Practicing Fly-Fix-Fly: Re-flight Opportunity Through NASA TechLeap Prize

Ben Gorr

Paul De León

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 – August 2, 2023

Ben Gorr, Texas A&M University

Paul De León, NASA's Flight Opportunities Program

Practicing Fly-Fix-Fly: Re-flight Opportunity Through NASA TechLeap Prize

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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 sessions will be posted on the Flight 

Opportunities website

• Please engage!

• Use the chat throughout the session to ask questions

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Practicing Fly-Fix-Fly: Re-flight Opportunity Through NASA TechLeap Prize

Ben Gorr

Paul De León

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

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

2

NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

Welcome to the Community of Practice Webinar Series!

Flight Opportunities hopes these webinars will enable researchers, 

program staff, and flight providers to connect informally and share 

information

• Designed to distill and share the most important lessons learned to:

• Increase the impact of suborbital flight tests

• Transfer best practices

• Optimize the experience of current and prospective program participants

• Part of a broad effort to capture, organize, and communicate lessons learned 

by suborbital researchers

• An opportunity to hear from subject matter experts on best practices for 

preparing for suborbital flight tests

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NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

Join us for future Community of Practice webinars!

Subscribe to our newsletter for 

updates on future webinars!

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/fli

ghtopportunities/newsletter

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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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Practicing Fly-Fix-Fly: Re-flight Opportunity Through NASA TechLeap Prize

Ben Gorr

Paul De León

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

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

3

NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

Now open:

Suborbital/Hosted Orbital Flight and Payload Integration Services 4

• The new solicitation is designed to replace contracts for existing flight test services and seeks to add new 

capabilities, including hosting payloads in orbit and flying NASA researchers on suborbital flights.

• This contract will be managed by NASA’sFlight Opportunities program, in cooperation with the agency’sSmall 

Spacecraft Technology program.

• Flights and other services solicited will be available for NASA internal use across the agency as well as for 

use by other government agencies.

Key dates:

• Questions due: 12:00 pm Pacific on August 7, 2023

• Proposals due: 12:00 pm Pacific on August 28, 2023

• Please watch SAM.gov for more information and updates.

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NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

Today’s Speakers

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Ben Gorr

Ph.D. Candidate

SEAK Lab, Texas A&M University

Paul De León

Campaign Manager,

NASA’s Flight Opportunities program

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Practicing Fly-Fix-Fly: Re-flight Opportunity Through NASA TechLeap Prize

Ben Gorr

Paul De León

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

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

4

NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

www.nasa.gov

NASA Flight Opportunities

Community of Practice

August 2023 | Ben Gorr

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TAMU SEAK Lab 8

Ben Gorr

Satellite for Natural and Artificial 

Plumes (SNAP)

8/2/2023

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Practicing Fly-Fix-Fly: Re-flight Opportunity Through NASA TechLeap Prize

Ben Gorr

Paul De León

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

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

5

TAMU SEAK Lab 9

Overview

• The SNAP payload is intended to collect 

images of plumes on Earth’s surface and 

identify the plumes in order to track them.

• The payload consisted of a computer, IMU 

and camera within a 2-axis gimbal that allowed the payload to track identified 

plumes.

• Objectives for the flight:

• The payload autonomously identifies 

and segments (determines the plume 

shape by classifying pixel by pixel) one 

plume and records accompanying 

video. • The payload slews to track the plume 

to keep it within the field of view. • The plume is geolocated within 100 

meters.

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TAMU SEAK Lab 10

Timeline

• October ‘21 – TechLeap challenge kickoff

• January ‘22 – NASA FO site visit

• June ‘22 – NASA FO site visit

• Aug ‘22 – first flight

• May ‘23 – second flight

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Practicing Fly-Fix-Fly: Re-flight Opportunity Through NASA TechLeap Prize

Ben Gorr

Paul De León

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

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

6

TAMU SEAK Lab 11

Flight on 8/4/22

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TAMU SEAK Lab 12

Collected images from first flight

NIR Red RGB

197 images taken at 10 ms exposure time

150 images taken at 0.5 ms exposure time, 

~20 of which are not completely 

overexposed, none of which are not cloudy

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Practicing Fly-Fix-Fly: Re-flight Opportunity Through NASA TechLeap Prize

Ben Gorr

Paul De León

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

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

7

TAMU SEAK Lab 13

Major issues identified by first flight

• Computer shutdown due to overheating

• Computer shutdown due to heaters drawing 15V line low (not 

confirmed, but likely)

• Camera settings caused overexposure of images

• Insufficient structural strength to withstand landing

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TAMU SEAK Lab 14

Changes between flights

• Thermal strap for computer

• Separate 15V lines for heaters and computer

• Watchdog to hard reset computer

• Adaptive camera settings to adjust to lighting conditions

• Relocating pan gimbal motor to below waffle plate

• Sturdier turntable

• Added thermal camera

• Housing for payload

• Much improved flight software

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Practicing Fly-Fix-Fly: Re-flight Opportunity Through NASA TechLeap Prize

Ben Gorr

Paul De León

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

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

8

TAMU SEAK Lab 15

Second flight

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TAMU SEAK Lab 16

Lessons learned (some of them)

• Have a secondary mission!

– Especially if your primary mission is operationally challenging

• Robust flight software

– Well-tested

– Easily modifiable

• Think about wiring/harnessing early on

• Test, test, test

– Should start testing things at the halfway mark or sooner, NOT 

right before flight

• Collaborate!

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Practicing Fly-Fix-Fly: Re-flight Opportunity Through NASA TechLeap Prize

Ben Gorr

Paul De León

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

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

9

TAMU SEAK Lab 17

What’s next?

• Data processing

– Automated cloud masking

– Water and vegetation detection (compare with existing sats)

• Fly again

– On a UAS

– On a balloon

– In space?

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TAMU SEAK Lab 18

Questions?

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Practicing Fly-Fix-Fly: Re-flight Opportunity Through NASA TechLeap Prize

Ben Gorr

Paul De León

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

19 www.nasa.gov

Thank you! 

Flight Opportunities website: 

http://nasa.gov/flightopportunities

Contact us:

NASA-FlightOpportunities@mail.nasa.gov

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