Vehicle design of a sharp CTV concept using a virtual flight rapid integration test environment

In an effort to improve the overall aerospace vehicle design process, a design environment that merges technologies from piloted simulations, computational fluid dynamics, wind-tunnel and flight test data is currently under development at NASA Ames Research Center. The specific objective of this project, entitled Virtual Flight Rapid Integration Test Environment, was to assess the role that piloted simulations can play in the conceptual design of advanced vehicles. As a result, a conceptual design study of a Crew Transfer Vehicle was undertaken to demonstrate this rapid turn-around process. This process included aerodynamic models generated from computational fluid dynamic methods, data validation from wind-tunnel testing, and a high fidelity pilot-inthe- loop motion-based flight simulation. These vehicles were designed using multi-point numerical optimization methods coupled with an Euler flow solver. A low-speed wind-tunnel test was conducted to validate the low-speed aerodynamics database. A piloted simulation experiment was conducted to evaluate the low-speed handling qualities of the various configurations in the approach and landing phase. Six astronaut pilots evaluated each of the configurations using Cooper-Harper ratings. The knowledge gained from the simulation data and pilot evaluations was quickly returned to the design team. From these findings, a new configuration was developed and cycled back through the simulation evaluation. This paper will summarize the design process of the Virtual Flight Rapid Integration Test Environment and discuss the results of the design study including the piloted simulation experiment.