Yesterday, July 17, NASA Langley celebrated its 99th anniversary. It was on this day in 1917 that the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), NASA’s precursor, broke ground for the nation’s first civilian aeronautical research laboratory, which later came to be known as NASA Langley Research Center.
The first flight research efforts at what was originally called the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory began by borrowing two Curtiss Jennies, pictured, from the Army Air Service. Flights began March 2, 1919, and were followed by a summer-long program to measure flight characteristics and compare them to wind tunnel data.
For a century, Langley has been a pioneer and innovator. Langley continues to build on that history of groundbreaking research and technology development to address national priorities in aeronautics, space exploration and Earth sciences.
Langley is now looking forward to centennial activities in the year ahead. Find details at the centennial website.
This week Langley is also celebrating another milestone, the 40th anniversary of Viking 1 landing on Mars. To learn more, click here.
Michael FinneranNASA Langley Research Center