This slide presentation calls for a strategy to implement new technologies. Such a strategy would allow advanced space transportation technologies to mature for exploration beyond Earth orbit. It discusses the difference between technology push versus technology pull. It also reviews the three basic technology readiness levels (TRL). The presentation traces examples of technology development to flight application: the Space Shuttle Main Engine Advanced Health Management System, the Friction Stir Welding technology the (auto-adjustable pin tool). A couple of technologies currently not in flight, but are being reviewed for potential use are: cryogenic fluid management (CFM), and solar sail propulsion. There is also an attempt to explain why new technologies are so difficult to field

Johnson, Les

NASA Technical Reports Server

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
www.nasa.gov
From Research to Flight: 
Thinking About Implementation While Performing 
Fundamental Research
Les Johnson
Deputy Manager, Advanced Concepts Office
November 2010
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20110004893 2019-08-30T14:20:25+00:00Z
The Long and Winding Road
A strategy is needed to mature advanced space transportation 
technologies for exploration beyond Earth orbit. 
Technology Push: Managed In-Space 
Transportation Investment Area/Advanced 
Space Transportation Program (1999–2001)
5-441357 2
Taking Technologies to the Next Level
Technology “Push” Versus “Pull”
• NASA funds an abundance of research and development
• Technologies with strong mission pull are most likely to 
successfully transition from research to flight
• Fundamental research is mostly push, not pull
• Most technologies are not developed with a ―take it to flight‖ 
mentality
• Current technology programs are based on mission pull
• Flight projects and selection processes are highly risk averse
• PIs rarely propose a mission that requires new 
technology because it will reduce the likelihood of 
being selected; there is little mission pull
Technologies that enter the “Valley of Death” rarely survive.
5-441357 3
Welcome to the Dreaded Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 
“Valley of Death”
• Exploration through the ages has been enabled 
by advanced technologies
• New technologies are key to going farther, faster, and 
reaping the ultimate rewards of R&D investments
• Many potentially useful, enabling, or revolutionary 
technologies don’t survive the journey from ground 
development to mission implementation
Exploration beyond Earth orbit opens limitless possibilities.
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Multi-TRL Strategy to Infuse “Push” Technology
Technology advancements are essential to the 
next giant leap in exploration.
TRL 1–3
Fundamental/Basic Research R&D
TRL 4–6
Component & Prototype Testing
TRL 7–9
Demonstration, Qualification, & Operations
Conducting Fundamental Science 
& Basic Technology Research for 
NASA’s Missions
Maturing Technologies
Testing & Applying Technologies
5-441357 5
Technology Development-to-Flight Application:
Space Shuttle Main Engine Advanced Health Management System
Taking technologies from R&D to flight operations.
Design, development, and implementation 
of high-speed data acquisition & processing. Systems 
and analysis algorithms resulted in the real-time 
vibration monitoring system (RTVMS), a vibration-
based engine health monitoring system supporting the 
Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Static Test Program.
1985–1996 2000–Present
Implemented at Stennis Space Center (1996) 
as SSME health monitoring system; 500+ tests.
Employed on HTD-2 Flight Experiment (STS–96).
Proof-of-concept of high-speed vibration data 
acquisition and real-time processing in flight 
environment.
1996–2000
Developed into SSME Advanced Health 
Management System Phase I Flight Program, 
providing 23% ascent risk reduction. 
First flight in Dec. 2006 (STS–116).
Have supported 12 STS flights to date.
High-Speed Data Acquisition RTVMS Technology Demonstration Flight
Space Shuttle Main Engine 
Advanced Health Management System 
Technology Maturation
Space Transportation System 
Flight Application
AHMS Phase I Controller
TRL 7–9TRL 4–6TRL 1–3
Technology Development
5-441357 6
Technology Development-to-Flight Application:
Friction Stir Welding (FSW) (Auto-Adjustable Pin Tool)
Developing manufacturing technologies for flight applications.
1995 – Prototype Design (TRL 2) 1996 – First Prototype Welding (TRL 4)
1998 – Welding Shuttle External Tank (ET) 
Barrel (TRL 6)
2002 through 2008 — Production Welding on 
External Tanks 132–138 MAF (TRL 7)
2002 – First ET Production 
Weld at Michoud Assembly Facility (TRL 6)
August 29, 2009 — First Friction Stir Welds 
Flown on STS–128 (TRL 9)
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Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM) 
In-space cryogenic transfer stages are enabled 
& enhanced by low-gravity CFM technology development.
• Thermal control (enabling)
• Pressure control (enabling)
• Fluid transfer (enhancing  enabling)
State of the Art 
• Over the past 40 years, numerous ground tests have been 
performed assessing cryogenic storage (thermal & pressure control)  
• The remaining fluid handling technologies are less mature  
• The only large-scale LH2 CFM flight experiment was the 
Saturn IVB AS203 flight demo (1966)
• Current Centaur upper stage missions are 8 to 12 hours
Exploration Technology Development Program 
funds current research.
• Focused on ground tests examining component, subsystem, 
& integrated system evaluations
Managing cryogenic propellants in space provides 
a flexible path for long-duration missions.
• Zero boil-off (enhancing  enabling)
• Mass gauging (enhancing)
• Fluid acquisition (enhancing
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Low-G, Long-Term CFM Experiment: 
Getting to TRL 6/7 (Flight Test)
Goals & Objectives
• First demonstration of integrated CFM technology 
components in low-gravity space environment
- Target demo duration of 7 to 45 days as a free flyer
- Produce data for analytical code validation 
- Provide low-G space environment data enabling scaling with 
previous 1-G tests
- Establish confidence in CFM technologies and lead to 
application to large-scale transfer stages
- Advance selected CFM technologies to TRL 6+
Human deep-space flight is an enabling pull for this technology.
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Solar Sail Propulsion
Technology Area Status
• Two competing teams designed, fabricated, and tested 
solar sails and performed system-level ground 
demonstrations
- 100 m2 system ground demonstrators were developed 
and tested in 2004
- 400 m2 system ground demonstrators designed, fabricated, 
and tested under thermal vacuum conditions in 2005
• Developed and tested high-fidelity computational models, 
tools, and diagnostics
• Multiple efforts completed: materials evaluation, optical 
properties, long-term environmental effects, charging 
issues, and assessment of smart adaptive structures
Providing continuous low thrust without fuel.
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Full Scale (40-m × 40-m) 
Solar Sail Propulsion Flight Demonstration
Enabling new destinations and new vantage 
points for robotic science missions. 5-441357 11
Why are New Technologies so Difficult to Field?
• Technologists are NOT Flight Hardware Engineers
- Little thought is given to how a bench-top demo might actually 
become flight hardware (materials selection, power requirements, 
required operating conditions, etc.) 
• Technology Managers are NOT Flight Project Managers
- Limited understanding of the system-level impact of actually infusing 
the technology into a flight system
- Focus is on the research (NASA Research Announcements (NRAs), 
grants, etc.) with little appreciation of how to get flight projects to 
adopt the technology
- Reluctance to fund ongoing systems studies to guide future 
investments—―studies aren’t technologies!‖
• Cost and risk models for flight systems consider new 
technologies to be expensive and risky
- Budgets are limited and risks are not easily tolerated 
by ―the system‖
Flight system models consider new technologies 
to be too costly and risky. 5-441357 12
Why Are New Technologies So Difficult to Field? (Continued)
• Rigorous mission selection process favors science with 
low risk and potential cost growth over innovative and 
revolutionary science enabled with new technology, which 
has high risk and probability of cost growth
• Example Result: Solar Electric Propulsion
- The Deep Space 1 mission in 1998 demonstrated this technology
- NASA has selected only one additional Solar Electric Propulsion 
flight mission, Dawn, which launched in 2007
NASA needs an integrated approach to validating 
new technologies in space to retire the risk. 5-441357 13
Gedankenexperiment
Scenario
- You are a Principal Investigator
- You may have two flight missions in your career
- You want to do great science
Criteria
- Highly competitive proposal process
- Ground rules include low risk and low cost
- New technology is considered high risk
The Challenge
- How would you advocate for a flight experiment that requires 
advancing new technologies to obtain GREAT science? 
Advocacy can make the impossible possible.
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Conclusion and Recommendations
• Fundamental research is critical to taking the next giant 
leap in the scientific exploration of space
- NASA should be pushing the envelope and asking ―what if?‖
• Technology push enables new capabilities
- When NASA began, everything was enabling
• Technology pull is often required to meet current mission 
requirements
• Technology management requires more than issuing 
NRAs and overseeing contracts
- Continuous assessment, peer review, and system systems 
studies are vital to credible TRL advancement
A strategy for taking technology R&D to new heights will lead 
to discoveries at far-reaching destinations. 5-441357 15
Conclusion and Recommendations (Continued)
• There must be a plan or opportunities for flight validation
- To reduce the bottleneck of new technologies at the TRL Valley of Death
- To allow frequent infusion of new technologies into flight missions
• Risk must be tolerated for new technology flight experiments
- They are experiments, not missions!
• Risk must also be accepted on early-adopting missions
- Enabling new capabilities is often worth the extra risk
• Still an increased risk and cost to the Mission
Traversing the TRL Valley of Death will propel the 
next giant leap in space exploration. 5-441357 16
www.nasa.gov


From Research to Flight: Thinking About Implementation While Performing Fundamental Research

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