Many of NASA’s most important aerospace breakthroughs that began in the laboratory were ultimately proven in the sky. For decades, experts at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland conducted flight tests — piloting aircraft into targeted environments such as icing clouds and carefully defined atmospheric routes. This approach allowed them to collect measurements directly in flight, providing critical data
NASA’s 737 aircraft was painted this week in Oklahoma as it progresses with modifications for use as a reduced gravity test aircraft for the agency. NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, took ownership of the aircraft from the United States Air Force in June. The aircraft will perform lunar-gravity parabolic flights to validate
NASA researchers recently subjected a new wing design, which appears long and thin with a lightweight structural design, to a series of grueling tests to find its structural limits. What they found encouraged them about the wing’s potential, even as they pushed it beyond its intended limits. The 15-foot Structural Wing Experiment Evaluating Armor Reinforcement
Testing new aerospace concepts in flight remains one of NASA’s most effective ways to advance knowledge and reduce risk. The Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, supports this mission by using small, autonomous, remotely piloted aircraft as cost-effective platforms to mature innovative ideas, accelerate learning, and
In honor of America’s 250th birthday, two of NASA’s most iconic aircraft received a new coat of red, white and blue paint ahead of a flyover over Washington on July 4, 2026, with other NASA aircraft. An F-15 and an F/A-18 at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, were recently repainted in patriotic
Nobody wants to get on an uncomfortable plane. NASA’s research could help the emerging industry of air taxis (small vertical takeoff and landing aircraft intended for short trips) understand the relationship between comfort and willingness to fly. That’s where NASA comes in, with data that can help identify how to plan air taxi trips that