April 24, 2024 - No. 17


In This Issue 

: Boeing Pushes Back on Whistleblower’s Allegations About Potential of Planes Breaking Apart During Flight

; XB-1 to Mach 1 

: Ain't No Stopping Us Now: CFM's RISE Program Gaining Momentum 

: Lincoln-based facility training airplane mechanics 

: K-State Salina launches Aviation Maintenance Certification — 10 spots have full scholarships

: DARPA’S GROUNDBREAKING “ACE” PROGRAM AND X-62A BECOMES FIRST AI-CONTROLLED JET TO DOGFIGHT AGAINST MANNED F-16 IN REAL-WORLD

: SMS Final Rule Issued

: NASA VETERAN’S PROPELLANTLESS PROPULSION DRIVE THAT PHYSICS SAYS SHOULDN’T WORK JUST PRODUCED ENOUGH THRUST TO OVERCOME EARTH’S GRAVITY

: Florida Fish and Wildlife officers wrangle alligator on MacDill Air Force Base tarmac


 


Boeing Pushes Back on Whistleblower’s Allegations About Potential of Planes Breaking Apart During Flight

Boeing employees walk the new Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner down towards the delivery ramp area at the company's facility after conducting its first test flight at Charleston International Airport on North Charleston, S.C.on March 31, 2017.Mic Smith—AP

BY DAVID KOENIG / AP
APRIL 17, 2024 2:53 PM EDT

Boeing is defending the integrity of the fuselages on two of its largest planes, which have come under criticism from a whistleblower who warns that panels on the outside of one of the planes could eventually break apart during flight.

Two Boeing engineering executives went into detail Monday to describe how panels are fitted together, particularly on the 787 Dreamliner. They suggested the 787's carbon-composite skin is nearly impervious to metal fatigue that weakens conventional aluminum fuselages.

Their comments during a lengthy media briefing served as both a response to news reports last week about the whistleblower's allegations and a preemptive strike before he testifies to a congressional panel on Wednesday.
 
The whistleblower, Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour, said excessive force was applied to fit panels together on the 787 assembly line, raising the risk of fatigue, or microscopic cracking in the material that could cause it break apart.

The Boeing officials described how sections of a fuselage are brought together, shims are added to fill gaps, holes are drilled and cleaned, and fasteners attached to apply “pull-up force” that 99% of the time results in margins no greater than .005 inches (0.127 millimeters) apart — the width of a human hair, they said. A gap problem was discovered in 2019 between two panels, which led to design and assembly changes, they said.

Boeing conducted testing replicating 165,000 flights with no findings of fatigue in the composite structure, Steve Chisholm, Boeing's vice president of structural engineering, said. The average 787 makes 600 flights a year, he said.

The company said planes already in use are proving safe. Chisholm said 671 Dreamliners have undergone the intensive inspections for 6-year-old planes and eight have undergone 12-year inspections with no evidence of fatigue in the composite skins.

Cracks have been found on metallic parts, including a piece above where the wings join the fuselage, and Boeing issued inspection guidelines for those parts, the officials said.

The 787 Dreamliner is a two-aisle plane that has often been used on international flights since its debut in 2011. The composite material makes the plane lighter, contributing to better fuel efficiency.

A series of battery fires briefly grounded the planes. Deliveries of the aircraft have been stopped at times because of questions about gaps between fuselage panels that were wider than Boeing’s standards allowed, the use of unapproved titanium parts from a supplier in Italy, and flaws in a pressure bulkhead.

The Federal Aviation Administration must inspect and approve each 787 that rolls off the assembly line before it can be flown to an airline customer.

The whistleblower Salehpour claims that after he raised safety concerns about the 787, Boeing transferred him to work on an older widebody plane, the 777. He told the Seattle Times that he saw workers jumping on fuselage panels to get them in alignment, which Boeing disputes.

The New York Times reported that the FAA is investigating Salehpour’s claims. The FAA, while not commenting specifically on Salehpour, said it investigates all safety reports.

Boeing says it is “fully confident” in both planes.

Salehpour is the latest in a line of Boeing whistleblowers to come forward, often alleging retaliation for raising safety concerns. The company said it encourages employees to speak up about problems.

Lisa Fahl, the vice president of engineering for Boeing airplane programs, said employee reports have “exploded” — with as many reports in January and February as were filed in all of 2023 — “which is what we want.”



 

 


XB-1 to Mach 1

Note: See many photos in the original article.

FAA issues first-of-its-kind authorization to XB-1 for supersonic test flights, planned for later this year in the Black Mountain Supersonic Corridor in Mojave, CA.

Today, XB-1 secured the first-ever Special Flight Authorization (SFA) to Exceed Mach 1 from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). XB-1 test flights will continue to be conducted in the R-2508 Complex and supersonic operations will occur in the Black Mountain Supersonic Corridor and in a portion of the High Altitude Supersonic Corridor within the R-2515 airspace, which has been used extensively for research and military supersonic aeronautical operations. XB-1’s SFA follows a thorough review and Environmental Assessment, and extends to specified chase plane aircraft, which will trail XB-1 to observe, monitor, and record safety of flight.

The SFA comes just weeks after XB-1, the world’s first independently developed supersonic jet, took flight at the Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, California on March 22, 2024. XB-1 was flown by Boom Chief Test Pilot Bill “Doc” Shoemaker, and Test Pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg flew the T-38 chase aircraft which monitored XB-1 in the air. XB-1’s first flight occurred in the same airspace that hosted many historic first flights, including the flights of the Bell X-1, the North American X-15, and the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.

“Following XB-1’s successful first flight, I’m looking forward to its historic first supersonic flight,” said Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic. “We thank the Federal Aviation Administration for supporting innovation and enabling XB-1 to continue its important role of informing the future of supersonic travel.” 

Now that XB-1 has successfully completed its first flight and received authorization to fly supersonic, the team will systematically expand the flight envelope to confirm its performance and handling qualities through and beyond Mach 1. This includes in-flight checks of all systems, as well as multiple test points demonstrating safe margin to flutter (vibration) boundaries. There are a total of 10-20 flights planned before reaching supersonic speeds. 

When XB-1 is ready for its first supersonic flight, Test Pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenberg will be at the controls. Geppetto flew the T-38 chase aircraft which monitored XB-1 in the air during its inaugural flight. Chase planes accompany new aircraft to observe how the test plane is handling and verify things like altitude, airspeed, and airworthiness during flight. Geppetto is a graduate of the United States Naval Test Pilot School and TOPGUN Adversary. He has completed 2500 total flight hours in 30 different aircraft and executed over 200 carrier arrested landings. He tested new systems on the F/A18 Super Hornet before they were released to the fleet. 

“Being in the air with XB-1 during its maiden flight is a moment I will never forget,” said Geppetto on XB-1’s first flight. “The team has been working hard to get to this point, and seeing today’s flight through mission completion is a huge accomplishment for all of us.”

Currently, the team is looking forward to the second flight, where the landing gear will be retracted and extended. 

“We anticipate taking it up to 16 degrees AOA (angle of attack), and will also evaluate the sideslip which will expand the envelope in order to give us a little bit more margin on a nominal landing. It will also be the first time the ‘dampers’—or stability augmentation system—is used,” says Brandenburg. 

The third flight will evaluate XB-1’s flutter excitation system. Flutter is a self-excited instability which can occur because of interactions between aerodynamic and inertial forces. 

“Right now, the plan is multiple supersonic flights. We plan to do Mach 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 on the first three. The reason for that is each one of those points takes so much airspace that you only have time to do one of them, so we will be on condition for several minutes, we’ll get a flying qualities and handling qualities block, and have to come back home,” says Brandenburg. 

R-2508 Complex & Designated Supersonic Airspace
The Mojave Air & Space Port, where XB-1 flight testing will continue at, sits adjacent to the largest single area of overland Special Use Airspace in the United States, designated the R-2508 Complex. The R-2508 Complex includes all the airspace used and managed by Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, and Edwards Air Force Base. This region is the proving grounds for the aerospace industry, where an aircraft broke the sound barrier for the first time in 1947 and where speed and altitude records are set. XB-1’s supersonic operations will occur in the Black Mountain Supersonic Corridor and in a portion of the High Altitude Supersonic Corridor above Edwards Air Force Base (R-2515 airspace), which has been used extensively for research and military supersonic aeronautical operations. 

The first flight of XB-1 marked the return of a civil supersonic aircraft to the skies 20 years after Concorde’s retirement, and paved the way for the revival of supersonic travel onboard Overture, the world’s fastest airliner — optimized for speed, safety, and sustainability. With every milestone and test flight, we bring the world closer to mainstream commercial supersonic flight, which will make the world dramatically more accessible for all. 

 


 

 


Ain't No Stopping Us Now: CFM's RISE Program Gaining Momentum
April 22, 2024 | by Dianna Delling
  
“We are at a stage of the program in which we’re doing real testing on real hardware and making real progress.”

Mohamed Ali, vice president and general manager of engineering for GE Aerospace, was speaking about the CFM Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines (RISE) program at GE Investor Day in New York last month. And his words describe the venture’s current phase precisely. As the RISE program’s game-changing technologies evolve from promising design concepts to functioning components and systems, the pace of testing is accelerating.

“It’s full speed ahead for the RISE program in 2024,” says Arjan Hegeman, general manager of advanced technology for GE Aerospace. “It’s a period of innovation unlike anything GE Aerospace has seen before.” 

Unveiled in 2021 by CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines, the RISE program is advancing technologies to support flight that aims to be 20% more fuel efficient with 20% lower carbon emissions than current commercial engines. It’s a formidable challenge, and one that’s critical to meeting the aviation industry’s long-term climate goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 for commercial flight. More than 100 tests have been completed so far.

Case in point: tests on the program’s next-generation high-pressure turbine, which were recently conducted in a demonstrator engine at GE Aerospace headquarters in Evendale, Ohio, confirmed that it can deliver significant fuel efficiency improvement and increased durability. “It demonstrated a generational step-change improvement in our turbine component cooling technology,” Hegeman says. The technology will be useful in the compact core GE Aerospace is developing for the RISE program through NASA’s Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC) program, which has so far focused on high-pressure compressor and high-pressure turbine advanced aerodynamics, along with work on the combustor.

GE Aerospace is also working with NASA and Boeing on the U.S. space agency’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) program, which seeks to prove the feasibility of hybrid electric flight for commercial aircraft. In 2022, working with NASA, the company was the first to test a multi-kilovolt, megawatt-class hybrid electric power system in conditions simulating altitudes up to 45,000 feet. Hybrid electric systems continue to be tested this year at GE Aerospace’s EPISCenter facility at the University of Dayton.

A GE Aerospace F110 engine being used in high-pressure turbine testing.
RISE program technologies are being developed for compatibility with alternative energy sources as well. To date, GE Aerospace and its joint ventures have tested 10 different aircraft engine models using 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to evaluate engine performance, as well as the impact of 100% SAF on contrails and emissions.

Meanwhile, testing of the RISE program’s much-anticipated open fan engine architecture continues. In Modane, France, in January, Safran Aircraft Engines and the country’s aerospace research center ONERA (Office National d’Études et de Recherches Aérospatiales) began wind-tunnel tests of a one-fifth-scale replica of the unducted engine prototype. Speaking to journalists in February before the Singapore Air Show, Pierre Cottenceau, Safran’s vice president of engineering, research, and technology, said around two-thirds of the first 200 hours of aerodynamics and acoustics testing has been completed. “Generally, we are very happy with the results,” he added.

The wind-tunnel tests follow simulations completed in 2023 on the world’s fastest supercomputer. To simulate air movement of a full-scale open fan design with intricate detail, GE Aerospace created computational fluid dynamics software capable of running on Frontier, the supercomputer maintained at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which has the processing power of roughly 37,000 GPUs and can make more than a quintillion calculations per second. 

Such sophisticated testing of the technologies at work in the RISE program will keep pace in 2024. Hegeman anticipates a year of steady growth. “With many more activities from the front to the back of the engine,” he says, “all advancing towards full ground and flight demonstrators, we are excited to share more updates as things progress.”


 




Lincoln-based facility training airplane mechanics

Airlines have been experiencing a shortage of airplane workers, and Commute Air, is doing something to address that problem here in Lincoln.
By Kendall Lanier
Published: Apr. 19, 2024 at 1:54 PM CDT

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - Many things have changed since Covid, including how many people are available to work as mechanics on airplanes.

For a while now, airlines have been experiencing a shortage of airplane workers, and one company, CommuteAir, is doing something to address that problem here in Lincoln.

When you’re on a plane you only see a fraction of what goes into keeping it in the air. However, there’s much more that happens behind the scenes, and that’s why apprentices take 30 months of training before taking a certification test.

“It’s been pretty positive, I enjoy working on an aircraft, I enjoy working with my hands in general,” said Joshua Nelson, CommuteAir Apprentice.

Joshua Nelson has been in the United Express CommuteAir apprentice program for six months now and is learning more each day to prepare him to become certified to work on planes.

“We’re introducing people to a trade that a lot of people don’t know exists,” said Aaron Hall, with CommuteAir.

During Covid, many people who worked on planes were laid off, and didn’t return.

This created the need for additional workers. The apprentice program has existed for about a year-and-a-half for that reason.

“If you want to stay with us awesome, if you want to go on down the road, you’re more than welcome to, but you have that ticket that says you’re a certified mechanic and you’re gold right now in industry standard,” said Shaun Krzycki with CommuteAir.

The training is detailed and precise, as working on planes is a task that comes with responsibility.

“The problem with having a shortage is people start to cut corners and the more corners you cut the more safety accidents you have,” said Krzycki. “My philosophy is it has to be safe enough to put my wife and kids on it.”
In addition to Lincoln, there are various training sites across the country.

CommuteAir hosted an open house Thursday to attract more people to the program.

“You get to build a career not just a job,” said Krzycki.

For the first time in Lincoln, CommuteAir will host heat checks which is a routine maintenance cycle for planes requiring breaking down and putting it back together driving even more traffic to Lincoln.

Heat checks will start in June, which the CommuteAir apprentices will be a part of.


 


K-State Salina launches Aviation Maintenance Certification — 10 spots have full scholarships
Posted Apr 16, 2024 8:33 AM



K-State Salina is launching the Aviation Maintenance Certification Program, a 34-week program that prepares participants to be career-ready by completion. The first 10 registrants will receive a full scholarship covering the cost of the program.

With the ongoing industry demand for aviation maintenance professionals, Kansas State University Salina is launching the Aviation Maintenance Certification Program to help upskill those looking to elevate their careers.

Thanks to SPARK grant funding from the state of Kansas, K-State Salina is offering full scholarships to help cover any financial burdens for those wanting a fresh-start in their careers or newly graduated high school seniors to gain the necessary skills to become certified aircraft mechanics in training led by world-class aviation maintenance faculty experts.The new Airframe certification program is 34 weeks in length and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. The training will delve into a cutting-edge curriculum that offers in-depth insights into aircraft operations, alongside advanced training in repair, maintenance and inspection technologies. The course is broken up into three modules that will educate in general knowledge, airframe structures and airframe systems.

Participants in the Aviation Maintenance Certification Program will develop the knowledge and skills necessary to be career-ready by completion. A myriad of professions demand this credential, including aircraft mechanic, avionics technician, aircraft inspector, quality control inspector and more.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates a shortfall of 12,800 aircraft mechanics annually over the next decade, making training like the Aviation Maintenance Certification Program at K-State Salina critical to keeping aircraft around the world airworthy.To be eligible for the Aviation Maintenance Certification Program, students must be at least 18 years of age, be able to read, write, speak and understand English; and comply with the Code of Federal Regulations regarding eligibility of mechanics.The program goes from May 20, 2024 to February 14, 2025, including breaks and holidays. Classes will be held Monday through Friday each week from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at the K-State Salina campus. Those interested in the program must sign up by May 1. Ten scholarships are available covering 100% of the program's registration fee, which does not include meals, travel and lodging. A waitlist will be implemented for those who register after.

More program information and registration is at the Aviation Maintenance Certification Program website.

K-State Salina launches Aviation Maintenance Certification — 10 spots have full scholarships
 

DARPA’S GROUNDBREAKING “ACE” PROGRAM AND X-62A BECOMES FIRST AI-CONTROLLED JET TO DOGFIGHT AGAINST MANNED F-16 IN REAL-WORLD
TIM MCMILLAN·
APRIL 17, 2024

In an unprecedented achievement, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), in collaboration with the U.S. Air Force, has announced that through its “ACE” program the X-62A “VISTA” has become the first autonomous fighter jet in the world to successfully engage in aerial dogfighting maneuvers against a manned F-16. 

This historic event marks a significant milestone in applying artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in combat scenarios, highlighting a radical advancement in military aviation technology.

“The X-62A Team demonstrated that cutting-edge machine learning-based autonomy could be safely used to fly dynamic combat maneuvers,” Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said in a video released by DARPA marking the achievement. The team accomplished this while complying with American norms for safe and ethical use of autonomous technology.” 

The X-62A’s recent accomplishment represents a major breakthrough in DARPA’s Air Combat Evolution, or “ACE” program. The primary goal of ACE is to enhance trust in autonomous combat systems by focusing on the challenge of enabling an AI-controlled aircraft to engage in fast, within-visual-range aerial combat, commonly referred to as “dogfighting.”  

Since its inception in 2019, the ACE program has rapidly reached several key milestones, marking a significant departure from the usual lengthy timelines associated with developing advanced aerospace platforms. 

In 2020, DARPA’s ACE program hosted the “AlphaDogFight” trials, a three-day virtual competition where AI programs from various industry partners competed in simulated dogfight scenarios. Maryland-based software company Heron Systems emerged as the winner, outperforming seven other AI agents designed to control F-16s. These competing programs included entries from major defense firms such as Lockheed Martin and the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

Heron Systems’ F-16 AI agent would then go on to dominate a series of dogfights against an experienced human Air Force F-16 pilot, “winning 5-0 through aggressive and precise maneuvers the human pilot couldn’t outmatch.” In 2021, Heron Systems was acquired by Shield AI, a San Diego-based technology company that specializes in the development of AI-powered defense systems. 

The previously computer simulation-bound AI program was subsequently uploaded into a modified F-16D multirole fighter aircraft, known as the X-62A “Variable Stability In-flight Simulator Test Aircraft,” or VISTA. 

Developed by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in collaboration with Calspan Corporation, the X-62A is a one-of-a-kind experimental aircraft outfitted with software that allows it to mimic the performance characteristics of other aircraft. The VISTA is used as a testbed for new systems, notably contributing to the development of the Direct Voice Input and the “Virtual HUD,” which have been incorporated into the cockpit design of the F-35 Lightning II. 

During joint testing in 2022 at the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, DARPA’s ACE program and the Air Force Research Lab’s (AFRL) Autonomous Air Combat Operations (AACO) system successfully piloted the X-62A, racking up more than 17 hours of flight time while autonomously executing advanced fighter maneuvers. 

“We conducted multiple sorties [takeoffs and landings] with numerous test points performed on each sortie to test the algorithms under varying starting conditions, against various simulated adversaries, and with simulated weapons capabilities,” DARPA ACE program manager, Air Force Lt. Col. Ryan “Hal” Hefron, explained. “We didn’t run into any major issues but did encounter some differences compared to simulation-based results, which is to be expected when transitioning from virtual to live.”

In 2020, the Air Force tested an AI algorithm named “ARTUµ” to control the sensor and navigation systems of a U-2 “Dragon Lady” spy plane. However, the 2022 tests with the X-62A represented the first time a machine-learning program had ever been used to pilot a tactical fighter aircraft. 

Less than a year after these groundbreaking tests, the ACE program has achieved another significant milestone by showcasing the AI-controlled X-62A’s ability to successfully engage in real-world dynamic, offensive, defensive, and high-aspect air combat scenarios against crewed F-16s. 

According to DARPA, initial testing of the AI-controlled X-62A against human fighter pilots began in late 2023 and continued into 2024.  

“In September 2023 we accomplished another world first where we actually took the x62 and flew it against a live manned F-16,” Lieutenant Colonel Maryann Karlen, Deputy Commandant of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School explained. “We built up in safety using the Maneuvers first defensive, then offensive, and then high aspect nose to nose engagements where we got as close as 2,000 ft at 1200 miles-per-hour.” 

The recent announcement showcases the ACE program’s rapid progress from simulations to real-world applications and serves as a testament to machine learning’s potential to revolutionize air combat tactics and strategy.

The image of an autonomous, AI-controlled fighter jet engaging in dogfights with human-piloted aircraft is bound to capture widespread public attention. However, at the core of this breakthrough lies the significant advancement of machine learning technologies and their ability to handle a spectrum of highly complex tasks.

Machine learning stands apart from traditional, rule-based autonomous systems in its ability to learn and adapt from vast streams of data. Unlike pre-programmed systems that operate within strict parameters, AI algorithms like those developed in DARPA’s ACE program autonomously analyze data to make real-time decisions during flight. This capability mirrors how human pilots react instinctively to dynamic combat scenarios, continually learning and adjusting tactics based on experience.
A crucial aspect of integrating AI into practical aviation scenarios is establishing trust. DARPA says the ACE program has made significant strides in this area by ensuring the AI agents controlling the X-62A operate within aviation safety norms. These include aerial and ground collision avoidance protocols, adherence to combat rules, and ensuring the AI’s decision-making process aligns with human safety and ethical standards.


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“While the X-62 unique safety features have been instrumental in allowing us to take elevated technical risk,” explained James Valpiani, Commandant of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School Colonel, “with these machine learning agents in this test campaign, there were no violations of the training rules which codify the airmen’s safety and ethical norms, demonstrating the potential that machine learning has for future aerospace applications.” 

Given the recent success in testing with the X-62A, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall recently revealed he was planning to personally fly on the autonomous-controlled aircraft at some point this year. 

“I’m going to get a ride in an autonomously flown F-16 later this year,” said Kendall at an April senate hearing on the Air Force’s 2025 budget. “There will be a pilot with me who will just be watching, as I will be, as the autonomous technology works. Hopefully, neither he nor I will be needed to fly the airplane.”

As Kendall mentioned, DARPA has highlighted that while the X-62A conducts fully autonomous flights, it still carries two human pilots. These pilots monitor aircraft systems and can switch between AI agents to evaluate performance. They are also prepared to take control of the aircraft at any moment to maintain safety during tests.

Ultimately, the rapid success of DARPA’s ACE program underscores the shift in how future air combat will be conducted. It potentially introduces a new era where AI can be trusted to handle complex decisions in high-stakes environments and reduce human pilots’ risks in combat scenarios.

The implications of this breakthrough in machine learning additionally extend beyond military applications to potential adaptations in other sectors, including civilian aerospace. By demonstrating AI’s capability to handle intricate tasks under extreme conditions, the ACE program could pave the way for future applications where AI can enhance safety, efficiency, and reliability in commercial and military systems.

In DARPA’s announcement, Bill Gray, the Chief Test Pilot at the USAF Test Pilot School, underscored the importance of these recent advances and their potential to herald more robust AI-enhanced systems in scenarios previously considered too hazardous for automation.

“It’s very easy to look at the X-62 Ace Program and see it as under autonomous control [and] it can dogfight. That misses the point,” Gray said. Dogfighting was the problem to solve so we could start testing autonomous artificial intelligent systems in the air. But every lesson we’re learning applies to every task you could give to an autonomous system.” 


 


SMS Final Rule Issued
By Russ Niles
Published: April 23, 2024

The FAA has issued a final rule requiring charter, air tour operators and many manufacturers to develop and maintain safety management systems. The agency said last fall that it would make the requirement, and it sent the final rule to the Federal Register on Monday. “Requiring more aviation organizations to implement a proactive approach to managing safety will prevent accidents and save lives,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement. Airlines have required SMSs since 2018, and the FAA required airports to have them last year. Most other countries have implemented similar rules for the majority of their aviation industries.

Safety management systems entail four major components: safety policy, safety risk management, safety assurance, and safety promotion. By formalizing the company’s attitude toward and implementation of safety protocols, SMSs help companies recognize and address safety issues before they become crises. “SMS provides a means for a structured, repeatable, systematic approach to proactively identify hazards and manage safety risk,” the agency said in a news release. “By incorporating SMS, these aviation organizations will be better able to develop and implement mitigations that are appropriate to their specific environment and operations.”  


 


NASA VETERAN’S PROPELLANTLESS PROPULSION DRIVE THAT PHYSICS SAYS SHOULDN’T WORK JUST PRODUCED ENOUGH THRUST TO OVERCOME EARTH’S GRAVITY
CHRISTOPHER PLAIN
APRIL 19, 2024

Dr. Charles Buhler, a NASA engineer and the co-founder of Exodus Propulsion Technologies, has revealed that his company’s propellantless propulsion drive, which appears to defy the known laws of physics, has produced enough thrust to counteract Earth’s gravity.

A veteran of such storied programs as NASA’s Space Shuttle, the International Space Station (ISS), The Hubble Telescope, and the current NASA Dust Program, Buhler and his colleagues believe their discovery of a fundamental new force represents a historic breakthrough that will impact space travel for the next millennium.
 
“The most important message to convey to the public is that a major discovery occurred,” Buhler told The Debrief. “This discovery of a New Force is fundamental in that electric fields alone can generate a sustainable force onto an object and allow center-of-mass translation of said object without expelling mass.”
“There are rules that include conservation of energy, but if done correctly, one can generate forces unlike anything humankind has done before,” Buhler added. “It will be this force that we will use to propel objects for the next 1,000 years… until the next thing comes.”

THE SERENDIPITY OF DISCOVERING THE PROPELLANTLESS PROPULSION DRIVE
To document his team’s discovery as well as the process behind their work, which Dr. Buhler cautions is in no way affiliated with NASA or the U.S. Government, the outwardly amiable researcher presented his findings at a recent Alternative Propulsion Energy Conference (APEC). Filled with both highly-credentialed career engineers and propulsion hobbyists, APEC is an organization The Debrief once referred to as the World’s Most Exclusive (And Strange) Anti-Gravity Club.

Cover image of Dr. Buhler’s APEC Presentation. Image Credit: Exodus Propulsion Technologies, Buhler et al.

In conjunction with that presentation, “The Discovery of Propellantless Propulsion: The Direct Conversion of Electrical Energy into Physical Thrust,” Dr. Buhler also sat down with APEC co-founder and moderator Tim Ventura to explain how his past in electrostatics, which is his primary area of expertise, ended up being a key component of his discovery of this new force.

“You are NASA’s subject matter expert in electrostatics,” Ventura clarified in the first part of the interview. “So, if anyone would know about conventional explanations for anomalous measurements (for the measured thrust), it would be you, right?”
“That’s true,” Buhler conceded with an outwardly humble shrug.

A quick look at Dr. Buhler’s background confirms that he is indeed one of NASA’s top experts in electrostatics. In addition to overseeing the management of electrostatic discharge (ESD) and ESD safety for the Space Shuttle, the ISS, and Hubble, Dr. Buhler also established NASA’s Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory at Kennedy Space Center.

His Exodus Propulsion Technologies team is equally impressive. According to a slide from his APEC presentation, “the Team consists of a mix of engineers and scientists from NASA, Blue Origin, Air Force, ExxonMobil as well as successful legal and businessmen.”
Somewhat surprisingly, Buhler says that when he and his colleagues first began looking into propellantless propulsion ideas over two decades ago, they did not expect electrostatics to be the answer. Instead, he and his team explored other avenues for as many as 25 years before landing on electrostatics as the key to unlocking the door of this new force.

“Nature has its own way of doing things,” Buhler explained, “and it is our job to uncover what nature does. It just happened to fall into my lap in what I’m the expert in.”

THE DEVICE AND THE THRUST
Throughout his APEC presentation, Buhler highlights his team’s long chain of experiments, with a more detailed focus on the last decade. That in-depth account, which includes a lot of the mathematics behind what they discovered, not only shows how he and his team developed different models and configurations of their propellantless propulsion drive but also the significant breakthroughs many of these steps uncovered.

For example, from 2016 to the end of 2020, their best devices were producing a little more than one hundred thousandth of a gravity. In the coming years, that would go up exponentially. For clarification, Buhler told The Debrief that measuring thrust in terms of a percentage of gravity reflects the force generated divided by the test article.

“The aim is to approach and exceed unity,” he explained, “which means the article would generate enough thrust to lift itself in Earth’s gravity, and that’s defined as 1 gravity of thrust.”

Buhler says they commonly measured the forces in milliNewtons, but they prefer to describe the thrust in terms of gravity since that is the ultimate goal of propulsion physics.
“The highest we have generated on a stacked system is about 10 mN,” Buhler told The Debrief. “The magnitude is not important, really, since anything above zero would work in space!”

In the years and months leading up to the breakthrough thrust measurement, Buhler and his team took great care to methodically eliminate anything else that could account for the tiny yet measurable force they were seeing. This detailed and painstaking work resulted in the team’s overriding patent, which was granted in 2020.

With fresh momentum, Buhler says they also began construction of a custom-made vacuum chamber that would allow them to simulate the environment of deep space. If something else was causing the force, this chamber was built to identify it.

According to the APEC presentation, that chamber was completed at the end of 2020. Between January and September 2021, 146 separate articles were tested, each seemingly confirming the presence of measurable thrust. The team also tested different configurations that eliminated the old designs using asymmetrical capacitors and instead employed models with opposing asymmetrical plates.

This slide from Dr. Buhler’s APEC presentation shows the custom-made vacuum chamber built to test their propellantless Propulsion drive in a simulated space environment. Image Credit: Exodus Propulsion Technologies, Buhler, et al.

“Our materials are composed of many types of charge carrier coatings that have to be supported on a dielectric film,” Buhler told The Debrief. “Our aim is to make it as lightweight as possible, but that is sometimes difficult since the films and their coatings have to have a high dielectric breakdown strength.”

After employing these new designs, the next series of tests produced even more encouraging results. The team once again confirmed the thrust, but the new approach resulted in an order of magnitude jump to one ten-thousandth of a gravity. This was still not enough to leave the planet, but it was enough to know they were on the right track.

BREAKTHROUGH IN 2023 PRODUCES ONE GRAVITY OF THRUST
With an end seemingly within sight, the team immediately began to try newer and better designs. They continued to measure thrust while also pretty much ruling out every conventional explanation they could come up with. This was not anything they had ever measured before.

Then, in 2022, something astounding happened. According to Buhler, his team began to see significant jumps in the force being generated.

A quick look at a chart he presented to APEC shows that tests performed between early 2022 and November 2023 resulted in a rapid climb, moving from one thousandth, one hundredth, and even one-tenth of gravity all the way up to one full Earth gravity. This means that their current devices, which Buhler told The Debrief “weigh somewhere between 30-40 grams on their own” without the attached test equipment, were producing enough thrust to counteract the full force of one Earth gravity.

A slide from Dr. Buhler’s APEC presentation highlights just a few of the hundreds of tests his team ran on their propellantless propulsion drive between 2016 and 2023. Image Credit: Exodus Propulsion Technologies, Buhler, et al.

After decades of research, Buhler says he and his team had shown unequivocally that a new, fundamental force was at work and that his devices were tapping into that force to produce thrust without emitting any mass or propellant.

“Essentially, what we’ve discovered is that systems that contain an asymmetry in either electrostatic pressure or some kind of electrostatic divergent field can give a system of a center of mass a non-zero force component,” Buhler explained. “So, what that basically means is that there’s some underlying physics that can essentially place force on an object should those two constraints be met.”

EXODUS LOOKING TO PARTNER WITH OTHER PROPELLANTLESS PROPULSION DRIVE COMPANIES
While a potentially game-changing breakthrough, Dr Buhler’s team is not the first to claim the ability to generate thrust with only an electrical charge and no propellant. The Debrief previously covered some of the most notable entries, including the EM Drive and IVO LTD’s Quantum Drive.

Although the former has had its thrust confirmed by NASA Warp Drive specialist Harold G. “Sonny” White’s EagleWorks Lab and a second test in China, both of which still remain controversial, neither has yet to be tested in space. The Quantum Drive came close after a launch last November, but a failure in the satellite’s electrical systems unrelated to the drive scuttled that test before it could confirm the drive’s thrust.

When asked by The Debrief about competing companies working on similar propulsion concepts, Buhler said he believes his work could actually explain the effects some of these other concepts are seeing. However, he did concede that there is some concern that some of the more recent devices could violate his team’s patent.

A slide from Dr. Buhler’s APEC presentation highlights some of the other propelantless propulsion concepts and scientific mysteries that may be explained by his team’s findings. Image Credit: Exodus Propulsion Technologies, Buhler, et al.

“The thing that we worry about are the companies that have appeared out of nowhere after the patent came out and had instant success without the years of rigor and no acknowledgment of our patent,” he said.

Still, Buhler believes companies interested in this type of potential propulsion breakthrough should contact Exodus so he and his team can share their experience and expertise.

“Knowledge of gas breakdown, corona generation, brush discharges, streamers, glow discharges, plasma physics, etc., is usually too much for engineers to bear alone,” he told The Debrief, “and the number of experts in Electrostatics is very, very few.
“We hope companies will want to license our technology, which is mutually beneficial,” he added. “We can help their technology and gain some funding for our time to do so.”

If there are companies interested in working with Exodus Propulsion Technologies, Buhler asks that they contact him and his team via their LinkedIn page.

UNDERSTANDING THE PHYSICS IS A JOB FOR SCIENCE
Another unusual result from their tests was that sometimes the tested devices did not require a constant input of electrical charge to maintain their thrust. Given that the device already appears to violate the known laws of physics by creating thrust without propellant, this result even stumped Dr. Buhler and his team.

“We can see some of these things sit on a scale for days, and if they still have charge in them, they are still producing thrust,” he told Ventura. “It’s very hard to reconcile, from a scientific point of view because it does seem to violate a lot of energy laws that we have.”


 


Florida Fish and Wildlife officers wrangle alligator on MacDill Air Force Base tarmac
Florida authorities captured and relocated an alligator that made its way onto the tarmac at MacDill Air Force base. (Credit: MacDill Air Force Base)


 
Curt Lewis