Langley has also played a key role in space transportation for small payloads and satellites. In the mids, Langley researchers began developing a concept that became known as Scout. After Apollo, Langley led the development of the Viking missions to Mars. Other Langley space transportation work included design and tests of space plane configurations. These included development of the X rocket plane and the space shuttle.
Shuttle designs were subjected to more than 60, hours of wind tunnel testing before the final shape of the winged craft was selected. Langley engineers designed a small lifting body called the HL as a possible ferry craft to and from the planned Space Station Freedom. Recent commercial interest has been shown in possibly developing the HL as a taxi for private spaceflights into Earth orbit. The huge satellite carried 57 space experiments and was orbited for six years before its return to Earth, also aboard the shuttle.
Data obtained from LDEF has been used in designing future spacecraft. True to its aeronautics roots, Langley engineers continue to shape and improve the way planes fly. Langley researchers are working to make aircraft quieter, safer and more efficient. Current work builds on years of innovation successes.
High-speed aircraft feature narrowed fuselages pinched in near the wings and supercritical wings for increased efficiency, thanks to Langley researcher Richard Whitcomb. Airliners are now equipped with airborne predictive radar, developed and tested by Langley, that significantly reduces the possibility of deadly wind shear accidents. Airport runways, as well as highways, are grooved to help reduce hydroplaning accidents during rainy weather, thanks to Langley studies.
Today, Langley engineers are developing technology for more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly aircraft and rotorcraft. Langley research also is focusing on technologies that will allow airliners and other aircraft to fly faster and higher -- at supersonic and even hypersonic speeds.
Langley researchers continue to work on ways to better diagnose and predict aircraft and mechanical failures, especially in older planes that remain in service. Langley aeronautics also plays a role in supporting space research, studying supersonic and hypersonic speed challenges that are faced by spacecraft during planetary entry, descent and landing.
Langley will have responsibility for flight test and pathfinder articles production for crew module, launch abort system and separation hardware.
Langley also will provide independent analysis and systems engineering and integration support for Orion and other elements to be yet developed as part of the Constellation Program.
Langley has major roles in the Ares I crew launch vehicle. These include aerodynamic design of the entire launch vehicle, compiling an aerodynamic database and developing aeroelasticity tests and analysis. Langley also will participate in trajectory analyses for the Ares rockets. Marshall Space Flight Center in When President Kennedy called in for NASA to place a man on the moon, the agency turned to Marshall Space Flight Center to create the incredibly powerful rocket needed to make that possible.
Today, NASA is working to return to the moon, and has once again turned to Marshall, for an even more powerful rocket that will enable the establishment of an outpost on the lunar surface. Since its beginning in , Marshall has provided the agency with mission critical design, development and integration of the launch and space systems required for space operations, exploration and scientific missions.
Marshall provided the rockets that powered Americans to the moon, developed the space shuttle propulsion system, and managed the development of Skylab, Spacelab, space station nodes, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and many other scientific instruments.
The center has a rich history of integrating space systems and hardware from conception to operation. The center is named for former Army chief of staff, secretary of state and Nobel Peace Prize winner Gen.
George C. Marshall and is located on the U. Wernher von Braun and his German rocket engineering team headed the new organization, which was staffed by hundreds of U. Many facilities, buildings, test equipment and laboratories used in the Army missile and rocket programs were also transferred to NASA.
During the s, Marshall engineers developed and tested the stages and engines that powered the Saturn V launch vehicle to the moon. Test firings of the giant Saturn stages and rocket engines sometimes could be heard from as far as miles away.
Marshall provided NASA with a total of 32 Saturn rockets, including the six vehicles that lifted astronauts to the lunar surface. Marshall also developed the Lunar Roving Vehicle, the innovative two-seat vehicle driven by the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 astronauts.
The foot-long rovers, which traveled across the lunar surface at nine miles per hour, allowed the astronauts to transport tools and equipment to the most geologically interesting sites near their landing base. When their treks were complete, each rover could return as much as pounds of rock and soil samples back to the Lunar Modules for return to Earth. Three crews of astronauts lived onboard Skylab during and in rotations as long as 84 days.
Important elements of the space shuttle were designed and developed at Marshall, including the main engines, external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. The external tank and solid boosters are integral to the design of the new Ares crew launch vehicle. During the s and s, Marshall was also responsible for several shuttle payloads, including Spacelab.
Beyond its rocket heritage, Marshall has also been involved in the development and execution of challenging scientific missions. International Space Station operations depend heavily on support from Marshall. Marshall also continues to develop, integrate, and test major space station components including the Environmental Control and Life Support System, which provides a safe and comfortable environment for the crew and ensures their supply of water and air are pure.
Today, under the leadership of center director David A. King, Marshall is spearheading the development of essential hardware, technologies and capabilities to ensure the success of human missions to the moon. Ares I will transport the Orion crew exploration vehicle to the International Space Station and deliver uncrewed cargo payloads to space. Ares V will carry heavy-lift payloads to space for use by exploration missions, including those that will return humans to the moon.
These vehicles will serve the dual purpose of establishing a permanent lunar outpost and extending our human presence beyond Earth orbit. The Marshall center occupies more than 1, acres on Redstone Arsenal and is home to more than buildings and specialized facilities dedicated to supporting current and future missions.
The Michoud site, previously operated by the U. Not only did the site provide the space needed to manufacture the The location was also convenient to the Mississippi engine test stands at what is now Stennis Space Center. In December , the facility completed its first Saturn I rocket.
The assembly required the creation of new fixtures more than half the length of a football field, and several stories high. Work supporting the Constellation Program began recently at Michoud. Not only will the facility manufacture the upper stage of the Ares I crew launch vehicle and the core stage of the Ares V cargo launch vehicle, it will also produce major pieces of the Orion crew spacecraft. The center provides consistent, high-quality support services in the areas of financial management, human resources, information technology and procurement to the agency.
Richard E. Arbuthnot currently serves as Executive Director. As a shared services organization, the NSSC provides cost savings for the agency through consolidation, standardization and automation of select business processes. This allows NASA to refocus efficiencies gained and its resources on agency core missions.
The award, established by the Shared Services and Outsourcing Network, a division of the International Quality and Productivity Center, is recognized nationally as the highest accolade for shared services organizations. Employing nearly civil servants and service provider associates with numbers to approach in the future, the NSSC takes pride in its highly skilled, highly educated professional workforce.
Plum Brook Station was ideal for the large safety zones required for the reactor and other planned test facilities. The Spacecraft Propulsion Facility tests large liquid-hydrogen-fueled rocket engine upper stages and engines by simulating high-altitude flight.
The Cryogenic Propellant Tank Facility is used for large-scale experiments using cryogenic liquid hydrogen, and is supplemented by a Cryogenic Components Laboratory, a new facility for research involving super-cold materials. Finally, the Hypersonic Tunnel Facility is a wind tunnel that can test propulsion systems in conditions simulating flight at speeds exceeding Mach 5. Ready for testing - A worker prepares a space shuttle main engine for testing at the Stennis Space Center.
The roar of rockets is frequently heard across Hancock County, Miss. Stennis Space Center. The stands are structures that hold down individual rocket stages and engines so that they can be fired as they are during an actual spaceflight. The stands are surrounded by a ,acre acoustical buffer zone, which is intended to absorb much of the vibration and sound generated by the testing of the large engines and stages.
On Oct. At the time, the test facility was the largest construction project ever carried out in Mississippi history, and the second largest in the nation. Site selection was driven by the availability of access to canals and waterways that would allow NASA to move rockets from the assembly site in New Orleans to the test site and then onward to their launching base at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At the end of the Apollo Program, the test stands were modified to test the engines used on the space shuttle orbiters.
The engine is mounted vertically in the A-2 Test Stand, where it is ignited and fired for varying durations and thrust settings. The engines are then shipped by truck to the Kennedy Space Center for installation in an orbiter. Stennis engineers also conduct testing for individual engine components, making sure all parts have been subjected to launch environments before use in a shuttle mission.
The first successful full-duration shuttle engine test — the first without an early shutdown — took place on June 24, On Aug. The RS engine will also be used in the Ares V cargo launch vehicle. Stennis was also involved in engine development for the proposed X reusable space vehicle. On March 16, , Stennis conducted the first test of a subscale cryogenic fuel tank intended for use in the X reusable launch vehicle project. Stennis also conducted tests on the XRS Linear Aerospike engine for the X program, data from which could help with development of the J-2X engine to be used on the Ares launch vehicles.
The foot tall A-3 test stand will allow engineers to simulate conditions at different altitudes by generating steam to reduce pressure in the test cell. Testing on the A-3 stand is scheduled to begin in late In Nov. The handover marked a return to form for the historic stand, which first tested the original J-2 in the s.
Stennis also will develop and test liquid propellant systems for the Ares rockets, such as fuel lines, pipes, tanks, actuators and valve assemblies. Other parts of the test complexes include control centers, data acquisition facilities, a large high-pressure gas facility, a high-pressure industrial water facility served by a million-gallon reservoir and a plant for generating electrical power.
Since , Stennis has developed a role in remote sensing, providing a number of useful applications for using satellite imagery to enhance agricultural productivity and to support land use planning and natural disaster relief efforts. Good Scout - Scout rockets launched at the Wallops Flight Facility have been used to place small satellites into orbit and for research.
Established in , Wallops is one of the oldest rocket launch sites in the world. Partnering with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops, the facility launches small rockets carrying satellites for government and commercial customers. In addition, NASA has established partnerships with other government agencies and education organizations located at Wallops, including the U. Navy, the U. The Wallops Flight Facility is currently directed by Dr.
John Campbell. White Sands engineers also have tested rockets used on upper stages of military launch vehicles and planetary spacecraft.
In the tests, engineers ensure that the engines and thrusters are burning with the right thrust and temperatures needed in their missions. Other laboratories test the chemical, metallurgical and other physical properties of the hardware. Technicians are also trained at the facility to carefully handle the hazardous and toxic chemicals used to power the engines.
Armstrong is NASA's premier site for aeronautical research and operates some of the most advanced aircraft in the world. On December 31, , the U. House of Representatives voted —0 to rename the centre previously known as Dryden in honor of Neil Armstrong , the first astronaut to walk on the surface of the moon; [10] President Barack Obama officially signed the change into law on January 16, [11].
John H. Glenn supports all of the agency's missions and major programs. Glenn excels in researching and developing innovative technologies for both aeronautics and space flight. The center's core competencies include air-breathing and in-space propulsion and cryogenics, communications, power energy storage and conversion, microgravity sciences, and advanced materials.
George C. It is one of the largest center of NASA. Marshall is the agency's lead center for Space Shuttle propulsion and its external tank; payloads and related crew training; International Space Station ISS design and assembly; together with computers, networks, and information management. Historically, Ames was founded to do wind-tunnel research on the aerodynamics of propeller-driven aircraft; however, it has expanded its role to doing research and technology in aeronautics, spaceflight, and information technology.
LaRC focuses primarily on aeronautical research, though the Apollo lunar lander was flight-tested at the facility and a number of high-profile space missions have been planned and designed on-site.
Established in by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics , the Center currently devotes two-thirds of its programs to aeronautics, and the rest to space.
LaRC researchers use more than 40 wind tunnels to study improved aircraft and spacecraft safety, performance, and efficiency. Johnson Space Center in Houston in — Lyndon B. The center consists of a complex of buildings constructed on 1, acres ha in Houston, Texas, USA including the Christopher C.
Kraft Jr. As part of the NASA team, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory JPL enables the nation to explore space for the benefit of humankind by developing robotic space missions to explore our own and neighboring planetary systems. Search for life beyond the Earth's confines. Further our understanding of the origins and evolution of the universe and the laws that govern it. Make critical measurements to understand our home planet and help protect its environment.
Enable a virtual presence throughout the solar system using the Deep Space Network and evolving it to the Interplanetary Network of the future. Apply JPL's unique skills to address problems of national significance.
Inspire the next generation of explorers. The Center strives to advance human capability for exploration and utilization of space by conducting space operations, as well as designing, testing, and developing space flight hardware and systems. KSC manages the processing, launch, and recovery of the Space Shuttle; International Space Station elements, and associated payloads; and provides acquisition and technical management of commercially available launch services.
The Langley Research Center LaRC pioneers the future in space exploration, scientific discovery, and aeronautics through research and development of technology, scientific instruments and investigations, and exploration systems.
It advances Agency priorities with its full life-cycle engineering capabilities, developing and integrating human and scientific space flight systems from concept to development to operation. The NSSC serves the information technology IT , financial management, procurement, and human resources communities as a value added, independent resource.
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