NASA works on projects that often have never been done, or perhaps the way they are being done has never been tried. Living on the edge of innovation requires a high degree of risk. After organizational silence led to the loss of space shuttle Challenger and its crew in 1986, NASA vowed to change the … Read more
Several air taxi companies are using a NASA-developed computer software tool to predict aircraft noise and aerodynamic performance. This tool allows manufacturers working in fields related to NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility mission to see early in the aircraft development process how design elements like propellors or wings would perform. This saves the industry time and … Read more
NASA researchers are looking at the possibility of using a wingless, unpowered aircraft design from the 1960s to gather atmospheric data on other planets – doing the same work as small satellites but potentially better and more economically. John Bodylski, a principal investigator at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, hypothesized a lifting … Read more
Engineering is a huge field with endless applications. From aerospace to ergonomics, engineers play an important role in designing, building, and testing technologies all around us. We asked three engineers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley to share their experiences, from early challenges they faced in their careers to the day-to-day of … Read more
NASA has selected another five university teams to participate in real-world aviation research challenges that could help transform flight in the skies above our communities. NASA has selected another five university teams to participate in real-world aviation research challenges that could help transform flight in the skies above our communities. Research topics range from safeguarding … Read more
NASA has selected three university-led teams for the first round of a new technical challenge pursuing innovative aviation maintenance practices. These university teams will receive funding from NASA for a two-year research term exploring aviation maintenance challenges related to NASA’s strategic vision for aeronautics. The awardees will research new maintenance techniques and procedures, as well … Read more
Air taxis may become an important part of the U.S. transportation ecosystem, quickly carrying people relatively short distances – and eventually some may fly without a pilot aboard. NASA is helping prepare for that future with research to ensure that fully autonomous flight technology is safe. Currently, a NASA study team is evaluating how autonomous … Read more
This movie shows NASA’s X-43A demonstrating supersonic-combustion ramjet (scramjet) propulsion during two of its record-setting flights in 2004. Both flights, the first on Mar. 27 and the second on Nov. 16, 2004, demonstrated sustained thrust from the X-43A’s air-breathing scramjet engine, the first at nearly 5,000 mph, the second at nearly 7,000 mph, or almost … Read more