After months of preparation, Metis Flight Research Associates (MFRA) is excited to have started the Simulation and Aircraft Services (SAS) task order support for the Simulation Development and Analysis Branch of the Research Services Directorate at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) in Hampton, Virginia.
The SAS task order provides full life cycle flight simulation software and hardware services and flight simulation infrastructure engineering services for LaRC ground-based and flight research systems and facilities. Hardware services include engineering, operations, and maintenance of the simulation hardware and software infrastructure. Infrastructure engineering services include modification of existing infrastructure, design and implementation of new infrastructure, and support for simulation operations and maintenance activities. The SAS task order support team is comprised of highly specialized flight simulation experts with valuable decades-long experience. “MFRA by all accounts executed one of the smoothest transitions I have experienced resulting in near 100% incumbent team capture. The operation is highly efficient and responsive to customer needs. I am very excited to have joined the MFRA team and the opportunity to serve NASA with applying highest customer service standards espoused by the company and its leadership.” said SAS Program Manager, Fred Miandoab.
NASA LaRC’s unique national research and development facilities are dedicated to providing researchers with high-fidelity environments in which to conduct simulation and flight research and to advance the state-of-the-art of simulation technology. The Flight Simulation Facilities are comprised of computing systems including the Real-Time Computer Systems, Computer Image Generation Systems, Computer Graphics Generation Systems, and Real-Time Network Systems; and the Cockpit Motion Facility (CMF), Development and Test Simulator, and Test and Evaluation Simulator. The CMF complex houses a state-of-the-art six-degree-of-freedom synergistic motion system, the Research Flight Deck Simulator, the Integration Flight Deck Simulator, and the Generic Flight Deck Simulator. All of the simulators in the CMF are capable of operating in a fixed-base mode or installed on the motion system. The Flight Simulation Facilities also include the Uninhabited Aircraft Systems Integration and Validation Laboratory, Research and Collaboration Facility, Base Research Station, and System Integration Laboratory. The flight simulators provide real-time, high fidelity, full mission, human-in-the-loop, and hardware-in-the-loop flight simulation environment and capabilities to conduct state-of-the-art, preeminent aerospace research.
In addition to the Flight Simulation Facilities, LaRC’s Simulation Development and Analysis Branch provides software and hardware development support to the research aircraft operated by the Research Services Directorate. These include the following aircrafts: Cirrus SR-22, LC40 Columbia 300, Gulfstream III, Dassault HU-25A, Beechcraft UC-12B, and Beechcraft B200. SDAB also provides development and flight tests support to UAS operations within and outside LaRC, such as the support for the City Environment Range Testing for Autonomous Integrated Navigation missions.
This independent task order service to NASA LaRC is provided as part of the NASA Ames Research Center’s SimLabs III contract, in line with the Agency’s Mission Support Architecture Program (MAP). NASA’s MAP plan envisions an enterprise-level procurement strategy where more centralized and standardized services, results in higher quality, accuracy, and flexibility at reduced cost for the Agency.
Founded in 2010, MFRA’s Managing Member Metis Technology Solutions provides science and engineering services to NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and other Federal agencies. Its capabilities and experience include spaceflight systems development and operations, modeling and simulation in support of aviation and aerospace research, satellite ground systems development, and sustaining engineering. Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Metis is a woman-owned small business providing critical support for space missions, satellite operations, and aeronautics-related work.