Armstrong Flight Research Center

Quesst (X-59)

NASA’s X-59 Turns Up Power, Throttles Through Engine Tests

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft took another successful step toward flight with the conclusion of a series of engine performance tests. In preparation for the X-59’s planned first flight this year, NASA and Lockheed Martin successfully completed the aircraft’s engine run tests in January.

Posted February 11, 2025

Airborne Science

B200

Earth Science

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA Explores Earth Science with New Navigational System

NASA and its partners recently tested an aircraft guidance system that could help planes maintain a precise course even while flying at high speeds up to 500 mph. The instrument is Soxnav, the culmination of more than 30 years of development of aircraft navigation systems. NASA’s G-IV aircraft flew its first mission to test this […]

Posted February 7, 2025

Aeronautics

Green Aviation Tech

Langley Research Center

Sustainable Aviation

Wind Over Its Wing: NASA’s X-66 Model Tests Airflow

NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator (SFD) project recently concluded wind tunnel tests of its X-66 semi-span model in partnership with Boeing. The model, designed to represent half the aircraft, allows the research team to generate high-quality data about the aerodynamic forces that would affect the actual X-66.

Posted February 5, 2025

Artemis

Flight Opportunities Program

Game Changing Development Program

Space Technology Mission Directorate

NASA Tests in Simulated Lunar Gravity to Prep Payloads for Moon

The old saying — “Practice makes perfect!” — applies to the Moon too. On Tuesday, NASA gave 17 technologies, instruments, and experiments the chance to practice being on the Moon… without actually going there. Instead, it was a flight test aboard a vehicle adapted to simulate lunar gravity for approximately two minutes. The test began […]

Posted February 4, 2025

Earth Science

Airborne Science

Earth

Earth Science Division

NASA Radar Imagery Reveals Details About Los Angeles-Area Landslides

Analysis of data from NASA radar aboard an airplane shows that the decades-old active landslide area on the Palos Verdes Peninsula has expanded.

Posted January 31, 2025

Advanced Air Mobility

Aeronautics

Air Mobility Pathfinders project

Airspace Operations and Safety Program

Langley Research Center

NASA Tests Air Traffic Surveillance Technology Using Its Pilatus PC-12 Aircraft

As air taxis, drones, and other innovative aircraft enter U.S. airspace, systems that communicate an aircraft’s location will be critical to ensure air traffic safety.

Posted January 23, 2025

Advanced Air Mobility

Drones & You

Flight Innovation

Langley Research Center

SBIR STTR

NASA Small Business Funding Enables Aircraft Inspection by Drone

A small business called Near Earth Autonomy developed a time-saving solution using drones for pre-flight checks of commercial airliners through a NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and a partnership with The Boeing Company.

Posted January 13, 2025

Helicopter Removes Artifact from NASA Armstrong Rooftop

What do the X-15 and the space shuttles have in common? Information from the rocket plane and the spacecraft, as well as many experimental aircraft, were tracked from a pedestal and telemetry dish during key eras in flight history at or near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. When the NASA facility’s administration […]

Posted January 9, 2025