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Protecting the Off-Planet Economy Entrepreneurs Want the U.S AIR TRANSPORTATION 28 MATERIALS 14 URBAN AIR MOBILITY 38 Flight shaming’s surprising impacts Virtually testing for strength Deciding how quiet is quiet enough Protecting the off-planet economy Entrepreneurs want the U.S. Space Force to expand its reach to deep space. The risk of debris raises questions about what the force can do to keep the peace. PAGE 18 APRIL 2020 | A publication of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics | aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org 11–15 JANUARY 2021 | NASHVILLE, TN CALL FOR PAPERS The 2021 AIAA SciTech Forum will cover the science, technologies, and policies that are shaping the future of aviation and space. The forum is the largest event for aerospace research, development, and technology in the world. AIAA is soliciting papers in the following technical disciplines: › Adaptive Structures › Aeroacoustics › Aerodynamic Measurement Technology › Aircraft Design › Applied Aerodynamics › Atmospheric Flight Mechanics › Fluid Dynamics › Gas Turbine Engines › Guidance, Navigation, and Control › Intelligent Systems › Materials › Modeling and Simulation Technologies › Multidisciplinary Design Optimization › Non-Deterministic Approaches › Plasmadynamics and Lasers › Pressure Gain Combustion › Propellants and Combustion › Sensor Systems and Information Fusion › Spacecraft Structures › Structural Dynamics › Structures › Thermophysics › Unmanned Systems › And More! SUBMIT AN ABSTRACT aiaa.org/SciTech/CFP FEATURES | April 2020 MORE AT aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org U.S. Space Force Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, chief of Space Force operations and head of the multiservice U.S. Space Command, talks to troops at an all-hands meeting before the Space Force was established. U.S. Air Force 14 28 38 18 Virtually testing Taking stock of Tuning into noise Defi ning U.S. Space materials fl ight shaming from air taxis Scientists and Concerns about the Before urban air Force’s mission engineers are starting environmental effects mobility can take off, to anticipate the of fl ying are starting regulators have to Some want the U.S. Space Force’s strength of new to have an impact on establish acceptable responsibility to extend far beyond carbon composites the aviation industry methods for defi ning protecting and operating satellites without making and could lead to noise levels. circling Earth. samples and testing business changes. them. By Jan Tegler By Debra Werner By Adam Hadhazy By Keith Button aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org | APRIL 2020 | 1 www.dspace.com SCALEXIO® – Fitting your needs SCALEXIO, the dSPACE real-time simulation technology for developing and testing embedded systems, is easily scalable to perfectly match the demands of your project – whatever your aims might be: Developing new control algorithms Testing single control units Control test rigs for actuators Integration tests of large, networked systems SCALEXIO always fits your needs – what are you aiming for? IN THIS ISSUE AEROSPACE★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ AMERICA APRIL 2020, VOL. 58, NO. 4 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Keith Button Ben Iannotta Keith has written for C4ISR Journal and Hedge Fund Alert, where he broke [email protected] news of the 2007 Bear Stearns scandal that kicked off the global credit crisis. ASSOCIATE EDITOR PAGE 14 Karen Small [email protected] STAFF REPORTER Cat Hofacker [email protected] Adam Hadhazy EDITOR, AIAA BULLETIN Christine Williams Adam reports on astrophysics and technology. His work has appeared in Discover and New Scientist magazines. [email protected] PAGE 28 CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Keith Button, Adam Hadhazy, Robert van der Linden, Jan Tegler, Debra Werner, Jan Tegler Frank H. Winter Jan covers a variety of subjects, including defense, for publications internationally. He’s a frequent contributor to Defense Media Network/Faircount Media Group and John Langford AIAA PRESIDENT is the author of the book “B-47 Stratojet: Boeing’s Brilliant Bomber,” as well as a Daniel L. Dumbacher PUBLISHER general aviation pilot. PAGE 38 ADVERTISING [email protected] ART DIRECTION AND DESIGN THOR Design Studio | thor.design Debra Werner A frequent contributor to Aerospace America, Debra is also a West Coast MANUFACTURING AND DISTRIBUTION correspondent for Space News. Association Vision | associationvision.com PAGES 18, 64 LETTERS AND CORRESPONDENCE Ben Iannotta, [email protected] DEPARTMENTS 4 Editor’s Notebook 8 9 5 Correction AeroPuzzler Aerospace in Aerospace America (ISSN 0740-722X) is published monthly What does it mean for a hitter Action except in August by the American Institute of Aeronautics when a baseball’s seams are Pinpointing a landing spot on and Astronautics, Inc., at 12700 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite 5 Letter to the Editor raised? the asteroid Bennu 200 Reston, VA 20191-5807 [703-264-7500]. Subscription rate is 50% of dues for AIAA members (and is not deductible therefrom). Nonmember subscription price: U.S., $200; 7 Flight Path foreign, $220. Single copies $20 each. Postmaster: Send 10 14 address changes and subscription orders to Aerospace 8 AeroPuzzler America, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Q&A Engineering at 12700 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA, 20191-5807, Matthew Sweeny, Notebook Attn: A.I.A.A. Customer Service. Periodical postage 9 Aerospace in Action CEO of Flirtey paid at Reston, Virginia, and at additional mailing Testing ceramics’ strength offi ces. Copyright 2020 by the American Institute of with software Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., all rights reserved. 49 AIAA Bulletin The name Aerospace America is registered by the AIAA in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offi ce. 62 Looking Back 63 64 Looking Back Trajectories 64 Trajectories The crew of Apollo 13 return Terik Weekes, chief engineer from a nail-biting mission at Elroy Air aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org | APRIL 2020 | 3 EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK PUBLIC POLICY Closing the aerospace disconnects erospace specialists in the U.S. seem to be in tune with the views of the public on just one of the three topics we explore in this month’s feature articles. These disconnects are a problem, because they can spawn surprise, even anger, among the populace or risk pushing government policymakers toward poor decisions. First, consider fl ight shaming in the air travel market. Surprisingly, the fl ying public and Abusiness leaders are starting to get in sync on this issue. Wise airline executives, engineers and manu- facturers now recognize that, particularly in Europe, a signifi cant portion of the public wants to fl y on cleaner aircraft and offset their carbon emissions through tree-planting programs or other measures. By taking fl ight shaming seriously, these leaders are starting to think like the generals and admirals who long ago left the policy arguments over climate change to the politicians. Like it or not, retreating Arctic ice has created new navigable seas to protect, and some air travelers now feel guilty enough about their carbon footprints to switch to the train or wish they could. Regarding the U.S. Space Force, President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech in February probably did little to bridge the chasm between what the average person thinks this new branch of the armed services is about and what its mission actually is. Trump’s references to the Space Force could have led some to believe that the Space Force is about getting war fi ghters into space. In reality, this new branch is beginning to absorb the existing “Chair Force,” the playful term for the Air Force personnel who work at computer terminals. Their mission is as much about ensuring that troops have GPS coverage, communications and satellite imagery as it is about confronting bad actors in space. Strategists in the Space Force know the danger of creating debris and the need to fi nd creative ways to deter or punish bad actors. Our article explores what the force should do in the years and decades ahead, as the space economy expands to deep space. Urban air mobility is where I sense perhaps the greatest disconnect. Pioneers of this fi eld would be wise to be more forceful in socializing the idea that one day, perhaps not so long from now, thousands of small, electric aircraft will ply the skies of our neighborhoods and cities. It’s good to see NASA and FAA gathering data about the potential noise from these proposed aircraft. Residents will be more accepting if they know this change is coming ★ Ben Iannotta, editor-in-chief, [email protected] 4 | APRIL 2020 | aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org LETTER TO THE EDITOR For the history of fixed-wing flight, pilots have controlled their CORRECTION aircraft by moving flight control surfaces into or out of the air rushing by their craft. DARPA thinks there’s a better way, and with help of aerodynamicists and an X-plane, it aims to prove it. FUTURISTIC Jan Tegler tells the story. BY JAN TEGLER | [email protected] In the February article “Futuristic fl ow control,” our reference to the FLOW CON TROL ecoDemonstrator’s active fl ow control fl ights should have noted that these fl ights were not the fi rst such experiments. The XV-15 tilt-rotor tested active fl ow control The red lines down the center of the vertical tail of Boeing’s ecoDemonstrator 757 are active flow control actuators. The flight test was in fl ight in 2003. Synthetic jets part of NASA’s Active Flow Control Enhanced Vertical Tail Flight Experiment. Boeing in its fl aps and ailerons reduced download forces, a kind of drag 38 | FEBRUARY 2020 | aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org | FEBRUARY 2020 | 39 caused by rotor downwash during egarding the article “Futuristic fl ow control” in the February issue, it is takeoff and hover. The fl ights good to see that research in non-mechanical fl ight control is advancing were sponsored by DARPA and signifi cantly to a fl ight demonstrator stage [DARPA plans an X-plane]. One occurred at Bell’s Arlington, Texas, of the concepts being considered involves using jets of air blowing over facility with Boeing, the Illinois various fl ight surfaces.
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