Test rides on the six-axis simulator are meant to simulate the flight of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in order to help NASA study turbulence on planned air taxi services in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and elsewhere in the U.S. The data will be shared with AAM industry partners to help them develop passenger-friendly designs.

The space agency is working with several major air taxi developers through its advanced air mobility (AAM) mission, including Archer Aviation, Joby Aviation, and Boeing eVTOL arm Wisk Aero, to research the experience and safety of riders as well as onlookers on the ground.

“The experiments in the ride quality lab will inform the advanced air mobility community about the acceptability of the motions these aircraft could make, so the general public is more likely to adopt the new technology,” said NASA test pilot Wayne Ringelberg.

Ringelberg served as the passenger for the comfort experiment. The pilot recently flew a series of test rides on the new simulator at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, to help prepare it for trials with actual test subjects.

Ringelberg lifted off from a NASA-designed conceptual vertiport atop a downtown San Francisco parking garage, flying over the city to another virtual takeoff and landing site on top of a skyscraper. Sitting in a seat mounted on a six-axis platform that recreates the full range of motion of an air taxi ride, he wore headphones to simulate noise and VR goggles that gave him a view of the cockpit and the city below.

Following the flights, Ringelberg reported to NASA on how realistic and reliable the simulator’s movement and audiovisual cues were.

“This project is leveraging our research and test pilot aircrew with vertical lift experience to validate the safety and accuracy of the lab in preparation for test subject evaluations,” he said.

With Ringelberg’s work finished, the agency will soon begin testing with human subjects. They will similarly wear a VR headset and headphones, flying the same route as the NASA test pilot. During the flight, subjects will press a button to indicate discomfort.

The space agency will analyze those responses and try to match them to the user’s heart rate, breathing rate, and experience of motion or audiovisual stimulus. It will make that data available to air taxi manufacturers and other industry stakeholders to shape flight paths through cities, identify takeoff and landing spots, and guide air taxi design elements like window size and seat placement.

The air taxi simulator is the key component of NASA’s rider quality lab, but that project is itself only a tiny piece of the agency’s AAM mission.

It began using the term AAM in 2020 and has since worked with stakeholders across the industry on a wide range of projects. The initiative focuses on everything from air taxi safety and ride quality to travel time, automation, and infrastructure such as vertiports, preparing industries including healthcare, emergency response, and cargo delivery for the introduction of the novel aircraft.

Within the program is the Advanced Air Vehicles Program (AAVP), which focuses on innovative aircraft designs such as Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology (RVLT). In addition to passenger comfort, NASA under the RVLT umbrella has studied air taxi batteries, noise, and traffic, particularly around busy airports like Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (KDFW).

Urban air traffic management and the integration of eVTOL designs into air traffic control operations and the national airspace system is a major part of the space agency’s mission. It aims to complete its research in time for the U.S. to develop a robust air taxi industry by the end of the decade.

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NASA’s DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory on Wednesday will make its final flight to Idaho State University in Pocatello, where aspiring aircraft technicians will train on it through the college’s aircraft maintenance technology program.

The swan song flight of the testbed aircraft, which has flown 158 science missions over more than three decades, will not be scientific. But the hope is that it can inspire a new generation of aviators and researchers.

“The DC-8 flew missions all over the world,” said Michael Thomson, chief of the science projects branch at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. “The work we did on that aircraft will make a difference to future generations in improved weather forecasting, monitoring glacial ice thickness, air quality, and improving our ability to predict the development of hurricanes from tropical storms.”

The Airborne Research Laboratory is a highly modified, four-engine Douglas DC-8 used by federal, state, academic, and foreign researchers, as well as companies such as Boeing and United Airlines, that has been flying since 1987.

The massive aircraft is 157 feet long with a 148-foot wingspan, large enough to seat up to 45 researchers and flight crew and carry 30,000 pounds of scientific cargo. It has a range of 5,400 nm and flight time of 12 hours, flying within the atmosphere between 1,000 and 42,000 feet in altitude.

The DC-8 is equipped with a suite of sensors and data systems as well as Iridium and Inmarsat satellite communications that make it suitable for a variety of missions. It is primarily used to test satellite sensors and space-borne lasers, validate satellite data, provide tracking and telemetry for space launch vehicles reentering the atmosphere, and perform a range of other studies. 

Data collected by the aircraft has been used for studies in a range of disciplines, from biology to volcanology. It was a key contributor, for example, to NASA’s Operation IceBridge, the largest airborne survey of Earth’s polar ice.

“The DC-8 has flown scientists on a lot of missions to look at atmospheric composition, for which the most important applications are air quality,” said Hal Maring, NASA Earth Science Division scientist. “The DC-8 enabled NASA scientists to develop a better understanding of air quality; what makes it good, or what makes it bad.”

The flying laboratory completed its final scientific flight, the Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality, or ASIA-AQ, mission, on April 1.

Earlier this month, DC-8 team members past and present congregated at NASA Armstrong’s Building 703 at Edwards Air Force Base—which housed the aircraft during much of its three-decade stint—to reminisce about its contributions to science.

The DC-8 has traveled far and wide in its quest for scientific discovery, flying high into the atmosphere and over all seven continents. Bill Brockett, who flew the aircraft for 28 years, said a 2009 expedition to Antarctica was his favorite.

“The science instrumentation required that we fly from 500 feet to 1,000 feet altitude,” Brockett said. “It required total focus for the six or seven hours at low altitude to successfully complete a mission…We were low enough that we occasionally got glimpses of seals lounging on the ice.”

Some missions sent researchers into harrowing situations, such as the eye of a storm. For example, Chris Jennison, a retired DC-8 mission manager, routinely flew into hurricanes.

“I don’t miss stark terror,” Jennison said. “The thing about flying [into] hurricanes is that it’s not intuitively obvious where the dangerous places are.”

Other missions required crewmembers to act on the fly, so to speak.

“During the recent [ASIA-AQ] mission we had an engine failure,” said Brian Hobbs, the current Armstrong DC-8 manager. “The logistics and procurement teams acted quickly to get the engine shipped, and the crew was able to get the engine replaced, tested, and ready to go. That could have been the end of the campaign, but our team made it happen.”

A common theme among current and former DC-8 team members was the infectious enthusiasm and camaraderie of scientists aboard the flying laboratory.

“Some of these people had been working for years trying to get their experiment out there and prove a hypothesis they are working on,” said Randy Albertson, former deputy director of NASA’s Airborne Science Program. “The energy they brought in was like recharging one’s batteries. They loved talking about the science.”

Those are just pleasant memories now. The good news, however, is that the flying laboratory will live out its final days surrounded by curious minds at Idaho State.

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SpaceX on Saturday unveiled its first-generation extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuit, which will be donned by astronauts aboard the Polaris Dawn mission, scheduled for no earlier than this summer. Polaris Dawn—a five-day, four-person orbital mission to research human health both in space and on Earth—is the first of three potential human spaceflights under the Polaris Program.

SpaceX and entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, who founded the program in February 2022, held a discussion accompanying the announcement on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, which SpaceX CEO Elon Musk acquired in October..

While the mission has no firm launch date, SpaceX on Saturday confirmed that Polaris Dawn would be the next crewed mission the company will fly.

What Is Polaris?

The Polaris Program is the brainchild of Isaacman, the billionaire CEO of integrated payments provider Shift4 who is also a pilot and astronaut, with more than 7,000 flight hours and multiple experimental and ex-military aircraft ratings. Isaacman in 2012 founded Draken International, a private air force that trains pilots for the U.S. Armed Forces.

Isaacman purchased flights from SpaceX in February 2022 to launch the program and is funding Polaris Dawn himself.

Named after the constellation of three stars more commonly known as the North Star, or Polaris, the program comprises three potential missions, one for each star. The effort aims to rapidly advance human spaceflight capabilities with an eye toward future missions to the moon, Mars, and beyond. Simultaneously, it will raise funds and advance research into issues facing humanity on Earth, such as cancer.

Polaris Dawn, the first of the three missions, was announced in 2022 and expected to fly later that year. It has since been delayed multiple times, most recently from February to mid-2024, due in part to SpaceX’s development of the specially designed EVA spacesuits.

Polaris Dawn and a second mission without a timeline, simply called Mission II, will be flown using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule. Both vehicles are already in use by NASA and a handful of commercial customers, such as Axiom Space.

Falcon 9, a reusable two-stage rocket, is the world’s first orbital class reusable rocket and has been lauded for driving down launch costs in flying 330 times. Crew Dragon, which is capable of carrying up to seven passengers, in 2020 restored NASA’s ability to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) with the first Commercial Crew rotation mission. It has flown a total of 46 missions, visiting the ISS on 42.

Polaris is expected to culminate in a third mission comprising the first crewed flight of SpaceX’s Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. Like Falcon 9, the spacecraft is designed to be fully reusable and has so far attempted three orbital test flights, each more successful than the last.

Isaacman has been outspoken about Polaris’ aim to make human spaceflight accessible to all. The new SpaceX suits, for example, are designed to fit a range of body types and accommodate all spacewalkers.

At the same time, the billionaire aviator is focused on solving problems on Earth. Since its founding, Polaris has worked closely with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and helped fund research into childhood cancer.

Civilians in Space

Polaris Dawn is notable for its four-person crew, which includes the first SpaceX employees expected to actually reach space.

Mission specialist Sarah Gillis oversees the company’s astronaut training program, while mission specialist and medical officer Anna Menon manages crew operations. Gillis, trained to be a classical violinist, joined SpaceX in 2015, while Menon is a seven-year NASA veteran. But both have been part of past Crew Dragon flights. Menon in particular was influential in developing Dragon’s crew and emergency response capabilities.

Joining the SpaceX employees will be pilot Scott Poteet, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel with more than 3,200 flying hours in the F-16, A-4, T-38, T-37, T-3, and Alpha Jet.

Isaacman himself will serve as Polaris Dawn mission commander, a role he also filled for  SpaceX’s 2021 Inspiration4 mission: the first all-civilian mission to space. Poteet, who previously served in roles at Isaacson’s companies Shift4 and Draken, was mission director for that flight, which raised $250 million for St. Jude.

To prepare for Polaris Dawn, crewmembers lived inside the decompression chamber at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for two days, summited the 16,800-foot peak of Illinizas Norte volcano in Ecuador, and experienced 9 Gs of force while training on three different kinds of fighter jets.

The mission will launch from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew will spend up to five days in orbit, performing about 40 experiments and testing of hardware and software. Like Inspiration4, it is a charitable effort, with the goal of raising additional funds for St. Jude.

“Fifty or 100 years from now, people are going to be jumping in their rockets, and you’re going to have families bouncing around on the moon with their kids at a lunar base,” said Isaacman in an article on the St. Jude website. “If we can accomplish all of that, we sure as heck better tackle childhood cancer along the way.”

Polaris Dawn aims to fly higher than any SpaceX Dragon mission to date, a height that hasn’t been reached since the end of the Apollo program half a century ago.

The crew will also attempt to reach the highest Earth orbit ever flown. Isaacman during the discussion on X said the mission will target an apogee of 1,400 kilometers, or about 870 miles, more than double the orbital height reached by Apollo 17. That orbit would place the crew just inside the Van Allen radiation belt, where it hopes to research effects of spaceflight and space radiation on human health.

“The benefit of being at this high altitude is that we can better understand the impacts of that environment…on both the human body…as well as on the spacecraft,” said Menon during the discussion on X.

Suit Up

The Dragon capsule will complete seven elliptical orbits until reaching its apogee before descending to a circular orbit at about 700 kilometers (435 miles). At that altitude, crewmembers will attempt the first commercial spacewalk. It would also be the first time four astronauts have been exposed to the vacuum of space at the same time, according to SpaceX.

The spacewalk will mark the first use of SpaceX’s EVA spacesuit in low-Earth orbit, a key milestone that is expected to inform future iterations of the design for long-duration missions.

It’s an evolution of SpaceX’s Intravehicular Activity (IVA) suit that has been modified to enable both intra and extravehicular use. In other words, personnel won’t need to change clothes when moving from the confines of the spacecraft to the harsh environment of space.

The EVA suit adds greater mobility, seals and pressure valves, a helmet camera, and textile-based thermal material, which regulates suit temperature and can be controlled using a dial. Boots were constructed from the same thermal material used to shield Falcon and Dragon from exposure.

“There was a lot of work on both the materials of the suit, developing a whole new layer that we needed to add for thermal management as well as looking at the thermal condition for the crewmembers themselves, and making sure that they were at a comfortable temperature inside the suit,” said Chris Drake, manager of SpaceX’s spacesuit team, on Saturday.

The 3D-printed helmet incorporates a new visor designed to reduce glare as well as a state-of-the-art, heads-up display (HUD). The HUD is active only during spacewalks and displays spacesuit pressure, temperature, and humidity, as well as a mission clock to track how long the astronauts are exposed to the vacuum of space.

Already, SpaceX is developing a second-generation EVA suit for missions to the moon and Mars. It estimates that millions of suits will be required to one day build a lunar base or Martian city.

“This is important because we are going to get to the moon and Mars one day, and we’re going to have to get out of our vehicles and out of the safety of the habitat to explore and build and repair things,” Isaacman said during the discussion on X.

The Dragon capsule has also required modifications to prepare for the landmark spacewalk. SpaceX on Saturday said a structure called “Skywalker” has been attached near the capsule’s hatch to act as a mobility aid. Handrails and foot rails have been installed inside the spacecraft, with a ladder interface added to the hatch opening.

SpaceX also installed a cabin pressurization system that allows the interior of the capsule to withstand the vacuum of space as air is sucked out during the spacewalk. A repressurization system will stabilize it once the astronauts return.

Why It Matters

In addition to achieving the first commercial spacewalk and the highest orbital altitude ever recorded, Polaris Dawn hopes to test Starlink laser-based communications in space for the first time. Data from the test could help develop space communications for future missions.

In addition, Polaris and SpaceX selected 38 scientific experiments from 23 partner institutions—including NASA, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University—intended to advance the understanding of human health in space and on Earth.

The crew will use ultrasound to study decompression sickness, for example, and will research spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome: a disease unique to humans who fly in space that can have severe debilitating effects. Upon landing, astronauts will undergo tests to study anemia—an unavoidable effect of traveling to space—and other conditions that might impact humans on Earth.

The scientific aims of the Polaris Program differ from the commercial spaceflight ventures offered by companies such as Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, which could be classified more aptly as space tourism operations.

Tickets for those companies’ orbital and suborbital offerings, some of which involve research, can range from the hundreds of thousands of dollars to the millions. Isaacman and SpaceX’s Inspiration4, meanwhile, raised a quarter of a billion dollars for cancer research.

Isaacman has been particularly outspoken when it comes to accessibility in spaceflight. And by taking on much of the risk himself, the billionaire businessman has lessened the pressure on SpaceX. Isaacman’s funding of Polaris Dawn has allowed the company to focus on developing the spacesuits and other technology necessary to ensure the mission runs smoothly.

Polaris Dawn also represents a critical juncture for SpaceX’s Starship, the lynchpin of the company’s planned human spaceflight offerings. The largest rocket ever built is not quite ready to fly humans. But when it is, the third Polaris mission is expected to be its maiden voyage.

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission, which concluded in September, sent NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg and United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi on a 186-day trip to the International Space Station, where they rendezvoused with NASA astronaut Frank Rubio. But it was anything but a vacation.

“I used to joke about the fact that a lot of times in our videos, when we show what’s going on, we spend about a third of our time showing the fun stuff,” Bowen told FLYING at a media event at NASA Headquarters alongside his three crewmembers. “Work is way more than a third of the time we spend up there.”

The mission included several firsts. Rubio, for example, set the U.S. record for most consecutive days in space by the end of his 355-day stay, which was extended six months after the capsule that brought him to the space station was damaged. AlNeyadi became the first Arab to complete a spacewalk.

But the astronauts also conducted more than 200 experiments during their stay at the orbital lab—many of which could address pressing needs on Earth and far, far beyond.

To the Space Station and Back

Crew-6 began with the launch of a SpaceX Dragon Endeavor capsule, strapped to a Falcon 9 rocket, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Bowen, Hoburg, AlNeyadi, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev were its occupants. Rubio had launched previously aboard a Soyuz MS-22.

Bowen, a veteran of multiple trips to the space station, was right at home. But for Rubio, Hoburg, and AlNeyadi, Crew-6 was their first time in space.

“Learning to fly for the first couple days is pretty difficult,” Rubio said.

For AlNeyadi, adjusting to the lack of spatial awareness was the biggest challenge

“Everything is very quick aboard the space station…We have 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets every day,” AlNeyadi told FLYING.

Bowen said the orbital lab has come a long way since his first visit in 2008. He was part of several assembly missions, which doubled the space station’s occupancy from three to six, installed technology such as a water recycling system, and delivered research and stowage modules. Crews also replaced the laboratory’s batteries several times.

“We were part of that first step of really making the space station functional,” Bowen told FLYING. “We did a lot of things with just three people on board. But as soon as we got up to six people, the ability to do the actual science—the business of the space station—exploded.”

The astronauts spent the next six months growing plants, researching tissue chips for heart, brain, and cartilage tissue, and conducting hundreds of other experiments for ISS Expedition 69. NASA expeditions refer to the crew occupying the space station—Rubio, Bowen, Hoburg, and AlNeyadi were the 69th such team.

After finishing their work, the astronauts began reentry, splashing down on September 4 after 186 days.

“Becoming a plasma meteorite when you’re coming home is pretty exciting stuff,” said Rubio.

But the research and experiments the crew performed are expected to have an impact long after the mission’s conclusion.

Charting the Future

Despite Rubio’s excitement, launch and reentry may have been the dullest segment of the mission—the crew had more than 200 experiments to fill their time.

“The work is continuous; the work is ongoing,” said Bowen. “Maintaining the space station, like you maintain your house, takes a big chunk of your time. The amount of science we can do now is incredible. Every day we were up there, there’s four of us in the [U.S. Orbital Segment] working.”

Just days after the astronauts’ arrival, they received a cargo vehicle full of materials for experiments. Crewmembers worked throughout the day, sometimes together and sometimes individually, coming together at dinnertime to debrief.

“We are testing hundreds of technologies, and many of them are becoming spinoffs for humanity when utilized here on Earth,” AlNeyadi told FLYING.

For example, astronauts studied how they could grow plants such as tomatoes in harsh and unforgiving environments, either on Earth or in space. They also applied experimental medications to heart cells and printed biological material such as knee cartilage, using technology that could one day print organs for patients on the blue planet.

The crew even ran competitions with university students. Competing teams were able to program a flying robot and control its flight on the space station from Earth.

Perhaps the most consequential research involved a water recycling system, which allowed the astronauts to drink their own urine for the majority of their stay (move over, Bear Grylls). The system may sound outlandish, but it could hold real benefits for humanity.

“Imagine taking the same technology and providing it to people in need in remote areas where they lack water,” said AlNeyadi.

The experiments will also play a key role in NASA’s Artemis program: a series of missions intended to return Americans to the moon for the first time in half a century. According to the crew, learning to live and work in space will be essential for those journeys. Artemis II will send astronauts into lunar orbit in 2025, while Artemis III will attempt to land them on the moon’s surface the following year.

“Knowing that you’re affecting the future of humanity and inspiring future generations, that’s super important to us,” said Rubio.

As important as their work was, the astronauts would not have been able to complete it without finding ways to blow off a little steam.

One method was to simply go outside. Each crew member got the opportunity to complete a spacewalk, including AlNeyadi, who became the first Arab to accomplish the feat.

“Getting in the suit, going outside, and doing important repairs on the station while seeing those views of Earth was just very special,” said Hoburg.

The crew had to get creative at times—Bowen baked pies for Pi Day, and Rubio cut the other astronauts’ hair. But they found plenty of ways to exercise and have fun—and by the end of the mission, they had become a family.

“What a great group of people I had to hang out with for six months,” said Bowen. “It was just incredible.”

A Collective Effort

Crew-6 included the first astronaut of Salvadoran heritage to reach space (Rubio) and the first Arab to complete an extravehicular activity (AlNeyadi). Those feats are symptoms of a broader trend: the globalization of space exploration.

At one point during Expedition 69, there were 11 astronauts aboard the orbital laboratory, which is designed for a maximum of seven. Occupants hailed from the U.S., UAE, Russia, Denmark, and Japan.

“It’s a very intense period when you’re handing over to a new crew, because you’re basically teaching them a whole new lifestyle in a few weeks,” said Rubio.

But the transition was also a welcome development, according to Bowen.

“We actually get a chance to meet a lot of our colleagues around the world before we ever fly,” he said. “So having that crew come on board, I knew every one of them. It was a lot of fun. It’s just great to have new people on board—and it’s another sign you’re going home too.”

AlNeyadi said the UAE already has benefited greatly from its activities in the final frontier. The country’s space agency has only been around for two decades. But in that short time, it has sent a satellite, Martian probe, and the nation’s first astronaut, Hazza Al Mansouri, into space.

“That was an eye opener for everybody. After that, everybody—every young student in the school—wanted to be an astronaut,” said AlNeyadi, who was appointed UAE minister of youth this month.

The Emirati’s own trip has had an impact too. For example, he said it helped catalyze the UAE’s participation in NASA’s Lunar Gateway project, which aims to build a space station orbiting the moon. The country is the fifth to join the partnership.

NASA is also increasingly relying on private industry to help fill certain gaps for Artemis, a contrast to the government-heavy Apollo program. Rubio said he helped certify all SpaceX launch and recovery assets before his mission, a reflection of the agency’s tight relationship with it, Blue Origin, and other commercial partners.

The hope is that greater collaboration can kick off a groundbreaking new era for space travel, one in which humans are continuously occupying the final frontier.

Bowen shared a story about a pair of glasses he found floating aboard the space station, which he mistook for his own. They weren’t Rubio’s or Hoburg’s either, and AlNeyadi didn’t wear glasses. As the crew soon realized, they belonged to an astronaut who had stayed at the orbital lab years ago: a relic of humanity’s persistent effort to uncover the mysteries of space.

Crew-7 astronauts—picking up where Crew-6 left off—splashed down earlier this month, a few days after the Crew-8 team arrived. Perhaps they too will discover the remnants of explorations past. Undoubtedly, they will build on the foundations of previous missions and push humanity forward.

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The multinational crew of Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3)—the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the space station—docked with the orbital laboratory Saturday morning and will spend two weeks conducting more than 30 experiments for NASA and its countries’ respective space agencies.

Wednesday marked the crew’s fourth day aboard the space station and the seventh day of its mission. Astronauts are now well underway conducting microgravity research, educational outreach, and commercial activities.

“The four Ax-3 crewmembers had their hands full as they explored cancer research, space botany, and robotics for Earth and space benefits,” NASA said in a blog post Tuesday.

Ax-3, the third private astronaut mission to the space station chartered by Houston-based Axiom Space, lifted off Thursday from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying the four-person crew was launched using a powerful Falcon 9 rocket, which the Elon Musk-owned company also uses to deploy Starlink satellites and conduct Commercial Crew rotation missions for NASA.

Axiom Space chief astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegría, a Spanish-born former NASA astronaut, is commanding the mission. Lopez-Alegría has made six trips to the space station, including as the commander of the company’s Ax-1 mission in 2022.

The crew also includes mission specialist Alper Gezeravcı, who became the first Turkish astronaut in space. European Space Agency (ESA) project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden and pilot Walter Villadei of Italy—who also flew a commercial spaceflight mission for Virgin Galactic last year—round out the crew.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft docked with the space station Saturday morning, making Ax-3 the third mission with a fully private crew to arrive at the orbital lab. The astronauts were greeted by the Expedition 70 crew—NASA’s 70th long-duration mission to the space station—which helped them adjust to life in zero gravity and get the lay of the land.

The Expedition 70 team, which comprises NASA, ESA, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronauts and Roscosmos cosmonauts, arrived in August on the Crew-7 Commercial Crew rotation mission for a monthslong stay.

Now the Ax-3 and Expedition 70 teams—a total of 11 crewmembers from more than half a dozen nations—are living and working together on a two-week dual mission.

“The crew has seamlessly adjusted to microgravity and are now busy conducting research and outreach engagements,” Axiom Space said in a blog post on Tuesday.

The more than 30 experiments being conducted will focus on low-Earth orbit, such as the effects of microgravity on the biochemistry of neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s, for example). One study will monitor cancerous tumors in microgravity, aiming to identify early warning signs and prevent and predict cancer diseases.

Wandt carried out a pair of outlandish experiments. On Tuesday, he used a laptop computer to command a team of robots on Earth, testing the ability for explorations on other planets to be controlled remotely from spacecraft. Wandt also recorded his brain activity to study how isolated environments affect an astronaut’s cognitive performance and stress levels.

Beyond human-centric research, Ax-3 crew members also conducted a space botany experiment. Researchers studied how space-grown plants responded to the stress of microgravity. The aim is to uncover better agricultural practices both in space and on Earth, including the possibility of genetic modifications to adapt plants to weightlessness.

The Ax-3 crew is expected to depart the space station on February 3, splashing down off the coast of Florida. NASA in August tapped Axiom Space for a fourth private astronaut mission to the orbital lab, with a launch targeted for August at the earliest. The mission is similarly expected to fly on a SpaceX Crew Dragon and span two weeks.

NASA’s relationship with Axiom Space actually extends beyond trips to the space station. The company was selected to provide next-generation spacesuits for Artemis III, NASA’s planned attempt to return Americans to the lunar surface. Testing on the spacesuits began earlier this month, the same day NASA pushed the Artemis III timeline from 2025 to 2026.

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The space agency and eVTOL manufacturer Joby Aviation recently teamed up to recruit active and retired air traffic controllers for a series of simulations, which explored how current ATC tools and procedures could help introduce the first wave of air taxis at U.S. airports. The partners tested how hundreds of eVOL flights per hour would impact operations in complex airspace—and gleaned a few key insights.

“This simulation validates the idea that we can find a way to safely integrate these vehicles into the airspace at scale,” said NASA researcher Ken Freeman.

As the U.S. prepares for eVTOL air taxis to enter service around airports, with the earliest services expected to arrive in 2025, NASA and its industry partners are working with the FAA to demonstrate how existing ATC tools can enable safe integration. The vision is in line with the FAA’s Innovate28 philosophy for early air taxi operations, which calls for the aircraft to use existing regulations and infrastructure.

The series of human-in-the-loop simulations was conducted out of NASA’s FutureFlight Central virtual tower facility, which offers a 360-degree view of a real-time simulation of an airport. NASA and Joby engineers simulated traffic patterns at Dallas Love Field (KDAL) and Dallas-Fort Worth area airports to represent complex, busy airspace.

Using predetermined routes developed by NASA at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (KDFW) and Love Field, eVTOL pilots flew in simulated weather conditions, producing mock flight data and airport operational data. ATC also evaluated traffic schedules developed by Joby, based on the company’s expectations for future demand.

During an hour of simulation, controllers tested their ability to integrate up to 120 eVTOL arrivals and departures from KDFW’s central terminal area, alongside existing traffic. They used routes and procedures often seen in busy, low-altitude airspace, including Letters of Agreement and dedicated controller positions. At any given moment in the campaign, up to 45 simulated aircraft were flying in virtual Class B airspace.

“We have now demonstrated in a real-world simulation how air taxi operations can take place in today’s airspace system, alongside active airport traffic, using tools and procedures currently available to air traffic controllers,” said Tom Prevot, air taxi product lead at Joby. “These successful simulations were made possible by years of careful planning and collaboration between two organizations committed to redefining what is possible.”

According to NASA, pilots operated safely and seamlessly across the simulations, even in congested airspace. In addition, representatives from NASA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NACTA) and other stakeholders were invited to observe the tests.

“There is so much momentum across the world for advanced air mobility,” said Savvy Verma, an urban air mobility researcher at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Northern California’s Silicon Valley. “We’ve been talking about integrating these kinds of vehicles into the airspace, but to be able to show it in high-fidelity simulation is very promising.”

Based on NASA’s initial analysis of the simulations, the space agency believes the procedures used could be scaled for operations at other airports nationwide, which would reduce ATC workload. Next year, the agency will publish a full analysis of the results, sharing the data with the FAA, airports, and commercial industry to identify ATC tools and procedures for near-term and future integration.

“Enabling eVTOLs as a taxi service for passengers to and from airports in the future could begin to reduce carbon emissions and greatly improve the commute experience for passengers,” NASA said.

NASA and Joby’s jointly developed simulation campaign follows a multiyear airspace study in which the two partnered to develop five use cases for eVTOL operations around Dallas-Fort Worth. The groups are also exploring potential changes to the national airspace system that would enable air taxi integration at greater scale.

“We’re trying to enable a better quality of life,” said Verma. “Some people are stuck in traffic for hours on the way to the airport. A 12-mile trip can take 45 minutes. Imagine being able to do that same trip in 15 minutes.”

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NASA on Thursday shared the findings of a yearlong, external independent study on unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs, the government’s preferred term for the mysterious objects. A panel of 16 experts suggested the agency should be more involved in UAP surveillance, data collection, and cooperation with the Department of Defense and other agencies.

In addition to recommending NASA deploy its own technology to study UAPs in conjunction with outside sources—such as using cell phone images and video captured by civilians to crowdsource data—the panel talked the agency into appointing a new director of UAP research. That individual has yet to be named, but they’ll help centralize NASA communication and coordination with other agencies.

“NASA’s new director of UAP research will develop and oversee the implementation of NASA’s scientific vision for UAP research, including using NASA’s expertise to work with other agencies to analyze UAP and applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to search the skies for anomalies,” said Administrator Bill Nelson. “NASA will do this work transparently for the benefit of humanity.”

Nelson said during a press conference Thursday the study’s goal was to shift the UAP conversation “from sensationalism to science,” adding that the panel found no evidence of extraterrestrial activity. Still, he said he believes alien life is very much possible.

“If you ask me, do I believe there’s life in a universe that is so vast that it’s hard for me to comprehend how big it is? My personal answer is yes,” Nelson said.

NASA established its external UAP independent study team in June 2022 to explore how the agency’s resources could be used to shed light on UAPs. The group consists of 16 experts with diverse backgrounds in science, technology, data, artificial intelligence, space exploration, aerospace safety, and more. It is chaired by David Spiegel, president of the science research firm Simons Foundation.

NASA asked the panel to outline a roadmap for how it could use the tools at its disposal to collect reliable UAP data and evaluate and categorize incidents. While the study was not a review of previous UAP incidents, researchers relied on unclassified data to dig into a few notable sightings—such as the “GoFast” video recorded in 2015 by Navy pilots aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

The video gives the impression of an object skimming over the ocean at impossible speeds. But NASA said it has all but debunked it. Using metadata analysis, the panel determined the UAP was only flying around 40 mph and was most likely drifting with the wind. It presented those findings to a committee in May, noting its conclusions are not firm.

A hearing before the U.S. House Oversight committee in July reignited public interest in the UFO phenomenon, as retired Major David Grusch and two other former Navy pilots—one of whom witnessed the “GoFast” incident—alleged a government cover-up of crashed extraterrestrial aircraft and nonhuman “biologics.”

Grusch’s testimony also raised concerns around the nation’s UAP reporting and data collection capabilities, which he and his colleagues characterized as weak. It helped spur the Pentagon’s launch of a website for the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), billed as a “one-stop shop” for reporting incidents. But the NASA panel feels more work needs to be done.

Could NASA Take the Reins on UAP Research?

With a bevy of high-tech surveillance tools and other resources at its disposal, NASA should take on a more active role in UAP research, the panel argued. Currently, those efforts are led by the AARO, a branch of the DOD formed in 2022 to investigate unexplained objects. But the experts think NASA could take on that mantle.

“The study of UAPs presents a unique scientific opportunity that demands a rigorous, evidence-based approach,” the report read. “Addressing this challenge will require new and robust data acquisition methods, advanced analysis techniques, a systematic reporting framework and reducing reporting stigma. NASA—with its extensive expertise in these domains and global reputation for scientific openness—is in an excellent position to contribute to UAP studies within the broader whole-of-government framework.”

The panel said the agency’s Earth-observing satellites—equipped with state-of-the-art sensor technology—should be used specifically to probe earth, oceanic, and atmospheric conditions to determine whether those factors are related to reported UAP sightings and behaviors. 

It also recommended the agency launch a data acquisition campaign, collecting and sharing multispectral and hyperspectral data with other agencies. The idea is to cut down on data gathered incidentally by flight instruments not designed for detecting objects, such as reports that come from general aviation pilots. Instead, the experts want dedicated UAP data collection.

The panel suggested the private sector—and even civilian observers—could also have a role to play. In particular, the U.S. commercial remote-sensing industry could work with NASA to deploy ground-based sensors or satellite constellations to complement the agency’s efforts.

Of more interest, however, is the proposed idea of “open-source, smartphone-based apps” that could send data and metadata to NASA. Essentially, civilian observers would create a panopticon in the sky, using their cell phone cameras to collectively keep tabs on any mysterious objects in the airspace. The panel recommended NASA develop or acquire a crowdsourcing system with that vision in mind.

The experts also had some thoughts on how information is managed and evaluated. They pointed to artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies as a method of poring over UAP reports once NASA and the AARO gather enough data to serve as a baseline. 

The panel believes the ability to place physical constraints on UAPs—such as criteria for their speeds and velocities based on the performance of known aircraft—is “within reach.” Beyond that, the panel called on NASA to assist the AARO in developing a federal civilian UAP reporting system, emphasizing the former would play an “essential role” in that framework.

To address the airspace safety threat UAPs present, the experts further suggested the NASA-administered FAA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) —a confidential, voluntary reporting system for pilots, air traffic controllers, and other aviation personnel—be harnessed. 

Current FAA guidance directs pilots to report sightings to local law enforcement or one of several nongovernmental organizations. But the panel views the ASRS as a potentially game-changing tool for UAP research efforts. It also recommended NASA work with the FAA to develop air traffic management systems that can acquire UAP data.

But NASA’s involvement would add more to the UAP research effort than resources. The agency’s presence adds a level of legitimacy to the entire operation, which could help silence the doubters and reduce the stigma associated with UAP reporting in the military and other areas of government.

“NASA’s long-standing public trust, which is essential for communicating findings about these phenomena to citizens, is crucial for destigmatizing UAP reporting,” the report read. “The scientific processes used by NASA encourage critical thinking; NASA can model for the public how to best approach the study of UAP, by utilizing transparent reporting, rigorous analysis, and public engagement.”

Grusch and the other retired Navy Pilots in July estimated that some 95 percent of UAP sightings go unreported, owing largely to the stigma around them. With NASA’s involvement, the hope is that more pilots, government officials, and other observers take the phenomenon seriously, causing that number to rise.

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Some dragons aren’t animals at all. I’m talking about SpaceX’s Crew Dragon rocket, which on Sunday successfully docked with the International Space Station and introduced four astronauts to their new jobs for the next six months. The mission, which will support scientific research into human spaceflight beyond low-Earth orbit, is NASA’s seventh Commercial Crew rotation mission and the 11th orbital flight of Crew Dragon—to which FLYING awarded one of its 2021 Editors’ Choice Awards.

On Saturday morning, the Crew Dragon Endurance and Falcon 9 lift-launch vehicle lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, reaching orbit shortly after. The launch was originally scheduled for Friday but was scrubbed so NASA teams could complete some last-minute analysis and paperwork.

Endurance docked autonomously with the space station’s Harmony module at 9:16 a.m. EDT Sunday morning. The crew of four then opened the hatch and joined seven astronauts already aboard the orbiting laboratory.

NASA provided a live stream of the launch and docking. Images and video can be found here.

“Crew-7 is a shining example of the power of both American ingenuity and what we can accomplish when we work together,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Aboard station, the crew will conduct more than 200 science experiments and technology demonstrations to prepare for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, all while benefiting humanity on Earth.”

Meet the Crew

Crew-7’s four-person roster includes astronauts from four different countries and three continents.

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli serves as commander, presiding over all phases of flight from launch to reentry. Crew-7 is the American’s first trip to space. Konstantin Borisov, a cosmonaut of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, is also leaving the Earth for the first time and serves as mission specialist, monitoring Endurance during the launch and entry phases.

Joining Moghbeli and Borisov is Satoshi Furukawa, a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut for over two decades who spent 165 days on the space station in 2011. Moghbeli, Borisov, and Furukawa will serve as flight engineers for NASA Expedition 69 and Expedition 70, the agency’s 69th and 70th long-duration missions to the station.

Andreas Mogensen, a European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut who became the first Danish national in space after spending 10 days aboard a Soyuz craft on a 2015 mission to the space station, rounds out the group. Mogensen serves as pilot, responsible for spacecraft systems and performance aboard the station. He will serve as a flight engineer for Expedition 69 before taking over as commander of Expedition 70.

Living and working 260 miles above the Earth, the crew will conduct an array of research: collecting microbial samples from the space station’s exterior, studying human response to different spaceflight durations, investigating the physiological aspects of astronaut sleep, and hosting other experiments and technology demonstrations.

“The ISS is an incredible science and technology platform that requires people from all around the world to maintain and maximize its benefits to people on Earth,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of the Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. “It’s great seeing Crew-7 launch with four crew members representing four countries who will live and work on humanity’s home in space as we continue the nearly 23 years of a continuous human presence aboard the microgravity laboratory.”

The multinational Crew-7 group on Sunday joined the crew of Expedition 69, which includes NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen, Woody Hoburg, and Frank Rubio, UAE astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitri Petelin, and Andrey Fedyaev. That means five countries are currently represented on the station.

Already, NASA has announced astronaut assignments for the Crew-8 mission in early 2024, which will join the Expedition 70 and 71 crews to perform more operational and research activities.

NASA’s Commercial Crew program is expected to extend well beyond then. Its goal is to develop and enhance U.S. human spaceflight systems to allow safe, reliable, and cost-effective access to and from the space station (and its potential successors). The program has been active since 2010, and SpaceX was enlisted as a partner in 2014 and will continue to support rotational missions.

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At the Paris Air Show, company chairman Patrick Daher addressed the need for such investment—to give the mission the support it requires to achieve the lofty and critical goals of decarbonization. 

“People are very excited, very much on top of the situation—while we’ve been through the Paris Air Show and we have seen that all of us—all of us meaning all exhibitors, whether French, American, or any other countries, we have invested a lot of money in decarbonization,” Daher said.

• We Fly: Daher TBM 960

Daher noted that collectively the industry is on the eve of “the fourth evolution” of aviation. The first one was just being able to fly, “something that was thought impossible at the beginning of the 19th century,” followed by the ability to fly safely. The third evolution brought flying to everyone, in “democratization.” “Now the fourth evolution is we have to change the aviation system in order to come to decarbonization. If we do not do that, then that will be the end of aviation in the future.”

Strategic Investment

Daher celebrates its 160th anniversary this year, and it kicked off that commemoration with the “Take off  2027” plan announced at the beginning of 2023. A significant part of the plan centers around the company’s decarbonization efforts across its four verticals—aircraft development, aerospace manufacturing, manufacturing services, and logistics. The programmed investment represents four times the spend of the previous strategic plan.

• We Fly: Daher Kodiak 900

The company has created three innovation centers within its structure to help it contribute to the goals of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 as outlined in the Paris Agreement on climate change. An initial “significant step” will take place by 2035, utilizing these centers along with efforts by its partners, suppliers, and customers. “Competitive solutions” for the marketplace will launch in three to 10 years in areas such as hybridization, new-generation materials, production processes (robotization and cobotization—human/robot collaboration), and digital transformation.

Solutions for the 90 Percent

Daher CEO Didier Kayat revealed in the press conference at Paris that 90 percent of the group’s carbon footprint comes from utilization of its products by its customers.

“Ninety percent of the carbon impact of Daher is due to the products of our clients,” said Kayat. “So if we don’t help our clients decarbonize, we will not achieve our decarbonization plans.”

In order to reduce those impacts, Daher is pursuing the use of lighter structures and new production processes to both increase output and reduce emissions. Also it will pursue more ecologically responsible logistics, using cleaner modes of transportation, for example, and implementing use of biofuels, such as sustainable aviation fuel, which it has already started at its aircraft division headquarters in Tarbes, France.

Daher will also work on its own footprint through initiatives such as the launch of its first hybrid-electric aircraft by 2027—based on lessons learned from the EcoPulse joint project with Safran and Airbus, and driven into its TBM and Kodiak series of aircraft. 

“Though all my engineers say I’m crazy to say that publicly…we will launch a hybrid aircraft in 2027,” said Kayat. “We don’t know yet what aircraft it’s going to be,” but the company is learning a lot from the EcoPulse project so that “at the end of this year we can have the road map to see what our product is going to be.”

• READ MORE: Quest to Daher

‘Imagineering by Daher’

To achieve the critical goals—and propel the group toward a successful future as a global aerospace manufacturing and logistics company—Daher has developed the three centers of “open innovation” within its structure under the umbrella of “Imagineering by Daher.” While it has long promoted the spirit of entrepreneurship within the company, the current movement doubles down on preserving the startup mentality of its teams. Five key imperatives to that “imagineering” are “#explore, #connect, #test, #scale, and #communicate.”

The three centers include:

• Log’in: a Toulouse-based innovation acceleration platform for tomorrow’s logistics industry
• Shap’in: a center of excellence in Nantes dedicated to new-generation composite aerostructures
• Fly’in: a forward-looking development center in Tarbes for tomorrow’s general aviation industry.

Three examples of decarbonization projects within Daher take place in logistics and in its aircraft products. First, Daher is implementing the use of a digital twin (JUMEL) to model and optimize logistics warehouses—a project led by the Log’in TechCenter to promote and facilitate innovative, eco-responsible industrial logistics.

A second example is in the digitizing of data collection from its TBM series turboprops and using analysis of the data to drive more responsible flying. To this end, Daher launched version 6 of its Me & My TBM app earlier this year.

Third is the use of thermal plastics in its aircraft and other aerospace products. “We are working a lot on the new composites that [are] called thermal plastics,” said Kayat. “It’s reusable, so it has a double virtue—it makes planes lighter [by up to] 20 percent.”

“Since Daher’s creation 160 years ago, the company always has supported key industrial developments with its customers,” said Kayat in his closing statement. “We continue to write this story by going further: It is as pioneers that we will be the first to offer a hybrid aircraft to the market.”

The post ‘Imagineering’ by Daher Launches Within Increased Sustainability R&D Spend appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The Crosscutting Operations Strategy and Technical Assessment (COSTA) project is spearheaded by the Federal Aviation Administration and also has support from NASA.

Xwing’s partnership with the FAA’s COSTA program is a logical step in bringing his company’s vision for autonomy to life, Marc Piette, Xwing’s founder and CEO, told FLYING. That’s because outside of structured flying operations in and out of airports, operators also use aircraft for things like aerial firefighting, he said. Operators also have to deal with scenarios, such as pop-up TFRs, which means deploying all-around autonomy like Xwing plans to do, which is much more challenging than it seems.

“The challenge of integrating unmanned aircraft in the airspace is so much more than the automation itself,” Piette said. “It’s to ensure that we integrate seamlessly with all the participants of that airspace and follow the rules and can handle the various situations that get thrown at that unmanned aircraft.”

Fighting Wildfires

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), more than 5,000 wildfires occur in California each year.

To help combat this, Xwing says it is essential that U.S. agencies “determine how to leverage new technologies and services to best address and manage natural disasters.” While existing dynamic operations feature manually-operated airplanes, helicopters, and various-sized drones to drop water or fire suppression in a small area, there is room for improvement.

NASA is working with the FAA and other disaster response agencies to figure out how to integrate unmanned aerial systems and deploy an Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) to improve disaster response efficiency.

• READ MORE: NASA Awards Xwing Contract to Develop Autonomous Flight Safety Management System

The FAA’s UTM is a “traffic management ecosystem” for uncontrolled operations that is separate from but complementary to the FAA’s Air Traffic Management (ATM) system. 

According to the FAA, “UTM development will ultimately identify services, roles and responsibilities, information architecture, data exchange protocols, software functions, infrastructure, and performance requirements for enabling the management of low-altitude uncontrolled drone operations.”

Xwing will work with the FAA, the University of Alaska, and the Alaska Test Center for UAS Integration to evaluate information-centric approaches to improve traffic management in fire traffic areas (FTAs).

“This project will provide us with a more holistic view on how best to integrate large UAS in the existing National Airspace System,” Piette said. “Leveraging UAS, we have the potential to make everything from wildfire fighting to oceanic operations more efficient and safer. We believe the data that we collect from these operations will be essential to helping the FAA and NASA bring unmanned flights to more types of operations in the aviation industry.”

• READ MORE: Wildfires Leave Seattle Area Pilots Smoked Out

Checking the Boxes

The program, which is already underway, is set to run through April 2023. Xwing will run the flight operations for the project in Northern California, using Xwing’s autonomous flight technology on its Cessna Caravan aircraft. The flights will have a safety pilot on board.

Additional partners in the project include AirSpace Integration and ATA LLC, which will support flight data management, integrations with other FAA systems, and supporting operational flight trails.

Jesse Kallman, vice president of commercialization and strategy at Xwing, told FLYING that the data that Xwing collects will be used for various reasons. Those include analyzing the response times between air traffic control (ATC) and an autonomous aircraft, how UASs function when nearby other manned operations, and how remote operators use information-centric services to fly in challenging, high-stake operating environments.

• READ MORE: The Thrush 510G Switchback is a Potent Weapon Against Wildfires

“The process is pretty straightforward,” Kalman said. “We’re creating a series of trials, and we’re going to simulate different things. The FAA will control that local area, and we’ll figure out how you give commands to a very large unmanned system operating in and near other aircraft in that area.”

Kallman said the operation would also focus on figuring out how its autonomous technology manages things like pop-up TFRs, and unplanned route changes while interacting with existing air traffic in these sorts of environments.

Ultimately, this will give the FAA the data it needs to develop rules and procedures for its UTM framework. That could mean an evolution of the national airspace, communication procedures, or even right-of-way rules.

For Xwing, the project will help the company with its goals of integrating into the airspace.

“It’s a part of ensuring that we’re checking all the boxes as we are looking to certify this [autonomous flight] tech stack,” Piette said.

The post Xwing Joins FAA Study of Unmanned Systems Traffic Integration appeared first on FLYING Magazine.