1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft completed its first maximum afterburner test at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California. This full-power test, during which the engine generates additional thrust, validates the additional power needed for meeting the testing conditions of the aircraft. […]
2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A model of the X-66 aircraft with a wingspan of almost 6 feet was placed in the 12-Foot Low-Speed Wind Tunnel at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia on October 30, 2024. During the tests, the team captured measurements of forces such as […]
2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA/Quincy Eggert The design and build of a unique NASA pod , produced to advance computer vision for autonomous aviation, was recently completed in-house at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, by using the center’s unique fabrication capabilities. The pod is called […]
The X-15 hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft, built by North American Aviation (NAA), greatly expanded our knowledge of flight at speeds exceeding Mach 6 and altitudes above 250,000 feet. A joint project among NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Navy, the X-15’s first powered flight took place on Sept. 17, 1959, at the Flight Research […]
3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) This artist concept shows a NASA-developed small-core jet engine installed in General Electric Aerospace’s CFM RISE jet engine design. The more fuel-efficient small core powers a large open turbofan, which also helps increase efficiency. The effort is part of NASA’s Sustainable Flight National Partnership […]
2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Drones in flight in downtown Reno, Nevada, during shakedown tests for NASA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management project, or UTM. The final phase of flight tests, known as Technical Capability Level 4, ran from May through August 2019 and studied how the UTM system […]
5 Min Read ‘Current’ Events: NASA and USGS Find a New Way to Measure River Flows The River Observing System (RiOS) tracking the motion of water surface features from above a section of the Sacramento River in Northern California in 2023. Credits: NASA/USGS/Joe Adams and Chris Gazoorian A team of scientists and engineers at NASA […]
3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A graphic representation of a laser communications relay between the International Space Station, the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration spacecraft, and the Earth. Credit: NASA/Dave Ryan A team at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland streamed 4K video footage from an aircraft to the International […]
2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The cockpit of an old MD-90 aircraft arrived at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, in March 2024. Parts will be used to build a simulator for NASA’s X-66, the demonstration aircraft for the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project. NASA/Steve Freeman NASA’s X-66 […]
4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Danielle Koch, an aerospace engineer at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, was honored by the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio as a 2024 Woman of Distinction. She accepted the award during a ceremony on May 16. Credit: Girl Scouts of North East […]
Phil Korpeck, a magniX test engineer, sets up a magni650 electric engine in preparation for a series of simulated altitude tests. These tests took place in April 2024 inside NASA’s Electric Aircraft Testbed facility. NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna At a simulated 27,500 feet inside an altitude chamber at NASA’s Electric Aircraft Testbed (NEAT) facility, engineers at magniX […]
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson delivers remarks during an event with Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to highlight how the agencies are making progress toward President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative, Thursday, March 21, 2024, in the Earth Information Center at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters […]
2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Artist’s concept of the X-66 aircraft that Boeing will produce through NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project. As NASA and Boeing enter the early stages of producing the X-66, the first X-plane specifically focused on helping the United States achieve net-zero aviation emissions by 2050, […]