Page 1 - Aerotech News and Review, September 17, 2021

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NASA Armstrong marks 75 years of innovation

from sensors and people on the ground mph, and an unofficial altitude record
to gauge public perception. That data at the edge of space at 67 miles, or
will help regulators establish new rules 354,200 feet.
that may enable commercial superson- The center’s initial focus was aero-
ic air travel over land, greatly reducing nautics, but the X-15 bridged the
flight times. worlds of high speed aircraft with
Before the new supersonic ex- the research needed to reach beyond
perimental aircraft flies, Armstrong Earth’s atmosphere. The development
worked to assess how people current- of reaction control systems for the
ly perceive sonic booms. Flight series legendary X-15 was critical for space-
such as the Sonic Booms in Atmo- flight, as it provided a way to control
spheric Turbulence Flights at Kennedy a vehicle in the absence of dynamic
Space Center in Florida and the Quiet pressure as is encountered in space.
Supersonic Flights in Galveston, Tex- The Lunar Landing Research Ve-
as, have focused on that work. NASA hicle also was tested at the center. The
Armstrong has even captured images free-flight aircraft simulated the one-
of how shockwaves interact with each sixth gravity of Earth that astronauts
other and between supersonic aircraft would face on the moon. The research
using a process called Air-to-Air Back- contributed to construction of the Lu-
ground Oriented Schlieren Flights. nar Landing Training Vehicles that
Aside from work in aeronautics re- were built and sent to NASA Johnson
search and contributing to aeronauti- Space Center in Houston (then called
cal technologies and aviation safety, the Manned Spaceflight Center).
the center also conducts work in space Apollo astronauts used the spindly air-
transportation and has a key role in craft to train for landing on the moon.
many Earth and space science mis- The practice was helpful when Neil
sions. Armstrong, for whom the center was
renamed in 2014, piloted the Lunar
Transition to Space Module manually to the lunar surface
After the X-1 project ended a num- to take the first steps.
NASA photograph ber of X-planes followed, designed Lifting body aircraft were designed
XS-1 on the ramp with the B-29 mothership in 1949. This is the second XS-1 built and it later was converted into the to find answers related to speed, tem- to validate the shape of a space return
X-1E. Unlike the XS-1-1, which was flown by the Air Force, the XS-1-2 was flown mostly by Bell and NACA pilots. It perature, structure, control and human vehicle that could land like an aircraft
gathered much more research data than the more famous XS-1-1, known as “Glamorous Glennis.” physiology, work that continued as instead of descending under a para-
the agency morphed from the NACA chute and landing in the ocean. Sierra
by Jay Levine struction completion, with a first flight boom to a quiet thump. to NASA in 1958. Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chas-
er spacecraft completed additional
NASA Armstrong scheduled for 2022. The X-59 will fly Once NASA proves the aircraft is as One such aircraft was the X-15 rock- approach and landing tests at NASA
to validate the technology to make qui- quiet as it’s designed to be, the X-59 et plane program that posted a then-
As NASA’s Armstrong Flight Re- et supersonic flight a reality. The sci- will begin the third phase of its mission record 199 flights, including binders Armstrong in November 2017. It con-
search Center at Edwards, Calif., ap- ence includes the shape of the aircraft in 2024, where it will be flown above of research, and an official record of tinued the center’s historic role with
proaches its 75th anniversary on Sept. itself reducing the loudness of a sonic select U.S. communities to gather data speed at Mach 6.7, or more than 4,500 lifting body shaped vehicles.
30, the center is poised to build on its
legacy to help NASA and the nation Space Shuttles and Space Con-
tributions
reach new flight milestones.
The National Advisory Committee Space Shuttle Enterprise’s approach
for Aeronautics High-Speed Flight Fa- and landing tests marked another con-
tribution to space-related technology.
cility in 1946 was established with a A large steel gantry called the Mate
single mission, to support the first U.S. Demate Device slowly lifted the
Air Force experimental aircraft de- shuttle onto the back of a specially
signed to break through the perceived modified NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier
sound barrier. Aircraft. Enterprise was then launched
A 13-person contingent at the Cali- from the back of the large aircraft to
fornia facility was tasked to assist in validate the shuttle’s performance in
testing and research of the X-1, which atmospheric flight.
was the first aircraft to exceed Mach The center retained a role with
1. Mach 1 is achieved at 650 to 750 the space shuttles during the 30-year
mph, depending on factors such as at- program, often hosting landings. Most
mospheric conditions and altitude. An early landings and first flights of new
aircraft breaking through the sound orbiters or return to flight operations
barrier results in a loud, thunderous took place at the center. The shuttles
sound heard by those on the ground, concluded 54 space missions with a
called a sonic boom. Lockheed Martin illustration landing at Edwards and a return trip
Today, NASA’s X-59 Quiet Super- on the NASA 747 to NASA’s Kennedy
Sonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft This artists’ illustration show the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology aircraft in flight. The X-59 will soon take to the
skies as NASA’s first purpose-built, supersonic experimental plane in decades.
is taking shape as it approaches con- See ARMSTRONG, Page 2

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