NASA

NASA has successfully completed testing of a new high-aspect ratio wing for its X-57 Maxwell all-electric research aircraft. The goal of the wing tests, which took place at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, was to “calibrate installed strain gauges for real-time loads monitoring and to verify the wing has met design specifications.” The […]

The hardware for NASA’s Artemis 1 lunar mission is beginning to come together. According to NASA, the engine section of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is now assembled and ready to be joined to the rest of the SLS core stage. As shown in the video below, the engine section serves as the attachment […]

Clayton Turner has been selected as the next director of NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced Monday. Turner joined NASA in 1990 as a design engineer with the Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment project and has served as Langley’s deputy director since 2015. He will replace David Bowles, who is […]

NASA has announced the successful completion of in-flight testing on the eXternal Visibility System (XVS) for its X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft. According to NASA, the XVS “virtual window” forward-facing camera and display system creates “an augmented reality view of the X-59 pilot’s forward line-of-sight along with graphical flight data overlays.” The supersonic X-59 […]

NASA has moved to using 3D printing as a data-gathering method for a five-year research project on aircraft icing at the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. 3D printing techniques allow researchers to scan ice buildup and accurately reproduce it in materials that won’t melt. According to NASA, previous methods of mapping ice formations included […]

NASA is saying goodbye to two of its Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Lower Drag (Prandtl-D) aircraft. The aircraft design, which includes a twisted wing and no tail, has been used by student interns at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center for research, data collection and flight tests focusing on wing design optimization theories. Prandtl-D1 is […]

NASA completed a successful test of the launch abort system (LAS) on its Orion spacecraft at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Tuesday. The Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) test involved launching a test version of the Orion crew module on a modified Peacekeeper missile to an altitude of approximately 31,000 feet, at which point the […]

NASA officially reopened the newly restored Apollo Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, on Friday. In time to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, the historic center has been restored to appear as it did during that time period. In order to help […]

NASA and the FAA dropped a 33,000-pound Fokker F28 regional jet from more than 150 feet in the air as part of a crashworthiness test last week. Along for the ride were 24 crash dummies, designed to mimic a range of individuals from a 3-year-old child to a 273-pound adult. In addition to helping the […]

NASA’s all-electric X-plane has made significant progress toward its stated goal of “demonstrating innovative technology through electric-powered experimental flight,” the agency announced on Thursday. The X-57 Maxwell, a modified Tecnam P2006T, has been undergoing a series of phased modifications (“Mods”) in preparation for its first flight and eventual use as an electric propulsion research platform. […]