Grants and Contracts Details
Description
Abstract
The objective of the final phase of the BIG BLUE program is to positively impact the
development of NASA's future workforce by establishing sustainable opportunities for students
and faculty based on the successes ofthe first years of the BIG BLUE inflatable-wing Mars
airplane project. Included in this final phase of the program is the culminating flight experiment
to demonstrate the feasibility of inflatable wings for Mars exploration and efforts to expand and
to sustain the opportunities for workforce development and public outreach. The BIG BLUE
project involves undergraduate students in a unique opportunity to experience the excitement of
research and development of a complex aerospace system including state-of-the-art technology
and interaction with aerospace industry professionals. In essence, students join the aerospace
workforce while participating in this project, influencing their decision to choose and pursue an
aerospace career when such a choice is less likely without their involvement.
Four overlapping and complimentary efforts comprise the final two years ofthe BIG BLUE
program: I) BB4: low-density aircraft development and flight testing, 2) BB4: autonomous
technology development for student UA V competitions, 3) BBV: the culminating balloonlaunched
inflatable-wing Mars airplane flight experiment and 4) BBV: expanding the impact of
the BIG BLUE multi-disciplinary Mars exploration R&D project as a focus for aerospace
workforce development. The first two efforts are underway with significant accomplishments in
2006. A separate proposal has been submitted for the BBV: Workforce Development.
This proposal is for the third effort listed above to develop and conduct the final flight
experiment of the BIG BLUE project. Previous BIG BLUE efforts have demonstrated successful
APRS communications (BBI), successful inflation and curing of inflatable-rigidizable wings
(BBII), a successful inflation system for the vectran inflatable wings (BB3), a successful aircraft
design including rigid wings (BB3) and inflatable wings (BB4), successful autopilot operation
for low-altitude flight testing and UA V competitions (BB4), successful high-altitude balloon
launches in CO with EOSS (BBI, BBII, BB3), successful power management and monitoring
(BBII), among other technologies necessary for the final flight test. Two remaining design
efforts are required: I) a lightweight fuselage integrated with all the required flight systems and
payloads and 2) long-range communications systems for the Cloudcap, Inc. Piccolo autopilot.
This effort includes developing the final experiment design, training the students involved,
designing the remaining systems, building and testing the hardware and software, conducting
necessary stepping-stone experiments to verify systems operations and conducting the final flight
experiment.
Status | Finished |
---|---|
Effective start/end date | 8/1/06 → 5/31/07 |
Funding
- Western Kentucky University: $80,000.00
Fingerprint
Explore the research topics touched on by this project. These labels are generated based on the underlying awards/grants. Together they form a unique fingerprint.