National Aeronautics and Space Administration

www.nasa.gov

AOSP Newsletter

Airspace Operations and Safety Program (AOSP)

JUL-SEP 2020 | Quarter 4

ATM-X Completes TAM 

Demonstration Flights on 

EcoDemonstrator

2

Testbed Training Exercise 8
2 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2020

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

ATM-X Completes TAM 

Demonstration Flights 

on ecoDemonstrator 

POC: ARWA AWEISS AND 

RICHARD COPPENBARGER

The Air Traffic Management – 

eXploration (ATM-X) project 

successfully completed two 

EcoDemonstrator (ecoD) flight 

trials of NASA’s Tailored Arrival 

Manager (TAM) this past quarter 

in partnership with Boeing and the 

William J. Hughes Federal Aviation 

Administration Technical Center 

(FAATC). The first test, completed 

on Aug. 14, was from Glasgow, MT 

to Charleston, SC and examined 

the use of increasingly autonomous 

ground-based air traffic technology, 

evaluating the effectiveness of TAM 

solutions in real-world operations. 

The test went according to plan and 

the TAM advisories were acceptable 

to the pilots. As prescribed in the test 

plan, the advisories were autoloaded 

but not flown. Using NASA’s 

AutoResolver as its algorithmic 

engine and testbed for managing 

data interfaces with Boeing and 

FAA systems, TAM computed fuelefficient solutions, speed, and path for 

metering to an arrival fix on approach 

to Glasgow Industrial Airport.

TAM is an increasingly autonomous 

air-ground trajectory management 

system for arrivals that computes 

flight paths based on fuel efficient 

optimized-profile descents while 

simultaneously satisfying schedule 

constraints and resolving conflicts. 

It transmits a new route via digital 

communications that seamlessly 

integrates with existing avionics. 

For ecoD, the TAM user sets a 

flight delay and turn direction to 

mimic meeting a traffic scheduling 

constraint, and then TAM computes 

the new flight path. The user also has 

a more autonomous option which 

lets TAM determine the solution 

TAM user interface and testbed traffic viewer
AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2020 3

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

without prescribing a turn direction. 

The TAM test was part of a 10-hour 

maiden flight for the ecoD Boeing 

787-10 Dreamliner aircraft from 

Charleston, SC to Boeing Field, 

WA. TAM trajectory predictions 

and solutions used wind forecasts 

with flight track and intent data 

transmitted by the aircraft. Solutions 

meeting user-prescribed flight delay 

times were sent digitally to the FAA 

Data Comm Avionics Lab (DCAL) 

through the TAM user interface. 

The DCAL instantly translated the 

TAM solutions into Controller Pilot 

Datalink Communications (CPDLC) 

messages and uplinked them to the 

flight deck. Once received on the 

flight deck, the crew auto-loaded 

TAM solutions into the Flight 

Management System (FMS) and 

made photographic observations of 

uplinked messages and associated 

route modifications on the avionics 

displays. In this first step of TAM 

evaluations, no TAM advisories 

were executed in accordance with 

the test plan for 2020. A total of 

three sequential TAM solutions were 

delivered to the flight deck. Pilots 

commented that all solutions were 

received in a timely manner and 

were loaded into the FMS with no 

route discontinuities. Comments 

from Boeing indicated that each 

TAM solution would have been 

flyable had the pilots chosen to 

execute them. After the three TAM 

solution tests were completed, the 

787 performed a near idle thrust 

descent to the meter fix using FMS 

Vertical Navigation (VNAV) at a 

descent speed advised by TAM. The 

VNAV descent to the meter fix was 

performed automatically with only 

minor speed brake inputs required by 

pilots. The flown trajectory together 

with downlinked top-of-descent and 

meter-fix arrival time estimates from 

the FMS will be compared against 

corresponding TAM predictions 

in post-flight analysis. The timing 

associated with message delivery and 

pilot review will also be examined 

Boeing 787-10 ecoDemonstrator aircraft on tarmac at Glasgow Industrial Airport, Montana. Upon completion of the flight demonstration program on Sept. 9, the 

aircraft was scheduled for delivery to Boeing customer Etihad Airways. (Photo courtesy of Boeing)
4 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2020

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

based on time-stamped CPDLC 

downlink messages.

The second flight trial conducted 

on Sept. 9 successfully completed 

the 2020 ecoD flight test activity. 

For this test, the Boeing 787-10 

test aircraft executed arrivals into 

Knoxville, TN and Charleston, 

SC airports that again showcased 

TAM. Following on the heels of the 

initial flight demonstration into 

Glasgow Industrial Airport, this 

latest test further illustrated the 

potential for NASA’s increasingly 

autonomous ground-based air 

traffic technology to leverage the 

avionics already onboard today’s 

commercial aircraft fleet, ushering 

in dramatically more efficient 

management of the arrival airspace 

at our nation’s most congested 

airports. During the course of three 

arrival descents (Glasgow, Knoxville, 

and Charleston), eight scenarios 

were executed, each prompting a 

TAM path and/or speed solution 

to solve a simulated traffic and 

metering conflict. TAM advisories 

were again relayed to the ecoD 

aircraft flight deck via existing 

FAA digital data communication 

protocols. Per the test plan, the 

advisories were autoloaded into the 

FMS but not flown. The flight crew 

reported that all eight solutions 

were received in a timely manner 

and were loaded into the FMS 

with no route discontinuities, with 

Boeing indicating that each TAM 

solution would have been flyable 

had the pilots been authorized to 

execute them. The testbed managed 

the data interfaces between the 

different systems. The ecoD 2020 

test activity demonstrated the TAM 

concept for a single commercial 

flight, though the TAM concept 

and automation is designed to 

deconflict and optimize “all” arrivals 

into a metropolitan area–where 

the value proposition is most 

compelling. EcoD 2020 represents a 

successful first step in that direction.

NASA ATD-2 Phase 3 2020 

Stormy Season Training 

Videos and Presentations

POC: GREG JURO

The COVID-19 pandemic 

created new training challenges 

for the Airspace Technology 

Demonstration-2 (ATD-2) team. 

Prior to COVID-19, the plan was 

to provide face-to-face, hands-on 

training at each of the seven field 

demonstration sites in the North 

Texas area which included both 

flight operator and air traffic control 

facilities. However, visitors to these 

facilities were prohibited beginning 

in March. The restrictions, still 

in place at present, eliminate the 

capacity to provide face-to-face 

training. To successfully continue 

the training mission for each of 

the field demonstration sites, the 

ATD-2 team created a large number 

of YouTube training videos and 

slide presentations with embedded 

audio designed to explain specific 

functions of the ATD-2 system. 

The videos can be utilized both as 

an on the spot training resource by 

active, operational personnel or in a 

more formal training environment, 

and have been placed on web sites 

that are specific to each field user. 

For instance, the flight operator 

videos were made with examples 

related to that individual airline 

to further enhance the learning 

experiences with real-world cases. 

The following link provides an 

example of one of the partner 

operator’s training content:

https://aviationsystems.arc.nasa.

gov/research/atd2/phase3-training/

aa9928985861/index.shtml

This training material delivery 

approach has the added benefit 

of allowing later updates with 

new training resources or other 

modifications as user capability 

changes. Feedback from the field 

users regarding the website training 

materials has been very positive. 

Study Examines Causes 

of Failure to Comply 

During Commercial 

Airline Operations

POC: LANCE PRINZEL, JON HOLBROOK, 

MICHAEL STEWART AND MISTY DAVIES

At the Applied Human Factors 

& Ergonomics 2020 Conference 

held July 16-20, NASA researchers 

presented research outcomes from 

an initial study that examined the 
AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2020 5

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

causes of failures to comply with 

procedures during commercial 

airline operations. The presentation included a discussion of 

planned subsequent research efforts 

focused on (a) in-time systemwide safety assurance and in-time 

safety management systems; and 

(b) autonomous systems design for 

Part 121 commercial flight operations and Advanced Air Mobility’s 

concepts of operations. The current 

human-contribution-to-safety effort 

consists of a diverse portfolio of 

research and development efforts 

including an ongoing high-fidelity 

Boeing 737-800 simulation study, 

planned m:N remote supervisory 

operations research scheduled for 

fiscal year 2021, and pioneering 

data analytics approaches. The team 

includes researchers from NASA’s 

Langley Research Center in Virginia and Ames Flight Research 

Center in California, and formal 

and informal collaborations with 

American Airlines, Boeing, FAA, 

LOSA Collaborative, Volpe, and 

academia. The study was sponsored 

by the System-Wide Safety project, 

with cross-project coordination and 

support from the Transformational 

Tools & Technologies Autonomous 

Systems subproject within the 

Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program. The NASA report 

was published as a chapter in the 

book, “Advances in Safety Management and Human Performance.”

ATAC Corp. Testbed Transition 

Model and Trade-off Study

POC: KEE PALOPO

TATAC Corporation completed 

an analysis on the Testbed 

Transition Model Trade-off Study 

and provided a final briefing 

to line and project managers 

at NASA’s Langley Research 

Center in Hampton, Virginia and 

NASA’s Ames Research Center in 

Silicon Valley, California on July 

10. The analysis looked at three 

support models for future testbed 

operations: entirely managed by 

NASA, completely external to 

NASA, and a hybrid of the two. 

The briefing focused on an example 

hybrid case, assuming certain 

Proposed support structure functional areas and organization
6 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2020

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

percentages of resources provided 

by NASA and external parties. A 

spreadsheet for calculating an 

estimate of the required resources 

can be customized to allow NASA 

to perform further analysis.

System-Wide Safety 

Research Transition Team - 

Human Factors Meeting

POC: JESSICA NOWINSKI, JON HOLBROOK,

AND MISTY DAVIES

On July 21, the NASA/FAA 

System-Wide Safety Research 

Transition Team human factors 

sub-group held a virtual meeting 

to refocus the group’s efforts on 

human factors needs for Urban 

Air Mobility (UAM)/Advanced 

Air Mobility (AAM). The last 

time that the group met was in 

2017. About 60 NASA and FAA 

civil servants met to discuss the 

new team goals and objectives and 

share information about the UAM 

and AAM human factors work 

currently underway at each agency. 

Six FAA representatives and three 

NASA civil servants, representing 

both NASA’s Langley Research 

Center in Virginia and Ames Flight 

Research Center in California, 

provided brief overviews of 

relevant work for the purpose of 

considering potential opportunities 

for collaboration. Discussions after 

the presentations were centered 

on developing shared goals with 

regard to research needs and 

approaches, as well as high priority 

items for a follow-on meeting to 

be held in about a month.

ATM-X Insight Assessment 

Closeout Briefing

POC: BARRY BARMORE

On July 28, Booz Allen Hamilton 

(BAH) presented the outcome of 

their System Insight Assessment 

Report to both Airspace Operations 

and Safety Program management 

and Air Traffic Management – 

eXploration (ATM-X) project 

management. They highlighted the 

approach used to extract insights 

from the ATM-X research team and 

industry stakeholders, including key 

findings and gaps that were used to 

refine and focus technical content 

for the ATM-X Continuation 

Assessment Review (held July 14), 

and the transition to Phase 2 of 

the project. Jackson Floum and 

Christian McGillan from BAH 

provided the closeout briefing 

and led an open discussion with 

program and project management. 

The system insight assessment was 

recommended during ATM-X 

formulation in fiscal year 2018 as 

an additional way to engage with 

the growing aviation community 

beyond typical academic conferences. 

In calendar year 2018 and 2019, 

BAH reviewed ATM-X publications 

and interviewed researchers from the 

ATM-X team, and what is now the 

Advanced Air Mobility project, to 

collect and synthesize findings and 

insights. This review culminated 

in three industry workshops in 

which the outcomes were presented, 

and industry representatives gave 

feedback and identified areas of 

particular need to them. This 

process was summarized in a report 

currently going through the NASA 

review process to be published as 

a NASA Contractor Report. The 

insights gained from this assessment 

are helping refine and focus the 

ATM-X Phase 2 portfolio. 

ATD-2 Conducts Phase 3 

Stormy Season 2021 

Training for Envoy Air

POC: GREG JURO

The Airspace Technology 

Demonstration 2 (ATD-2) team 

provided two sessions of virtual 

training to air traffic coordinators 

at Envoy Air during the last week of 

July. Envoy Air will be a new flight 

operator participant during Stormy 

2021 and accounts for approximately 

20 percent of daily operations at 

Dallas/Fort Worth International 

Airport. The site and equipment 

surveys have been completed to place 

the ATD-2 equipment inside the 

Envoy Air operations center, but due 

to the COVID-19 pandemic and 

associated visitation restrictions, the 

equipment has not yet been installed. 

The placement of the equipment is 

scheduled to occur as soon as the 

capability to visit the Envoy Air 

operations center is resumed. The 

virtual training covered all aspects 

of the ATD-2 Metroplex client 
AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2020 7

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

with emphasis on how to evaluate 

and submit Trajectory Options Set 

opportunities that are beneficial 

for Envoy. Envoy has identified five 

subject matter experts who will be the 

focal points for use of ATD-2 during 

Stormy Season 2021. Additionally, 

after the training was completed, 

the ATD-2 team provided Envoy 

with their own training web site link 

that contains multiple videos and 

slide shows that provide thorough 

explanations on various components 

of the ATD-2 client. The ATD-2 

team also has plans to provide faceto-face on-site training at Envoy once 

visitor restrictions are lifted.

GE Aviation Adopts 

AdaStress—an Adaptive 

Stress Testing Tool—

with Great Success

POC: GUILLAUME BRAT AND MISTY DAVIES

In early August, Robert Moss, an 

engineer with General Electric 

(GE) Aviation, conducted a study 

using AdaStress, an adaptive stress 

testing tool developed by Dr. 

Ritchie Lee in the System-Wide 

Safety project at NASA’s Ames 

Research Center in Silicon Valley, 

California. GE has reported that 

AdaStress discovered “rare errors in 

FMS (Flight Management System) 

software” and that “GE Aviation 

was very impressed with the work 

and the results [they] got and 

they intend to continue to use the 

AdaStress capability as part of their 

FMS testing strategy.” Verification 

and validation (V&V) of aviation 

systems can be a difficult, yet 

necessary, task for the safety of 

flying the current generation of 

airplanes. NASA Ames entered into 

a Space Act Agreement (#403098) 

in 2016 with GE Global Research 

Center, allowing GE to try V&V 

tools developed by Ames researchers 

on some of the systems they are 

developing and gauge if they are 

ready for infusion in various GE 

business units. AdaStress uses 

artificial intelligence techniques 

to perform “smarter” testing and 

discover subtle errors in complex 

applications. The research and 

results have been submitted for 

publication at the 2020 Digital 

Avionics Systems Conference. 

UAM Operations and 

Procedures Focus 

Group Workshop

POC: SAVVY VERMA

An Urban Air Mobility (UAM) 

operations and procedures focus 

group workshop kicked off on 

Aug. 6. The workshop had more 

than 60 attendees from different 

FAA organizations including 

NextGen, Air Traffic Organization, 

AUV and AJI; Uber; NASA; and 

Dallas-Fort Worth International 

Airport. The objective of the 

workshop was to investigate nearterm UAM operations in the Dallas 

and Los Angeles areas under the 

Space Act Agreement that Air Traffic 

Management – eXploration has 

with Uber. The next planned Annex 

under the Space Act Agreement will 

include table-top exercises, part task 

simulations, human-in-the-loop 

simulations, and culminate with 

using data collected by Uber in the 

Dallas area. The presentations at the 

kickoff meeting included discussions 

on FAA’s Concept of Operations, 

previous research at NASA for UAM 

operations, Uber’s timeline and 

operations, and a review of the FAA’s 

safety risk management process. This 

workshop also formulated a smaller 

focus group that will meet twicemonthly and start preparing for the 

activities planned under the new 

upcoming Annex. This focus group 

will meet every 3-4 months to update 

the larger working group on progress 

made during the previous months. 

Report on Strategic Airborne 

Trajectory Management Study

POC: ROSA OSEGUERA-LOHR AND 

MATT UNDERWOOD

On Aug. 17, the Air Traffic 

Management – eXploration (ATMX) project’s Integrated Diverse 

Operations (IDO) subproject 

briefed the ATM-X management 

team on a significant achievement 

toward IDO’s Batch Study 1 

milestone–the exploration of 

ATM-X Services Prototype Tool 

and Simulation Environment. The 

batch study’s objectives were to 

develop a prototype implementation 

of a Strategic Airborne Trajectory 

Management (SATM) tool and 
8 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2020

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

to create a set of representative 

Trajectory Based Operations 

scenarios. Accomplishing these 

objectives supported creating 

the simulation environment and 

documenting the processes for 

future batch studies to evaluate 

SATM concepts and technologies. 

The final outcomes were a 

methodology and automated 

scripts to create scenarios that 

significantly expand high-density 

airspace simulation capabilities, 

which were completed at the end 

of June. The results indicated 

that the use of SATM in a highdensity traffic environment with 

digital communications could 

lead to flight benefits. The IDO 

team is working on two future 

publications: “Simulation of a 

Representative Future TrajectoryBased Operations Environment” 

and “Design and Implementation 

of a Scenario Creation Process for 

2040 Trajectory-Based Operations 

Simulation.” 

Testbed Training Exercise

POC: KEE PALOPO

The Air Traffic Management 

– eXploration testbed team 

conducted a two-day online 

training exercise for 20 

participants organized by the 

FAA Technical Center on Aug. 

18-19. The participants included 

representatives from NASA’s 

Ames Research Center in Silicon 

Valley, California, NASA’s Langley 

Research Center in Hampton, 

Virginia, FAA Headquarters, 

FAA Technical Center, Boeing, 

MITRE, and the École Nationale 

de l’Aviation Civile (French 

Civil Aviation University). The 

testbed training exercise was wellreceived as a potentially synergistic 

ecosystem for the community 

collaboration. Participants 

suggested extensions to its 

capabilities–specifically being able 

to use the Testbed TrafficViewer for 

human-in-the-loop experiments, 

such as the NextGen Integration 

and Evaluation Capability and the 

Florida NextGen Testbed, being 

pursued at FAA facilities. 

ATD-2 Phase 3 Stormy 

21 Kickoff Meeting with 

Field Demo Partners

POC: GREG JURO

The Airspace Technology 

Demonstration 2 (ATD-2) team 

kicked off a virtual planning 

meeting with field demo partners 

in the North Texas area on 

Aug. 26. Participants included 

representatives from American, 

Southwest and Envoy Airlines, 

the National Business Aircraft 

Association, Dallas Love Field 

Tower, Dallas-Fort Worth Terminal 

Radar Approach Control, Fort 

Worth Center, and the National 

Air Traffic Controllers Association. 

Notification of optimized route Optimized Trajectory Solutions shown on multipurpose control and display unit autonomous operations planner page
AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2020 9

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

The convective weather storm 

season in which the ATD-2 

Phase 3 evaluation will take place 

is referred to as “Stormy 21.” 

During the evaluation, the ATD-2 

Integrated Arrival, Departure, 

and Surface prototype system 

will issue alternative routes in 

the form of Trajectory Option 

Sets (TOS), for departing flights 

in the North Texas terminal area. 

The participants began discussing 

collaborations on the process 

for achieving successful TOS 

submissions during the next several 

months and discussed the field 

demo partners readiness to submit 

and approve TOS submissions, 

training needs, and information 

exchange to compensate for 

staffing resource availability. The 

groups also discussed potential 

enhancements to the ATD-2 system 

and methods to adapt them. There 

was unanimous agreement for 

the continuation of making TOS 

submissions available to the field 

demo partners during the next few 

months, and collaboration with the 

field demo partners will continue 

in order to finalize a specific time 

parameter for the formal phase 

of testing and data collection 

associated with Stormy 2021. Data 

and reports that will assist field 

demo partners in analyzing TOS 

opportunities and ATD-2 benefits 

will continue to be disseminated in 

upcoming virtual meetings. 

SWS Research Transition 

Team Verification & 

Validation Subgroup 

Sponsors Informational 

Seminars by FAA Experts

POC: AARON DUTLE, EVAN DILL,

AND MISTY DAVIES

The System-Wide Safety Research 

Transition Team verification & 

validation subgroup sponsored two 

virtual informational seminars this 

past quarter. The first took place 

on Aug. 4, when Wes Ryan, an 

FAA aircraft certification expert, 

presented a virtual “Certification 

101” tutorial to a group of more 

than 60 NASA researchers from 

NASA’s Langley Research Center in 

Virginia and Ames Research Center 

in California, as well as several other 

FAA team members, with the goal 

of introducing aircraft certification 

to a wider NASA audience. The 

presentation covered the basic FAA 

organizational structure, the main 

kinds of FAA certification, and dove 

deeply into type certification and 

the specifics of how new aircraft 

designs are certified, how updates 

to existing aircraft designs are 

certified, and how experimental 

aircraft obtain their certification. 

The presentation also covered how 

the certification process at the FAA 

has evolved over the years, and what 

the FAA envisions certification 

may look like for future aviation 

Screenshot of Virtual NASA-FAA Certification Bootcamp 101, attended by over 60 participants from 

NASA Ames, NASA Langley, and the FAA
10 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2020

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

concepts involving autonomy and 

artificial intelligence.

During the second seminar held 

Sept. 3, George Romanski, the FAA’s 

chief scientific and technical advisor for aircraft computer software, 

provided a briefing to a multi-center 

NASA audience on aircraft software 

certification. Romanski focused on 

a software certification package for 

a platform that supports the ground 

portion of the Wide Area Augmentation System for the Global Positioning System. Topics also included 

software design assurance levels, software development and verification 

plans and processes, requirements 

traceability, coverage verification, 

test procedures and test cases, datacoupling analysis, and many others. 

Actual certification life-cycle data 

was shown and discussed. After the 

technical presentation, questions 

on the software certification process 

in general and the FAA’s approach 

to certification also were discussed. 

The presentation was the second in 

a series of certification discussions 

with the FAA to cultivate awareness 

within NASA of how certification 

works, and to stimulate discussion 

with the FAA on what NASA has to 

offer. The presentations were hosted 

by Aaron Dutle from NASA Langley 

and were designed to bring together 

researchers from NASA and the FAA 

to collaborate on how verification 

and validation research can be used 

to provide safety assurance in the 

National Airspace System. 

ASHWG “Low Energy Alerting” 

Report Published Based on 

NASA SWS TASA Research

POC: MICHAEL FEARY AND MISTY DAVIES

The FAA’s Avionics Systems 

Harmonization Working Group 

(ASHWG) published a report 

(Sept. 4) on “Low Energy Alerting” 

informed by System-Wide Safety 

project research on Technologies for 

Airplane State Awareness (TASA) 

Safety Enhancement 210 (SE210). The report was prepared for 

the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory 

Committee. In response to National 

Transportation Safety Board Safety 

Recommendation A-14-043, the 

FAA was asked to task a panel of 

human factors, aviation operations, 

and aircraft design specialists, 

such as the ASHWG, to develop 

design requirements for contextdependent low energy alerting 

systems for airplanes engaged in 

commercial operations. The effort 

was motivated by the Asiana 214 

accident for context dependent 

alerting, and recommends changes 

to AC25-7D, §25.1303 (c) 

existing alerting standards and 

all references to those regulations. 

The recommendation updates 

existing fixed alert times with 

times aligned with alert category, 

timeliness, nomenclature, etc. 

without requiring exceptional skill, 

alertness, or workload. The “Low 

Energy Alerting” ASHWG report 

proposes new requirements for 

context-dependent low energy flight 

crew alerting systems for airplanes 

engaged in commercial operations.

ATD-2 Stormy 2021 Briefing 

to the SCT and FAA Flow 

Evaluation Team

POC: GREG JURO

On Sept. 14, representatives 

from the Airspace Technology 

Demonstration 2 (ATD-2) team 

conducted a briefing during 

a joint meeting of the Surface 

Collaborative Decision Making 

Team (SCT) and the FAA’s Flow 

Evaluation Team on plans for 

ATD-2 Phase 3 Trajectory Option 

Sets Stormy 2021 testing. The 

SCT consists of representatives 

from the major U.S. passenger and 

cargo airlines, general aviation, the 

FAA, and NATCA. The briefing 

was a subsequent presentation to 

a high-level overview of Stormy 

2021 that was provided to this 

group in July, and provided more 

details regarding various elements 

of the plan that the ATD-2 team 

has developed. The focus of the 

briefing was to outline operational 

plans and enhancements that the 

ATD 2 team will be making to 

the system to increase Trajectory 

Option Sets (TOS) opportunities 

during the coming months. Specific 

topics covered included the 

platforms designed to accomplish 

training for field users such as 

tutorial videos, additional use case 

scenarios that could generate more 

TOS opportunities, and various 
AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2020 11

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

methods to accurately calculate 

reroute benefit savings. The briefing 

was received well, and numerous 

questions were answered regarding 

the implementation plan. 

Exploration of Air Traffic 

Management Services 

Final Demonstration

POC: MATT UNDERWOOD AND 

ROSA OSEGUERA-LOHR

On Sept. 14, the Integrated Diverse 

Operations subproject in the Air 

Traffic Management – eXploration 

(ATM-X) project provided an endof-year overview and demonstration 

of the work conducted under this 

research activity. This work was the 

culmination of a year and a half of 

planning and execution, supporting 

one of the milestone deliverables 

planned for the Integrated Diverse 

Operations subproject conducted 

under ATM-X Phase 1. Deliverable products of this area of work 

include seven publications, Strategic 

Airborne Trajectory Management 

(SATM) technology prototypes, 

and internal documentation. 

Scenario development software and 

scenario files are also available and 

documented for future use. Impacts 

of this effort are outreach and pull 

from industry, including from five 

major airlines, multiple avionics 

manufacturers, media, and the FAA. 

The objective for the Exploration 

of ATM Services was to define 

initial concepts for dynamic, intelligent trajectory optimization and 

negotiation that enable increased 

user operational autonomy and 

leverage existing or soon-to-exist 

FAA NextGen and avionics capabilities. Work conducted included 

development of requirements and 

development of a prototype reference 

implementation of a strategic trajectory management service, which was 

demonstrated in operation.

Demonstration of SATM Service Prototype had two parts that highlighted two options: a Strategic Trajectory Optimization demo (KLGA to KDEN), and a TimeCompliant Optimization (KLGA to KORD)
12 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2020

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

ATD-2 Hardware and Displays 

Fully Deployed at Envoy Air

POC: KEENAN ROACH

In support of the Airspace 

Technology Demonstration 2 

(ATD-2) subproject Phase 3 

activity, personnel at NASA’s 

North Texas Research Station 

(NTX) deployed an ATD-2 system 

at the headquarters of Envoy Air 

on Sept. 16. Envoy operates the 

regional aircraft fleet for American 

Airlines—about 22% of the total 

American Airlines presence and 

17% of overall operations at DallasFort Worth International Airport 

(DFW). The addition of Envoy to 

the ATD-2 Phase 3 data collection 

will significantly increase the 

number of data points collected 

during the test and allow analysis 

of how the advisory tools impact 

the operations of regional carriers. 

Under normal conditions, the 

NTX team would have installed 

the ATD-2 equipment at Envoy, 

but given COVID-19 operating 

conditions, the NTX team instead 

created a set of instructions and 

a kit with the hardware Envoy 

personnel needed to make a secure, 

wireless network connection to the 

NTX facility via another NASAmanaged secure connection at 

DFW. Envoy verified that their 

ATD-2 displays are operating 

properly. Envoy will complete 

training and familiarization with 

the tool before spring storms arrive.

NASA Participates at 

Virtual Air Traffic Controller 

Association Technical 

Symposium

POC: IAN LEVITT AND BARRY SULLIVAN

NASA’s Air Traffic Management 

(ATM) research and development 

was once again highlighted as part 

of the annual Air Traffic Controller 

Association (ATCA) technical 

symposium. Scheduled to take place 

May 12-14, the symposium was 

postponed due to the COVID-19 

pandemic and held as a completely 

virtual conference from Sept. 14-18. 

This map shows the physical locations of NTX, 

DFW, and Envoy’s headquarters. The blue line is 

the datalink path which connects Envoy to NTX.

Envoy mounting the network dish to the roof of their building.
AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2020 13

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

This included modifying the 

traditional “Tech Center Tuesday” 

event into a virtual “Tech Center 

Week.” The symposium’s theme was 

“Advancing Aviation into the next 

Decade and Beyond.” NASA was 

well represented during many of 

the plenary sessions with the 

following presentations:

• Akbar Sultan, director of 

Airspace Operations and Safety 

Program (AOSP), presented 

the “Laying the Groundwork to 

Enable Future Technology” panel.

• Vince Schultz of NASA’s Langley 

Research Center in Virginia 

presented “X-57 Maxwell and 

Electric Propulsion Tech Talk.”

• Parimal Kopardekar, director of 

NASA’s Aeronautics Research Institute, presented on the “Evolving NAS Services for Emerging 

Aircraft Operations” panel.

• John Koelling, project manager 

of System-Wide Safety, presented 

on the “Safety in an EverEvolving Airspace System” panel.

• Barry Sullivan, technical 

integration manager of AOSP, 

presented on the “ATCA 

Technical Symposium Recap 

and Look Forward Roundtable 

Discussion.” 

• Shawn Engelland, project 

manager of Airspace Technology 

Demonstrations, also presented. 

In addition, Tech Center Week featured virtual technical tours, demonstrations, and exhibits in a variety of 

aviation fields from over 45 different 

projects, programs, and organizations. NASA had two virtual exhibits 

showcasing the program’s research 

portfolio. As part of the virtual interactive exhibit, the FAA included an 

eight-minute video on collaborative 

initiatives in Emerging Operational 

Concepts and Technologies highlighting some of their collaborative 

work in the area of Advanced Air 

Mobility (AAM), including recent 

and planned collaboration with 

NASA’s Langley Research Center in 

Hampton, Virginia. In the second 

half of the video, the viewer is taken 

on a narrated virtual electric Vertical 

Take-Off and Landing flight from 

Atlantic City International Airport 

to downtown Atlantic City, NJ. The 

flight was simulated using the Urban 

Air Mobility (UAM) vehicle simulation capability, also known as the 

UAM Flyer. The reference trajectory flown by the Flyer and other 

neighboring flights was provided by 

the UAM mission planner capability, 

all located in NASA Langley’s Air 

Traffic Operations Laboratory. These 

are two technologies that have been 

developed by the Crew Systems 

and Aviation Operations Branch 

in support of the ATM-X UAM 

sub-project as part of the research 

to define requirements for air traffic 

management systems for UAM 

and AAM. Future collaborations 

between the FAA Technical Center 

and Langley include developing 

and accrediting joint simulation 

capabilities as part of a live, virtual, 

constructive environment for 

Emerging Operational Concepts 

and Technologies. A direct link 

to the video is below, best viewed 

in Chrome.

https://faatechnicalcenter.com/

subPages/emergingOperations/

Concepts_Technologies.html

Data Analysis Support for AAL 

Learning and Improvement 

Team Flight Observations

POC: JON HOLBROOK AND MISTY DAVIES

Members of System-Wide Safety 

(SWS)’s human contributions 

to safety team held a working 

meeting with American Airlines 

on Sept. 21 to discuss analysis 

of data from approximately 100 

airline flight-line observations of 

resilient pilot performance. This 

data represents the first systematic 

observations of operational flight 

focused explicitly on capturing 

“desired” crew behaviors. The 

goal of this collaboration is to 

identify a language and approach 

for observation-based learning 

from resilient performance that 

could be shared broadly with the 

aviation community. To date, most 

systematic learning in aviation 

has focused on learning from 

undesired behaviors (e.g. failures, 

errors) that are operationally rare, 

yielding limited data to conduct 

safety analyses. This collaboration 

represents a unique opportunity 

to extend SWS project research 
14 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2020

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

and promote an American Airlines 

initiative, both designed to examine 

the efficacy and value of flight 

crew observed resilience behavior 

for enhancing aviation safety. This 

working meeting included multicenter collaboration from both 

NASA’s Langley Research Center in 

Virginia and Ames Research Center 

in California. In attendance from 

NASA Langley were Kathryn Ballard, 

Jon Holbrook, Lance Prinzel, and 

Chad Stephens. Representatives 

from NASA Ames included 

Immanuel Barshi, Dorrit Billman, 

Jolene Feldman, Alan Hobbs, Joel 

Lachter, Bryan Matthews, Randy 

Mumaw, and Brian Smith. 

Testbed Connectivity 

with ICAROUS

POC: KEE PALOPO

The Air Traffic Management – 

eXploration project is developing 

Testbed, an interconnected air 

traffic simulation capability, to 

help accelerate the introduction 

of advanced technologies into the 

National Airspace System. Testbed 

provides easy-to-use and easyto-connect support for various 

applications as plug-ins. Teams from 

NASA’s Ames Research Center in 

California and Langley Research 

Center in Virginia successfully 

completed a connectivity test of a 

safety-centric system for Unmanned 

Aircraft Systems (UAS) operations, 

as a plugin to Testbed, on Sept. 28. 

This safety-centric system, known 

as Independent and Configurable 

Architecture for Reliable Operations 

of Unmanned Systems (ICAROUS), 

is an onboard software system that 

enables the modular integration 

of mission-specific logic, sensor 

technologies, and a collection 

of core applications. The core 

applications implement capabilities 

such as detect and avoid, keep-in 

and keep-out geofencing, path 

planning, return to mission, and 

merging and spacing. ICAROUS 

is publicly available under NASA’s 

Open Source Agreement at https://

github.com/nasa/icarous. During 

the connectivity test, ICAROUS, 

an air-taxi-vehicle simulator called 

the “UAM Flyer,” and a traffic 

simulator and mission planner 

called Toolkit for Integrated Ground 

and Air Research were connected 

to Testbed, which enabled the 

sharing of aircraft data. As shown 

in the figure below, the UAM Flyer 

traveled from Foster City, CA 

towards South San Francisco, CA 

and an ICAROUS detect-and-avoid 

algorithm generated a path deviation 

for the Flyer to avoid another flying 

aircraft (not shown). The successful 

connectivity demonstrated in this 

test will enable the ICAROUS 

team to participate in future UAM 

experiments that leverage Testbed.

X-3 Highlight Scenario 

2 Testing Commences 

Sept. 30, 2020

POC: SAVVY VERMA

On Sept. 30, the Urban Air Mobility 

(UAM) sub-project within Air 

Traffic Management – eXploration 

(ATM-X) will start its second phase 

of testing in a series of lab tests 

NASA ATM Testbed and ICAROUS Connectivity Test
AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2020 15

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

called “X-3” with airspace partners 

to prepare them for the National 

Campaign (NC) scheduled to run 

in 2022. This phase of testing will 

focus on NC’s Scenario 2 that 

involves a re-route for a UAM 

flight due to a constraint similar to 

a temporary restriction posed on 

the airspace. X-3 is scheduled to 

end in mid-December 2020. The 

third phase of the test will focus on 

Scenario 3 data collection. In total, 

the three scenarios include UAM 

flight following nominal trajectory, 

re-route of a UAM flight due to a 

temporary flight restriction, and 

operations dealing with off-nominal 

situations like go-arounds. Eight 

partners have successfully completed 

at least one of the three connectivity 

tests that include testing with 

credentials and connecting with 

data collection tools. Recently, 

four partners started validation 

tests and three have successfully 

completed them, demonstrating 

their systems meet the requirements 

to complete the Scenario 1 test 

for X-3. Five partners have started 

Scenario 1 connectivity and data 

collection and one has successfully 

completed it. Several partners 

are scheduled to start Scenario 2 

tests in the near future, in which 

ATM-X is working with industry 

and the FAA to develop an airspace 

management system for vehicles 

expected to operate in urban areas. 

A key characteristic of this system 

is leveraging the innovative UAS 

Traffic Management (UTM) system 

architecture and partnering with 

industry airspace service providers 

and the NC sub-project in Advanced 

Air Mobility to collaboratively 

develop, test, and evaluate this 

system in the field with aircraft. 

ATM-X UAM is collaborating with 

a group of 11 airspace industry 

partners to ensure they are ready 

by integrating their technologies 

and testing them in the lab prior to 

deploying the system into the field.

FAA/NASA Quarterly Review: 

Urban Air Mobility

POC: IAN LEVITT AND KEVIN WITZBERGER

The Air Traffic Management – 

eXploration Urban Air Mobility 

(UAM) sub-project met with the 

FAA NextGen organization for the 

virtual NASA/FAA quarterly review 

on Sept. 30. The FAA briefed the 

progress on the NextGen UAM 

ConOps. Plans to mature the 

concept include initial systems 

engineering work and coordination 

across other FAA lines of business, 

as well as the National Air Traffic 

Controller’s Association. NASA 

provided an update on the UAM 

sub-project planning, including 

changes within the sub-project 

management team. NASA also 

provided technical briefings to 

the FAA covering the status of 

developing the UAM Airspace 

Roadmap towards the UAM 

Maturity Level-4 (UML-4), past and 

upcoming UAM simulations, and 

partnership with Uber. There was 

a healthy technical exchange and 

discussion on how to coordinate the 

increasing level of effort on both 

sides. Both NASA and the FAA 

recognized that the NASA/FAA 

Executive Board Working Groups 

are the best way to stay coordinated.
16 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2020

RECOGNITION

Unmanned Aerial System 

Traffic Management 

(UTM) Awarded 2020 

NASA Government 

Invention of the Year

POC: RON JOHNSON

A NASA patent for traffic management of unmanned aircraft system 

(UAS) vehicles was awarded the 

2020 Government Invention of 

the Year. This technology, called 

“Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) 

Traffic Management (UTM) to 

Enable Civilian Low Altitude Goods 

and Service Delivery by UAS,” 

allows UAS to maintain safe and 

efficient operations for goods and 

services delivery. The invention 

transforms traditional, humancentric air traffic management into a 

modern, machine-centric, federated 

approach. In traditional air traffic 

management, a centralized authority 

provides services to keep the airspace 

safe and accessible. In UTM, the 

FAA delegates some of that authority to other entities to provide 

similar services to directly support 

the operators. In addition, those 

operators may receive services from 

different service suppliers. These 

additional services may include 

low-altitude weather information, 

congestion management, terrain 

avoidance, route planning, rererouting, separation management, 

and contingency management. This 

novel ecosystem requires a federation 

of services that are interconnected 

and communicating via well-defined 

interfaces and protocols. More 

information on NASA UTM is 

at https://utm.arc.nasa.gov. 

UTM Chief Engineer Presents 

at ARMD Technical Seminar 

POC: JOEY RIOS

On July 7, the Unmanned Aircraft 

System Traffic Management (UTM) 

project chief engineer, Joseph 

Rios, conducted an online virtual 

Aeronautics Research Mission 

Directorate technical seminar titled 

“Commercial Drone Operations at 

Scale: Testing NASA’s UAS Traffic 

Management Concept in the 

Urban Environment.” The seminar 

included an audience of more than 

250 people. Rios presented the 

potential use of unmanned aircraft 

systems (UAS), or drones, for 

applications from many industries, 

including package delivery, 

agriculture, mapping, security, 

inspection, public safety, and 

others. He also spoked about why 

UTM is the key to enable safe and 

efficient operations of the drones 

at scale. One aspect of UTM that 

was discussed is that it does not rely 

on a centralized system to provide 

management services, as have been 

traditionally provided in commercial 

aviation. Rios described how the 

UTM ecosystem leverages UAS 

Service Suppliers to interoperate and 

support operators in sharing their 

intents, strategically deconflicting, 

providing appropriate airspace 

updates, and other key functions. 

He also highlighted how the NASA 

investment in this research and 

technology has accelerated a growing 

industry and enabled many novel 

roles in this emerging ecosystem, 

and showcased NASA’s capstone 

UTM demonstration involving 

flight tests in urban environments 

with more than 30 external partners. 

ATCA’s Blue Skies Initiative 

Launches Platform for 

Industry Engagement

POC: PARIMAL KOPARDEKAR

On Aug. 5, the Air Traffic Control 

Association (ATCA) formally 

launched an industry engagement 

platform to inform the public 

and seek stakeholder inputs, from 

traditional aviation (airlines, air 

traffic controllers, Department of 

Defense, FAA) and new entrants 

(commercial space companies, the 

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) 

and UAS Traffic Management 

communities, Advanced Air 

Mobility innovators, and high 

altitude operators), as well as 

aviation ports (airports, spaceports, 

and vertiports) on ATCA’s Blue 

Skies Initiative. The Blue Skies 

Initiative is an industry-government 

collaborative effort that will deliver 

a future-ready framework for 

modernizing the National Airspace 

System that defines a short-, mid-, 

and long-term vision for aviation 

while ensuring optimization 

of resources for all Air Traffic 

Management stakeholders and 
AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2020 17

RECOGNITION

users; is economically sustainable 

and scalable; educates the aviation 

community, flying public, and 

new users; and implements new 

entrant technology without 

sacrificing security and safety. 

Parimal Kopardekar, director of 

NASA’s Aeronautics Research 

Institute, represents NASA on 

the Blue Skies Initiative executive 

committee. Visit the industry 

engagement platform at https://

www.atca.org/blue-skies-initiative.

UTM Wins 2020 AIAA San 

Francisco Section Engineering 

Team of the Year Award

POC: RON JOHNSON

On Sept. 8, the Unmanned Aircraft 

Systems Traffic Management (UTM) 

project was awarded the prestigious 

2020 AIAA San Francisco Section 

Engineering Team of the Year Award. 

The UTM team receiving this award 

also includes the FAA and the team’s 

industry partners. The award is in 

recognition of “The UTM system 

being the key enabler to manage, 

integrate and expand the scope, 

scale and speed of the existing ATM 

system by allowing drones to safely 

participate in our airspace and help 

unlock an estimated $100 billion 

drone industry. UTM research, its 

successful field demonstrations, and 

initial operational capabilities have 

empowered an ecosystem and stimulated investments from Fortune 500 

companies like Amazon, Alphabet, 

FedEx, Uber and UPS. In addition, 

startups have received over $3 

billion in external funding for UTM 

and UAS related work. Drones are 

paving the way for the Urban Air 

Mobility ecosystem which in itself 

could be a $1.5 trillion market 

by 2040.” The date and time of a 

virtual award ceremony and banquet 

will be scheduled in the near future. 

NIST Invites NASA Researcher 

Dr. Evan Dill - Panelist on the 

Use of PNT

POC: EVAN DILL AND MISTY DAVIES

On Sept. 15, Evan Dill of NASA’s 

Langley Research Center in 

Hampton, Virginia was invited 

to participate on a public panel 

of representatives from the federal 

government on strengthening 

national resilience through the 

responsible use of Positioning, 

Navigation, and Timing services. 

This panel was organized by the 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology to initiate the national 

directive laid out in Executive Order 

1395. Dr. Dill was invited to be the 

NASA panel representative along 

with other government officials 

including Jim Platt, chief of strategic 

defense initiatives at the Department 

of Homeland Security; and Karen 

Van Dyke, director of positioning 

navigation and timing and spectrum 

management for the Department 

of Transportation. The Alternative 

Positioning, Navigation and Timing 

testing that NASA’s System-Wide 

Safety project has hosted during the 

last few years will be critical in delivering on the aforementioned Executive Order. Continued integration 

with this community is expected 

to be very beneficial to continuing 

efforts in System-Wide Safety. 

ATD-2 Machine Learning 

Services Featured at NASA 

Data Science Month

POC: JEREMY COUPE

NASA Data Science Month is 

structured as a multi-day, virtual 

mini-conference hosted by the 

NASA Headquarters Information 

Technology and Communications 

Division and the Information 

Resources Directorate at NASA’s 

Johnson Space Center in Houston. 

The primary goal is to share and 

inform the Agency’s data community 

of current and future activities in 

the field of data science. September 

2020 topics included COVID-19, 

artificial intelligence, and machine 

learning. Dr. Jeremy Coupe of 

NASA’s Ames Research Center in 

California presented at the Sept. 

17 meeting on “ATD-2 Real-time 

Machine Learning Services Powered 

by SWIM.” The modern-day 

National Airspace System (NAS) is 

powered by System Wide Information Management (SWIM), a digital 

data-sharing infrastructure that 

provides a high-fidelity view of the 

lifecycle of a flight. The real-time 

data feeds within SWIM can be 

leveraged to help drive efficiencies 

in the NAS. In his talk, Dr. Coupe 
18 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2020

RECOGNITION

showed examples of different 

machine learning services being 

developed by Airspace Technology 

Demonstration 2 to model airport 

surface operations. The machine 

learning services will form the 

building blocks of a predictive 

engine that alerts flight operators 

to delay savings opportunities 

within the terminal airspace. 

System-Wide Safety 

Participates at Flight Safety 

Foundation’s Learning from 

All Operations Webinar 

POC: JON HOLBROOK AND MISTY DAVIES

On Sept. 29, Jon Holbrook from the 

System-Wide Safety (SWS) project 

participated as an invited panelist 

in the Flight Safety Foundation’s 

Learning from All Operations 

webinar. The goals of this virtual 

webinar were to globally promote 

the practical implementation of the 

concepts of system safety thinking, resilience, and safety artificial 

intelligence and to discuss what the 

aviation industry can collectively do 

to advance these safety concepts. In 

his briefing, Dr. Holbrook described 

his System-Wide Safety project 

team’s work, focused on systematically collecting and analyzing data 

on safety-producing behaviors to 

support development of in-time 

safety assurance applications. Erik 

Hollnagel (University of Jönköping, 

Sweden), Max Butter (Lufthansa), 

and Dana Schulze (National 

Transportation Safety Board) also 

appeared. The event comprised 

of briefings from each of the four 

invited speakers, followed by a 

question-and-answer panel discussion with the audience. The event 

was attended by an international 

audience of over 440 participants. 

The Flight Safety Foundation and 

event panelists plan to write a white 

paper, based on the outcomes of the 

event that can be shared with the 

international aviation community. 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Headquarters

300 E. Street, SW

Washington, DC 20024

www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch

www.nasa.gov