Nat Blaesser

Nat Blaesser works in the Aeronautics Systems Analysis Branch, serving as the Deputy Lead to the Aero Concepts Incubator, the branch’s advanced concept team. Nat leads or researches advanced concept development of fixed-wing aircraft.

During his career at NASA, Nat has served as the PEGASUS concept team lead and RAVEN Co-PI, in addition to modeling numerous fixed-wing aircraft concepts. More recently, he has been working on topics related to Regional Air Mobility (RAM), including market maturation, energy infrastructure, and various technologies such as distributed electric propulsion, battery modeling, takeoff and landing estimations, and certification requirements.

Prior to coming to NASA, Nat was a systems engineer for In-space Propulsion, working on many commercial satellite systems and NASA’s Orion Crew Module Reaction Control System engines. 

Education/Professional Experience

• Ph.D., Virginia Tech
• M.S., UC Davis
• B.S., Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
• NASA Langley Research Center
• Aerojet Rocketdyne

Publications

• G. Martinez Rodriguez, N. Blaesser, “Sensitivity Analysis for Takeoff and Landing Distance Parameters for Regional Air Mobility (RAM) Aircraft”, AIAA Aviation, July 2024 AIAA 2024-3916
• N. Blaesser, Z. Frederick, I. Ordaz, F. Valdez, S. Jones, “Mission and Vehicle-Level Updates for the Parallel Electric-Gas Architecture with Synergistic Utilization Scheme (PEGASUS) Concept Aircraft” NASA Technical Memo, NASA TM-20240001480, March 2024
• N. Borer, N. Blaesser, M. Patterson, “Regulatory Considerations for Future Regional Air Mobility Aircraft” AIAA Aviation, San Diego CA, AIAA 2023-3294, June 2023
• T. Marien, N. Blaesser, Z. Frederick, M. Guynn, J. Kirk, K. Fisher, S. Schneider, R. Thacker, P. Frederic “Results for an Electrified Aircraft Propulsion Design Exploration” AIAA/IEEE Electric Aircraft Technologies Symposium, Virtual Event, AIAA 2021-3280, Aug. 2021
• Z. Frederick, N. Blaesser, F. Valdez, C. Hanson, “Weight and Balance Considerations for Electrified Aircraft Propulsion Applied to the Parallel Electric-Gas Architecture with Synergistic Utilization Scheme (PEGASUS) Concept” AIAA Aviation, Virtual Event, AIAA 2021-2449, Aug. 2021
• T. Marien, N. Blaesser, Z. Frederick, M. Guynn, J. Kirk, K. Fisher, S. Schneider, R. Thacker, P. Frederic “Methodology Used for an Electric Aircraft Propulsion Design Exploration” AIAA Aviation, Virtual Event, AIAA 2021-3191, Aug. 2021
• N. Blaesser and Z. Frederick “Tail Sizing Considerations for Wingtip Propulsor Driven Aircraft Applied to the Parallel Electric-Gas Architecture with Synergistic Utilization Scheme (PEGASUS) Concept” AIAA Aviation, Virtual Event, AIAA 2020-2633, June 2020
• N. Blaesser “Interference Drag Due to Engine Nacelle Location for a Single-Aisle, Transonic Aircraft”, Ph.D. Dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Dec. 2019
• F. Capristan and N. Blaesser “Analysis of the Parallel Electric-Gas Architecture with Synergistic Utilization Scheme (PEGASUS) Concept” NASA Technical Memo, NASA TM-2019-220396
• R. Thacker and N. Blaesser “Modeling of a Modern Aircraft Through Calibration Techniques” AIAA Aviation, Dallas TX, AIAA 2019-2984
• J. Quinlan, T. Marien, N. Blaesser, J. Kirk, H. Perkins, K. Fisher ”Far Term Exploration of Advanced Single-Aisle Subsonic Transport Aircraft Concepts”, AIAA Aviation, Dallas TX, AIAA 2019-2880
• N. Blaesser, J. Schetz, R. Kapania “Interference Drag Associated with Engine Locations for Multidisciplinary Design Optimization”, AIAA SciTech, San Diego, CA, AIAA 2019-0259
• N. Blaesser “Propeller-Wing Integration on the Parallel Electric-Gas Architecture with Synergistic Utilization Scheme (PEGASUS) Aircraft”, AIAA SciTech, San Diego, CA, AIAA 2019-1809
• ​​​​​​​E. Halberg, S. Robinson, R.  Onishi, N. Blaesser, “An ISS Space Ambulance Based on X-37B Technology”, AIAA Space Forum, Long Beach, CA, AIAA 2016-5476

Related Websites
LinkedIn profile