NASA’s Atmospheric Probe Soars in Game-Changing Test Flight

Researchers at NASA’s Armstrong Center are advancing an atmospheric probe for potential space missions.

Utilizing innovative designs based on past aircraft research, the team has successfully tested the probe, planning further improvements to increase its functionality and data-gathering capabilities.

NASA’s Innovative Atmospheric Probe

The best way to validate a new idea is to start small, test, learn, and refine through repeated testing. Researchers at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, are applying this method as they develop a new atmospheric probe. Their work could provide future scientists with a more efficient and cost-effective way to gather data from other planets.

On October 22, the latest version of the atmospheric probe successfully flew after being released from a quad-rotor remotely piloted aircraft over Rogers Dry Lake near NASA Armstrong. The probe’s design draws inspiration from NASA’s 1960s research on lifting body aircraft, which generate lift using the aircraft’s shape instead of wings. Recent tests confirmed that the probe’s aerodynamic shape functions as intended.

“I’m ecstatic,” said John Bodylski, atmospheric probe principal investigator at NASA Armstrong. “It was completely stable in flight. We will be looking at releasing it from a higher altitude to keep it flying longer and demonstrate more maneuvers.”

Enhancements and Future Plans

Starting with a Center Innovation Fund award in 2023, Bodylski worked closely with the center’s Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory to design and build three atmospheric probe models, each vehicle 28 inches long from nose to tail. One model is a visual to show what the concept looks like, while two additional prototypes improved the technology’s readiness.

The road to the successful flight wasn’t smooth, which is expected with any new flight idea. The first flight on August 1 didn’t go as planned. The release mechanism didn’t work as expected and air movement from the quad rotor aircraft was greater than anticipated. It was that failure that inspired the research team to take another look at everything about the vehicle, leading to many improvements, said Justin Hall, NASA Armstrong chief pilot of small, unmanned aircraft systems.

Results and Next Steps for the Atmospheric Probe

Fast forward to October 22, where the redesign of the release mechanism, in addition to an upside-down release and modified flight control surfaces, led to a stable and level flight. “Everything we learned from the first vehicle failing and integrating what we learned into this one seemed to work well,” Hall said. “This is a win for us. We have a good place to go from here and there’s some more changes we can make to improve it.”

Bodylski added, “We are going to focus on getting the aircraft to pull up sooner to give us more flight time to learn more about the prototype. We will go to a higher altitude [this flight started at 560 feet altitude] on the next flight because we are not worried about the aircraft’s stability.”

Long-Term Vision for Space Exploration

When the team reviewed flight photos and video from the October 22 flight they identified additional areas for improvement. Another atmospheric probe will be built with enhancements and flown. Following another successful flight, the team plans to instrument a future atmospheric probe that will gather data and improve computer models. Data gathering is the main goal for the current flights to give scientists confidence in additional probe shapes for atmospheric missions on other planets.

If this concept is eventually chosen for a mission, it would ride on a satellite to its destination. From there, the probe would separate as the parent satellite orbits around a planet, then enter and dive through the atmosphere as it gathers information for clues of how the solar system formed.

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