Jump to content

NASA Advanced Air Mobility Partnerships


Recommended Posts

  • Publishers
Posted

12 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

NASA Advanced Air Mobility Partnerships map showing the US, Canada, France & Germany maps with locations to partners.

NASA is partnered with other government agencies, industry, and academia to conduct Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) research to benefit a future transportation system with routine flight of air taxis and drones. See the current partnerships below and in the map above.

Aerostar
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
NASA and Aerostar are conducting collaborative evaluation of a NASA prototype simulated Upper Class E Traffic Management (ETM) system.

AeroVironment
Simi Valley, California
NASA and AeroVironment are conducting research, development, testing, and evaluation of a NASA prototype simulated Upper Class E Traffic Management (ETM) system.

AFWERX – U.S. Air Force
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
NASA and AFWERX have ongoing information exchange efforts across multiple AAM areas. NASA is using Joby’s air taxi aircraft for testing at Edwards Air Force Base in partnership with the U.S. Air Force’s AFWERX program.

Air Force Research Laboratory Aerospace Systems Directorate (AFRL)
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
NASA and AFRL are sharing data about autonomous systems in AAM vehicles, airspace management systems, and infrastructure. Research includes configuration of formal methods, control systems validation, and flight critical software verification and validation.

AIRT
Miami, Florida
NASA and AIRT are developing a safety management system to enable highly-automated AAM-focused aviation for emergency response.

A&P Technology
Cincinnati, Ohio
NASA and A&P Technology are developing new braided composite materials to improve the crash safety of composite aircraft. A&P Technology and NASA will work together from the design phase, to fabrication, to dynamic crush test experiments on the materials.

Archer Aviation
San Jose, California
NASA and Archer will focus on testing the safety, energy and power performance capabilities of the Archer air taxi’s battery cells at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The goal is to jointly improve overall safety of AAM and human spacecraft battery applications.

AURA Network Systems
McLean, Virginia
NASA and AURA Network Systems will perform AAM flight test evaluations of Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) technologies to advance the maturity of these technologies for AAM aircraft.

The City of Orlando
Orlando, Florida
NASA is working with city and state governments to brainstorm the ways that air taxis and drones, and the infrastructure for this new transportation system, could be integrated into city planning. NASA is exchanging information with these governments to identify the best practices for how a local government could design this system. Each city or state government involved will create a joint document with NASA using computer modeling software to describe how this could work in their locality.

Boeing
Huntsville, Alabama
NASA and Boeing are researching the integration, demonstration, and evaluation of autonomous systems and tools to support AI standardization.

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
Arlington, Virginia
NASA and Lockheed Martin – Sikorsky are working together with DARPA under a DARPA agreement to research air taxi automation technology using Sikorsky helicopters. In a separate effort, NASA is working with DARPA on the Automated Rapid Certification Of Software (ARCOS) program, which will aid in developing the criteria for automation software certification.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Daytona Beach, Florida
NASA and Embry-Riddle are examining existing mishap data collected from the NASA Human Contribution to Safety (HC2S) test bed, and data collected independently, to identify realistic, actionable methods to promote better response to disturbances in flight.

DLR – German Aerospace Center
Braunschweig, Germany
Cologne, Germany

NASA and DLR researchers are designing algorithms and conducting fast-time simulations to help address the challenges of a future air traffic management system with more aircraft. In a separate effort, NASA and DLR are researching the air flow generated by rotary wing aircraft. The team is using visual tools like schlieren and shadowgraph techniques to see the directions of airflow invisible to the naked eye.

General Electric Company
Niskayuna, New York
NASA and General Electric Company are researching flight safety in autonomous systems. Efforts focus on assurance of flight-critical systems (including airborne and ground software systems), human autonomy teaming, and efficient airspace operations.

George Washington University
Washington, D.C.
NASA and several universities are demonstrating a NASA-created safety management system called “In-Time Learning-Based Safety Management for Scalable Heterogeneous AAM Operations.” This is a combined effort with George Washington University, Vanderbilt University, MIT/Lincoln Labs, and UT-Austin.

Iowa State
Ames, Iowa
NASA, Iowa State and Notre Dame University are developing and evaluating automated techniques for predicting, detecting, diagnosing, and mitigating diverse configuration problems and runtime failures in small Uncrewed Aerial Systems (sUAS), also called drones.

Joby Aviation
Santa Cruz, California
NASA and Joby are testing the human response to autonomy to find management solutions for autonomous air taxis using only a small number of human ground operators. This research will lead to a better understanding of technology solutions needed to ensure safe, routine, multi-aircraft AAM flights. In another effort, in partnership with the U.S. Air Force’s AFWERX program, NASA is using Joby’s aircraft for testing at Edwards Air Force Base.

Lockheed Martin – Sikorsky
Bridgeport, Connecticut
NASA and Lockheed Martin – Sikorsky are conducting dynamic crush and ballistic impact testing of new woven composite materials. The test material will be provided by Lockheed Martin and NASA will conduct the testing. The goal is to improve NASA’s impact modeling capabilities and to improve the crash safety of future composite aircraft.

Lone Star UAS Center of Excellence and Innovation at Texas A&M University
Corpus Christi, Texas
NASA and the Lone Star UAS Center of Excellence and Innovation are developing and testing new AAM technologies through experiments, measurements, and flight tests.

Longbow
Hampton, Virginia
NASA and Longbow will conduct collaborative flight tests and use NASA-developed prognostic services to increase situational awareness and decrease exposure to hazards.

Massachusetts Department of Transportation
Boston, Massachusetts
NASA is working with city and state governments to brainstorm the ways that air taxis and drones, and the infrastructure for this new transportation system, could be integrated into city planning. NASA is exchanging information with these governments to identify the best practices for how a local government could design this system. Each city or state government involved will create a joint document with NASA using computer modeling software to describe how this could work in their locality.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Cambridge, Massachusetts
NASA and MIT are capturing the human contribution to safety and are developing methods to increase safety in autonomous systems like training a machine to “see” the obstacles that a human would see.

Minnesota Department of Transportation
St. Paul, Minnesota
NASA is working with city and state governments to brainstorm the ways that air taxis and drones, and the infrastructure for this new transportation system, could be integrated into city planning. NASA is exchanging information with these governments to identify the best practices for how a local government could design this system. Each city or state government involved will create a joint document with NASA using computer modeling software to describe how this could work in their locality.

MIT/Lincoln Labs
Lexington, Massachusetts
NASA and several universities are demonstrating a NASA-created safety management system called “In-Time Learning-Based Safety Management for Scalable Heterogeneous AAM Operations.” This is a combined effort with George Washington University, Vanderbilt University, MIT/Lincoln Labs, and UT-Austin.

Mitre
Bedford, Massachusetts
NASA and Mitre are researching the accuracy of positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) of different aviation navigation systems in modeling and simulation. In a separate agreement, NASA and Mitre are developing a service to predict GPS connectivity in urban areas to help adapt pre-flight and in flight routes for AAM aircraft.

Moog
East Aurora, New York
NASA is partnered with Moog to conduct acoustic testing of their SureFly aircraft. Moog is providing the test vehicle and executing the flight test, while NASA is collecting acoustic data during the tests using an array of ground microphones. These acoustic measurements will provide valuable data used to improve NASA’s noise prediction tools for air taxis.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Gaithersburg, Maryland
NASA and NIST are investigating software for autonomous vehicles to improve the software verification and coordination.

North Central Texas Council of Governments
Arlington, Texas
NASA is working with city and state governments to brainstorm the ways that air taxis and drones, and the infrastructure for this new transportation system, could be integrated into city planning. NASA is exchanging information with these governments to identify the best practices for how a local government could design this system. Each city or state government involved will create a joint document with NASA using computer modeling software to describe how this could work in their locality.

Northrop Grumman
West Falls Church, Virginia
Palmdale, California

NASA and Northrop Grumman are investigating the use of large Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) for cargo transportation between airports and/or other National Airspace System (NAS) access points.

Notre Dame University
South Bend, Indiana
NASA, Notre Dame and Iowa State are developing and evaluating automated techniques for predicting, detecting, diagnosing, and mitigating diverse configuration problems and runtime failures in small Uncrewed Aerial Systems (sUAS), also called drones.

Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT)
Springfield, Ohio
NASA and ODOT will share critical flight and ground operations safety data during flight tests. These flight tests will help evaluate safety management systems for highly-automated aircraft. In a separate effort, NASA and ODOT are exchanging information to advance autonomous cargo aircraft operations. NASA is also working with ODOT to brainstorm the ways that air taxis and drones, and the infrastructure for this new transportation system, could be integrated into city planning by creating a joint document with NASA using computer modeling software to describe how this could work in their locality.

Old Dominion University
Norfolk, Virginia
NASA and Old Dominion University are conducting studies focusing on the collaboration between humans and autonomous systems to see how the two would work together to manage large numbers of autonomous AAM flights. NASA is developing a Human Autonomy Teaming Task Battery to evaluate performance and workload for a human working with an autonomous system.

ONERA (Office National d’Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales) – The French Aerospace Lab
Palaiseau, France
In one effort, NASA and ONERA are using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), or the use of mathematics, physics and computational software to visualize how a gas or liquid flows, for broadband noise prediction of a hovering rotor to advance broadband noise prediction capabilities for AAM aircraft. In another effort, NASA and ONERA are collaborating on the acoustics modeling of ducted rotors with optimized liners. These findings will be used to improve the acoustic performance of future tilt-duct aircraft.

Penn State University
State College, Pennsylvania
NASA and Penn State are developing safe role allocations and communication between human-to-human or human-to-machine communication to assure new delegations of authority and responsibility will work in autonomous systems.

Stanford University
Stanford, California
NASA and Stanford are developing and demonstrating a framework for providing algorithmic assurances and designing fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) methods for those components of the autonomy stack that rely on data-driven methods based on machine learning.

University Of Central Florida (UCF)
Orlando, Florida
NASA is working with UCF to improve the safety of drones through data-driven predictive analytics. 

Université de Sherbrooke
Quebec, Canada
NASA and Université de Sherbrooke are investigating the noise generated by fundamental airfoil shapes. NASA will provide customized test articles that will be tested in the University’s anechoic wind tunnel facility. The findings will be used to improve noise predictions for a wide variety of aircraft.

U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) and U.S. Navy Office of Naval Research (ONR) 
Moffett Field, California
Arlington, Virginia

Effort between NASA, DEVCOM and ONR to fund the Vertical Lift Research Centers of Excellence (VLRCOE). The VLRCOE program was renewed in 2021, with three awardees selected to receive approximately $22M in funding over five years. The Georgia Institute of Technology, Penn State University, and the University of Maryland were selected to perform research on a wide variety of vertical lift technology topics. In addition to establishing a workforce pipeline, this effort will help improve the safety, performance and affordability of civilian and military helicopters and other vertical lift aircraft.

University of Texas
Austin, Texas
NASA and several universities are demonstrating a NASA-created safety management system called “In-Time Learning-Based Safety Management for Scalable Heterogeneous AAM Operations.” This is a combined effort with George Washington University, Vanderbilt University, MIT/Lincoln Labs, and UT-Austin.

Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee
NASA and several universities are demonstrating a NASA-created safety management system called “In-Time Learning-Based Safety Management for Scalable Heterogeneous AAM Operations.” This is a combined effort with George Washington University, Vanderbilt University, MIT/Lincoln Labs, and UT-Austin.

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)
Richmond, Virginia
NASA, VCU and NIST are developing and evaluating an integrated model- and data-driven approach for risk monitoring to identify and predict elevated risk states for known risk(s) in autonomous technology.

Wisk
Mountain View, California
NASA and Wisk are testing the human response to autonomy to find management solutions for autonomous air taxis using only a small number of human ground operators. This research will lead to a better understanding of technology solutions needed to ensure safe, routine, multi-aircraft AAM flights.

Xwing
San Francisco, California
NASA and Xwing are sharing critical flight and ground operations data, algorithms, and evaluating safety management systems to ensure autonomous aircraft operations are safe. 

Zipline
San Francisco, California
NASA and Zipline are testing the human response to autonomy to find management solutions for autonomous air taxis using only a small number of human ground operators. This research will lead to a better understanding of technology solutions needed to ensure safe, routine, multi-aircraft AAM flights.

Active NASA Space Act Agreements and NASA Interagency Agreements that relate to Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) are listed here. NASA does not endorse any entity listed here. NASA works with research partners under these agreements to improve technology for the entire AAM industry’s benefit.

AAM Partners List (PDF)

Partnerships Contact

Jamie Turner

jamie.m.turner@nasa.gov

Media Contact

Teresa Whiting

teresa.whiting@nasa.gov

Share

Details

Last Updated
Mar 20, 2024
Editor
Lillian Gipson
Contact

View the full article

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Similar Topics

    • By NASA
      5 min read
      Avatars for Astronaut Health to Fly on NASA’s Artemis II
      An organ chip for conducting bone marrow experiments in space. Emulate NASA announced a trailblazing experiment that aims to take personalized medicine to new heights. The experiment is part of a strategic plan to gather valuable scientific data during the Artemis II mission, enabling NASA to “know before we go” back to the lunar surface and on to Mars.
      The AVATAR (A Virtual Astronaut Tissue Analog Response) investigation will use organ-on-a-chip devices, or organ chips, to study the effects of deep space radiation and microgravity on human health. The chips will contain cells from Artemis II astronauts and fly side-by-side with crew on their approximately 10-day journey around the Moon. This research, combined with other studies on the health and performance of Artemis II astronauts, will give NASA insight into how to best protect astronauts as exploration expands to the surface of the Moon, Mars, and beyond. 
      AVATAR is NASA’s visionary tissue chip experiment that will revolutionize the very way we will do science, medicine, and human multi-planetary exploration.”
      Nicky Fox
      Associate Administrator, NASA Science Mission Directorate
      “AVATAR is NASA’s visionary tissue chip experiment that will revolutionize the very way we will do science, medicine, and human multi-planetary exploration,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Each tissue chip is a tiny sample uniquely created so that we can examine how the effects of deep space act on each human explorer before we go to ensure we pack the appropriate medical supplies tailored to each individual’s needs as we travel back to the Moon, and onward to Mars.”
      The investigation is a collaboration between NASA, government agencies, and industry partners, leveraging commercial expertise to gain a deeper understanding of human biology and disease. This research could accelerate innovations in personalized healthcare, both for astronauts in space and patients on Earth.
      Organ-on-a-chip: mimic for human health
      Organ chips, also referred to as tissue chips or microphysiological systems, are roughly the size of a USB thumb drive and used to help understand — and then predict — how an individual might respond to a variety of stressors, such as radiation or medical treatments, including pharmaceuticals. Essentially, these small devices serve as “avatars” for human organs. 
      Organ chips contain living human cells that are grown to model the structures and functions of specific regions in human organs, such as the brain, lungs, heart, pancreas, and liver — they can beat like a heart, breathe like a lung, or metabolize like a liver. Tissue chips can be linked together to mimic how organs interact with each other, which is important for understanding how the whole human body responds to stressors or treatments.
      Researchers and oncologists use human tissue chips today to understand how a specific patient’s cancer might react to different drugs or radiation treatments. To date, a standard milestone for organs-on-chips has been to keep human cells healthy for 30 days. However, NASA and other research institutions are pushing these boundaries by increasing the longevity of organ chips to a minimum of six months so that scientists can observe diseases and drug therapies over a longer period.
      Bone marrow as bellwether
      The Artemis II mission will use organ chips created using blood-forming stem and progenitor cells, which originate in the bone marrow, from Artemis II crew members.
      Bone marrow is among the organs most sensitive to radiation exposure and, therefore, of central importance to human spaceflight. It also plays a vital role in the immune system, as it is the origin of all adult red and white blood cells, which is why researchers aim to understand how deep space radiation affects this organ.
      Studies have shown that microgravity affects the development of bone marrow cells. Although the International Space Station operates in low Earth orbit, which is shielded from most cosmic and solar radiation by the Earth’s magnetosphere, astronauts often experience a loss of bone density. Given that Artemis II crew will be flying beyond this protective layer, AVATAR researchers also seek to understand how the combined stressors of deep space radiation and microgravity affect the developing cells.
      To make the bone marrow organ chips, Artemis II astronauts will first donate platelets to a local healthcare system. The cells remaining from their samples will contain a small percentage of bone marrow-derived stem and progenitor cells. NASA-funded scientists at Emulate, Inc., which developed the organ chip technology used in AVATAR, will purify these cells with magnetic beads that bind specifically to them. The purified cells will then be placed in the bone marrow chips next to blood vessel cells and other supporting cells to model the structure and function of the bone marrow.
      Investigating how radiation affects the bone marrow can provide insights into how radiation therapy and other DNA-damaging agents, such as chemotherapeutic drugs, impair blood cell formation. Its significance for both spaceflight and medicine on Earth makes the bone marrow an ideal organ to study in the Artemis II AVATAR project.
      Passenger for research
      “For NASA, organ chips could provide vital data for protecting astronaut health on deep space missions,” said Lisa Carnell, director of NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences division at NASA Headquarters. “As we go farther and stay longer in space, crew will have only limited access to on-site clinical healthcare. Therefore, it’ll be critical to understand if there are unique and specific healthcare needs of each astronaut, so that we can send the right supplies with them on future missions.”
      During the Artemis II mission, the organ chips will be secured in a custom payload developed by Space Tango and mounted inside the capsule during the mission. The battery-powered payload will maintain automated environmental control and media delivery to the organ chips throughout the flight.
      For NASA, organ chips could provide vital data for protecting astronaut health on deep space missions.”
      Lisa Carnell
      Director of NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division
      Upon return, researchers at Emulate will examine how spaceflight affected the bone marrow chips by performing single-cell RNA sequencing, a powerful technique that measures how thousands of genes change within individual cells. The scientists will compare data from the flight samples to measurements of crew cells used in a ground-based immunology study happening simultaneously. This will provide the most detailed look at the impact of spaceflight and deep space radiation on developing blood cells to date.
      Keep Exploring BPS Scientific Goals
      Goals



      Precision Health



      AVATAR



      Quantum Leaps


      Biological & Physical Sciences Division (BPS)

      NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division pioneers scientific discovery and enables exploration by using space environments to conduct investigations not possible on Earth. Studying biological and physical phenomenon under extreme conditions allows researchers to advance the fundamental scientific knowledge required to go farther and stay longer in space, while also benefitting life on Earth.
      View the full article
    • By NASA
      A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft is launched on NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 23 mission to the International Space Station on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025.Credit: NASA NASA is sending more science, technology demonstrations, and crew supplies to the International Space Station following the successful launch of the agency’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 23 mission, or Northrop Grumman CRS-23.
      The company’s Cygnus XL spacecraft, carrying more than 11,000 pounds of cargo to the orbiting laboratory, lifted off at 6:11 p.m. EDT Sunday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This mission is the first flight of the larger, more cargo-capable version of the solar-powered spacecraft. 
      Cygnus XL is scheduled to be captured at 6:35 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 17, by the Canadarm2 robotic arm, which NASA astronaut Jonny Kim will operate with assistance from NASA astronaut Zena Cardman. Following capture, the spacecraft will be installed to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port for cargo unloading.
      The resupply mission is carrying dozens of research experiments that will be conducted during Expedition 73, including materials to produce semiconductor crystals in space and equipment to develop improvements for cryogenic fuel tanks. The spacecraft also will deliver a specialized UV light system to prevent the growth of microbe communities that form in water systems and supplies to produce pharmaceutical crystals that could treat cancer and other diseases.
      These are just a sample of the hundreds of scientific investigations conducted aboard the station in the areas of biology and biotechnology, Earth and space science, physical sciences, as well as technology development and demonstrations. For nearly 25 years, NASA has supported a continuous U.S. human presence aboard the orbiting laboratory, where astronauts have learned to live and work in space for extended periods of time. The space station is a springboard for developing a low Earth economy and NASA’s next great leaps in exploration, including Artemis missions to the Moon and American astronaut missions to Mars.
      NASA’s arrival, capture, and installation coverage are as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
      Wednesday, Sept. 17
      5 a.m. – Arrival coverage begins on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and more.
      6:35 a.m. – Capture of Cygnus XL with the space station’s robotic arm.
      8 a.m. – Installation coverage begins on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and more.
      All coverage times are estimates and could be adjusted based on operations after launch. Follow the space station blog for the most up-to-date information.
      Cygnus XL is scheduled to remain at the orbiting laboratory until March 2026, before it departs and disposes of several thousand pounds of trash through its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, where it will harmlessly burn up. The spacecraft is named the S.S. William “Willie” C. McCool, in honor of the NASA astronaut who perished in 2003 during the space shuttle Columbia accident.
      Learn more about this NASA commercial resupply mission at:
      https://www.nasa.gov/mission/nasas-northrop-grumman-crs-23/
      -end-
      Josh Finch / Jimi Russell
      Headquarters, Washington
      202-358-1100
      joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov
      Steven Siceloff
      Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
      321-876-2468
      steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov
      Sandra Jones / Joseph Zakrzewski
      Johnson Space Center, Houston
      281-483-5111
      sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov / joseph.a.zakrzewski@nasa.gov
      Share
      Details
      Last Updated Sep 14, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
      International Space Station (ISS) Commercial Resupply ISS Research Johnson Space Center Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply View the full article
    • By NASA
      NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 23 Rendezvous and Capture
    • By Amazing Space
      NASA / SPACEX CRS-23 ISS RESUPPLY LAUNCH LIVE
    • By NASA
      5 Min Read NASA’s X-59 Moves Toward First Flight at Speed of Safety
      NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft is seen at dawn with firetrucks and safety personnel nearby during a hydrazine safety check at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, on Aug. 18, 2025. The operation highlights the extensive precautions built into the aircraft’s safety procedures for a system that serves as a critical safeguard, ensuring the engine can be restarted in flight as the X-59 prepares for its first flight. Credits: Lockheed Martin As NASA’s one-of-a-kind X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft approaches first flight, its team is mapping every step from taxi and takeoff to cruising and landing – and their decision-making is guided by safety.
      First flight will be a lower-altitude loop at about 240 mph to check system integration, kicking off a phase of flight testing focused on verifying the aircraft’s airworthiness and safety. During subsequent test flights, the X-59 will go higher and faster, eventually exceeding the speed of sound. The aircraft is designed to fly supersonic while generating a quiet thump rather than a loud sonic boom.
      To help ensure that first flight – and every flight after that – will begin and end safely, engineers have layered protection into the aircraft.
      The X-59’s Flight Test Instrumentation System (FTIS) serves as one of its primary record keepers, collecting and transmitting audio, video, data from onboard sensors, and avionics information – all of which NASA will track across the life of the aircraft.
      “We record 60 different streams of data with over 20,000 parameters on board,” said Shedrick Bessent, NASA X-59 instrumentation engineer. “Before we even take off, it’s reassuring to know the system has already seen more than 200 days of work.”
      Through ground tests and system evaluations, the system has already generated more than 8,000 files over 237 days of recording. That record provides a detailed history that helps engineers verify the aircraft’s readiness for flight.
      Maintainers perform a hydrazine safety check on the agency’s quiet supersonic X-59 aircraft at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, on Aug. 18, 2025. Hydrazine is a highly toxic chemical, but it serves as a critical backup to restart the engine in flight, if necessary, and is one of several safety features being validated ahead of the aircraft’s first flight.Credits: Lockheed Martin “There’s just so much new technology on this aircraft, and if a system like FTIS can offer a bit of relief by showing us what’s working – with reliability and consistency – that reduces stress and uncertainty,” Bessent said. “I think that helps the project just as much as it helps our team.”
      The aircraft also uses a digital fly-by-wire system that will keep the aircraft stable and limit unsafe maneuvers. First developed in the 1970s at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, digital fly-by-wire replaced how aircraft were flown, moving away from traditional cables and pulleys to computerized flight controls and actuators.
      On the X-59, the pilot’s inputs – such as movement of the stick or throttle – are translated into electronic signals and decoded by a computer. Those signals are then sent through fiber-optic wires to the aircraft’s surfaces, like its wings and tail.
      Additionally, the aircraft uses multiple computers that back each other up and keep the system operating. If one fails, another takes over. The same goes for electrical and hydraulic systems, which also have independent backup systems to ensure the aircraft can fly safely.
      Onboard batteries back up the X-59’s hydraulic and electrical systems, with thermal batteries driving the electric pump that powers hydraulics. Backing up the engine is an emergency restart system that uses hydrazine, a highly reactive liquid fuel. In the unlikely event of a loss of power, the hydrazine system would restart the engine in flight. The system would help restore power so the pilot could stabilize or recover the aircraft.
      Maintainers perform a hydrazine safety check on NASA’s quiet supersonic X-59 aircraft at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, on Aug. 18, 2025. Hydrazine is a highly toxic chemical, but it serves as a critical backup to restart the engine in flight, if necessary, which is one of several safety features being validated ahead of the aircraft’s first flight. Credits: Lockheed Martin Protective Measures
      Behind each of these systems is a team of engineers, technicians, safety and quality assurance experts, and others. The team includes a crew chief responsible for maintenance on the aircraft and ensuring the aircraft is ready for flight.
      “I try to always walk up and shake the crew chief’s hand,” said Nils Larson, NASA X-59 lead test pilot. “Because it’s not your airplane – it’s the crew chief’s airplane – and they’re trusting you with it. You’re just borrowing it for an hour or two, then bringing it back and handing it over.”
      Larson, set to serve as pilot for first flight, may only be borrowing the aircraft from the X-59’s crew chiefs – Matt Arnold from X-59 contractor Lockheed Martin and Juan Salazar from NASA – but plenty of the aircraft’s safety systems were designed specifically to protect the pilot in flight.
      The X-59’s life support system is designed to deliver oxygen through the pilot’s mask to compensate for the decreased atmospheric pressure at the aircraft’s cruising altitude of 55,000 feet – altitudes more than twice as high as that of a typical airliner. In order to withstand high-altitude flight, Larson will also wear a counter-pressure garment, or g-suit, similar to what fighter pilots wear.
      In the unlikely event it’s needed, the X-59 also features an ejection seat and canopy adapted from a U.S. Air Force T-38 trainer, which comes equipped with essentials like a first aid kit, radio, and water. Due to the design, build, and test rigor put into the X-59, the ejection seat is a safety measure.
      All these systems form a network of safety, adding confidence to the pilot and engineers as they approach to the next milestone – first flight.
      “There’s a lot of trust that goes into flying something new,” Larson said. “You’re trusting the engineers, the maintainers, the designers – everyone who has touched the aircraft. And if I’m not comfortable, I’m not getting in. But if they trust the aircraft, and they trust me in it, then I’m all in.”
      Share
      Details
      Last Updated Sep 12, 2025 EditorDede DiniusContactNicolas Cholulanicolas.h.cholula@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related Terms
      Armstrong Flight Research Center Advanced Air Vehicles Program Aeronautics Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Ames Research Center Glenn Research Center Langley Research Center Low Boom Flight Demonstrator Quesst (X-59) Supersonic Flight Explore More
      3 min read NASA, War Department Partnership Tests Boundaries of Autonomous Drone Operations
      Article 20 minutes ago 3 min read NASA, Embry-Riddle Enact Agreement to Advance Research, Educational Opportunities
      Article 24 hours ago 4 min read NASA Glenn Tests Mini-X-Ray Technology to Advance Space Health Care  
      Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
      Armstrong Flight Research Center
      Humans in Space
      Climate Change
      Solar System
      View the full article
  • Check out these Videos

×
×
  • Create New...