NASA Advisory Council Meeting – Aeronautics Report

Dr. John-Paul Clarke

Vice Chair, NAC Aero Committee

NASA Headquarters (virtual)

March 1, 2022

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

www.nasa.gov
NAC Aeronautics Committee met on December 15, 2021

• Topics covered during the virtual meeting:

• ARMD FY22 Budget Overview

• ARMD Programs Overview
Aeronautics Committee Membership

www.nasa.gov 3

Mr. Darin DiTommaso, Chair

GE Aviation

Dr. John-Paul Clarke, Vice Chair

University of Texas at Austin

Mr. Peter Bunce

General Aviation Manufacturers 

Association

Mr. Michael Dumais

Raytheon Technologies

Mr. Jay Dryer

Office of the Secretary of Defense

Ms. Lisa Ellman

Commercial Drone Alliance

Dr. Naveed Hussain

Boeing Research and Technology

Dr. Nicole Key

Purdue University

Mr. Natesh Manikoth

Federal Aviation Administration

Ms. Susan Pfingstler

United Airlines

Dr. Helen Reed

Texas A&M University

Dr. Hassan Shahidi

Flight Safety Foundation

Mr. David Silver

Aerospace Industries Association
www.nasa.gov | 4

ARMD 

PROGRAMS 

Integrated Aviation Systems 

Program

Advanced Air Vehicles 

Program

Transformative Aeronautics 

Concepts Program

Airspace Operations and Safety 

Program

Aerosciences Evaluation and Test 

Capabilities Portfolio
ARMD Budget FY 2009 to FY 2022

www.nasa.gov | 5

FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22

Pres Budget $447 $507 $580 $569 $552 $566 $551 $571 $634 $624 $634 $667 $819 $915

Enacted $500 $501 $534 $570 $530 $566 $650 $640 $660 $685 $725 $784 $829

$0

$100

$200

$300

$400

$500

$600

$700

$800

$900

$M $1,000
Committee Finding – ARMD Budget

• The Committee is pleased to see NASA’s Aeronautics Research 

Mission Directorate (ARMD) receiving a higher budget during recent 

years in both the President’s Budget request and in the official budget 

appropriated by Congress. While pleased with the increase in funding, 

the Committee also sees an opportunity for NASA Aeronautics to 

advocate for more funding to its programs and projects investigating 

and implementing sustainable aviation technology and practices, 

sensing high potential for Congress and the public to see the benefit 

of these activities. One such area is the use of Unmanned Air Vehicles 

and Advanced Air Mobility that have the potential to substantially 

reduce emission by replacing automobiles and delivery vans with 

electric powered air vehicles.

www.nasa.gov | 6
Four Transformations for Sustainability, Greater Mobility, and Economic Growth www.nasa.gov | 7
The Aviation Carbon Reduction Challenge

• By 2050, an estimated 10 billion passengers 

will fly each year a distance of 22 trillion 

revenue passenger kilometres.

• With today’s fleet and operational efficiency, 

this activity would require over 620 Mt of fuel 

and generate close to 2000 megatonnes (Mt) 

of CO2.

• Imagine enabling the same level of demand 

while reducing net CO2 emissions to zero

by 2050

Meeting the challenge is the opportunity for the U.S. to lead the globe in innovation and reductions 

in CO2 aviation emissions and to maintain economic competitiveness in a critical export industry 

($6 trillion-plus market over the next 20 years).

www.nasa.gov | 8
Aviation Pillars for a Sustainable Future

NASA = Primary Role NASA = Supporting Role NASA = Primary Role

www.nasa.gov | 9

Global Aviation Industry GOAL: net-zero carbon emissions by 2050

www.nasa.gov | 9
Sustainable Flight National Partnership Benefits

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Small Core Gas Turbine for 

5%-10% fuel burn benefit

(HyTEC Project)

Sustainable Aviation Fuels for 

reduced lifecycle carbon 

emissions

(AATT Project)

Electrified Aircraft Propulsion for 

~5% fuel burn and maintenance 

benefit

(EPFD & AATT Projects)

Transonic Truss-Braced Wing for 

5%-10% fuel burn benefit

(AATT Project)

Integrated Trajectory Optimization for 

1%-2% reduction in fuel required 

and minimization of contrail 

formation

(ATM-X Project)

High-Rate Composites for

6x manufacturing rate increase

(HiCAM Project)
Airspace Operational Tools Yield Immediate Benefits

www.nasa.gov | 11

B E N E F I T S T O D AY

REDUCED DELAY BY 933.6 hours

Saving passengers an estimated $4,481,569 

in value of time and operators an estimated 

$1,375,224 in flight crew costs

Benefits to date from field demonstrations of ATD-2 technologies at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport 

(29 Sep 2017–30 Sep 2021)

EMISSIONS

Saved

23,211,172 lbs. 

of CO2 = 172,597

urban trees

FUEL

Saved

1,101,768

gallons of fuel

MAINTENANCE

Saved

6,016

hours of 

engine run time

Airspace Technology Demonstration (ATD)
Committee Findings – ARMD Programs Overview – ATD-2

The Committee commends ARMD for establishing the value of the 

research done by Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 (ATD-2) and 

for transferring the technology to the FAA. Stemming from this success, 

the Committee encourages NASA to keep the ball rolling with continued, 

subsequent successes in more air traffic management and 

sustainability-related activities. Committee members note there is still 

much work to be done in the areas of increasing capacity and 

requirements to meet the net zero by 2050 goal, and steps like the ATD2 completion and transfer could be just one of many more to come.

www.nasa.gov | 12
University Leadership Initiative Engaging the University Community

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NASA’s University Leadership Initiative represents a 

new type of interaction between ARMD and the 

university community, where universities take the lead, 

build their own teams, and set their own research path.

4 rounds of solicitations

$126M of awards

Seeking & awarding proposals 

addressing all Strategic Thrusts

• 19 awards with 59 

universities

• 6 HBCUs and 9 MSIs

• 333 proposals submitted

• 245 different proposing 

Principal Investigators

• 2468 team members

• 20–50 students per team
Committee Findings – ARMD Programs Overview - ULI

The Committee applauds NASA for the University Leadership Initiative 

(ULI) activity and its benefits to aviation in the United States. ULI brings 

the best academic minds together to work on solutions to aeronautical 

challenges – enabling collaboration across universities and promoting 

aeronautics programs for students to enter. The Committee sees ULI 

bringing new innovative ideas for the electrification of aircraft, material 

development, and sustainability to industry.

www.nasa.gov | 14
Backup

www.nasa.gov | 15
Aviation is Vital to our Nation’s Economy

www.nasa.gov | 16

Pre-COVID

• $78 billion positive trade balance; the largest positive trade balance of any U.S. manufacturing sector

• $1.8 trillion total U.S. economic activity

• 10.9 million direct/indirect jobs

• 21.3 billion tons of freight transported by U.S. airlines in 2019
NASA Aeronautics – Vision for Aviation in the 21st Century

U.S. leadership for a new era of flight

ARMD continues 

to evolve and 

execute the 

Aeronautics Strategy

https://www.nasa.gov/

aeroresearch/strategy

www.nasa.gov | 17
Aeronautics FY 2022 Budget Request

www.nasa.gov | 18

$ Millions FY 2021 FY 2022 FY 2023 FY 2024 FY 2025 FY 2026

Aeronautics $828.7 $914.8 $933.7 $954.1 $975.2 $996.8 

Airspace Operations and Safety 92.0 104.5 106.3 108.1 108.1 108.1 

Advanced Air Vehicles 211.4 243.7 254.6 270.9 288.5 269.5 

Integrated Aviation Systems 278.7 301.5 305.5 310.7 309.2 349.9 

Transformative Aeronautics Concepts 129.7 148.0 150.3 147.4 152.4 152.4 

Aerosciences Evaluation and Test Capabilities 116.9 117.0 117.0 117.0 117.0 117.0 

• Initiates a Sustainable Flight National Partnership to enable highly efficient next generation aircraft and ensure U.S. leadership in aviation

- Demonstrate the first-ever high-power hybrid electric propulsion for large transport aircraft

- Develop a full-scale sustainable flight demonstrator X-plane to validate integrated systems and their benefits

- Advance small turbine cores that will increase engine thermal efficiency and reduce fuel burn 

- Improve the rate of composite manufacturing by 4 to 6 times faster than current production rates 

- Develop technologies needed to increase use of sustainable aviation fuels

- Develop the next evolution of air traffic management to safely increase operational efficiency which reduces fuel burn and emissions

• Conducts the first flight of the X-59 Low Boom Flight Demonstrator in 2022. These flight tests will provide data to the global aviation community to reassess the ban 

on supersonic flight over land and implement noise regulations acceptable to local communities

• Supports Advanced Air Mobility to ensure U.S. leadership in an emerging aviation market that studies have projected to generate an annual market value of $115 

billion by 2035

• Conducts the first flight of the X-57 all-electric aircraft to better inform standards development for small electric aircraft that will be common in an Advanced Air 

Mobility environment

• Increases funding to develop revolutionary, beyond next-generation zero-emissions aircraft concepts and technologies through the highly successful University 

Leadership Initiative
High-Speed Commercial Flight

www.nasa.gov | 19

Sustainable transformation of the speed of air travel

Generate 

key data to 

support development 

of en route certification 

standards based 

on acceptable 

sound levels

Addressing the unique barriers to sustainable, 

environmentally responsible high-speed flight
Advanced Air Mobility Mission

Safe, sustainable, affordable, and accessible aviation for transformational local and intraregional missions
2021 NAC Aeronautics Committee Work Plan

SPRING SUMMER FALL

Sustainability of Aviation ARMD FY22 Budget 

Overview

Wildfire Mitigation Team ARMD Programs Overview

Innovation in the NASA 

Aeronautics Portfolio 

Hypersonic Market Studies 

March 17, 2021 (Virtual) Cancelled December 15, 2021 (Virtual)
2022 NAC Aeronautics Committee Work Plan

SPRING SUMMER FALL

ARMD FY23 Budget 

Overview

Zero Emissions/Impact 

Strategy

University Initiative (ULI, 

USRC)

Sustainable Flight National 

Partnership 

Low Boom Flight 

Demonstrator Mission Status

Advanced Air Mobility 

Mission Update 

Future Airspace Vision X-57 First Flight

April 27, 2022 (Virtual) August 3, 2022 (TBD) November 30, 2022 (TBD)
• AATT - Advanced Air Transport Technology

• ARMD – Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate

• ATD – Airspace Technology Demonstration

• ATM-X – Air Traffic Management Exploration

• eCTOL - electric conventional takeoff and landing

• EPFD – Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration

• FY – Fiscal Year

• HiCAM – Hi-Rate Composite Aircraft Manufacturing

• HyTEC - Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core

• ULI - University Leadership Initiative 

Acronyms