What projects are you currently involved
with?
Kaman SH-2G: I am the program lead working with Kaman Aerospace
to design a digital flight control system for the Super SeaSprite
helicopter, which is being sold to Australia and New Zealand. The aircraft
and control system are modeled in SIMULINK, and tuned to meet performance
and handling-qualities requirements using the Control Designer's Unified
Interface (CONDUIT), a software tool developed by our Army/NASA group.
Kaman BURRO: Using Kaman's "flying truck" intermeshing-rotor
helicopter, an unmanned vehicle is being developed for the Marines. Our
group is contracted to assist Kaman's development of an aircraft math
model based on flight test data, using CIFER, as well as development of
the flight control laws that I am responsible for. As with the SH-2G, the
aircraft and control system are modeled in SIMULINK, and will be optimized
using CONDUIT.
Slender Hypervelocity Aerothermodynamic Research Probe (SHARP): A
control system will be developed to allow maneuvering of the probe during
re-entry and descent to landing. I am researching methods of tying CFD
aerodynamic models of the probe into the control system model.
CONDUIT: Our group developed the Control Designer's Unified
Interface software package; CONDUIT is now being used by every major
fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft manufacturer, as well as several
government facilities and universities. I wrote several components of the
software, and continue to support the ongoing growth and refinement of the
CONDUIT package.
What activities do you do on a 'typical' day?
I work primarily on a Silicon Graphics computer, using it
for both software development and control system development. Most of my
work is performed using MATLAB/SIMULINK, as well as the CONDUIT and CIFER
software that has been developed in-house. I also dig through a lot of
publications and books, researching control system ideas.
Design and analysis of aircraft dynamics and flight control systems is my
primary activity, but part of each day is spent interacting with my
co-workers, as there is a great deal of synergy between the various
projects going on. That interaction includes meetings, as well as
one-to-one collaboration. I am also in frequent communication with our
customers, by e-mail and telephone; sometimes I travel to their facilities
to work closely with them on a specific problem. Most days I also compile
some sort of documentation of my work; that may be notes and printouts, or
presentations and articles for technical journals.
Bruno M. Bachinger
Aircraft Design
Air
Vehicle Advanced Design - Phantom Works
The Boeing Company
Long
Beach, CA
Title: Configuration Design, Member of the Technical Staff
What projects are you currently involved with?
X-43b (Hyper-X):The Hyper-X program's primary
purpose is to test air-breathing hypersonic flight. Three
airframe-integrated dual-mode scramjet-powered research vehicles are being
built for test flights at Mach 5, 7 and 10. High-speed air-breathing
engine technology is being developed for possible use in reusable space
launchers to reduce the cost of putting payloads in orbit. A fourth
vehicle (X-43B) is just beginning the conceptual design phase. It will be
a geometrically similar, twice-size Hyper-X-like vehicle boosted by an
internal liquid oxygen rocket engine. I am responsible for the initial
conceptual design of this vehicle.
Mars Flyer: NASA director Dan Goldin announced in January of 1999
that NASA intends to fly an "airplane" on Mars for the 100th anniversary
of the Wright brothers first flight (December 17, 2003). The phantom
works has been granted a small contract to develop a concept for this
"Mars airplane". I am the chief configuration designer for this vehicle.
HSCT (High Speed Civil Transport): NASA officially closed down all HSR
(high speed research) funding earlier this year, but work is being
finished up on the SCID (Supersonic Configuration Integrated Design)
concept. It is a Mach 2.4, 750,000 lb, 300 passenger swing-wing civil
transport aircraft intended for commercial use in 2015.
What activities do you do on a 'typical' day?
Currently, I am spreading my time over several different projects...which means changing mental gears often. The morning may have me sitting with our chief aerodynamicist trying to optimize the nose chine for a Mach 7 hypersonic vehicle... only to sit down after lunch to calculate the structural loads that a titanium pivot lug can safely withstand. As a configurator, I am responsible for the overall design of a vehicle. That means I spend a great deal of my time interfacing with people from the primary disciplines (i.e. aerodynamics, structures, propulsion, controls, low observables, etc.) to define the vehicle requirements. The aero people tell me how big the wing needs to be, the engines guys give me an engine and inlet concept, the structural engineers help me with the primary load paths, and so on. After that, I start playing "LEGOS", putting all that information together to create a vehicle. In the end, that means I spend most of my time drawing aircraft concepts on the computer using CATIA.
M. Noelle Cahill
Major/Minor: Aeronautical
Engineering/Astronautics
Boeing Space & Communications, Rocketdyne
Division, Test Operations
Air Force Research Laboratory
Edwards Air
Force Base, CA
Title: Test Operations Engineer
What projects are you currently involved with?
I am working on the RS-68 engine. This is Rocketdyne's brand new engine that will be used on the Delta IV launch vehicle. RS-68 is the first Liquid Oxygen/Liquid Hydrogen engine to be developed by the United States since the Space Shuttle main engines. It is also has the highest ever thrust level of any hydrogen-fueled engine.
What activities do you do on a 'typical' day?
Currently for RS-68 I work on facility/engine integration, including installing pressure and temperature measuring devices, hardware installation, and procedure execution. Many of the procedures I use are run several times a week, including propellant off-loads and pyrotechnic ordnance installation, as well as test procedures. Tests are currently run approximately twice a week. Procedures that I usually run for test include Control Room set-up and the Test Stand Engineer's Checklist. The later consists of walking down the whole test stand and verifying that the facility is properly configured for the test. A 'typical' day for me involves a great deal of problem solving. Fortunately, there really is never a 'typical' day, because each day presents new challenges. One thing is certain, the testing world is never boring!
Andrew W. Wong
Major: Aeronautical
Engineering
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space
Sunnyvale, CA
Title: Software Engineer
What projects are you currently involved with?
Payload Launch Vehicle (PLV): PLV is a launch vehicle designed to carry an exo-atmospheric kill vehicle to space for ground-based missile defense. It is part of the larger effort underway called National Missile Defense or NMD.
What activities do you do on a 'typical' day?
My activities vary from day to day, but my main emphasis is in running and analyzing a 6 degree of freedom (DOF) simulation for the PLV. This includes verification and validation of flight software, and the documentation of these results.
Julie Smith
Aeronautical
Engineering/Astronautics
Rocketdyne Propulsion & Power, a division of
Boeing
Canoga Park, CA.
Title: Project Engineer, Systems Engineering, Verification and
Validation; X-33 Test Support
What projects are you currently involved with?
Currently, I am a member of the Systems Engineering
Verification and Validation Process supporting XRS-2200 engine testing.
Supporting test includes everything from writing documents (such as the
Test Plan, Test Requirements Document, X-33 Change Instruction Documents,
and Test Requests), analyzing data, and attending/running meetings, to
traveling to Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, for onsite support (mainly
analyzing data and hardware inspections).
Space Based Laser (SBL): SBL is a space vehicle system designed
to demonstrate the technologies required for a space based laser defense
system.
Rocket Motor Disposal: This project involves disposing of motors
used on missiles in a very controlled and environmentally safe manner.
What activities do you do on a 'typical' day?
Currently for the SBL project I'm doing the thermal
analysis of different components using I-DEAS which is a 3-D modeling
software package. This analysis is then integrated with the structure
model. For the Rocket Motor Disposal project, I utilize a computational
model which calculates fluid flow and heat transfer of the rocket motor
disposal chamber. So basically, a "typical" day is working with some very
high tech software. There are meetings too, of course, to coordinate the
work.
My typical day starts off at 7:30 am with our daily telecon to Stennis
Space Center. Then every other day we have a team meeting to let each
other know what work has been done and what still needs to be done before
engine testing gets underway. Then I trade off working on such projects as
the Test Plan, Test Requests, and Data Review Instrumentation. When time
permits, I help out with Pump calculations.
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