The Aviation Safety Program will provide design methods, tools, and
technologies helping ensure the safety of the U.S. Air Transportation
System as it transitions to meet the future needs of NextGen. These
needs include the anticipated significant increases in air traffic;
increased reliance on automation working collaboratively with humans;
increased diversity of air vehicles; and increased complexity in the
system. The long range goals of the research include reduced occurrence
of in-flight failures; onboard systems capable of self-correcting
anomalies; improved human-automation interaction; better support of the
human contribution to safety in aviation; and advanced flight controls
to ensure flight safety during adverse flight conditions. In addition,
the Aviation Safety Program technologies can be leveraged to improve the
resilience of future space vehicles against the hazards of long duration
space travel as well as operations in harsh and/or remote environments.
The Aviation Safety Program has four projects. The Integrated Vehicle
Health Management Project addresses the challenge of integrating,
processing, and effectively using large amounts of information across
highly integrated and complex flight critical systems. The Aircraft
Aging and Durability Project addresses the challenge of improving the
operational resiliency of future structures and advanced materials. The
Integrated Intelligent Flight Deck Project addresses the challenge of
ensuring the proper integration of the human operator in a highly
automated and complex operational environment. The Integrated Resilient
Aircraft Control Project addresses the challenge of providing onboard
control resilience to ensure safe flight in the presence of adverse
conditions.
+ Integrated Vehicle Health Management Project + Aircraft Aging and Durability Project + Integrated Intelligent Flight Deck Project + Integrated Resilient Aircraft Control Project
