption would a series of flights that explored reduce costs and pollution. For reducing fuel consumption during NASA, developing new control cruise flight conditions by making system methods like this helps small modifications to existing meet the agency’s Environmentally control laws and mechanisms in the Responsible Aviation project goals aircraft’s flight control computer. of reduced fuel burn and emissions. As part of the Intelligent Control Preliminary ICP flight results for Performance, or ICP, research indicate that a three- to five-percent project, a special computer code reduction in fuel burn was achieved called a peak-seeking algorithm compared to the baseline trim state was programmed into the aircraft’s at two flight conditions. The ICP Airborne Research Test System ED10-0073-23 NASA/Lori Losey technique shows much promise computer. This code enables the for reducing fuel burn in transport computer to precisely adjust flight Dryden’s F/A-18A Full Scale Advanced Systems Testbed aircraft recently control surface deflections in order completed flying the Intelligent Control for Performance research project. Fuel savings, page 7 SBLT-II project flights set to take off in 2013 By Gray Creech Dryden Public Affairs Dryden, in partnership with Aerion Corp., is preparing to fly another series of Supersonic Boundary Layer Transition, or SBLT-II, project flights on its F-15B Research Testbed aircraft in early 2013. Engineers are continuing an on-going investigation of the extent and robustness of natural laminar flow at supersonic speeds. The experiment consists of flying a small test airfoil, or wing section, attached underneath the F-15B. Conducting the experiment in a real- world environment will enable engineers to capture data that will then be used to refine the airfoil design. The objective is to better understand when air transitions from laminar, or smooth, flow to rough, turbulent flow over a wing surface. The airfoil design, once validated and refined, could be adapted to the wing of Aerion’s proposed supersonic business jet. ED96-43546-01 NASA/Jim Ross Laminar airflow results in less aerodynamic drag, which improves overall efficiency and reduces fuel consumption, several of the goals of Dryden photographer Jim Ross captured the F-15B aeronautical research testbed NASA’s Environmentally Responsible Aviation project. as it flew over Lake Isabella in Southern California’s Kern County. www.nasa.gov/ X-Press January 4, 2013 Hurricane study tools validated By Robert Gutro (e.g. temperature, water vapor) Goddard Space Flight Center and precipitation structure in and NASA’s 2012 Hurricane and around a tropical cyclone, which Severe Storms Sentinel, or HS3, are important measurements for mission concluded Nov. 5 when understanding the storm dynamics an unmanned NASA Global Hawk and evolution. aircraft flew from Dryden on a final During the Pacific Global Hawk data-collection mission in the North flight, the HAMSR quick-look Pacific Ocean over a large storm in temperature and water vapor profiles preparation for next year’s hurricane showed a transition from warmer, campaign. moister air to cold, dry polar air as The Global Hawk mission the plane traversed a front associated included a route along the Pacific with a low pressure system centered Coast to as far north as Washington. in the Gulf of Alaska. The aircraft flew over four Pacific “Because HAMSR operates at Ocean buoys and a low pressure microwave frequencies, it readily system south of the Aleutian penetrates the clouds that are ED12-0332-02 NASA/Jim Ross Islands in Alaska. The 24.2-hour prevalent in the core regions of flight allowed for testing of several This Dryden-based Global Hawk, an unmanned aircraft system, was one hurricanes, which allows us to map instruments that will be flown of two Global Hawks used during NASA’s HS3 hurricane study over the out the temperature, water vapor, during the 2013 HS3 campaign. All Atlantic Ocean. cloud and precipitation structure three instruments operated well and there,” said Bjorn Lambrigtsen, collected good data. precipitation and Doppler winds foam. This sea foam causes the HAMSR principal investigator at The mission capped a busy HS3 in the weather front associated ocean surface to emit increasingly NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, mission schedule that had begun in with the low pressure system,” large amounts of microwave Pasadena, Calif. He noted that September. The 2012 HS3 missions Heymsfield said. “The verticalradiation. HIRAD measures that infrared sounders are “blinded” by included use of a second NASA structure of this front is very microwave energy and, in doing those clouds, and dropsondes only Global Hawk aircraft to investigate interesting in preliminary looks so, allows scientists to deduce how give sparse spot samples. Neither the environment and cloud structure since it was in a data-sparse region powerfully the wind is blowing. infrared sounders nor dropsondes of hurricanes Leslie and Nadine in of the Pacific. We are really excited With HIRAD’s unique measure precipitation or cloud the Atlantic Ocean with more than about looking at this data in more capabilities, the two-dimensional structure. 148 hours flown over six science detail. While this data was not structure of the surface wind field HAMSR and the other two flights. The second Global Hawk, from a tropical weather system that can be much more accurately instruments previously flew in which also is housed at Dryden, we are interested in for HS3, the determined than current NASA’s 2010 Genesis and Rapid was temporarily located at NASA’s flight nevertheless allowed us to test operational capabilities allow. Intensification Processes (GRIP) Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops upgrades to HIWRAP such as real “The Pacific flight was a major hurricane mission. During GRIP, Island, Va. during the month-long time plots that are very promising step in the development and the HIRAD flew aboard a WB-57 mission. for future flights.” validation of the algorithms aircraft and HIWRAP and HAMSR that retrieve wind and rain were mounted in a NASA Global Testing the HIWRAP Testing the HIRAD measurements from the microwave Hawk. Instrument Instrument brightness temperatures,” said The HS3 mission is an Earth One of the instruments on this A second instrument that flew on HIRAD Principal Investigator Tim Venture mission funded by NASA’s HS3 journey was the High-altitude this final 2012 HS3 flight was the Miller of NASA’s Marshall Space Science Mission Directorate in Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Hurricane Imaging Radiometer, or Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Washington, D.C. Earth Venture Profiler, or HIWRAP. This system HIRAD. HIRAD is an instrument missions are managed by NASA’s maps 3-D winds and precipitation that measures surface wind speeds HAMSR validated Earth System Science Pathfinder within hurricanes and other severe and rain rates using its rectangular The High Altitude MMICProgram at the agency’s Langley weather events. Gerry Heymsfield antenna to track storm-induced (Monolithic Microwave Integrated Research Center in Hampton, Va. is the principal investigator for fluctuations on the ocean’s surface. Circuits) Sounding Radiometer The Earth Science Project Office the HIWRAP and is a research The antenna measures microwaves (HAMSR) instrument was also at NASA’s Ames Research Center meteorologist at NASA’s Goddard emitted by the ocean surface that tested during this flight over the in Moffett Field, Calif., managed Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, are increased by the storm. As Pacific Ocean. For HS3, HAMSR the HS3 mission. Scott Braun, Md. winds move across the surface of will provide measurements of the principal investigator or lead “HIWRAP measured the sea they generate white, frothy the moist thermodynamic state scientist, is from Goddard. X-Press January 4, 2013 Open News House at NASA Dryden Center Director David Abdalati McBride hosted an open house at Dryden’s main campus on Dec. 12 and at the Dryden Aircraft departs Operations Facility in Palmdale the following day. Aside from Waleed Abdalati, who served as highlighting some of the center’s the first NASA chief scientist since accomplishments in 2012, the 2005, will be leaving the agency Dryden Hallway Choir also at the end of 2012 to return to performed at both events. the faculty of the University of Colorado in Boulder. ED12-0384-03 Abdalati served as the principal NASA/Tom Tschida science advisor to Administrator Charlie Bolden and other agency leadership on NASA-related science matters. In this role he Santa has also been an advocate on matters of agency science policy, meets programs and achievements. “NASA science continues to awe the world, and Waleed’s fans contributions toward this vital Santa Claus took time off from national priority these past years his busy schedule to meet some of have been essential,” Bolden said. Dryden employees’ children who During his tenure, Abdalati attended the Children’s Holiday Party at Mulligan’s Family Fun established an agency-wide Center in Palmdale. High-fiving Science Council, a science Santa is Gustavo Carreño V, who innovation program, and is held by his mom, Leah Carreño. NASA’s Framework on Scientific The Dryden Exchange Council Integrity. These efforts were sponsored the annual event. designed to integrate and ED12-0385-15 promote innovation across NASA/Tom Tschida NASA’s entire science enterprise, and elevate the visibility of the agency’s science capabilities both internally and externally. Over the past two years, he represented the agency’s science interests at Dance the the White House and before Congress, and has spoken to over night away 100 audiences around the world.