Our streets are crowded with commuters and delivery vehicles, but when a police car or fire engine approaches with its lights and sirens on, drivers clear the way. In the coming years, drones for deliveries and other commercial tasks will become common in the skies over our communities, and NASA is working to ensure first […]
Category: Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate
There’s No Place Like NASA’s New X-59 Hangar Home
There’s no sign reading “home sweet home” in the hangar where the X‑59 now sits, but the sentiment is unmistakable among those tending to the quiet supersonic aircraft. Located at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, the X-59 hangar was built in 1968 but looks like new thanks to a full renovation and […]
- Advanced Air Vehicles Program
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- Ames Research Center
- Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate
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- High-Tech Computing
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- Transformational Tools Technologies
- Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program
NASA Releases Powerful LAVA Software to US Aerospace Industry
For years, NASA engineers have turned to a tool called the Launch, Ascent, and Vehicle Aerodynamics (LAVA) framework to solve airflow challenges that could mean the difference between mission success or failure. When engineers need to know how a spacecraft will navigate re-entry or whether a new aircraft wing design will create enough lift, they […]
NASA Simulations Improve Artemis II Launch Environment
Airflow around rockets as they travel from Earth into space can have a dramatic impact on a mission, which is why NASA used advanced simulations to provide the best possible launch conditions for the Artemis II test flight around the Moon. To better understand the Artemis Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s flight environment, engineers turned to a NASA-developed tool called the Launch, Ascent, and Vehicle Aerodynamics […]
- Advanced Air Vehicles Program
- Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate
- Aeronautics Technology
- Ames Research Center
- Armstrong Flight Research Center
- Commercial Supersonic Technology
- Glenn Research Center
- High-Speed Flight
- Integrated Aviation Systems Program
- Langley Research Center
- Low Boom Flight Demonstrator
- NASA Aircraft
- Quesst (X-59)
- Quesst: The Vehicle
- Supersonic Flight
NASA’s X-59 Prepares for Second Flight
NASA’s X-59 experimental aircraft is preparing for its second flight, a step that will set the pace for more flight testing in 2026. Over the coming months, NASA will take the quiet supersonic jet faster and higher, while validating safety and performance, a process known as envelope expansion. NASA test pilot Jim “Clue” Less will be at the X-59’s […]
NASA Invites Media to Learn About Upcoming X-59 Test Flights
NASA will hold a media teleconference at 5:30 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 19 to highlight plans for its X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft’s upcoming flight tests. The teleconference is set to take place after the X-59 is scheduled to complete its second flight, in California. For the media call, NASA leadership will join representatives from […]
NASA Selects Finalists in Student Aircraft Maintenance Competition
Editor’s note: This advisory was updated on March 24, 2026, to update the finalists list. NASA has selected seven student teams as finalists in the 2026 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition, giving them the resources to help address a critical challenge for U.S. aviation: aircraft maintenance. Challenges facing the commercial aviation industry include a shortage of qualified maintenance workers and increasing demands to keep complicated aircraft running […]
Award-Winning NASA Camera Revolutionizes How We See the Invisible
Imagine trying to photograph wind. That’s similar to what NASA engineers dealt with during a recent effort to study how air moves around planes, rockets, and other kinds of aerospace vehicles. Air is invisible, but our understanding of how it flows is crucial for building better, safer aircraft. For 80 years, researchers used a technique […]
NASA Advances High-Altitude Traffic Management
High-altitude flight is getting increasing attention from sectors ranging from telecommunications to emergency response. To make that airspace more accessible, NASA is developing an air traffic management system covering those altitudes and supplementing its work with real-time data from a research balloon in Earth’s stratosphere. Aircraft at high altitudes – 50,000 feet or higher, or roughly 10,000 to 20,000 feet above most commercial traffic – offer new […]
NASA Advances High-Altitude Traffic Management
High-altitude flight is getting increasing attention from sectors ranging from telecommunications to emergency response. To make that airspace more accessible, NASA is developing an air traffic management system covering those altitudes and supplementing its work with real-time data from a research balloon in Earth’s stratosphere. Aircraft at high altitudes – 50,000 feet or higher, or roughly 10,000 to 20,000 feet above most commercial traffic – offer new […]