DIP Workshop Series 3: DIP for Consumers

Workshop Series: What It’s About

The Digital Information Platform (DIP) workshop series intends to provide a deeper dive and a closer look at some of the core features being developed by the DIP sub-project under ATM-X.

These workshops will give insight into DIP development, technology, and assumptions as well as providing a forum for engaging with the DIP team to pose questions and provide feedback on proposed designs. Engagement with the broader aviation community is a critical component to success of the DIP sub-project!

There will be several workshops within this series spanning a variety of topics. Participants are encouraged to sign up for any workshop topics they feel they could contribute to or provide feedback on.

Please keep an eye on the DIP homepage, under the upcoming events section, for future announcements of additional workshop topics!

Workshop #3: DIP for Flight Operators and Consumers

This workshop will cover topics related to Service Providers. Participants will get a look at how the DIP architecture supports the onboarding process as well as how NASA services are planned to be made available via the platform.

The DIP for Service Providers is intended to cover how DIP was envisioned with regards to the following:

• Consumer Onboarding
• How to find and invoke services
• Showcase Demos
  • Data integration services
  • Data analytics using ML/AI technologies
  • Progression of CDDR capabilities
• Performance Metrics
• Tech Dev Plan and Schedule updates
• Q/A

Who Should Register?

Participants interested in partnering with DIP and consuming services from the DIP platform are highly encouraged to attend this workshop. This is a unique opportunity for the aviation community to provide feedback and input on how this platform is structured to meet your needs.

Data and service consumers as well as data and service providers are encouraged to attend this workshop to provide their feedback and input for DIP development.

Participants looking to gain insight into upcoming DIP demonstrations or to learn more about DIP are encouraged to attend this workshop.

Resources

• Presentation slides
• Session Recording
• Request materials via email (arc-dip-ext@mail.nasa.gov)

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Career Exploration: Using Ingenuity and Innovation to Create ‘Memory Metals’

Othmane Benafan is a NASA engineer whose work is literally reshaping how we use aerospace materials — he creates metals that can shape shift. Benafan, a materials research engineer at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, creates metals called shape memory alloys that are custom-made to solve some of the most pressing challenges of space exploration and aviation.

“A shape memory alloy starts off just like any other metal, except it has this wonderful property: it can remember shapes,” Benafan says. “You can bend it, you can deform it out of shape, and once you heat it, it returns to its shape.”

An alloy is a metal that’s created by combining two or more metallic elements. Shape memory alloys are functional metals. Unlike structural metals, which are fixed metal shapes used for construction or holding heavy objects, functional metals are valued for unique properties that enable them to carry out specific actions.

NASA often needs materials with special capabilities for use in aircraft and spacecraft components, spacesuits, and hardware designed for low-Earth orbit, the Moon, or Mars. But sometimes, the ideal material doesn’t exist. That’s where engineers like Benafan come in.

“We have requirements, and we come up with new materials to fulfill that function,” he said. The whole process begins with pen and paper, theories, and research to determine exactly what properties are needed and how those properties might be created. Then he and his teammates are ready to start making a new metal.

“It’s like a cooking show,” Benafan says. “We collect all the ingredients — in my case, the metals would be elements from the periodic table, like nickel, titanium, gold, copper, etc. — and we mix them together in quantities that satisfy the formula we came up with. And then we cook it.”

These elemental ingredients are melted in a container called a crucible, then poured into the required shape, such as a cylinder, plate, or tube. From there, it’s subjected to temperatures and pressures that shape and train the metal to change the way its atoms are arranged every time it’s heated or cooled.

Shape memory alloys created by Benafan and his colleagues have already proven useful in several applications. For example, the Shape Memory Alloy Reconfigurable Technology Vortex Generator (SMART VG) being tested on Boeing aircraft uses the torque generated by a heat-induced twisting motion to raise and lower a small, narrow piece of hardware installed on aircraft wings, resulting in reduced drag during cruise conditions. In space, the 2018 Advanced eLectrical Bus (ALBus) CubeSat technology demonstration mission included the use of a shape memory alloy to deploy the small satellite’s solar arrays and antennas. And Glenn’s Shape Memory Alloy Rock Splitters technology benefits mining and geothermal applications on Earth by breaking apart rocks without harming the surrounding environment. The shape memory alloy device is wrapped in a heater and inserted into a predrilled hole in the rock, and when the heater is activated, the alloy expands, creating intense pressure that drives the rock apart.

Benafan’s fascination with shape memory alloys started after he immigrated to the United States from Morocco at age 19. He began attending night classes at the Valencia Community College (now Valencia College), then went on to graduate from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. A professor did a demonstration on shape memory alloys and that changed Benafan’s life forever. Now, Benafan enjoys helping others understand related topics.
 
“Outside of work, one of the things I like to do most is make technology approachable to someone who may be interested but may not be experienced with it just yet. I do a lot of community outreach through camps or lectures in schools,” he said.
 
He believes a mentality of curiosity and a willingness to fail and learn are essential for aspiring engineers and encourages others to pursue their ideas and keep trying.

“You know, we grow up with that mindset of falling and standing up and trying again, and that same thing applies here,” Benafan said. “The idea is to be a problem solver. What are you trying to contribute? What problem do you want to solve to help humanity, to help Earth?”

To learn more about the wide variety of exciting and unexpected jobs at NASA, check out the Surprisingly STEM video series.

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NASA Welcomes Community, Astronauts to Marshall’s 65th Anniversary Celebration July 19

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center invites the community to help celebrate the center’s 65th anniversary during a free public event noon to 5 p.m. CDT Saturday, July 19, at The Orion Amphitheater in Huntsville, Alabama.

Marshall, along with its partners and collaborators, will fill the amphitheater with space exhibits, music, food vendors, and hands-on activities for all ages. The summer celebration will mark 65 years of innovation and exploration, not only for Marshall, but for Huntsville and other North Alabama communities.

“Our success has been enabled by the continuous support we receive from Huntsville and the North Alabama communities, and this is an opportunity to thank community members and share some of our exciting mission activities,” Joseph Pelfrey, director of NASA Marshall, said.

Some NASA astronauts from Expedition 72 who recently returned from missions aboard the International Space Station will participate in the celebratory event.  The Expedition 72 crew dedicated more than 1,000 combined hours to scientific research and technology demonstrations aboard the space station and crew members in attendance will share their experiences in space.

“Every day, our Marshall team works to advance human spaceflight and discovery, such as working with our astronauts on the International Space Station.” Pelfrey said. “We are honored Expedition 72 crew members will join us to help commemorate our 65-year celebration.”

The anniversary event will also include remarks from Pelfrey, other special presentations, and fun for the whole family.

Learn more about this free community event at:

https://www.nasa.gov/marshall65

Lance D. Davis
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. 
256-640-9065 
lance.d.davis@nasa.gov

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