Summary of Independent Technical Reviews of the NASA Scoping Document for UAM Community Response Test Preparation

In April 2025, NASA's Langley Research Center requested Analytical Mechanics Associates (AMA) of Hampton, Virginia, under its Research, Science, and Engineering Services (RSES) contract (80LARC22R0003) to conduct independent technical reviews of a NASA-generated document defining the scope of a possible future multiyear technical challenge for the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission
Directorate (ARMD), Advanced Air Vehicle Program (AAVP), Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology (RVLT) project. This document was intended to serve as the basis for a white paper and subsequent AAVP tollgate review with start of execution early in FY26. A successful tollgate review is required for proposed AAVP technical challenges to move from the formulation to execution phase.

As indicated in the subsequent Statement of Work (SOW), NASA was working on a multiyear plan to formulate a technical methodology, develop needed analytical tools, and generate necessary data to inform subsequent efforts by the FAA Office of Environment and Energy (AEE-100) to develop a nationally representative long-term dose-response relationship for larger emerging technology aircraft (ETA),
i.e., urban air mobility (UAM) or air-taxis, vis-à-vis other aircraft noise. Such dose-response relationships are necessary to inform policy (e.g., land use and environmental) at the federal, state, and local levels, with consultations as needed.

The objective of the AMA task was to assemble up to three Independent Review Teams (IRTs) to provide technical reviews of the NASA-developed Scoping Document, provided in Appendix A, for preparation of an eventual UAM community response test(s). The test(s) itself was(were) envisioned for a time in the future when certificated UAM vehicles are flying commercial operations over populations for extended periods of time. The test(s) was(were) to be conducted in the U.S., but populations outside of the U.S. are also of interest. For planning purposes, NASA considered this to be starting in 2030, although there is much uncertainty associated with that timeframe.

Multiple reviews were sought to provide a range of perspectives. The Scoping Document contains three main categories of activities: one for dose-related activities, one for response-related activities, and one for other activities. Comprehensive reviews addressing all three categories of activities were to be conducted by each IRT.