Air Transport

New NASA associate administrator for aeronautics Lisa Porter has announced a sweeping restructuring of research programmes that sends the agency back towards its roots in leading-edge fundamental research.

Porter says the shake-up is driven by key goals. These include the overriding needs to “master the science of flight in all regimes”, focus on research “appropriate to NASA’s unique capabilities” and address the US government’s Next Generation Air Transport System (NGATS). It also encompasses a plan to protect and maintain key aeronautical research and test sites.

The return to basic research spells the end for planned projects such as a low-boom supersonic demonstrator and wider NASA involvement in government-industry efforts such as the Access 5 unmanned air vehicle programme. Porter says the new approach will be more robust and adaptable to the vagaries of the budget cycle.

The new structure follows four main guidelines, says Porter: a long-term focus on “cutting-edge research”; a need to integrate NASA’s diverse areas of research into a more coherent picture; specific milestones against which the agency’s research progress can be judged; and the need to reduce ‘stove-piping’, which Porter says has been a problem at NASA in recent years.

A research pyramid philosophy underpins the strategy. “At the top of the pyramid is the system design level, and at the base is fundamental research,” says Porter. “If you want to get serious about revolutionary technology at the top of the pyramid then you’ve got to invest in foundational research. So we’re making sure we have a research plan that recognises that philosophy. The needs flow down from the top and the technology flows up from the base.”

Four main programmes will make up the revised aeronautics portfolio: the Fundamental Aeronautics programme, formerly Vehicle Systems; the Aviation Safety programme, previously Aviation Safety & Security; and Airspace Systems, which retains the same identity. The all-new Aeronautics Test programme covers the strategic use, operations, maintenance and investment for facilities at Ames, Glenn and Langley research centres.

Fundamental Aeronautics covers research to “maintain core competencies” in four areas: hypersonics, supersonics, subsonic fixed-wing and rotary wing. Airspace Systems will mainly support NGATS, while the aviation safety effort will work “to ensure the safety of legacy systems as well as new systems,” says Porter.