Sat, Jun 05, 2010
Designs To Focus On Large, Twin-Aisle Airliners
NASA is soliciting proposals for studies designed to identify
advanced vehicle concepts and enabling technologies for commercial
airliners to fly more economically, quieter and cleaner by 2025.
This research will support the Integrated Systems Research Program
in NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate in Washington.
The solicitation is the first of several expected under the
directorate's "Research Opportunities in Aeronautics" announcement
for 2010, released on Wednesday.
The total potential value of the research contracts is $36.6
million, and proposals are due by July 15.
NASA will select up to four teams for 12-month studies beginning
in fiscal year 2011. The studies will define preferred concepts for
advanced vehicles that can operate within the Next Generation Air
Transportation System, or NextGen. The system is a U.S. government
air traffic modernization effort that includes NASA.
The concepts must incorporate technologies enabling large,
twin-aisle passenger aircraft to achieve ambitious environmental
goals. Goals include 50 percent less fuel consumption and nitrogen
oxide emissions compared with today's airliners and an
approximately 80 percent reduction in the nuisance noise footprint
around airports.
After nine months work on preferred systems' concepts, each team
will be eligible to submit proposals for a subscale flight
demonstrator design. NASA will select one or two concepts for 17
months of preliminary design work and risk reduction testing for
completion by mid-2013. This research is supported by the
Environmentally Responsible Aviation Project within the Integrated
Systems Research Program. It also will benefit an emerging new
project related to the use of remotely-piloted aircraft in the
national air space.
Because the subscale flight demonstrator will be capable of
operating in autonomous and remotely-piloted modes, it will test
environmental technology, other suites and techniques. Test areas
may include separation assurance and collision avoidance; command,
control and communications; remote pilot and vehicle interfaces;
environmental hazards detection and avoidance that could enable
routine operation of future unpiloted air vehicles. NASA
anticipates conducting test flights with the demonstrator in
2015.
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