Research & Engineering

Providing research and project support engineering to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

Quick Facts

July 2, 2019: NASA’s all-electric experimental aircraft X-57 Maxwell, in its Mod II configuration, arrives at NASA Armstrong.

<strong>July</strong> <strong>2,</strong> <strong>2019:</strong> NASA's all-electric experimental aircraft X-57 Maxwell, in its Mod II configuration, arrives at NASA Armstrong.

June 13, 2019: Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System team awarded 2018 Collier Trophy.

<strong>June</strong> <strong>13,</strong> <strong>2019:</strong> Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System team awarded 2018 Collier Trophy.

June 27, 2013: Prandtl-D, or Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Lower Drag, demonstrates proverse yaw.

<strong>June</strong> <strong>27,</strong> <strong>2013:</strong> Prandtl-D, or Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Lower Drag, demonstrates proverse yaw.

March 19, 2004: First flight of F-15B research aircraft Intelligent Flight Control System.

<strong>March</strong> <strong>19,</strong> <strong>2004:</strong> First flight of F-15B research aircraft Intelligent Flight Control System.

Aug. 6, 1998: Pathfinder Plus raised the world altitude record to 80,201 feet for solar-powered and propeller-driven aircraft.

<strong>Aug.</strong> <strong>6,</strong> <strong>1998:</strong> Pathfinder Plus raised the world altitude record to 80,201 feet for solar-powered and propeller-driven aircraft.

July 24, 1979: First flight of a KC-135 jet with NASA-developed winglets.

<strong>July</strong> <strong>24,</strong> <strong>1979:</strong> First flight of a KC-135 jet with NASA-developed winglets.

In 2019, NASA completed flight testing a state-of-the-art instrument designed to capture high-quality measurements of shock waves created by supersonic aircraft in flight. It’s called the Shock-Sensing Probe. The probe’s performance was tested in flight at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, using an innovative technique originated by NASA’s predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.
NASA/Ken Ulbrich

Using the schlieren photography technique, NASA was able to capture the first air-to-air images of the interaction of shockwaves from two supersonic aircraft flying in formation. These two U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School T-38 aircraft are flying in formation, approximately 30 feet apart, at supersonic speeds, or faster than the speed of sound, producing shockwaves that are typically heard on the ground as a sonic boom. The images, originally monochromatic and shown here as colorized composite images, were captured during a supersonic flight series flown, in part, to better understand how shocks interact with aircraft plumes, as well as with each other.
NASA

Derek Abramson and Robert Jensen install one of two wings on the Hybrid Quadrotor 90C (HQ-90). — Derek Abramson and Robert Jensen install one of two wings on the Hybrid Quadrotor 90C (HQ-90) at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Lab in California on Oct. 1, 2020. This vertical lift and transition remotely piloted aircraft arrived in pieces packed in crates for the Resilient Autonomy project to test software in flight.
NASA/Ken Ulbrich

A team from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, prepares a Carbon-Z Cub to air launch the Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Land on Mars, or Prandtl-M, glider from a magnetic release mechanism on the cub.
NASA/Lauren Hughes

Engineers from NASA?s Armstrong Flight Research Center and Empirical Systems Aerospace prepare a cruise motor controller. — Engineers from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center and Empirical Systems Aerospace prepare a cruise motor controller, planned to be used on NASA’s all-electric X-57 Maxwell, for vibration testing at Armstrong’s environmental lab. Testing the cruise motor controller at various vibration levels, based on baseline flight testing in the project’s first phase, helps ensure that the hardware will withstand similar vibration in flight conditions. X-57, NASA’s first all-electric experimental aircraft, or X-plane, will fly in its first all-electric configuration in 2020.
NASA/Ken Ulbrich

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Using the schlieren photography technique, NASA was able to capture the first air-to-air images of the interaction of shock waves from two supersonic aircraft flying in formation. These two U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School T-38 aircraft are flying in formation, approximately 30 feet apart, at supersonic speeds, or faster than the speed of sound, producing shockwaves that are typically heard on the ground as a sonic boom. The images, originally monochromatic and shown here as colorized composite images, were captured during a supersonic flight series flown, in part, to better understand how shocks interact with aircraft plumes, as well as with each other.

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Andrew Holguin prepares an experiment to verify the strength of the magnetic forces as two mounted magnets are moved closer and closer to each other.

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