Effectively Preparing for Flight

Paul De León, Annie Meier, Brett Streetman

May 5, 2021

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

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NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

www.nasa.gov

NASA Flight Opportunities

Session will start at 10 a.m. PT – Please mute your microphone and turn off your camera

Community of Practice Webinar Series – May 5, 2021

Paul De León, Flight Opportunities

Annie Meier, Ph.D., NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

Brett Streetman, Ph.D., Draper

Effectively Preparing for Flight

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NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

Welcome to the Community of Practice Webinar Series!

First, a bit of housekeeping...

• Please mute your microphone and turn off your camera

• Today’s session will be recorded

• Recordings for this and all future session will be posted on the Flight Opportunities 

website

• Please engage!

• Use the chat throughout the session to ask questions

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Effectively Preparing for Flight

Paul De León, Annie Meier, Brett Streetman

May 5, 2021

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

2

NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

Flight Opportunities Mission

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The Flight Opportunities program facilitates rapid 

demonstration of promising technologies for 

space exploration, discovery, and the expansion 

of space commerce through suborbital testing 

with industry flight providers.

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NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

Join us for future Community of Practice webinars!

From the Mojave Desert to the Jezero

Crater: Lander Vision for Mars 

Perseverance 

Andrew Johnson, Ph.D.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Christopher Baker

NASA Flight Opportunities and Small Spacecraft Technology

June 2nd at 10 a.m. PST

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Future webinars

• Webinars are held 1st Wednesday of each 

month at 10 a.m. PT

• Topics will be announced in the Flight 

Opportunities newsletter and website

• Session recordings will be posted on the 

Flight Opportunities website

• Let us know session topics you would like 

to see covered

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Effectively Preparing for Flight

Paul De León, Annie Meier, Brett Streetman

May 5, 2021

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

3

NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

Today’s Speakers

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Paul De León 

Campaign Manager

Flight Opportunities

Brett Streetman, Ph.D.

Principal Member, Technical Staff

Draper

Annie Meier, Ph.D.

Chief, Exploration Systems and 

Development Office

NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

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NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

www.nasa.gov

NASA Flight Opportunities

Insights on Preparing for Suborbital Flight

Paul De León | May 2021 Community of Practice

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Effectively Preparing for Flight

Paul De León, Annie Meier, Brett Streetman

May 5, 2021

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

4

NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

• Ask questions: Reach out to the flight provider or Flight 

Opportunities campaign manager in case the information in 

their PUG is not clear, or if you need any additional 

information.

• Test: Fully test your payload to qualify for the expected 

environment prior to delivery for integration and flight.

• ‘Test like you fly and fly like you test’

• Flight profiles and environments vary with each flight provider

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Understand the expected flight environment and test your 

payload accordingly.

• Study up: Review your flight provider’s Payload User’s Guide (PUG), which 

describes the flight environment (e.g., temperature, pressure, acceleration, shock, 

vibration) as well as flight profiles, interfaces, and other good information to help 

prepare your payload and concept of operations (CONOPS) for flight.

Flight Provider: Zero Gravity Corporation

Photo credit: North Carolina State University

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NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

Give yourself enough time to develop and test your 

payload.

Avoid showing up to the Integration and Testing (I&T) still working on your payloads. 

Usually, these are the payloads that do not achieve their flight objectives.

• Engage with your flight provider and Flight Opportunities campaign manager to address any 

schedule or technical issues.

• Speak up if you are running behind and need more time to get your payload ready for flight. 

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• Be realistic about your date for payload readiness and schedule your 

flight with the flight provider accordingly.

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Effectively Preparing for Flight

Paul De León, Annie Meier, Brett Streetman

May 5, 2021

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

5

NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

Avoid making changes to your payload after I&T with the 

flight provider.

Be aware: Sometimes small changes can have a negative impact not 

only to your payload, but to other payloads or the flight systems. 

Examples include:

• Changing the location of an antenna

• Adding or changing components

• Software changes

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• Once the payload successfully completes CST/electromagnetic 

interference testing (EMI) with the other payloads and the flight systems, 

all payload configuration is considered locked. Any changes after that 

must be negotiated with and approved by the flight provider.

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NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

Have a thorough understanding of what happens during 

the flight week and prepare for any contingencies.

• Ask the flight provider and/or campaign manager to go over the schedule, payload 

integration facility, available payload support equipment, etc.

• Make any special requirements clear to the flight provider like cold storage, power, tools, 

test equipment, vacuum pumps, etc.

• Be mindful of consumables or materials that will require inspection, servicing, and/or 

replacement between flights or due to launch delays or scrubs.

Prepare for surprises! Have procedures in place to deal with these contingencies.

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Effectively Preparing for Flight

Paul De León, Annie Meier, Brett Streetman

May 5, 2021

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

6

NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

• We always encourage PIs to be present at the 

flight campaigns. 

• If the PI is not available, be sure to send 

someone with thorough knowledge of the 

payload and who is qualified to make lastminute decisions. 

• Whenever possible, ensure all team members 

are familiar with all aspects of the payload 

(e.g., testing, operation, hardware, systems). 

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We recommend that the PI is present during payload 

integration and flight.

Location: West Texas Suborbital Launch Site

Photographer: Blue Origin

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NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

www.nasa.gov

NASA Flight Opportunities

Community of Practice

Annie Meier | May 2021

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Effectively Preparing for Flight

Paul De León, Annie Meier, Brett Streetman

May 5, 2021

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

7

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA Flight Opportunities

May 2021 Community of Practice

Annie Meier, NASA Kennedy Space Center

Space Trash Management:

The Orbital Syngas/Commodity 

Augmentation Reactor (OSCAR) 

Suborbital Payload

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration OSCAR • A microgravity demonstration of mission waste conversion to 

reduce mass, vent gas, and recover raw materials.

Image/Video Credit: Blue Origin / Blueorigin.com 14

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Effectively Preparing for Flight

Paul De León, Annie Meier, Brett Streetman

May 5, 2021

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

8

National Aeronautics and Space Administration OSCAR • A microgravity demonstration of mission waste conversion to 

reduce mass, vent gas, and recover raw materials.

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Image/Video Credit: Blue Origin / Blueorigin.com

Reference: Blue Origin LUNAR-G QUICKSTART GUIDE

OSCAR Full Stack, Image: NASA

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

2.2s Drop Tower

System level proof

Waste injection

Structural validation

OSCAR Development

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2s μg

Zero Gravity Research Facility

Microgravity ignition

Gas motion

5s μg

Blue Origin New Shepard

Microgravity ignition

Sustained reaction

3min μg 

Concepts to final suborbital flight report in ~ 2.5 years!

Image/Video Credit: Blue Origin / Blueorigin.com

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Effectively Preparing for Flight

Paul De León, Annie Meier, Brett Streetman

May 5, 2021

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

9

National Aeronautics and Space Administration OSCAR Development

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration More Lessons Learned

• Site visit as soon as you can fund it

• Align internal and external technical processes from day 1

• Environmental tests

• Vibration, Shock, Acceleration, EMI, Thermal

• Have campaign manager and Commercial Flight Provider team reps at CERs!

• Documentation

• Understand response to ‘scrubs’ & off-nominal procedures

• Frequent communication

• FTP server crucial

• Have one team POC during flight integration

• Software integration

• Unexpected last-minute changes

• Pack Everything

• Expect the unexpected!

• Backup for parts that break

• PPE, Fittings

• Things go wrong!

• Flight providers have proven to be so flexible

• Plan power margin

• Getting the flight ready

• Packing lists, full automated rehearsal, transportation

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Effectively Preparing for Flight

Paul De León, Annie Meier, Brett Streetman

May 5, 2021

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

10

National Aeronautics and Space Administration After OSCAR Flight 1

• OSCAR awarded second suborbital flight opportunity via 

STMD Flight Opportunities program for 2021 Flight.

• NASA HEOMD AES Logistics Reduction Project

• Comparing 3 core trash management strategies

• Trash-to-Gas (volume reduction, mass reduction, resource recovery)

• Trash Compacting and Processing System 

(volume reduction, radiation protection)

• Mass Jettison (volume reduction, mass reduction)

• System infusion dependent on mission architecture, 

duration, and phase

• OSCAR is first flight tested prototype included in the LR 

project 

• OSCAR Performance

• 91% solid-to-gas conversion

• 99% volume reduction

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Olson, J., et. al., “A Comparison of Potential Trash-to-Gas Waste Processing Systems for Long-Term 

Crewed Spaceflight”, ” 50th International Conference on Environmental Systems, Virtual. July 2021. 

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NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

www.nasa.gov

NASA Flight Opportunities

Community of Practice

Brett Streetman | May 2021

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Effectively Preparing for Flight

Paul De León, Annie Meier, Brett Streetman

May 5, 2021

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

11

The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.

555 Technology Square, Cambridge Mass. 02139-3563

CAGE Code: 51993

This material is based upon work supported by NASA under award 80NSSC20K0104. Any 

opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of 

the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration.

Approved for Public Release

Flight Opportunities Community of 

Practice Panel: DMEN Overview

Authors: Brett Streetman

May 5, 2021

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Flight Test Experience

• Completed a large number of test 

campaigns for GN&C software and 

hardware on a variety of vehicles 

(guided parafoils, VTOL rockets, 

balloons, experimental air vehicles)

• Worked the GENIE program with 

Masten early in the Flight Opportunities 

program

• Currently the PI for DMEN

– Completed 2 balloon flights, in progress 

for a suborbital campaign, and awarded 

for a VTOL test

Subject to Restrictions on Title Page 22

GENIE

DMEN

Precision Guided Airdrop

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Effectively Preparing for Flight

Paul De León, Annie Meier, Brett Streetman

May 5, 2021

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

12

Draper Multi-Environment Navigator (DMEN)

Subject to Restrictions on Title Page 23

• DMEN is a flight testing program funded by NASA 

Flight Opportunities designed to test Draper’s visionbased navigation (VBN) algorithms in a new relevant 

environment

• Two successful high altitude balloon flights were 

completed in 2019, both taking DMEN to altitudes of 

over 100,000ft

– Two cameras and an IMU were used to collect 

sensor data through the duration of the flight

– All data recorded for later use algorithm testing 

and validation

• Funded for 2 additional campaigns

• Development focused on maturing Draper’s lunar 

optical navigation technologies

DMEN 

Instrument

Sample High Altitude Image 

Capture

Balloon Launch

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DMEN Flight Testing

Subject to Restrictions on Title Page 24

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

0:00:00 0:28:48 0:57:36 1:26:24 1:55:12 2:24:00 2:52:48 3:21:36 3:50:24 4:19:12

Altitude (ft)

Mission Elapsed Time (H:M:S)

Flight 1 Altit ude (ft )

Flight 2 Altit ude (ft )

Flight 1 Groundtrack (credit FlightRadar24)

DMEN Integrated With World View Vehicle

Sample Inflight Imagery

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Effectively Preparing for Flight

Paul De León, Annie Meier, Brett Streetman

May 5, 2021

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

13

NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

25 www.nasa.gov

Thank you! 

Flight Opportunities website: 

http://nasa.gov/flightopportunities

Contact us:

NASA-FlightOpportunities@mail.nasa.gov

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