Aerospace Systems Technical Group

The Aerospace Systems technical group business meeting will be held on Friday, November 22nd at 11:30AM EST (8:30 AM PST). It will be an online call over Zoom (see link below).

Amanda Harwood, Technical Group Chair, will present the TG budget, highlight the main activities our group held over the past year, and open positions at the executive committee and volunteers. It’s an opportunity to meet and hear from all of our members.

We hope to see you there!

https://polymtl-ca.zoom.us/j/82416760678?pwd=JaxgXl5pMLIfwbA3lhNtuzqEWKUpcN.1

In this interview, Megan Mitchell, a human factors engineer at Raytheon Technologies, shares insights into her work on satellite ground stations. She discusses the unique challenges of designing interfaces for defense technology, the importance of user feedback from tech-savvy young operators, and how her team balances innovation with real-world needs. Megan also highlights the rewarding aspects of her role, from solving complex problems to making a meaningful impact. She offers advice for new graduates and talks about her passion for flying, mentorship opportunities, and the collaborative nature of her team.

Read the member spotlight.

Research spotlight - Lessons lost on automation

By Shraddha Swaroop

As vehicles become increasingly more autonomous, it is critical now more than ever to capitalize on the learnings of accident analyses conducted between 1970 to 2000 on aviation automation. Valerie Gawron of Mitre wrote a series of seven articles on this topic.  The articles are broken down into helpful topics that cover both research and accident analyses conducted before 2000 that bring the lessons of the past to the present. It helps those who are researching and designing the future of autonomy, whether it’s for commercial aviation or surface transportation.

Shraddha Swaroop summarized the seven documents with their main takeaways for our members to easily find their way around.

Note that we prepared this research spotlight based on the feedback we received during our ASTG town hall meeting. We hope you will enjoy reading it!

Read more on our website.

Reminder - ASTG Survey

We would love to hear more about what you want to get out of our technical group. We are asking: who are our members? And how can we best support you?

Please answer this 2 min survey to let us know more about you. It will make a big difference for us!
https://forms.gle/f1Mm7F9oPpSh4VzV7

In the news

By Srishti Rawal

General

• U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) - Air Traffic Control: FAA Actions Are Urgently Needed to Modernize Aging Systems.
• FAA has reached an impressive milestone in its mission to strengthen the air traffic controller workforce, hiring 1,811 controllers in fiscal year 2024—surpassing its goal of 1,800 and marking the largest recruitment drive in nearly a decade.
• NTSB Reveals Critical Factors in Fatal King Air C90 Accident that occurred in December 2022 off the coast of Hawaii, including the air ambulance company’s “inadequate pilot training and performance tracking” that failed to identify the pilot’s “consistent lack of skill”. Spatial disorientation due to failure of the attitude indicator and lack of visible horizon contributed to the accident. The report also noted violation of sterile cockpit rules, including cell phone use during critical flight phases.
• Passenger Lands King Air C90 after Pilot Medical Issue. An FAA preliminary report says that a non-pilot passenger safely landed the aircraft at Meadows Field Airport in Bakersfield after the pilot had been incapacitated. Details are still lacking at this stage to know more about how it all happened, but radio recordings show that the ATC helped the passenger control the aircraft.
• Review – Garmin’s New GHD 2100 HUD offering 30x24 deg. field of view with EVS, SVS and CVS capabilities
• Demand Accelerates for Virtual Reality Training in Avionics - VR training is emerging as a critical trend in avionics, promising to revolutionize how pilots, engineers, and maintenance crews are trained.

Autonomy

• Northrop Grumman demonstrated the ability of a navigation system used by a MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicle to operate at high latitudes within the Arctic Circle.
• A350-1000 has successfully completed a series of test flights, demonstrating its capability to perform fully autonomous taxiing, takeoffs, and landings. 

eVTOL

• Beta reveals the design of its 5-passenger electric aircraft. Commercial operations are expected to start in 2025 and passenger flights in 2026.
• The Skyryse One, a Robinson R66 helicopter modified with fly-by-wire flight controls with a single-control stick and two touch screens, has received a special airworthiness certificate from the FAA.
• NASA report - Evaluation of Novel eVTOL Aircraft Automation Concepts
  

Space

• X-37B to jettison payload module in orbital shift. The secretive, reusable spacecraft, which has been in orbit since December 28, 2023, will perform aerobraking maneuvers to alter its trajectory around Earth using atmospheric drag to modify the vehicle’s orbit while conserving fuel.

For fun

• Being James Bond Online reviewed the 12 aircraft the British spy took command of in his movies. Although it is unclear whether Her Majesty’s top agent is current on his recurrent training, we can safely assume his Double 0 title offers the much-needed airworthy authorization.