APOD

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

A Plane Lunar Eclipse

Explanation: Did you need to be on the right side of this airplane to see this eclipse? No. Lunar eclipses are routinely seen from the half of the Earth facing the Moon when the eclipse occurs, making them some of the most commonly witnessed astronomical events. You don’t even need any special equipment to see one — just your unaided eyes. Lunar eclipses are also some of the most photographed astronomical events because, unlike with a solar eclipse, your eyes and camera do not have to look toward the bright Sun. However, considering the featured image taken last week from Portugal, if you were on the left side of that airplane during takeoff, you might have trouble seeing it — at first. But even then, after takeoff, since lunar eclipses typically last for hours, you might soon be able to safely cross the aisle(s) to see it.

Gallery: Lunar Eclipse of 2026 August
APOD’s main NASA site is moving: From apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apod
Tomorrow’s picture: cultural eclipses

Date	September 1, 2026
Credit	Paulo Ferreira
Authors & editors:	Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Keighley Rockcliffe
A service of:	ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.

Source: science.nasa.gov

On Aug. 24, technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida began installing the four RS‑25 engines in the core stage of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will carry the Artemis III crew into low Earth orbit in 2027.

Each RS‑25 engine has a unique serial number that records its detailed flight history. The four engines assigned to Artemis III — E2054, E2057, E2048, and E2052 — previously powered multiple space shuttle missions. Engine 2048 helped launch NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik’s earlier mission aboard space shuttle Atlantis during STS‑129. It also flew on Space Shuttle Discovery during STS‑95 in 1998, the mission that returned 77-year‑old space pioneer U.S. Sen. John Glenn to orbit, making him the oldest person to fly in space at that time.

Source: www.nasa.gov

Brilliant Venus and a Harvest Moon

Use the Moon to find Antares and the Teapot, spot brilliant Venus, welcome the equinox, and see the Harvest Moon near Saturn and Neptune.

Skywatching Highlights

• Sept. 14-20: Use the Moon to find Antares and the Teapot; dark skies may reveal the Milky Way center
• Sept 18: Venus reaches peak brilliance for this evening appearance
• Sept. 22: September equinox; fall begins in the Northern Hemisphere and spring in the Southern Hemisphere
• Sept. 26: Harvest Moon rises near Saturn and Neptune

Transcript

The Moon joins a tea party… Venus cranks up the brightness… the seasons officially change… and the Harvest Moon meets up with some planetary neighbors.

That’s What’s Up for September.

From September 14 through 20, let the Moon guide you to a few celestial landmarks. About an hour after sunset, look south to find the Moon in the evening sky.

Night by night, the Moon shifts position against the background stars, passing near Antares.

This bright, reddish star marks the heart of the constellation Scorpius.

Next you’ll see the Teapot, a group of stars in neighboring Sagittarius that really does resemble a teapot, complete with a handle, lid, and spout.

If you are under an especially dark sky… you may see hazy steam rising from the Teapot’s spout.
Follow that steam to its thickest part, and you’ll be looking toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy.

Look west on September 18 as Venus hits peak brilliance, shining at its brightest of this evening appearance..

You won’t have to search hard to find it. Shortly after sunset, Venus will stand out as a brilliant point of light low above the western horizon, outshining every star around it. A clear view of the horizon will give you the best chance to catch it before it sets.

On September 19, celebrate International Observe the Moon Night!

People around the world are invited to look up and connect with our nearest celestial neighbor while learning more about lunar science, exploration, and the many ways the Moon has shaped cultures around the world. Find an event near you — or learn how to participate from wherever you are — at go.nasa.gov/ObserveTheMoon.

Then on September 22, it’s officially fall in the Northern Hemisphere …while spring begins in the Southern Hemisphere.

That’s the September equinox, when the Sun is directly above Earth’s equator and day and night are close to equal in length around the world.

From there, daylight keeps getting shorter in the Northern Hemisphere and longer in the Southern Hemisphere.

And on September 26, the Harvest Moon takes center stage, rising in the east shortly after sunset.

It won’t be alone. Saturn appears nearby, with faint Neptune completing a wide triangle in the sky.

Saturn is the easy one-you can see it with just your eyes. Neptune is a bit more challenging. At around magnitude 8, it’s too faint to see with the unaided eye …so you’ll need binoculars or a telescope to spot it. Darker skies and good observing conditions can help bring it into view.

Here are the phases of the Moon for September.

You can stay up to date on all of NASA’s missions exploring the solar system and beyond at NASA Science. I’m Raquel Villanueva from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that’s What’s Up this month.

Learn More and Get Involved

Night Sky Network

The Night Sky Network is a nationwide coalition of amateur astronomy clubs bringing the science, technology, and inspiration of NASA’s missions to the general public.

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Source: science.nasa.gov

4 Min Read

NASA Uses Subscale Aircraft to Accelerate Flight Innovation

Testing new aerospace concepts in flight remains one of NASA’s most effective ways to advance knowledge and reduce risk.

The Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, supports this mission by using small, remotely piloted and autonomous aircraft as cost‑effective platforms to mature innovative ideas, accelerate learning, and enable smoother transitions to full‑scale flight.

When experiments require a flight platform, several NASA remotely piloted aircraft are available: the Alta‑X quadrotor; the Dryden Remotely Operated Integrated Drone (DROID) with its 10‑foot wingspan; and the Multi‑Use Cub, a 14‑foot‑span fixed‑wing aircraft with an expandable payload capacity for flight experiments. For electric vertical takeoff and landing testing, the HQ‑90 quadrotor provides an additional option.

Once aircraft and experiments are cleared for operations, laboratory pilots support the mission, including ground operations and flight activities.

Flight expertise

Each staff member serves as an experienced and certified subscale aircraft pilot and is prepared to fly unique one-of-a-kind or modified commercial aircraft wherever the mission requires.

NASA’s FireSense project conducted flights in the Geneva State Forest, located about 100 miles south of Montgomery, Alabama. NASA Armstrong flight research staff integrated the instrument onto an Alta-X drone and tested the system before deployment. Two team members then transported the drone and sensor to the forest, prepared the vehicle for flight, and operated it during the mission. The NASA sensor was flown on the drone to demonstrate how remotely piloted aircraft can gather localized weather data that influences smoke movement and fire behavior. This information may help operational agencies improve wildfire decision-making and better allocate firefighters and resources.

Other missions occur closer to NASA Armstrong, such as the Enhancing Parachutes by Instrumenting the Canopy (EPIC) project. EPIC involved air‑launching a capsule containing a parachute and flexible sensor from the Alta‑X. Laboratory staff piloted the flights, supported flight operations, and worked with the EPIC team to design and integrate the parachute‑drop mechanism and safety system into the aircraft.

These tests demonstrated that a flexible sensor could help researchers study supersonic parachutes. Continuation of this work can help fill gaps in computer models, making supersonic parachutes safer and more reliable for delivering science instruments and payloads to Mars.

Advancing challenging research

The Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory uses rapid design and testing capabilities to help small aircraft fly big ideas. These concepts could lead to future breakthroughs that support NASA’s missions across aeronautics, science, and exploration.

For decades, NASA and its partners have advanced Automatic Collision Avoidance Technology. The research demonstrated an autopilot could detect and recover from an imminent ground collision – a capability now helping save lives in high‑performance U.S. military jets. NASA Armstrong had key roles in that work and developed a simplified version, the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System, which was installed on the DROID for testing.

The system demonstrated on the DROID — developed to assist general aviation pilots as well as remotely piloted and autonomous aircraft — performed well and led to further research toward a version that provides alerts and steering cues. The NASA Armstrong Technology Transfer Office is working to license the technology for U.S. businesses to develop the system as a commercial product.

The Prandtl‑D (Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Lower Drag) flying‑wing glider was also designed, fabricated, and flown at NASA Armstrong. Researchers found that its twisted wing design could reduce drag and generate thrust at the wingtips, advancing concepts that may support greater fuel economy for future aircraft. The original Prandtl‑D is now part of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum collection in Washington, and the Prandtl-D3 is at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Researchers continue developing the next generation of the design in the laboratory.

A wide range of capabilities in the laboratory help transform promising concepts into flight-ready test structures. These include rapid prototyping using traditional and advanced 3D manufacturing techniques, as well as composite and conventional fabrication processes. The team of engineers and technicians also provides custom component design and specialized fabrication to meet unique research needs.

The laboratory supports electrical and mechanical design, hardware and software integration, and the safety and flight-readiness processes required for successful missions. Additional technical facilities, such as the Experimental Fabrication Branch and the Environmental Laboratory at NASA Armstrong, further enhance these capabilities. Together, they support development, testing, and validation activities that advance NASA’s aeronautics and exploration goals.

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Source: www.nasa.gov

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NASA Pushes New Wing Design to Find Structural Limits

NASA researchers recently put a new wing design, appearing long and thin with a lightweight structural design, through a series of grueling tests to find its structural limits. What they found left them encouraged about the wing’s potential, even when they pushed it past its intended limits.

The 15-foot Structural Wing Experiment Evaluating Truss-bracing (SWEET-15) test article is part of NASA’s research to develop future ultra-efficient aircraft. The design incorporates a long wing supported by an aerodynamic strut, based on NASA’s earlier Transonic Truss‑Braced Wing concept.

The research team is working to understand whether SWEET-15’s design and its new lightweight structural designs could help commercial airliners save fuel. But first, they need to understand how it behaves under the kinds of force wings experience in flight.

The SWEET-15 design originated with combining five different advanced composite manufacturing and assembly technologies that enabled the novel structural design. The 15-foot-long test article was then designed and fabricated at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, before traveling to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, for testing.

Over several months, NASA engineers intentionally bent the test wing in the Flight Loads Laboratory at NASA Armstrong. Numerous strain and load sensors, including fiber-optic strain sensors, were placed throughout the structure to track how the wing responded as forces increased.

The data from the sensors confirmed the predictions made by NASA’s computer models. According to initial findings, the wing withstood the anticipated in-flight forces without issue. The results provided the team with confidence in the new manufacturing approaches and methods for connecting wing parts used in SWEET-15, which could support future efficient aircraft designs. The manufacturing approach, developed at NASA Langley used the Integrated Structural Assembly of Advanced Composites robot, aims to produce lighter and stronger composite structures for aerospace vehicles.

The test concluded with a deliberate test-to-failure, where engineers increased loads beyond the wing’s design limits to determine how and where it would fail. The structure ultimately failed at roughly 127% of its design limit load, with visible damage appearing near the back edge of the wing and in the upper wing cover. This element of testing provided valuable insight into how the joints connecting the wing to its main strut and a secondary one, called a jury strut, behave under forces beyond the expected flight envelope.

This marks the first time a representative composite truss-braced wing configuration has undergone this type of structural evaluation.  It was made possible only through NASA collaboration across centers and projects, with researchers utilizing agency resources such as the Fiber Optic Sensing System developed to gather data on both aircraft and spacecraft.

To prepare for the testing, engineers at NASA Langley designed, analyzed, and manufactured the wing and completed safety preparations and lab setup.

Researchers will now analyze the data collected during testing to inform future airframe designs and support NASA’s ongoing efforts to develop more efficient aviation technologies.

The work is being conducted through NASA’s Subsonic Flight Demonstrator project in the agency’s Research Technology Mission Directorate. The successful testing of multiple innovative components marks a milestone in NASA’s aeronautics research.

To learn more, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics/

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Source: www.nasa.gov

An aircraft powered by a megawatt-class hybrid-electric engine developed in collaboration with NASA and built by GE Aerospace, demonstrated flight of an innovation that can inform new generations of fuel-saving aircraft power systems.

Mounted to a Saab 340B aircraft, the engine flew at Farnborough International Air Show in the United Kingdom. It was the public debut of a system that has in recent months made historic test flights, becoming the first hybrid electric-powered aircraft to fly above 30,000 feet.

“This achievement reflects what NASA does best in aeronautics: we explore bold possibilities, validate them through rigorous research and testing, and work with industry to turn breakthrough ideas into technologies that bring real value for the American people,” said Laurie Grindle, director of the Aeronautics Division within the agency’s Research and Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

The testing leveraged work done through NASA’s former Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project and the agency’s ongoing Subsonic Vehicle Technologies and Tools project – years of collaborative research that included key testing at NASA test facilities. 

The engine integrates electric motors, a gas turbine, and energy storage capabilities. It was designed to demonstrate the capacity to power an aircraft around the size of a regional-class jet, reducing fuel burn and costs without sacrificing performance. The unit’s technology and designs are expected to be used to help develop future hybrid systems that could lower airline operating costs. 

The demonstration flight came after years of rapid development for the technology. For NASA, it also validates work that stretches back to a time when hybrid aviation propulsion seemed almost beyond the horizon of possibility.

This achievement reflects what NASA does best in aeronautics: we explore bold possibilities, validate them through rigorous research and testing, and work with industry to turn breakthrough ideas into technologies that bring real value for the American people.

LAURIE A. GRINDLE

Director of the Aeronautics Division within the agency's Research and Technology Mission Directorate

“This is the culmination of more than 15 years of work, and we did that because it’s going to have an impact for aircraft that will help reduce energy use and help U.S. companies and the public,” said Ralph Jansen, aerospace engineer at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. “It’s about having a vision that no one believes can happen and then doing the work to define and execute the research and development needed to make it happen.”  

This accomplishment was possible because of the collaborative effort of hundreds of people working on Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration and Subsonic Vehicle Technologies and Tools projects across NASA centers, in conjunction with GE Aerospace and its partner companies.

Hybird-Electric Evolves

In recent years, aviation has seen a boom in small aircraft and drones powered by electrical systems drawing from batteries. But large passenger and cargo planes require complex engines capable of supplying massive amounts of power. So more than a decade ago when NASA began contemplating hybrid systems, just the possibility of using electric motors to supplement some energy was a daunting engineering challenge. 

NASA spent about seven years performing preliminary research, working with small businesses and other partners to consider technological obstacles and the potential commercial viability of hybrid systems. During that time, the agency addressed several barriers to implementation including the power, thermal, and battery technology, and the integration of the power system, engine, and aircraft.

Through the agency’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration award, GE Aerospace and NASA worked with researchers to develop lighter and more efficient power systems and shrink key components – sometimes dramatically. 

NASA and GE Aerospace also leveraged agency facilities and resources to further their research. In 2022, GE Aerospace tested an integrated version of its propulsion system at NASA’s Electric Aircraft Testbed at the agency’s Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. Testing allowed the system to operate in conditions simulating 45,000 feet in altitude, the range in which commercial single-aisle aircraft fly. 

The team added components, including electric motors, power converters, propellers, and a GE Aerospace commercial engine, followed by more ground tests and eventual flight tests. For the researchers who’d spent years on the concept, seeing the engine powering an aircraft in flight was a major step in a long journey.

“I’ve got to say, I was pretty touched seeing it fly. It was just awesome,” Jansen said.  “It’s just like a regular plane, which is probably the best thing of all.”

NASA’s current support for this research is through the Aeronautics Division of its Research and Technology Mission Directorate.

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Source: www.nasa.gov

Media are invited to NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, on Friday, July 31, to attend a media tour and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Flight Dynamics Research Facility, the agency’s first new wind tunnel in more than 40 years.

The event will include a brief media availability with:

• NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman
• Dr. Trina Dyal, center director, NASA Langley
• Administrator Edward C. Forst, U.S. General Services Administration

This event is in person only and open to members of the media who are United States citizens or lawful permanent residents. Information about timing will be shared closer to the event. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.

Media requesting to participate in person must RSVP no later than 5 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, July 29. Media RSVPs must be sent to Kimiko Booker, [email protected], and Brittny McGraw, [email protected], with the following information:

• Legal first and last names (must match government identification)
• Email
• Phone number
• Job title and organization

The wind tunnel opening marks a major milestone in the evolution of NASA and the nation’s aeronautics and space research capabilities. The state-of-the-art facility will support research and technology development that will advance NASA’s aeronautics, exploration, and science goals, including establishing a sustained human presence on the lunar surface through the Artemis program and the development of a Moon Base.

Learn more about the Flight Dynamics Research Facility at:

https://go.nasa.gov/4yzKEGQ

-end-

Camille Gallo / Rob Margetta
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
[email protected] / [email protected] 

Kimiko Booker / Brittny McGraw
NASA Langley, Hampton, Va.
757-506-5939 / 757-769-3763
[email protected] / [email protected]

Source: www.nasa.gov

NASA opened its newest wind tunnel, the Flight Dynamics Research Facility, Friday, providing a critical resource for the agency and its partners to test the safety and performance of future generations of aircraft, rockets, and space exploration vehicles.

Located at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, the Flight Dynamics Research Facility will support advances in aircraft safety, X‑plane development, drone research, and spacecraft technology. The facility will enable both free‑flight and mounted testing of a wide range of scale-model vehicles designed to travel through an atmosphere, from airplanes to space capsules returning to Earth.

“The Flight Dynamics Research Facility is NASA’s first major new wind tunnel in more than 40 years and gives us a powerful new platform to test the ideas and technologies that will shape the future of aviation and exploration,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “America has led in air and space because we were willing to take on hard problems, challenge assumptions, and build what didn’t exist before. This facility gives the talented team at Langley, and our partners across government, industry, and universities, the tools to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and ensure America remains the world leader in air and space.”

A ribbon-cutting ceremony at NASA Langley marked the start of a new chapter in flight research. Agency leaders, partners, and Virginia officials emphasized how the Flight Dynamics Research Facility’s state-of-the-art capabilities will shape the future of flight and exploration.

“The opening of the Flight Dynamics Research Facility represents a significant advancement for NASA and for the nation,” said Dr. Trina Dyal, NASA Langley center director. “By bringing modernized testing capabilities under one roof, we are enabling transformative research that will ensure the United States remains at the forefront of aeronautics and exploration.”

Built through a partnership with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the facility replaces aging infrastructure with an energy-efficient facility that reduces maintenance costs and provides the flexibility needed for future research. The Flight Dynamics Research Facility is part of a broader, long-term collaboration between the agencies, representing the fourth new building GSA has delivered to NASA under Langley’s 20-year campus revitalization plan.

“GSA is proud to partner with NASA in delivering the Flight Dynamics Research Facility, a state-of-the-art asset that will power the next generation of American dominance in aeronautics and space exploration,” said Edward C. Forst, GSA administrator. “This facility reflects what we do best: provide the advanced, expertly designed installations that federal agencies need to carry out their missions. With these new capabilities, NASA will be better equipped to test bold ideas, validate new designs, and advance technologies that will serve the nation for decades to come.”

The Flight Dynamics Research Facility combines and improves upon the capabilities of two historic NASA Langley wind tunnels – the 20-Foot Vertical Spin Tunnel and the 12-Foot Low-Speed Tunnel. The 25,000-square-foot building features a vertical wind tunnel with improved airflow, modern digital systems, and flexible testing capabilities that will allow researchers to study how aircraft, spacecraft, parachutes, and other vehicles behave during flight.

The facility’s 20-foot diameter test chamber is much larger than those of its NASA Langley predecessors, allowing for more air to pass around test models and improving data accuracy. Its increased size also allows for the use of larger, more detailed models during testing.

The Flight Dynamics Research Facility’s top airspeed of 117 miles per hour is twice as fast as the old  facilities, enabling free-flight tests of heavier scale models. This will allow simulations of full-scale vehicles flying at higher altitudes – a critical capability for operations such as studying the stability of aircraft or reentry capsules coming back from space.

The facility’s wind power comes from four 750-horsepower motors, each with an integrated, 14-foot diameter, eight-bladed fan. The fan blades are made of lightweight carbon fiber, enabling rapid, precise airspeed adjustments during free‑flight tests.

The Flight Dynamics Research Facility illustrates the powerful synergy between NASA’s aeronautics and space exploration efforts, with each driving innovation in the other. The facility will drive experimental research across a wide range of flight systems, advancing the development of autonomous flight vehicles, drones, commercial and military aircraft, and X‑planes.

As NASA prepares for a sustained human presence on the lunar surface through the Artemis program and the development of a Moon Base, the facility will play a key role in testing vehicle designs for entry, descent, and landing that will help reduce mission risk and support the safe return of crews to Earth. NASA also will be able to use the wind tunnel  to help design aircraft for Mars and other destinations in our solar system where atmospheric flight is possible.

With the Flight Dynamics Research Facility now open, NASA is entering a new era in flight research – one that will shape the aircraft and spacecraft of tomorrow, strengthen industry partnerships, and extend the agency’s legacy of pioneering aerospace leadership.

The facility is managed under the Aerosciences Evaluation and Test Capabilities portfolio in the Aeronautics Division of NASA’s Research and Technology Mission Directorate.

Learn more about the Flight Dynamics Research Facility at:

https://go.nasa.gov/4yzKEGQ

-end-

Camille Gallo / Rob Margetta
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
[email protected] / [email protected] 

Kimiko Booker / Brittny McGraw
NASA Langley, Hampton, Virginia
757-506-5939 / 757-769-3763
[email protected] / [email protected]

Source: www.nasa.gov

NASA’s 737 aircraft was painted this week in Oklahoma as it progresses with modifications for use as a reduced gravity test aircraft for the agency. NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, took ownership of the aircraft from the United States Air Force in June. 

The aircraft will perform lunar-gravity parabolic flights to validate astronaut lunar suits and associated crew systems required to support Artemis mission objectives. These flights will happen at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for reduced-gravity operations, with NASA Armstrong oversight.

In addition, the aircraft will serve as a key asset for systems‑integration research for flight testing autonomy, sensors, and other digital systems.

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Many of NASA’s most important aerospace breakthroughs that began in the laboratory were ultimately proven in the sky. For decades, experts at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland conducted flight tests — piloting aircraft into targeted environments such as icing clouds and carefully defined atmospheric routes. This approach allowed them to collect measurements directly in flight, providing critical data that linked laboratory theories to practical performance. 

The center’s flight research dates to the 1940s, when NASA Glenn was known as the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, NASA’s predecessor agency. During World War II, engineers and pilots worked to improve aircraft performance and increase high-altitude reliability. In the mid-to-late-1940s, flight research helped make early jet and ramjet engines practical. Later, Glenn’s flight programs helped improve the efficiency and environmental performance of aircraft engines — primarily conventional jet engines. 

Behind those early flight programs was a pioneering group of pilots who helped establish NASA Glenn’s reputation for airborne research. The center’s first generation of pilots, including Howard Lilly, Joseph Walker, William Swann, and William “Ed” Gough, helped lay the groundwork for more than two dozen other Glenn pilots, including future astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Fred Haise. 

Together with Glenn’s researchers, engineers, and support staff, these pilots established airborne research capabilities that NASA continues to rely on today. Their work demonstrated how flight testing could bridge the gap between laboratory research and real-world performance. 

“These missions transformed aircraft into flying laboratories,” said Mark Russell, a NASA safety officer and pilot who served as the former acting chief of Aircraft Operations at Glenn. “They bridged the gap between ground testing and full-scale flight, proving the measurements needed to connect theory with performance. The testing also helped validate technologies and procedures later used aboard spacecraft and orbital missions.” 

Research workhorses 

From the start, NASA put its aircraft to work on a wide range of research challenges. 

For decades, NASA Glenn aircraft have been used to study in-flight icing hazards, collecting data that has helped make commercial aviation safer. For nearly 40 years, NASA Glenn’s De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter served as the center’s workhorse for icing research, gathering data that helped shape modern aviation safety standards. 

Beyond improving aviation safety, Glenn’s flight research also explored new propulsion technologies that could transform the future of flight. Today, researchers are exploring hydrogen as an aviation fuel. But NASA Glenn helped show its potential viability decades ago using its Martin B-57B Canberra aircraft. After developing a hydrogen fuel system for the B-57B, a team tested it safely from February to April 1957. The flights showed the system’s reliable operation and advanced efficiency, marking a major milestone in aviation technology.  

Flight testing also supported technologies destined for use beyond Earth, helping researchers evaluate hardware under conditions that closely resembled space. Beginning in 1963, the center began a program to test and measure how well solar cells worked under conditions similar to those in space. Using specially modified airplanes, including Learjets, NASA conducted flights to help recreate some of the sunlight and atmospheric conditions that solar cells would experience outside Earth’s atmosphere. The program lasted decades, supporting space technology calibration through numerous high-altitude flights and adapting to newer aircraft over time. 

Researchers later applied these airborne capabilities to environmental science, extending their value beyond aviation and space technology. Using the Twin Otter and S-3B Viking over the Great Lakes, researchers tracked harmful algal blooms on Lake Erie by measuring changes in water color and composition. The data improved satellite systems used to monitor water quality and ecosystem health.  

Glenn’s research aircraft also played an important role in preparing technologies and experiments for spaceflight through microgravity testing. NASA Glenn advanced microgravity research through in-flight testing using specially modified aircraft, such as its DC-9, to create short periods of weightlessness during parabolic maneuvers. These flights allowed researchers to study how fluids, combustion, materials, and experimental equipment behaved in near-zero gravity before experiments were conducted in space.  

Recent breakthroughs 

Other significant accomplishments enabled by Glenn’s flight research include supporting the development and testing of sustainable aviation technologies, including research related to more fuel-efficient engines and sustainable aviation fuels, and advancing in-flight instrumentation and measurement techniques used across aeronautics research. 

In 2024, Glenn’s Flight Operations participated in an optical communications study using the center’s Pilatus PC-12 NG aircraft. This mission successfully demonstrated the ability to transmit large volumes of data through a laser communication system across NASA’s legacy infrastructure. The work contributed to NASA’s broader effort to advance optical communications for future missions. NASA further tested optical communications on the Artemis II mission and effectively transmitted substantial amounts of data from the Orion capsule to multiple ground stations over the course of the 10-day journey.  

As NASA’s flight research enterprise evolved, the agency also restructured how it manages its research aircraft. In October 2025, NASA streamlined its aircraft flight operations, relocating its aircraft from Glenn to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA Glenn continues its important icing and propulsion research and communications technology development in collaboration with Armstrong.  

From its historical roots in wartime engine development to modern work on aircraft safety, Glenn’s airborne research has consistently moved innovative ideas from the laboratory to real-world application. For more than eight decades, NASA Glenn has transformed ideas first proven in the laboratory into innovations validated in the sky — a legacy that continues to shape the future of aviation and space exploration. 

Source: www.nasa.gov