The 1998 NASA Laser Experiment On The SR-71 That Could Shape Boeing’s F-47

The upcoming Boeing F-47 sixth-generation fighter jet is set to push the boundaries of what is possible with modern aerospace engineering. It has onerous requirements that will require challenging engineering solutions. The program is likely to leverage a large range of accumulated aerospace knowledge, including from countless NASA experiments. One historical program that illustrates the type of publicly available research Boeing engineers could draw upon is NASA’s Laser Air Data Sensor (LADS) project. This was conducted by NASA with SR-71 Blackbirds in the 1990s.