B.5 System-Wide Safety Project | NNH18ZEA001N SWS

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): NASA B.5 System-Wide Safety (SWS) Project (Amendment 3 to ROA-2018)

1) What is the B.5 System-Wide Safety (SWS) Project opportunity?

The B.5 System-Wide Safety (SWS) Project opportunity is a NASA Aeronautics research solicitation released as part of Amendment 3 to the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) Research Opportunities in Aeronautics 2018 (ROA-2018). It is posted in NASA's NSPIRES system under funding opportunity number NNH18ZEA001N and invites research proposals aligned with Appendix B.5.

2) What is the overall goal of this opportunity?

The overall goal is to help keep aviation extremely safe while the air transportation system rapidly evolves. NASA is seeking research that helps the safety framework keep pace with growing complexity and expansion, rather than relying on reacting only after problems emerge.

3) What does "system-wide safety" mean in this context?

"System-wide safety" refers to safety considerations and capabilities that look across the broader aviation system, not just a single aircraft or single operational element. The intent is to improve safety awareness and risk management across interconnected operations, vehicles, users, and infrastructure.

4) What does NASA mean by "in-time, system-wide safety"?

"In-time, system-wide safety" emphasizes detecting emerging hazards early enough to support timely decisions and mitigations. It is focused on proactive, predictive safety capabilities (real-time or near-real-time where applicable), rather than only conducting after-the-fact analysis following incidents or anomalies.

5) Why is NASA focusing on this topic now?

The solicitation highlights that aviation is becoming more complex while also expanding: more flights, more users, more vehicle types (including uncrewed and increasingly autonomous aircraft), and more advanced air traffic management (ATM) and avionics capabilities. NASA is looking for research that helps safety practices and evidence keep up with these changes.

6) What kinds of aviation changes are driving the need for SWS research?

The opportunity description points to multiple drivers: increasing operational scale (more flights), more diverse participants (more users), more diverse vehicle types (including uncrewed aircraft and aircraft with increasing autonomy), and more advanced ATM and avionics capabilities aimed at making aviation more efficient and accessible.

7) What are the research areas or subtopics covered?

The opportunity invites proposals across five subtopic areas contained in Appendix B.5. The provided notice summary does not list the titles or details of those five subtopics, but indicates that proposals must align to Appendix B.5 subtopic areas.

8) What technical capabilities does SWS emphasize?

SWS emphasizes expanded safety awareness and more proactive safety management, including: better access to relevant operational data; integrated analysis tools that combine multiple data sources; improved real-time or near-real-time hazard detection and alerting; and decision support that can recommend or automatically implement mitigation strategies.

9) What is meant by a "predictive and proactive" safety ecosystem?

In this solicitation, a predictive and proactive safety ecosystem is one that can identify risk trends forming across the broader aviation system and support interventions before those risks become incidents. This includes the ability to detect emerging hazards early and provide decision support for mitigations.

10) Is verification and validation (V and V) a major theme in this call?

Yes. A major thrust of this call is verification and validation (V and V) for next-generation aviation systems. NASA is specifically looking for cost-efficient methods that can provide defensible, justifiable confidence in safety claims for complex ATM and avionics designs.

11) What types of systems is NASA especially interested in for V and V research?

The focus includes complex air traffic management (ATM) and avionics designs, particularly those that are increasingly autonomous and may behave in non-deterministic ways. The description also highlights challenges tied to adaptive algorithms, autonomy, distributed decision-making, and complex interactions among multiple aircraft and infrastructure components.

12) What problem is NASA trying to solve with new V and V methods?

The notice explains that traditional certification and assurance approaches can become too slow, too expensive, or not well-matched to modern systems when autonomy, adaptivity, distributed decision-making, or complex system interactions are present. NASA is seeking tools and methods that can credibly demonstrate safety without relying solely on exhaustive conventional testing.

13) What does "justifiable confidence" mean as described in the notice?

As used in the notice, "justifiable confidence" refers to defensible confidence in safety claims for complex systems. It implies that proposed methods should support credible and supportable safety arguments even when full exhaustive testing is impractical due to complexity.

14) What kinds of deliverables or advances are expected from proposed research?

Proposed work is expected to advance tools and methods that can credibly demonstrate safety for complex next-generation ATM and avionics systems, including autonomous and potentially non-deterministic systems. The emphasis is on approaches that improve safety evidence and decision-making at system scale and in-time.

15) What funding mechanism does NASA anticipate using for awards?

Awards are anticipated in the form of cooperative agreements.

16) Who is offering this opportunity?

The opportunity is offered by NASA Headquarters as a discretionary science and technology research and development program under NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) research solicitation framework.

17) Where is the opportunity posted?

It is posted through NASA's NSPIRES system under funding opportunity number NNH18ZEA001N.

18) What is the eligibility for this opportunity?

Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning a wide range of applicant types may apply, consistent with NASA's standard research solicitation practices.

19) What is the CFDA / Assistance Listing number for this opportunity?

The CFDA (assistance listing) number associated with this opportunity is 43.002.

20) What are the key dates mentioned in the opportunity?

The notice indicates the opportunity was created on May 1, 2019. Notices of intent (NOIs) were due June 3, 2019, and full proposals were due July 16, 2019.

21) Are the award ceiling or number of awards stated?

The provided notice summary does not state an award ceiling or the expected number of awards.

22) What is the core safety vision behind SWS?

The core vision is to strengthen aviation safety by moving toward earlier detection of hazards and better system-level awareness, using improved access to operational data, integrated analytics, timely alerting, and decision support for mitigations. The intent is to preserve aviation's safety record as the system becomes more diverse and demanding.

23) Does this opportunity focus only on after-the-fact safety analysis?

No. The central technical focus is on in-time capabilities that detect hazards early enough to enable timely decisions and mitigations, rather than relying only on after-the-fact analysis.

24) What is meant by integrating multiple data sources?

The notice highlights integrated analysis tools that can combine multiple data sources to expand safety awareness. While it does not specify particular datasets, it emphasizes the ability to pull together relevant operational data to detect system-level risk trends and emerging hazards.

25) What is the connection between SWS and advanced ATM and avionics?

The solicitation links SWS to the evolution of advanced air traffic management and avionics capabilities and seeks safety approaches that can keep pace with these changes. It also specifically calls out the need for V and V approaches for complex ATM and avionics designs, including autonomous and non-deterministic behaviors.

26) What role do autonomy and non-determinism play in the research needs?

The notice points out that next-generation systems may be increasingly autonomous and may behave in non-deterministic ways. These characteristics can make traditional assurance approaches difficult, which is why NASA is seeking cost-efficient, defensible V and V methods suited to such systems.

27) What is the purpose of decision support and mitigation strategies in SWS?

Decision support is intended to help recommend or automatically implement mitigation strategies once emerging hazards are detected. This supports the overall goal of proactive safety management that can respond in time to prevent incidents.

28) What is the solicitation and amendment context for this opportunity?

This opportunity is part of Amendment 3 to the NASA ARMD Research Opportunities in Aeronautics 2018 (ROA-2018) solicitation. The SWS topics are contained in Appendix B.5 within that solicitation structure.