The innovation proposed for development is a fuel-cell based electric propulsion system for very high-altitude aircraft. this system would potentially be capable of reaching altitudes of up to 40 km (131,000 ft) with a scientific payload in excess of 450 kg (1000 lbs). it wouldbe an attractive… More

Recent advances in aerodynamic, structural, electronic, and propulsive technologies make possible a new generation of low-cost unmanned aircraft for atmospheric science research. the first such platform, designated perseus, is already under development as a joint effort between aurora flight… More

Much of the research on outstanding problems in meteorology and climate dynamics would profit greatly from the availability of inexpensive in-situ measurements of the atmosphere. the national center for atmospheric research (ncar) has developed a family of lightweight digital dropwindsondes, and… More

Unmanned aircraft and lightweight instruments are a dual-use technology that offer dramatic new opportunities to both the atmospheric research community and to operational missions of the US Navy. Aurora Flight Sciences is the first company in the world to develop an unmanned aircraft, Perseus,… More

When interpreting chemical changes from measurements made on moving platforms it is important to remove signatures due to the motion of the air. This has proved difficult on existing manned aircraft such as the ER-2, necessitating post-processing of the data prior to interpretation. Digital flight… More

Atmospheric science platforms of all types require a reliable and cost-effective means of communicating with home laboratories. current satellite techniques suffer from low data rates, excessive latencies, high costs, or other complications. a new generation of low-altitude commercial data relay… More

Knowledge of the vertical profile of atmospheric parameters can be an important factor in determining the operational effectiveness of many military and civilian systems. For the past three years Aurora Flight Sciences has used support from the National Science Foundation to develop a lightweight… More

A versatile, low-cost satellite data link is proposed for use aboard manned or robotic environmental research aircraft. The link will allow remote users to access data aboard,the aircraft via a remote- file server, as well as to control instruments or even (with correct access privileges) the… More

Aurora Flight Sciences, with expertise in designing and manufacturing low Reynolds number high-altitude aircraft, proposes to develop new aerodynamics computational tools and flight control solutions to enable the development of 15cm and smaller hovering micro unmanned aerial vehicles (MUAV)s. The… More

Autonomous unmanned systems require provisions for fault detection and handling. Multiply-redundant schemes typically used in aerospace applications are prohibitively expensive for general applications, especially where low cost or small size are critical. A new strategy, proposed herein, offers the… More

The weak link in a standby battery pack emergency system is the battery's characteristic of wearing out, even when not in use. Battery failure can result in more than downtime in a flight situation: it can imperil the mission. The common method to determine battery health was to perform load… More

Not Available The number and diversity of Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) methods has grown rapidly over the past decade and continues to expand. A NATO-ONR workshop held in 1997 identified a number of issues that need to be addressed for continued growth and advancement of the CTA field. Among the… More

In its 1999 SBIR solicitation, DARPA requested ideas for a Clandestine UAQ (CUAV) that could covertly deliver small packages in advance of military operations. Aurora Flight Sciences was awarded a Phase I contract in May 2000. During Phase I Aurora has(1) performed a range of trade studies and… More

In its 1999 SBIR solicitation, DARPA requested ideas for a Clandestine UAQ (CUAV) that could covertly deliver small packages in advance of military operations. Aurora Flight Sciences was awarded a Phase I contract in May 2000. During Phase I Aurora has(1) performed a range of trade studies and… More

"Aurora Flight Sciences of West Virginia (AWV) is small business offering a complete range of aerospace structural manufacturing capabilities in both metals and composites. Our largest customer is Northrop Grumman, for whom we manufacture flight-ratedproduction parts for such aircraft as the E8… More

The objective of the proposed Phase II program is to develop, refine, prove, and qualify methods, materials, and processes for the fabrication of replacement honeycomb-core bonded metal aircraft structures that have at least a 5-year lifetime under at-seaconditions. The results of the Phase I effort… More

The objective of the proposed Phase II program is to develop, refine, prove, and qualify methods, materials, and processes for the fabrication of replacement honeycomb-core bonded metal aircraft structures that have at least a 5-year lifetime under at-seaconditions. The results of the Phase I effort… More

Significant improvements in propulsion systems are necessary in order to support high altitude, long endurance (HALE) missions for airships and UAV's. One of the critical components of the propulsion system is the propeller. The proposed research will demonstrate the feasibility of producing large… More

Currently the construction of complex aircraft structures such as the skeleton within a wing is extremely time consuming and expensive. Traditionally these structures are assemblies of sheet metal parts, machined parts and composite parts, which are bonded and riveted together. Replacing an… More

Given the vulnerability of the GPS system to intentional or hostile denial of service, it is imperative that the U.S. military develop technologies that provide robust navigation solutions that do not rely on GPS data. To achieve this capability, Aurora and MIT have teamed to develop the Integrated… More

The machining of structures from materials such as titanium is typically accomplished using end mills and roughing 90 to 95 percent of the material to leave precise, complex features on thin walled structures. High speed machining is widely used in the manufacture of parts and reduces labor… More

Aurora Flight Sciences proposes to apply algorithms for cooperative tasking of multiple unmanned vehicles, which have been significantly matured in UAVs, to a variety of USV littoral search, inspection, and force protection missions. Because of our mature starting point, the focus will be to… More

Aurora proposes to develop a cluttered navigation and control solution, which uses specialized sensing and processing to provide commanded body rates, velocities, etc. to a traditional MAV inner-loop stability augmentation system, thus enabling the MAV to fly urban and other cluttered-environment… More

Aurora Flight Sciences (AFS), in collaboration with the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), propose to develop a low-cost, easily deployed, degradable taggant that can be dispersed over a wide area to serve as a witness to activity in the area and for queuing of other sensors. The passive… More

There is interest in an unmanned aircraft that can be deployed to a target via unconventional means and operate at very high altitudes for very long periods of time. These aircraft are envisioned to be stored in a sealed container for many months at a time, possibly folded up, stowed or deflated in… More

Extreme HALE (high-altitude, long-endurance) aircraft typically require very long and thin wings. These super-lightweight wings tend to be highly susceptible to elastic instability (i.e., buckling). The maximum load such wings can sustain before buckling is generally much lower than the maximum… More

In order to facilitate wider understanding and use of NASA and other scientific data sources through publicly available and familiar tools, such as the Google Maps, Payload Systems Inc. proposes to develop a flexible scientific data search, analysis and visual presentation tool suite. This suite… More

Concept phase space-systems architecture evaluations typically use mass estimates as the primary means of ranking potential mission architectures. Software does not directly have physical mass and, as a result, is often left-out of such evaluations, despite the potential of being one of the main… More

Payload Systems Inc. and the MIT Space Systems Laboratory propose Self-assembling, Wireless, Autonomous, Reconfigurable Modules (SWARM) as an innovative approach to modular fabrication and in-space robotic assembly of large scale systems. Fabrication of modular components yields fabrication savings… More

Aurora Flight Sciences proposes to develop specialized algorithms and software decision-aiding tools for four-dimensional (4D) vehicle-centric, tactical trajectory management (TTM), derived from algorithms developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to perform similar functions in… More

Payload Systems Inc. proposes the Radiation Target Area Sample Environmental Chamber (RTASEC) as an innovative approach enabling radiobiologists to investigate the real-time, long-term radiation effects on living cells and tissues. Most current research into radiation effects on living cultures is… More

Payload Systems Inc. (PSI) and the MIT Space Systems Laboratory (MIT-SSL) propose an innovative research program entitled SPHERES-ISS that uses their satellite formation flight laboratory (Synchronized Position Hold Reorient Experimental Satellites - SPHERES), currently operating aboard the… More

We propose the development of automated systems to improve radiobiology research capabilities at NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). Current radiobiology experimentation at the NSRL is limited primarily by the amount of time required to manually move… More

The machining of structures from materials such as titanium is typically accomplished using end mills and roughing 90 to 95 percent of the material to leave precise, complex features on thin-walled structures. High-speed machining is widely used in the manufacture of parts and reduces labor… More

Aurora and MIT propose to develop the architecture, core algorithms, and human interface concepts for a multi-platform, distributed UAV team that responds to requests from field operators for intelligence support. Aurora will build on existing robust distributed tasking algorithms that have been… More

There is a current need for small heavy fuel engines that are light and reliable enough to be used in a variety of applications, such as UAV propulsion. The challenges for such an engine are in meeting the often stringent and competing requirements of high thermal efficiency and high power to weight… More

Space-based interferometry missions have the potential to revolutionize imaging and astrometry, providing observations of unprecedented accuracy. Realizing the full potential of these interferometers poses significant technological challenges, including the efficient maneuvering of multiple… More

Nuclear reactors to support future lunar and Mars robotic and manned missions impose new and innovative technological requirements for their control and protection instrumentation. Long duration surface missions necessitate reliable autonomous operation, and manned missions impose the added… More

Aurora's Integrally Stiffened SBCF Panel (ISSP) design and manufacturing approach is a replacement for honeycomb panels. It relies upon the unique forming capability provided by Stretch Broken Carbon Fiber (SBCF), which is unidirectional, collimated short carbon fiber filaments in a prepreg tape… More

Given the vulnerability of the GPS system to intentional or hostile denial of service, it is imperative that the U.S. military develop technologies that provide robust navigation solutions that do not rely on GPS data. To achieve this capability, Aurora and MIT have teamed to develop the Integrated… More

Aurora Flight Sciences and the MIT Aero-Astro Department have been jointly developing the human interfaces and underlying automation for a planning system that enables a field operator to command a team of UAVs to perform operations consistent with expeditionary missions. During Phase II, these… More

The increased use of composite materials in aircraft structures has provided airframe manufacturers with greater design flexibility for the production of large highly-loaded structural members with complex geometries. The main constraint on the ability to fabricate large composite aircraft… More

TBDThere is interest in unmanned aircraft that can be deployed to a target via unconventional means and operate at high altitudes for extended periods. A key technology required for such an aircraft is a propulsion system capable of providing the required thrust while meeting stringent… More

Aurora Flight Sciences proposes to continue its development of algorithms for the cooperative tasking of teams comprised of multiple, disparate unmanned vehicles performing a variety of littoral search, inspection, and force protection missions. Aurora will continue to address real-world issues… More

Aurora Flight Sciences is developing an integrated system for guidance of micro air vehicles (MAVs) through cluttered environments using vision and sonar: the Panoramic Avoidance and Navigation using OPTics Integrated with Sonar (PANOPTIS) system. The three key elements of our cluttered guidance,… More

Aurora Flight Sciences, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), proposes an innovative method for representing and managing multidisciplinary design information from a wide range of analysis tools. The practical implication resulting from this novel approach is a… More

Nuclear reactors to support future robotic and manned missions impose new and innovative technological requirements for their control and protection instrumentation. Long duration surface missions necessitate reliable autonomous operation, and manned missions impose added requirements for fail-safe… More

Aurora Flight Sciences (AFS), in collaboration with the MIT Space Systems Laboratory (MIT-SSL), proposed the Synthetic Imaging Maneuver Optimization (SIMO) program to develop a methodology, calibrated through hardware-in-the-loop testing, to optimize S/C maneuvers to more efficiently synthesize… More

Aurora and Georgia Tech are bringing together a team of experienced control theory, engine design, engine control experts to perform research on next-generation distributed control architectures for turbine engines. The program combines new results in adaptive and distributed control of… More

Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation and our partner, Draper Laboratory, propose to develop an on orbit immuno-based, label-free, white blood cell counting system for simultaneous counting of peripheral blood cell subpopulations, including total white blood cells, the five white blood cell… More

As manned missions to the moon and eventually Mars gain momentum, astronaut crews will be sent back to the deepest parts of space humans have ever traveled, and will continue deeper into space than ever before. Once outside the protection of the Earth's magnetic field, astronauts become fully… More

The Air Force Next Generation Transport will apply advanced hybrid material forms to meet stringent weight and cost requirements and will consist of unitized structural concepts as a result. Glass-Reinforced Aluminum Laminate (GLARE) is a new class of fiber metal laminates for advanced aerospace… More

Aurora Flight Sciences proposes to develop a flare planning logic that would provide aircraft guidance during this critical phase of flight. The algorithms that Aurora seeks to leverage address the reachability problem in the fields of Optimal Control and Hybrid Systems. Two competing technical… More

Aurora Flight Sciences, in collaboration with Air Network Simulation and Analysis, Inc. (ANSA), proposes to develop a simulation-based methodology to analyze and guide the development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operations in the National Airspace System (NAS).The key technical accomplishment… More

Aurora Flight Sciences, along with its partner Vertigo Industries, proposes a novel approach to deployment of balloon-based payloads into the Martian atmosphere. Balloon-based Mars exploration has the capability to cover a larger portion of the Martian surface than is accessible via a rover and to… More

With the significant advancements in motor efficiency and energy storage technology, electric propulsion systems have become viable power plants and power supplements to aircraft. Offering high power-to-weight ratios, electric drive systems significantly increase the design capabilities for vertical… More

Two disparate technologies associated with net-centric warfare have reached a fairly high level of maturity: tactical control of UAVs and sensor fusion within and across high-value platforms. However, incorporation of local UAV data into the intelligence datastream is still limited, and more… More

Aurora Flight Sciences proposes a comprehensive set of sensing, estimation, and control techniques to enable urban flight in the face of gusts and other disturbances. Biological entities utilize a number of sensory mechanisms to insure stable flight with respect to their surroundings and reject… More

The network-centric warfare concept relies heavily on disparate sensor information, coming from the ground (e.g. special ops), the surface (including USVs), various manned and unmanned air vehicles, and space, all processed and made available on tactical and strategic networks to a variety of users.… More

Small satellites working in coordinated manner as part of a distributed constellation hold the promise to revolutionize DoD space operations. However, small satellites also have significant inherent limitations. Their size limits the types of sensors that they can accommodate. It also limits… More

Aurora Flight Sciences and MIT have been developing tools and techniques that, together with existing 3D environment decision-making and navigation tools developed by AMRDEC in the PALACE program, are well-suited to the problem of autonomous vertical landing on unprepared landing sites. In this… More

Aurora Flight Sciences and MIT propose to develop a model-based adaptive health estimation and real-time proactive control to identify gas turbine engine stability risks and avoid them through control action. In this concept, the engine control system actively monitors sensors and actuators,… More

Titan is ideally suited for balloon exploration due to its low gravity and dense atmosphere. Current NASA mission architectures baseline Montgolfiere balloon systems, which use waste heat from a radioisotope power system to heat balloon interior gases to provide buoyancy. A disadvantage of this… More

Aurora Flight Sciences, along with MIT consultants Professor Dava Newman and Professor Jeffrey Hoffman, propose to develop an EVA space suit simulator for use in partial gravity training and experimentation. Our space suit simulator will provide a lightweight, low form-factor solution to… More

The process of aircraft design requires the integration of data from individual analysis of aerodynamic, structural, thermal, and behavioral properties of a flight vehicle. At present, there is no simple way to integrate the results of the analyses early in the design process. Aurora Flight… More

Space policy direction is shifting, particularly with respect to human goals. Given the uncertainty of future missions to the moon, Mars, and other bodies, a tool that allows for informed analysis of the option space is particularly relevant. Aurora Flight Sciences and MIT propose to further… More

NASA's Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission involves many challenging operations. One of the highest-risk operations is the guidance of the Orbiting Sample (OS) into the capture mechanism on the MSR Orbiter/Earth Return Vehicle (ERV). Aurora Flight Sciences, and its research partner the Massachusetts… More

Aurora Flight Sciences proposes to incorporate aspirated compressor technology into a high altitude, long endurance (HALE) concept engine. Aspiration has been proven to increase the stage loading of gas turbine compressors and fans, potentially allowing weight reduction through the reduction of… More

Aurora and Georgia Tech's Phase I efforts demonstrated the feasibility of a partially distributed control scheme with separate controllers on the engine core and fan, where the controllers are linked by a supervisory controller. This scheme is representative of the situation encountered in VTOL UAV… More

Aurora Flight Sciences proposes to develop a flare planning methodology that would provide aircraft guidance during this critical phase of flight. The algorithms that Aurora seeks to leverage the reachability problem in the fields of Optimal Control and Hybrid Systems, using Rapidly-Exploring Random… More

Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation and partner, Draper Laboratory, propose to develop an on-orbit immuno-based label-free white blood cell counting system using MEMS technology (OILWBCS-MEMS) for human spaceflight experimental and medical monitoring practices. Our proposed system is designed to meet… More

The majority of modern portable, wireless electrical devices are powered by batteries; when the batteries are depleted they must be replaced or recharged, which is a problem when the system operates in remote areas or an enemy's region. The capability to scavenge energy from the environment to… More

Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation (Aurora) asserts that SUAS propellers can be made significantly harder to detect with improved aerodynamic performance using proven aerodynamic and acoustic propeller design codes. The novel aspect of this proposal is that Aurora can build existing acoustic,… More

During the Phase I Program, Aurora will design and fabricate a small-scale demonstration article showcasing the developed embedded power systems technology. Design and manufacturing principals for the proposed embedded power systems technology will be developed as part of the Phase I Program. Test… More

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly being used by the military to gather Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) information in warfare environments. Of particular interest is the tracking of multiple targets for global situational awareness. To accomplish this mission,… More

The need exists for safe, high power density electric lift fans, especially for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) air vehicle applications. The unique approach proposed here uses electric power to drive a brushless ring motor and fan inside a duct. The ring motor is scalable and requires no… More

Aurora proposes to enhance the CH-53K helicopter drive shaft by reducing the weight and improving its ballistics survivability through the use of advanced composite materials. The new drive shaft will utilize carbon and aramid fibers, an advanced BMI resin system, and captured titanium end fittings… More

Sandwich construction has excellent stiffness and strength to weight, and therefore has been used in many airframe applications for fixed and rotary wing aircraft. Unfortunately, honeycomb sandwich structures have proven costly to maintain due to limited durability. Perhaps the largest single… More

The availability of an air vehicle to perform missions or generate sorties is negatively impacted by time spent on the ground due to scheduled servicing and maintenance. Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) is an emerging technology that enables improved condition based maintenance on air… More

Space Debris is a rapidly increasing problem, as evidenced by the recent COSMOS-IRIDIUM crash of February, 2009. This crash is estimated to have increased the orbital debris that is greater than 1 cm by 190,000 objects (more than 30%). Removal of the largest debris elements would eliminate the fuel… More

Today's advanced airborne weapons systems push the limits of technology to achieve greater speed, payload, and efficiency than previous generation systems. The tradeoff for the improved performance is that advanced systems and structures require extensive maintenance. Aurora proposes to develop an… More

CubeSats have emerged as a de-facto platform for small, low cost satellites. There is an ever growing list of COTS suppliers for CubeSat compatible systems, and numerous launch opportunities due to the development of the PPOD launcher which now flies as part of many expendable launch vehicles and… More

The development of out-of-autoclave (OOA) materials decreases the cost of entry into composites manufacturing programs and allows new opportunities for aircraft designers. The development of new generations of OOA materials has enabled the fabrication of large composite structures with nearly… More

ABSTRACT: Aurora Flight Sciences, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), proposes to further develop and test in realistic settings an innovative method for representing and managing multidisciplinary design information from a wide range of analysis tools. The… More

Aurora and Georgia Tech"s Phase I efforts demonstrated the feasibility of a partially distributed control scheme with separate controllers on the engine core and fan, where the controllers are linked by a supervisory controller. This scheme is representative of the situation encountered in… More

Pressurized space suits impose high joint torques on the wearer, reducing mobility for upper and lower body motions. Using actual space suits in training or experimentation is problematic due to the expense, bulk, weight, and difficulty in donning/doffing. The goal of this project was to… More

In order to support the tools needed to develop the Mars Sample Return (MSR) rendezvous and capture of the Orbiting Sample (OS), Aurora and MIT Space Systems Lab proposed the development of the Mars Orbiting Sample Return (MOSR) Rendezvous & Docking with the OS (RDOS) system. This system… More

Analogous to the CubeSat standardization of micro-satellites, the SPORE flight system architecture will utilize a modular design approach to provide low-cost on-orbit operation and recovery of small payloads. The Phase 1 investigation will evaluate a scalable flight system architecture consisting… More

Aurora Flight Sciences proposes to develop a system for robust engine control based on incremental sampling, specifically Rapidly-Expanding Random Tree (RRT) algorithms. In this concept, the task of accelerating or decelerating the engine is treated as a path planning exercise. The control system… More

NASA's Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission scenario utilizes a small Orbiting Sample (OS) satellite, launched from the surface of Mars, which will rendezvous with an Orbiter/Earth Return Vehicle (ERV). When the radio beacon-equipped OS is within range of the ERV's optical sensors, the ERV… More

With the retiring of the shuttle fleet, up-mass and down-mass to ISS are at a premium. The space station itself has a limited lifecycle as well, thus long-term and/or high-risk development programs pose issues for science 'return on investment', if the technology cannot be adequately… More

Aerospace vehicles operating at high altitudes have the potential to be less expensive and more versatile alternatives to space based systems for earth/space science, communications, and surveillance. However, the operational flexibility of these vehicles is limited by the performance of the… More

ABSTRACT: Aurora and UCLA"s Phase I efforts demonstrated the feasibility of the synthesis of advanced hybrid materials, unitized structure, and metallic-composite bonding on the Air Force Next Generation Transport. The X-55 Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft (ACCA) wing was used to demonstrate… More

ABSTRACT: High frequency combustion instabilities in gas turbine thrust augmentors (called screech) are detrimental to performance and limit operational flexibility, but are unavoidable due to the nature of augmentor operation and design. Present approaches to screech suppression via passive… More

Aurora Flight Sciences and MIT have been developing tools and techniques that, together with existing 3D environment decisionmaking and navigation tools developed by AMRDEC in the PALACE program, are well-suited to the problem of autonomous vertical landing on unprepared landing sites. In this… More

Aurora Flight Sciences and Protonex Technology Corporation propose a research effort into a Combined Airframe and Power system for Extended Range (or"CAPER") power system for air-launched Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS). The CAPER system is unique in that a fuel cell system and a… More

During the Phase I Program, a composite structure will be selected from one of Aurora"s current UAS platforms which will serve as the baseline for the program and provide a commercialization path for the carbon nanomaterial (CNM) enhanced composite structures technology. Design and… More

During the Phase I Program, Aurora Flight Sciences and the University of South Carolina will demonstrate the feasibility of co-curing an integrated antenna assembly within carbon composite structures. As part of this program, a candidate platform will be selected from one of Aurora"s current… More

ABSTRACT: Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation (Aurora) proposes to conduct trade studies to determine the optimum hybrid propulsion system for an in-service UAV in the 50lb to 150lb weight range. The propulsion system will be an internal combustion (IC) engine installed in parallel with an electric… More

Aircraft with very long endurance and range, but with the ability to perform hover and stare, ship-board recovery, and wind/gust rejection must have special control and dynamics properties that are different than any currently fielded aircraft. Aurora Flight Science will develop Precision Hover… More

In a typical unmanned aerial vehicle a significant proportion of the propulsion system power output is converted to electrical power to operate payload and avionics hardware. The removal or significant reduction of the growing electric power generation load from the engine could lead to extended… More

Aurora proposes to develop bio-inspired wind and lift sensing, and to test implementations that would enable mid-term integration on current and planned small and micro unmanned aerial systems (UAS). By using MEMS hair cells currently under development for the replication of insect flight, our… More

The miniaturization of satellite technology enables us to do more with less, but it also pressures us to find clever solutions to fundamental problems. We have identified several space missions amenable to fractionated architectures, in which instrumentation and other capabilities are distributed… More

ABSTRACT: Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation (Aurora) asserts that small unmanned aerial system (SUAS) propellers can be made significantly harder to detect with improved aerodynamic performance using proven aerodynamic and acoustic propeller design codes. Aurora will improve the fidelity of the… More

During the Phase II Program, Aurora will design and fabricate a large-scale article demonstrating the embedded signal cabling technology developed during the Phase I Program. Design and manufacturing principals and materials for the proposed embedded signal cabling technology will be finalized… More

Aurora proposes to radically advance the concept of distributed satellite systems through a combination of technology development to enable precision 3-axis control and a demonstration of a distributed CubeSat system capable of performing a militarily significant geolocation of signals mission. … More

With the retiring of the shuttle fleet, up-mass and down-mass to ISS are at a premium. The space station itself has a limited lifecycle as well, thus long-term and/or high-risk development programs pose issues for science 'return on investment', if the technology cannot be adequately… More

Aurora Flight Sciences, with Agent Oriented Software, proposes to develop a contingency management system that dynamically performs decision-making based on both sensed and predictive information to carry out adaptive missions and maintenance. This system will mirror the human nervous system, having… More

In order to mitigate the increasing threat of multi-raid short and long range missile attacks from hostile countries and non-state terrorist groups on the U.S. and its allies, advanced, cutting-edge technologies for ballistic missile defense must be developed to ensure their protection and deter… More

ABSTRACT: Aurora proposes to develop a"Proprioceptive Wing"concept designed to measure and feedback wing forces, thereby enabling"load servoing", or modulation of control surfaces to achieve desired wing moments and/or forces. By implementing a feedback loop on the actual force… More

ABSTRACT: Certain remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) use propulsion systems derived from commercial systems not designed for harsh environments. Operating experience and reliability data obtained in benign environments does not necessarily apply to engines operated in harsh environments, thereby… More

Aurora Flight Sciences, working with Optical Air Data Systems (OADS), proposes to develop a retrofit system to perform the functions of the current Fire Scout / UCARS landing system while eliminating or minimizing dedicated communication links and/or specialized equipment on the ship deck.… More

ABSTRACT: The Phase II program will further develop the Carbon Nano Material (CNM) technologies developed during Phase I to improve EMI shielding, impact resistance, mechanical properties and embedment of conductors. The efforts culminate in two full scale test articles. Because the CNM… More

ABSTRACT: Small unmanned aerial vehicles are a useful military asset and new systems must provide greater endurance and stealthier operation. A problem is that current propulsion options provide either long endurance (internal combustion) or quiet operation (electric) but not both. Hybridization… More

ABSTRACT: Collecting information in an urban environment is done in non-combat operations on a daily basis by local law enforcement by officers"walking the beat."Officers are present on our streets. Officers become familiar with areas of the city by constantly understanding and… More