Recently in Aeronautics Category

Panel: $11 million air safety study not worth much, AP

"An $11 million air safety study sponsored by NASA that asked pilots to reveal mishaps and problems they encountered was so riddled with flaws that it could not provide useful insights about U.S. flight safety, according to a new review by a national scientific panel. The research project ran for nearly four years and involved telephone interviews that lasted about 30 minutes with 29,000 pilots. But it was so flawed in its design and how it was run that its results were useless for measuring safety problems or trends, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Research Council."

Governors Riley, Barbour and Jindal Announce Launch of The Aerospace Alliance, The Aerospace Alliance

"Governor Bob Riley (R-AL), Governor Haley Barbour (R-MS), and Governor Bobby Jindal (R- LA) today announced the launch of The Aerospace Alliance, a 501(c)(6) private/public organization that will establish the Gulf Coast and surrounding region as a world class aerospace, space and aviation corridor. The announcement was made before hundreds of supporters at an event in Bay Minette, Alabama."

Florida Lawmakers Tout Northwest Florida as Aerospace, Aviation Center, The Aerospace Alliance

"U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson and George LeMieux said today the Northwest Florida region is destined to become a world-class home for new aviation and aerospace jobs."

National Academy of Sciences Review of NASA's pilot safety survey

"A new report from the National Research Council, AN ASSESSMENT OF NASA'S NATIONAL AVIATION MONITORING SERVICE (NAOMS), examines the NAOMS project, an anonymous survey used to collect data from commercial and general aviation pilots over several years regarding aviation safety-related incidents. The report assesses the survey methodology and analyzes the data collected. The report also provides recommendations on the appropriate use of the NAOMS data. Reporters may obtain copies of the report by contacting the National Academies' Office of News and Public Information, tel. 202-334-2138 or e-mail news@nas.edu. Advance copies will be available to reporters only starting at noon EDT on Tuesday, Oct. 27. THE REPORT IS EMBARGOED AND NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE BEFORE 11 A.M. EDT ON WEDNESDAY, OCT. 28."

NASA Air Safety Update, earlier post
NASA Air Safety Survey: Redacted Air Carrier Survey Responses with Unknowns in Flight Activity Fields, earlier post
Committee Asks GAO to Analyze NASA's Air Safety Survey Data, earlier post
Air Safety Survey: NASA's Sluggishness Made Things Worse Than They Needed To Be, earlier post

NASA Solicitation: Recovery Act: Advanced Concept Studies for Supersonic Commerical Transport Aircraft Entering Service in the 2018-2020 Period

"RECOVERY ACT - THIS NOTICE IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY. THIS OPPORTUNITY IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION, LOCKHEED MARTIN AERONAUTICS COMPANY, PALMDALE, CA.

The Supersonics Project is aligned with the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) principles of maintaining intellectual stewardship of aeronautical core competencies for the nation in the supersonic flight regime and of focusing research in areas that are appropriate to NASA's unique capabilities. The Project supports the Fundamental Aeronautics Program's (FAP) strategy of developing systems level multidisciplinary capabilities for supersonic civilian and military applications."

Keith's note: On 27 August there will be an invitation-only media briefing with Jaiwon Shin, NASA's Associate Administrator for Aeronautics who will give a progress report on activities undertaken in the past year and discuss what's ahead for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate in fiscal 2010. Alas, you can only attend this event if you are invited and are physically present in Washington, DC. I have been invited but I will be on a train when this briefing occurs. Alas, there is no provision for a phone bridge (even though all the other directorates regularly use them). But they do have money to spend on refreshments.

Given that the actual aeronautics research being discussed is not done at NASA HQ but at various NASA field centers and in the private sector spread out across the U.S., one would think that such an update would be of considerable interest to media who are not physically present in Washington, DC. Given the looming changes that will come from the Augustine Committee and shuttle retirement, people are especially anxious as to understanding what the agency will be doing.

Again, as I have observed before, people in the aeronautics world regularly complain that there is not enough news coming out about aeronautics. This is why.

Another Stealth Launch From Wallops, earlier post

NASA Launches New Technology: An Inflatable Heat Shield

"A successful NASA flight test Monday demonstrated how a spacecraft returning to Earth can use an inflatable heat shield to slow and protect itself as it enters the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds."

Keith's note: What a cool project. And the launch - it was one that was likely visible up and down the east coast of the U.S. Too bad NASA only started to tell people about it a few hours before the launch. The only NASA Aeronautics or WFF PAO release was after the fact. No media advisory was sent out in advance, no advance press release, no contact of metro area media - nothing. At a time when everyone seems to be in a quandry as to what value NASA provides to the public, you'd think that a little more PR would be in order - especially given the number of peopel vacationing on the shore who could have been tipped off to what was happening.

Although something is posted here dated 10 August, you'd have to be a regular visitor to the Aeronautics page to have seen it. To their credit the Wallops folks did Twitter about the launch but unless you just happend to check Twitter at 4:09 pm on 13 August before new Tweets rolled in, you would have never known there was going to be a launch until early today. If you were checking Twitter around 6 am EDT today you would have seen that a countdown was underway. Also, the Wallops PAO office is not exactly large 1-2 people on a good day. That said, Aeronautics PAO at NASA HQ could have been much more proactive in this regard. How much work does it take to issue a simple who/what/when/where media advisory for something like this? Too much, it would seem.

People in the aeronautics world are always complaining about a lack of visibility for what they do. Given this stealth launch today, I can understand why they feel this way. The same goes for Wallops - what do they do over there? Well, one look at their press release page would suggest that they have not done anything that is newsworthy since 6 May 2008.

NASA Could Improve Analyses and Coordination in Support of the Joint Planning and Development Office to Develop the Next Generation Air Transportation System

"Overall, we determined that NASA had taken some actions to work effectively with JPDO to accomplish NextGen development. NASA implemented an organizational structure to support JPDO R&D activities, assigning responsibility to accomplish NextGen R&D activities to ARMD. ARMD reformulated programs and projects to execute its NextGen responsibilities, developed program and project plans that support JPDO's plans, assigned responsibility and defined supervisory positions to support the accomplishment of those plans, and established project plan milestones and schedules to ensure progress toward NextGen objectives. However, concurrent with those actions in support of NextGen, when faced with impending budget reductions, ARMD eliminated or reduced three aeronautics research capabilities that JPDO and NRC had identified as critical for achieving NextGen goals."

NASA's National Aviation Operations Monitoring Service Project Was Designed Appropriately, but Sampling and Other Issues Complicate Data Analysis

"In reviewing a draft of this report, NASA reiterated that NAOMS was a research and development project and provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated as appropriate. NASA also expressed concern about protecting NAOMS respondents' confidentiality, a concern GAO shares. However, GAO noted that other agencies have developed mechanisms for releasing sensitive data to appropriate researchers. The Department of Transportation had no comments."

Chairman Gordon, Science and Technology Committee Members Release GAO Report on NAOMS

"This was a well-designed project that failed because it was executed without proper agency oversight and didn't have the support it needed from its primary customer--the FAA," said Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN)."

NASA safety survey a mystery, AP

"Years after thousands of pilots told NASA about their in-flight safety experiences and NASA shut down the survey without divulging any findings, the pilots' views remain a mystery. A congressional investigation to be released Thursday offers little new insight into what the pilots said during the telephone survey or what it might reveal about safe skies. NASA cut off the interviews in 2004 and chose not to analyze the results."

NASA Air Safety Survey: Redacted Air Carrier Survey Responses with Unknowns in Flight Activity Fields, earlier post
Committee Asks GAO to Analyze NASA's Air Safety Survey Data, earlier post
Air Safety Survey: NASA's Sluggishness Made Things Worse Than They Needed To Be, earlier post

Airship Ventures Zepplin Arrives at Moffett Field

"The Airship Ventures' Zeppelin ended its dramatic cross-country trek and landed at its new base location at Moffett Field on Oct. 25, 2008, at approximately 2 p.m. PDT.

This airship is the first to fly over the U.S. for more than 70 years. NASA and Airship Ventures entered into an agreement to use the airship to assist with disaster response agencies, for scientific research and educational training with local science centers and museums."

NASA ARC Internal Memo: Airship's Historic Return to Moffett Field

NASA Welcomes Airship Ventures Zeppelin To Moffett Field

"News media are invited to view the newest addition to Moffett Field - the first airship to fly over the U.S. for more than 70 years - on Monday, Oct. 27, 2008. This 246-foot-long Zeppelin, 50 feet longer than the Goodyear blimp, is capable of carrying up to 12 passengers and will be available for aerial tours of the San Francisco Bay Area."

Zeppelin returns stateside after 70 years, Las Cruces Sun News