www.nasa.gov/

Volume 60 Number 2 February 2018

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Tests begin on X-57 motors

A JM-X57 cruise motor undergoes testing on the Airvolt stand at Armstrong. 

The Airvolt stand is instrumented to measure system voltage, current, temperature, vibration, torque and thrust.

Budget, page 7

Moon return, experimental aircraft, 

in proposed 2019 Trump budget

Motors, page 6

By Jay Levine

X-Press editor

The Trump administration’s 

proposed 2019 NASA budget 

provides resources to advance 

exploration of the moon and deep 

space and pursue cutting-edge 

science, technology and aeronautics 

research breakthroughs.

By Matt Kamlet

Armstrong Public Affairs

The cruise motors that will power 

NASA’s first fully-electric X-plane 

to the skies have begun endurance 

testing on the ground.

Using a test stand called Airvolt, 

Armstrong engineers are testing the 

motors and their motor controllers, 

collecting data to help verify that 

the experimental electric propulsion 

system is ready to be deemed 

flightworthy. If successful, the 

motors along with their controllers 

and propellers can then be integrated 

into what will become NASA’s first 

all-electric experimental airplane, or 

X-plane – the X-57 Maxwell.

The X-57 is a highly modified 

Tecnam P2006T aircraft that features 

the replacement of traditional 

combustion engines and wing with 

an experimental distributed electric 

In NASA Acting Administrator 

Robert Lightfoot’s address Feb. 

12 on the state of the agency, 

he explained that the Trump 

administration wants to see a 

focus on moon missions as part 

of the fiscal year 2019 proposed 

$19.9 billion NASA budget. To 

those ends $10.5 billion is focused 

on lunar exploration.

“This proposal provides a 

renewed focus to our human 

spaceflight activities and expands 

our commercial and international 

partnerships,” Lightfoot said.

The concept for the Mars mission 

came from a study from the reestablished National Space Council 

that became Space Policy Directive 

1, which the president signed and 

is funded in this budget proposal. 

The plan is intended to lead to the 

development of space infrastructure 

for a lunar orbital platform gateway. 

The first piece is scheduled for 

propulsion system and endeavors 

to demonstrate the potential to 

achieve high efficiency, reduced 

carbon emissions and lower the 

operating costs for aircraft. The 

X-plane, which will be NASA’s first 

manned experimental airplane in 

two decades, will undergo several 

modifications, conducting flight 

tests with each stage.

Before such an experimental 

system can be used for flight it needs 

to undergo extensive testing to 

validate its safety and functionality 

in order to be deemed flightworthy 

according to NASA’s flight 

qualification process.

“We want to confirm that the 

motor system is as safe as possible 

before X-57 begins flight testing. 

The testing is important at this 

AFRC2017-0269-03 NASA/Lauren Hughes
X-Press February 2018

By Rebecca Richardson

Armstrong Public Affairs

The Subscale Research Lab at 

Armstrong recently introduced a new 

addition to their fleet of miniature 

aircraft. The not-so-small MicroCub 

is a Bill Hempel 60-percent scale 

Super Cub, modified by research 

lab staff to support engineering 

campaigns focused on the 

integration of Unmanned Aircraft 

Systems (UAS) into the National 

Airspace System (NAS). Through 

cutting-edge engineering and expert 

piloting of small unmanned aircraft, 

NASA is leading a critical phase for 

UAS integration into the NAS by 

educating engineers and validating 

key technologies that will directly 

apply to the next generation of 

large-scale unmanned vehicles.

Armstrong’s Subscale Research Lab 

team piloted the MicroCub for its 

inaugural flight Jan. 18, successfully 

demonstrating the aircraft’s 

airworthiness. This initial flight 

was intended to check the ground 

handling and flight characteristics 

of the aircraft, along with validating 

the Command and Control (C2) 

system, verifying the “remote control 

only” mechanism, setting the tuning 

for autopilot gain, performing engine 

runs, gauging fuel consumption and 

testing stall speed.

Though small in size, the 

MicroCub is a powerful vehicle 

in the realm of small to midsize 

UAS aircraft. Specifications of the 

vehicle include a 21-foot wingspan, 

a Piccolo Autopilot guidance system 

and a JetCat SPT-15 Turboprop – a 

design only model aircraft fanatics 

could dream up!

The successful maiden flight 

means the MicroCub will undergo 

additional aircraft modifications to 

validate risk reduction technology. 

Eventually, this technology will be 

integrated onto other NASA UAS 

aircraft, such as NASA Ames’ 

Sensor Integrated Environmental 

Remote Research Aircraft, 

SIERRA-B.

 “In addition to helping with UAS 

integration into the NAS efforts, the 

MicroCub is a configurable aircraft 

that can be modified and utilized 

for a variety of flight tests at NASA,” 

said Justin Hall, an Armstrong 

operations engineer and UAS pilot.

Since the initial flight in January, 

the Armstrong crew has installed 

an onboard smoke system – a seeand-avoid tool that can be used 

for visual identification (VID) of 

the aircraft, ensuring that small to 

midsize UAS are detectable by other 

aircraft during flight. By testing 

this technology on the MicroCub 

first, NASA can record VID data 

during test flight encounters. That 

will help researchers understand just 

how visible small UAS aircraft, like 

SIERRA-B, are from a variety of 

distances, without the risk or high 

cost of testing such a technology 

on larger UAS like NASA’s Ikhana 

Predator B.

MicroCub’s small but versatile 

design offers a lower-cost solution 

to validate one-off airframe designs, 

further define requirements for UAS 

technologies, integrate payloads, 

contribute to risk reduction 

and airworthiness tests, prove 

autonomous technology capabilities, 

and achieve a variety of other UASNAS related objectives.

The MicroCub is one small step 

in familiarizing the public with a 

tangible representation of what the 

future of unmanned flight could 

look like in the sky above them. 

As NASA expands its research and 

development of small unmanned 

aircraft vehicles, the MicroCub will 

continue to support UAS efforts that 

will ultimately change and redefine 

UAS flight in the future.

MicroCub makes first flight

The MicroCub, a modified Bill Hempel 60-percent scale Super Cub, approaches Armstrong for a landing. During the first flight of the MicroCub the 

crew validated the aircraft’s airworthiness.

AFRC2018-0011-53 NASA/Lauren Hughes

Robert “Red” Jensen, left, and Justin Hall, right, of Armstrong’s Subscale Research Lab perform a series of preflight system checks of the MicroCub to 

ensure the aircraft is ready for its maiden flight.

AFRC2018-0011-22 NASA/Lauren Hughes

L.A. County Air Show set for March 24-25

The L.A. County Air Show at Fox 

Field in Lancaster is set for March 

24-25. 

Armstrong, NASA’s Jet Propulsion 

Laboratory and Ames Research 

Center will be involved.

Armstrong is set to have a flyby 

in the ER-2, static aircraft such as 

the G-III and F/A-18 and some of 

the center’s experimental subscale 

aircraft.

Tickets are on sale in the 

Armstrong Gift Shop for $15.

Volunteers are needed for staffing 

both days. Contact Mary Ann 

Harness at ext. 3446 for more. 

at NASA

News

 X-Press February 2018

Astronauts 

return from

ISS mission

SOFIA studies star birth

NASA’s 60th anniversary of Earth observations from space was celebrated Jan. 31. Something many people may not 

know is that aircraft based at Armstrong support satellite programs. Many satellites in the development stage complete 

test flights on aircraft like the high-altitude ER-2, and continue to be supported through satellite validation flights to 

verify the accuracy of sensor data coming down from space.

NASA’s 60th Anniversary of Earth 

Observations with Explorer 1 and ER-2

AFRC2017-0176-18 NASA/Ken Ulbrich

By Nicholas A. Veronico

SOFIA Science Center

NASA Ames Research Center 

To have a full picture of the lives 

of massive stars, researchers need 

to study them in all stages – from 

when they’re a mass of unformed 

gas and dust, to their often dynamic 

end-of-life explosions.

NASA’s flying telescope, the 

Stratospheric Observatory for 

Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, 

is particularly well-suited for 

studying the prenatal stage of 

stellar development in star-forming 

regions, such as the Tarantula 

Nebula, a giant mass of gas and 

dust located within the Large 

Magellanic Cloud, or LMC.  

Researchers from the Minnesota 

Institute for Astrophysics, led by 

Michael Gordon, went aboard 

SOFIA to identify and characterize 

the brightness, ages and dust 

content of three young star-forming 

regions within the LMC.

“The Large Magellanic Cloud 

has always been an interesting and 

excellent laboratory for massive 

star formation,” said Gordon. 

“The chemical properties of starforming regions in the LMC are 

significantly different than in the 

Milky Way, which means the stars 

forming there potentially mirror 

the conditions of star formation 

in dwarf galaxies at earlier times in 

the universe.”

In our galactic neighborhood, 

which includes the LMC, massive 

stars – generally classified as stars 

more than eight times the mass 

of Earth’s Sun – are believed to 

form exclusively in very dense 

molecular clouds. The dark dust 

and gas absorb background light, 

which prevents traditional optical 

telescopes from imaging these 

areas.

“The mid-infrared capabilities 

of SOFIA are ideal for piercing 

through infrared dark clouds to 

capture images of potential massive 

star-forming regions,” Gordon said.

The observations were completed 

with the Faint Object Infrared 

Camera for the SOFIA Telescope, 

known as FORCAST. This infrared 

camera also performs spectroscopy, 

which identifies the elements present.

Astronomers study stars evolving 

in both the optical and the infrared 

to learn more about the photosphere, 

and the population of stars in the 

photosphere. The mid- and farinfrared data from SOFIA reaffirm 

dust temperature and mass accretion 

rates that are consistent with prior 

research of the LMC.

“We want to combine as many 

observations as we can from the 

optical, as seen through images from 

the Hubble Space Telescope, all the 

way out to the far infrared, imaged 

using the Spitzer Space Telescope and 

the Herschel Space Observatory, to 

Nebula, page 8

Three members of the 

Expedition 54 crew aboard 

the International Space 

Station (ISS), including 

NASA astronauts  Mark Vande 

Hei and  Joe Acaba, returned 

to Earth Feb. 27 after months 

of performing research and 

spacewalks in low-Earth orbit.

Vande Hei, Acaba and 

cosmonaut Alexander 

Misurkin of the Russian space 

agency Roscosmos landed in 

Kazakhstan southeast of the 

remote town of Dzhezkazgan.

Their time on station marked 

the beginning of the first longterm increase in crew size on 

the U.S. segment, enabling 

NASA to double the time 

dedicated to research and 

achieve a record-setting week 

of research that  surpassed 100 

hours. Highlights include 

investigations into the 

manufacturing of  fiber optic 

filaments in microgravity, 

improving the accuracy of an 

implantable  glucoses biosensor, 

and measuring the Sun’s energy 

input to Earth.

The crew also welcomed 

four  cargo spacecraft delivering 

several tons of supplies and 

research experiments. Orbital 

ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft 

arrived at the station in 

November on the company’s 

eighth commercial resupply 

mission, followed in December 

by SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft 

on the company’s thirteenth 

resupply mission. Two Russian 

ISS Progress cargo craft arrived 

at the station in October and 

February.
 X-Press February 2018

SOFIA, page 8

X-Press February 2018

Science

SOFIA

of

Left, NASA Spitzer image showing the portion of the Rho Oph dark cloud observed with HAWC+ instrument. Right, HAWC+ image showing systematic 

variations of the far-infrared polarization spectrum in the interstellar cloud. 

The background image shows the observatory’s telescope.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Harvard-Smithsonian CfA. SOFIA/ HAWC+/Northwestern 

University /F. Pereira Santos

The left image shows the large-scale magnetic field along the polar direction of the disk 

of the starburst galaxy M82. The HAWC+ imaging polarimetric observations show, 

for the first time, a relatively hot dust magnetically aligned along the direction of the 

outflows. The right image shows a multi-wavelength view of the galaxy, with the blue 

x-ray revealing gas that has been heated by the violent outflow. 

Left, SOFIA/HAWC+/E. Lopez-Rodriguez Right, X-ray: NASA/CXC/JHU/D.Strickland; 

Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/AURA/The Hubble Heritage Team; IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. 

of AZ/C. Engelbracht

The HAWC+ image of NGC 1068 

shows, for the first time, the magnetized spiral arms of the host galaxy. The 

forces exerted by the magnetic fields are 

dominated by rotation of the disk, 

causing the dust grains to be aligned 

along the spiral arms as they are clearly 

detected by these HAWC+ polarimetric observations at 53 microns.

NASA/SOFIA/HAWC+/E. Lopez-Rodriguez

NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is shown inside the Lufthansa Technik hangar in Hamburg, Germany where it underwent C-check maintenance. A C-check is the biggest regularly scheduled maintenance event 

for an aircraft besides a complete overhaul. During the check in Hamburg, the aircraft’s structure was thoroughly inspected 

and necessary repairs were made.

 DLR/Clements Plank

Explore NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, with a new 3-D virtual tour that 

brings users aboard. Users can view the aircraft’s exterior, main deck mission control center, and flight deck. 

NASA signed a Space Act Agreement with Google in late 2016 to collaborate in providing virtual tours. The 

Google Expeditions app is available for free on Google Play and in the Apple App Store. For more information, 

visit: https://edu.google.com/expeditions/

By Nicholas A. Veronico

SOFIA Science Center

NASA Ames Research Center

Astronomers from NASA’s 

Stratospheric Observatory for 

Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), 

Northwestern University, and the 

University of Maryland attended 

the recent 231st meeting of the 

American Astronomical Society in 

Washington, D.C. They discussed 

new scientific results and how their 

studies of dust grain polarization 

and celestial magnetic fields are 

leading to a better understanding of 

star formation, theories about how 

gas cools in the interstellar medium 

and how magnetic fields are creating 

stellar winds around black holes.

The science results were obtained 

using SOFIA, a highly modified 

Boeing 747SP jetliner fitted with 

a 100-inch (2.5-meter) infrared 

telescope. SOFIA is an international 

partnership between NASA and the 

German Aerospace Center (DLR). 

The aircraft is based at Armstrong’s 

Palmdale campus.

The flying observatory has a suite 

of seven different instruments – 

cameras and spectrometers – that 

are flown into the stratosphere to 

altitudes as high as 45,000 feet 

(13.7 km) on missions up to 10 

hours in duration. This altitude 

puts the observatory above more 

than 99 percent of the Earth’s 

water vapor that blocks infrared 

wavelengths from reaching the 

ground. SOFIA’s ability to study 

mid- and far-infrared wavelengths 

(28-320 microns) provides data 

that cannot be obtained by any 

other current astronomical facility 

on the ground or in space, including 

those now under development.

“SOFIA’s unique suite of 

instruments provides researchers 

with the ability to gain new 

insights into the infrared universe,” 

said Kimberly Ennico Smith, 

SOFIA project scientist at NASA 

Ames Research Center. “We are 

now seeing results from the most 

recent instrument to come on 

line, the new High-resolution 

Airborne Wideband Camera-plus 

(HAWC+), as well as the upgraded 

German Receiver for Astronomy 

at Terahertz Frequencies (GREAT/

upGREAT). These tools are 

expanding our knowledge about 

how stars form, the impact of 

magnetic fields on these processes, 

and the chemical compounds that 

are the raw material for new stars.”

B-G Andersson • USRA/SOFIA

SOFIA/HAWC+ Polarization in 

the Envelope IRC+10216

Astronomers assume that the 

polarization maps that we observe 

with instruments, such as HAWC+, 

trace magnetic fields in space. 

To understand the polarization 

in detail, astronomers need to 

understand which grains contribute 

to the polarization, which do not and 

under what conditions. One  theory 

about how these grains behave is 

known as the Radiative Alignment 

Torque (RAT) theory. Andersson 

presented the results of two recent 

tests supporting the RAT theory.

Fabio Santos • Northwestern 

University

HAWC+/SOFIA Observations 

of Rho Oph A: Far-Infrared 

Polarization Spectrum 

Scientists have observed one of 

the closest star-forming regions to 

our Solar System, known as Rho 

Ophiuchi, located approximately 

424 light-years away. In the central 

parts of the cloud, known as Rho 

Oph A, several young stars are 

currently being formed, some of 

which will probably become stars 

with planetary systems much like 

Upcoming SOFIA missions

By Nicholas A. Veronico

SOFIA Science Center, NASA Ames Research Center

NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy 

(SOFIA), is preparing for its 2018 observing campaign, which 

will include observations of celestial magnetic fields, star-forming 

regions, comets, Saturn’s giant moon Titan and more.

This will be the fourth year of full operations for SOFIA, with 

observations planned between March 2018 and January 2019. 

Research flights will be conducted primarily from SOFIA’s home 

base at Armstrong. Highlights from these observations include:

• The observatory’s newest instrument,  the High-resolution 

Airborne Wideband Camera-plus, called HAWC+, will continue 

research with its polarimeter, a device that measures the alignment 

of incoming light waves. These investigations will help researchers 

understand how magnetic fields affect the rate at which interstellar 

clouds condense to form new stars.

• One such program will use the instrument to understand the 

impact magnetic fields have on stars forming inside a dark cloud. 

The stellar nursery filled with dust and molecules is called L1448.

• The HAWC+ instrument will also be used in a joint research 

program with the  Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array 

(ALMA) to trace magnetic fields to better understand how planets 

form.

• Another program using the HAWC+ instrument will help 

astronomers better understand how  energetic, active black 

holes  contribute to the most luminous, distant galaxies. These 

observations will help them learn whether the luminosity of these 

active black holes is driven by star formation or accretion of material 

onto the central black hole.

Missions, page 8

Virtual SOFIA tour is available
 X-Press February 2018

delivery in 2022. Robotic landers 

acting as scouts will enhance 

scientific and strategic exploration 

of the moon leading to eventual 

human exploration of Mars.

The Space Launch System rocket 

and Orion spacecraft are critical 

backbone elements of NASA’s future 

in deep space. The momentum 

continues this year toward the first 

integrated launch of the system in 

fiscal year 2020 around the moon 

and a crewed mission in 2023.

Direct support of the 

International Space Station is 

expected to end in 2025, with 

a transition of low-earth orbit 

operations to the commercial 

sector. A $150 million investment 

is included in the budget proposal 

to encourage U.S. space industry 

development of capabilities that 

could be used by the private sector 

and NASA. Commercial crew, 

an effort to seed development of 

transportation to ISS and allow 

astronauts to be launched from the 

United States, also is funded.

The president’s proposed budget 

calls for winding down the NASA 

Office of Education and elimination 

of the Wide Field Infrared Survey 

Telescope, a  NASA  observatory 

designed to perform wide field 

imaging and surveys of the near 

infrared sky.

The Aeronautics budget is 

$633.9 million to improve air 

traffic management, make progress 

integrating unmanned aircraft 

systems into the National Airspace 

System, fund the X-57 distributed 

electric propulsion aircraft, begin 

construction of the experimental 

supersonic airplane called the LowBoom Flight Demonstrator aircraft 

and increase financial support for 

hypersonic research.

Armstrong’s budget is $292.1 

million, which is up from last 

year overall, mostly as a result of 

the  X-57 ramping up for flight 

testing. The X-57 is expected to 

validate more efficient distributed 

electric motors and reduce noise 

and emissions.

Budget... from page 1

“We have a bold set of plans going 

forward,” said Armstrong Center 

Director David McBride. “The X-57 

will be delivered in a few weeks and a 

vendor will soon be selected to begin 

construction of a new supersonic 

experimental airplane. We will 

be flying it to continue with lowboom supersonic studies to see if 

we can reduce the noise to levels 

acceptable to people.”

In addition, Armstrong is 

working toward a 2019 launch of the 

Ascent Abort 2 capsule that would 

rescue Orion astronauts if there were 

an emergency on the launch pad. 

The center continues support with 

aircraft to conduct Earth science 

missions that fly all over the world 

as well as work to safely integrate 

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) 

Integration into the National 

Airspace System. That work could 

lead to expanding government 

and industry partnerships toward 

the development of an urban air 

mobility system that could lead to 

flying taxis.

Of the proposed $292 million 

Armstrong budget, Aeronautics, 

Safety, Security and Mission 

Services and Science comprise 

the biggest portions: $146.1 

million, $59.6 million and $59.4 

million respectively. Rounding 

out the funding are $4.4 million 

for Exploration Research and 

Technology, $15 million for Deep 

Space Exploration Systems, 0.3 

million for Low Earth Orbit and 

Spaceflight Operations and $7.2 

million for Construction and 

Environmental Compliance and 

Restoration.

The Stratospheric Observatory 

for Infrared Astronomy also is 

funded through 2019, when the 

result of a senior science review 

is expected to factor into the 

program’s future. 

Armstrong operates the airborne 

astronomical observatory that 

is capable of observing a wide 

variety of astronomical objects and 

phenomena. In addition, the center 

will continue to support the Flight 

Opportunities Level 2 Program 

Office.

Following the budget 

announcement, each center 

sponsored a State of NASA event 

for social media and Armstrong also 

invited news media. Armstrong’s 

event focused on tours and two panel 

discussions: one on the Future of 

Flying Vehicles - UAS and the other 

focusing on X-ploring Aeronautics – 

X-planes.

NASA Armstrong Center Director David McBride answered questions about 

the Trump administration’s 2019 budget released Feb. 12.

AFRC2017-0027-06 NASA/Lauren Hughes

Robert “Red” Jensen talked to attendees Feb. 12 at the Dale Reed Model Shop 

at the State of NASA event at NASA Armstrong.

AFRC2017-0027-38 NASA/Lauren Hughes

X-Press February 2018

Motors... from page 1

stage because X-57 is a manned 

test research project, meaning the 

aircraft will have a pilot onboard,” 

Airvolt Lead Systems Engineer 

Yohan Lin said. “Previous electric 

propulsion projects have been 

conducted using unmanned aircraft 

and at a smaller scale, but with a 

pilot onboard the level of risk is 

higher.”

NASA Armstrong will receive a 

total of five JM-X57 cruise motors, 

designed and built by Joby Aviation 

in Santa Cruz, California. The team 

plans to use two of these electric 

motors in place of the standard 

Rotax 912 S3 piston engines for 

the first flight tests of the X-57’s 

first modification, known as Mod 

II. While additional motors are 

currently being tested as spares, the 

idea would be to use the same two 

motors from Mod II as the primary 

propulsion system for the aircraft’s 

later modifications, according to 

X-57 Principal Investigator Sean 

Clarke.

“The two motors that we fly in 

Mod II, ideally, will be the same 

two that we take and put on the 

following Mod III vehicle, which 

will see the standard Tecnam wing 

replaced with a thinner, high aspect 

ratio wing, and we’ll also see the 

relocation of those cruise motors 

to the wing tips,” explained Clarke. 

“After that we’ll again evaluate the 

status of the motors and go with the 

best option for the wingtip cruise 

motors for Mod IV, which will add 

twelve smaller ‘high-lift’ motors 

along the new wing’s leading edge.”

The fifth motor will undergo 

testing on Airvolt at its full 

operational capability and will 

then be taken apart to have its 

components inspected as part 

of what’s called a “destructive 

inspection.” The state of the 

bearings, rotor and magnets will 

be observed and analyzed to see 

how healthy they are. Destructive 

inspection provides more insight 

about the motor than can be 

observed by inspecting the exterior 

and NASA researchers will be able 

to learn more about the motor’s 

performance and safety limits.

Cruise motor tests on Airvolt are 

designed in part to help researchers 

better understand the power and 

efficiency of the cruise motors in 

addition to making certain that 

the motor system will stay within 

safe operating limits during a 

flight. These tests are conducted 

using an automated procedure 

tool called Procedure Integrated 

Development Environment, or 

PRIDE, developed for NASA by 

TracLabs Inc. in Houston as part 

of the Small Business Innovative 

Research Program. This tool uses 

a given test profile and sends 

commands to the cruise motor 

controller, which in turn tells the 

motor how fast to spin.

The Airvolt stand is instrumented 

to measure system voltage, current, 

temperature, vibration, torque 

and thrust. These data are used by 

engineers to analyze not only how 

efficient the electric propulsion 

system is, but whether the motor 

components can operate while 

remaining within the high and 

low temperature limits set by the 

research team.

Vibration and thermal analysis 

are both important elements of the 

overall motor endurance testing 

on the X-57 cruise motors. Motor 

testing includes exposing the 

motor to various levels of vibration 

and temperatures. To do this 

the motor is exposed to both its 

nominal and maximum operating 

temperatures. Engineers will then 

analyze the motor’s ability to 

remain operational through those 

conditions.

Data are also being gathered 

to better understand the torque 

and thrust produced by the 

motors. The data are obtained by 

testing the motor and the motor 

controller at various power and 

torque levels and exposing them 

to various amounts of stress for 

specific amounts of time.

These elements are critical in 

one of the X-57’s primary roles as 

a pathfinder for electric propulsion 

– working to identify and establish 

airworthiness standards for future 

electric flight.

Because distributed electric 

propulsion is an innovative, 

experimental technology, 

airworthiness standards do not exist 

for the use of fully electric motors 

in flight. One of the primary 

objectives of Airvolt testing and 

of future X-57 research flights 

is to help the flight certification 

community including the FAA, the 

American Society for Testing and 

Materials, or ASTM, and others, 

identify and establish these standards 

for the future. The data gathered by 

these efforts will be provided to the 

certification community to be used 

in establishing standards for the 

future of electric aviation.

For Airvolt testing, this includes 

providing lessons learned through 

the evaluation of experimental 

components and any issues associated 

with them, such as electromagnetic 

interference, or EMI. In the case of 

X-57, engineers are analyzing the 

effect of EMI on these components, 

and providing multi-dimensional 

fixes necessary to make them more 

resilient.

“Learning these lessons now on 

the ground provides the benefit 

of preventing potentially costly 

errors later on in flight,” said X-57 

Project Manager Tom Rigney. “An 

important aspect of X-57 is that 

it is advancing electric propulsion 

system technologies and acquiring 

airworthiness test data from Airvolt, 

other ground testing and eventually 

flight testing that will be provided 

to the certification community to 

help establish new regulations in the 

future.”

The completion of Airvolt testing 

of the flight cruise motors will mark 

an essential part of the X-57 project. 

If successful it will assure that the 

motors will meet the requirements 

that are necessary to keep the manned 

X-plane operational throughout the 

entire flight program including Mod 

II and beyond, according to Rigney.

“Mod II will require the complex 

integration and flight testing of 

newly developed, high electrical 

energy components that include 

motors, controllers and batteries.  

By putting the motors through a 

rigorous ground test program using 

Airvolt, we will be ensured that 

the motors will work effectively 

and safely when all the Mod II 

components are finally integrated 

and flight tested on X-57.”

A JM-X57 cruise motor undergoes testing on the Airvolt stand at Armstrong. 

The Airvolt stand is instrumented to measure system voltage, current, temperature, vibration, torque and thrust.

AFRC2017-0269-21 NASA/Lauren Hughes
National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration

NASA Armstrong Flight 

Research Center

P.O. Box 273

Edwards, California, 93523-0273

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Editor: Jay Levine, 

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Managing Editor: Steve Lighthill, NASA

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 Kevin Rohrer, NASA

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FAX: 661-276-3167

The X-Press is published the first Friday of 

each month for civil servants, contractors 

and retirees of the NASA Armstrong Flight 

Research Center.

X-Press February 2018

our Sun. With HAWC+, researchers 

at Northwestern University have 

observed for the first time that 

systematic variations of the farinfrared polarization spectrum exist 

within an interstellar cloud.

Enrique Lopez-Rodriguez 

• USRA/SOFIA

A Far-Infrared View of Active 

Galactic Nuclei with SOFIA/

HAWC+

HAWC+ has opened a new 

window to explore active galactic 

nuclei (AGN) and starburst galaxies, 

providing the best angular resolution 

and polarimetric capability within 

the 50-220 micron range. LopezRodriguez presented preliminary 

results of AGN and starburst galaxies 

observed with the far-infrared 

polarimeter HAWC+ onboard 

SOFIA. These observations of NGC 

1068 at 53 microns have shown, 

for the first time, a magnetized arm 

along the spiral inner arm of the 

galaxy.

Elizabeth Tarantino • University 

of Maryland – College Park

Characterizing the Multi-Phase 

Origin of the [CII] Emission 

in M101 and NGC 6946 with 

GREAT

The interstellar medium (ISM) 

found between stars is the building 

block from which future stars will 

form. A common mechanism to 

cool down the gas in the ISM is 

through radiation from singly 

ionized carbon. Ionized carbon 

radiation can arise from three phases 

of the ISM: molecular gas, atomic 

gas, and ionized gas. Unraveling 

which phase the ionized carbon 

emission comes from and how 

it is dependent on environment 

is crucial for understanding the 

initial stages of star formation. This 

separation is better done with the 

GREAT instrument on SOFIA, 

which has the unique capability to 

measure the far-IR ionized carbon 

line at high spectral resolution.

“SOFIA’s suite of new and 

upgraded instruments are now 

providing the astronomical 

community with unprecedented 

sensitivity and spatial resolution at 

mid- and far-infrared wavelengths,” 

said USRA’s Director of SOFIA 

Science Mission Operations 

Harold “Hal” Yorke. “We can now 

explore a wide range of science 

questions that cannot be examined 

anywhere else in the world.”

SOFIA is a joint project of NASA 

and the German Aerospace Center, 

DLR. NASA Ames manages the 

SOFIA program, science and 

mission operations in cooperation 

with the Universities Space Research 

Association headquartered in 

Columbia, Maryland, and the 

German SOFIA Institute (DSI) at 

the University of Stuttgart. 

• Researchers will continue to 

search for methane on Mars. 

SOFIA will conduct observations 

during the same Martian season 

that the Curiosity Rover previously 

detected the gas to better understand 

how methane levels change with the 

Red Planet’s seasons.

• Another team of researchers is 

planning to study comet 46P/

Wirtanen as it passes close to 

the Earth to search for clues in 

the comet’s dust that may help 

us understand the evolution of 

the early solar system.

In June and July, SOFIA 

will  return to Christchurch, 

New Zealand, to study objects 

that are best viewed from the 

Southern Hemisphere, including 

neighboring galaxies the Large 

and Small Magellanic Clouds. 

Observations planned while 

operating from there include:

• Researchers will create a largescale map of the biggest starforming region in the Large 

Magellanic Cloud,  30 Doradus, 

(also known as the Tarantula 

Nebula.) This map will be used 

as a template for understanding 

bursts of star formation that are 

the origin of a large part of the 

stars in all galaxies.

• The HAWC+ instrument will 

be onboard SOFIA for its first 

observations from the Southern 

Hemisphere to study magnetic 

fields in star-forming regions and 

around black holes in the Large and 

Small Magellanic Clouds. 

• Researchers will utilize SOFIA’s 

mobility to study the atmosphere of 

Saturn’s moon Titan by studying its 

shadow as it passes in front of a star 

during an  eclipse-like event  called 

an occultation. These occultation 

observations are part of an effort 

to monitor changes in Titan’s 

atmosphere over time now that 

the Cassini spacecraft’s mission has 

ended.

Missions... from page 5

SOFIA... from page 5

get as broad a picture as possible,” 

Gordon continued. “No previous 

researchers have used FORCAST’s 

wavelength range to effectively 

study massive star formations. We 

needed SOFIA to fill in the 20- to 

40-micron gap to give us the whole 

picture of what’s taking place.”

In summer 2017, further 

research of the Tarantula Nebula 

was accomplished aboard SOFIA 

during the observatory’s six-week 

science campaign operating from 

Christchurch, New Zealand, to study 

the sky in the Southern Hemisphere. 

Gordon and his team are hopeful 

that when analyzed, data obtained 

from the Christchurch flights will 

reveal previously undiscovered young 

massive stars forming in the region, 

which have never been observed 

outside of the Milky Way.

Nebula... from page 3