Across 42 years at NASA, Wade Sisler — executive producer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland—watched the edge of human knowledge progress. During that time, the tools for visualizing and communicating those discoveries evolved just as rapidly. “I’ve spent my career surrounded by people with amazing curiosity and intellect, pursuing questions that […]
Category: Ames Research Center
What is NASA’s Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy?
Software designed to give spacecraft more autonomy could support a future where swarms of satellites navigate and complete scientific objectives with limited human intervention. Astronauts living and working on the Moon and Mars will rely on satellites to provide services like navigation, weather, and communications relays. While managing complex missions, automating satellite communications will allow […]
NASA Tests Epic Solution for Supersonic Parachute Deliveries
NASA/Lori Losey The best way to solve a mystery is by gathering evidence and building a case. That’s exactly what NASA researchers are doing with a series of research flights aimed at advancing a sensor for supersonic parachutes. The clues they find could help make these parachutes more reliable and safer for delivering scientific instruments […]
NASA Drop Test Supports Safer Air Taxi Design and Certification
As the aviation industry works to develop new air taxis and other electric aircraft made from innovative, lightweight materials, there’s a growing need to understand how those materials behave under impact. That’s why NASA is investigating potential air taxi materials and designs that could best protect passengers in the event of a crash. On June […]
NASA Drop Test Supports Safer Air Taxi Design and Certification
As the aviation industry works to develop new air taxis and other electric aircraft made from innovative, lightweight materials, there’s a growing need to understand how those materials behave under impact. That’s why NASA is investigating potential air taxi materials and designs that could best protect passengers in the event of a crash. On June […]
NASA Rehearses How to Measure X-59’s Noise Levels
In a stretch of California’s Mojave Desert, NASA conducted a full-scale “dress rehearsal” to prepare how it will measure the noise generated by the X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft. The team behind the successful test flight series operates under NASA’s Commercial Supersonic Technology project. Beginning June 3 and concluding this week, researchers conducted a dry […]
NASA Scientist Finds Predicted Companion Star to Betelgeuse
A century-old hypothesis that Betelgeuse, the 10th brightest star in our night sky, is orbited by a very close companion star was proved true by a team of astrophysicists led by a scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. The research published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters in the paper “Probable Direct […]
NASA Tests 5G-Based Aviation Network to Boost Air Taxi Connectivity
NASA engineers are exploring how the technology used in existing cellphone networks could support the next generation of aviation. In April and May, researchers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland built two specialized radio systems to study how well fifth-generation cellular network technology, known as 5G, can handle the demands of air taxi communications. […]
NASA Tests Mixed Reality Pilot Simulation in Vertical Motion Simulator
Commercial companies and government agencies are increasingly pursuing a more immersive and affordable alternative to conventional displays currently used in flight simulators. A NASA research project is working on ways to make this technology available for use faster. Mixed reality systems where users interact with physical simulators while wearing virtual reality headsets offer a promising […]
NASA Tests Mixed Reality Pilot Simulation in Vertical Motion Simulator
Commercial companies and government agencies are increasingly pursuing a more immersive and affordable alternative to conventional displays currently used in flight simulators. A NASA research project is working on ways to make this technology available for use faster. Mixed reality systems where users interact with physical simulators while wearing virtual reality headsets offer a promising […]