LiveChat Roundup: Feb. 24, 2012

By Jim Gerard, INSPIRE Education Specialist, KSC, FL

Engineering Design is more than CAD/CAM and orthographic projections. There is also a real-world component that consists of testing with actual hardware. In the aeronautic field there is no better place to see that in operation than Dryden Flight Research Center in California.

Project Specialist Russell Billings presented our LiveChat last night to 68 members of the INSPIRE  Online Learning Community. Mr. Billings briefed students on why Dryden is the perfect environment for flight testing: the dry, desert atmosphere for clear weather, the hard, flat dry-lake bed for emergency landings, and the supersonic corridor to fly the fastest most advance jets in the world.

Mr. Billings talked about the fleet of testbed aircraft at Dryden, where experiments can be lofted for study, and experimental aircraft where the aircraft itself is the object of study. This experimentation in aeronautical design has led to such features as the winglets found on the wing tips of most commercial aircraft that provides better fuel economy.

As you look to the sky, remember that it is engineers that design the aircraft you see. And there is more to come, as flight tests continue to provide new information to design faster, cleaner, quieter aircraft.

This NASA technology that becomes part of a commercial product or service is called a Spinoff. Next week, Daniel Lockney, editor of the NASA Spinoff annual magazine, will be our guest to tell you about the newest Spinoffs. Sign up now on the OLC Discussion Board!