Browse Archive

  • Dryden Director David McBride talks about the main elements of the center's proposed funding.

    Asteroid Mission Targeted

    Bruce Willis and the simultaneous launch of two space shuttles are some of the first thoughts conjured by a mission to an asteroid.

  • This material analyzer is one of the most recent tools used to uncover substandard materials and counterfeit parts.

    Fake Parts

    Dryden is at the forefront of developing aerospace technology and it is now recognized as a model for insuring that none of that technology fails from the use of counterfeit parts.

  • The quad rotor vehicle is flying to validate research on elements of a futuristic control system that has immediate applications for unmanned aircraft systems and potentially to a future personal air vehicle.

    Jetsons Saw This Coming

    When George Jetson was ready to head off to the office he hopped into his bubble-shaped aerocar and zoomed off to work.

  • Jerry Budd, left, shows off the 1/3-scale Twin Ventus glider center section that would be used to flight validate the aerodynamics of his Towed Glider Air-Launch concept

    Tomorrow's Tech Today

    Imagine hypersonic breakthroughs that enable future missions to Mars, exponentially better sensors for aircraft and spacecraft that reduce weight and increase safety, and control systems that automatically react to flight conditions before emergency situations arise.

  • Dryden's F/A-18A Full Scale Advanced Systems Testbed aircraft recently completed flying the Intelligent Control for Performance research project.

    Smart Controls Save Fuel

    Dryden's versatile F/A-18 Full Scale Advanced Systems Testbed, or FAST, aircraft recently completed a series of flights that explored reducing fuel consumption during cruise flight conditions by making small modifications to existing control laws and mechanisms in the aircraft's flight control computer.

  • Dale McCoy of Dryden's Environmental Office helps load up items for recycling from Dryden's electronic waste collection.

    Turning Trash into Treasure

    More than a ton of electronic waste was collected for recycling during a drive organized from Dec. 3-19.

  • The DC-8 is pictured on the ramp in Punta Arenas, Chile, during the IceBridge mission as a storm brews in the skies above.

    Snow and Ice Science

    Researchers with NASA's Operation IceBridge recently completed a five-week field campaign based out of Punta Arenas, Chile.

  • Dryden pilot Troy Asher, left, readies himself in the cockpit of a Learjet that once at altitude will use the new Fused Reality flight simulator for an aerial refueling drill.

    Fused Reality: Welcome to the Latest in Simulation

    Simulation is an excellent tool that allows pilots an opportunity to train in an unfamiliar aircraft or to gain experience and confidence for a new mission.

  • Space Shuttle Endeavour, at the California Science Center.

    California Science Center Welcomes Endeavour

    Thousands of people anxiously waited Oct. 30 at the California Science Center in Los Angeles to catch the first glimpses of the Space Shuttle Endeavour in its new home.

  • Dryden’s F/A-18B mission support aircraft No. 852 flies near the Tehachapi Mountains.

    Studying FaINT Sound

    NASA’s Supersonics Project embarked on its latest effort to soften sonic booms when a NASA F/A-18 aircraft took to the air for a project called Farfield Investigation of No Boom Threshold, or FaINT, in late October.

  • Endeavour and its host NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft make a final flight over Edwards Air Force Base Sept. 21. Dryden is visible on the upper right.

    Final Flight

    People from all over California enthusiastically watched the skies for a glimpse of space shuttle Endeavour and its host, NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, Sept. 21 as they flew by a number of communities and landmarks on their way to Los Angeles International Airport.

  • Dryden senior machinist Keith Day describes the functions of a vertical milling center in the center's experimental fabrication shop to followers of NASA's social media accounts during the NASA Social at Dryden.

    Event Highlighted Dryden's Work

    It's hard to stage an event for millions of your closest friends. For that reason, NASA Socials are designed to give participants a look behind-the-scenes at how the agency works to share with their followers and reach audiences that ordinarily would not have the same access.

  • Maj. Gen. Joe Engle flew 16 research flights in the X-15 rocket plane in the 1960s and went on to fly the prototype space shuttle Enterprise during the Approach and Landing Tests and two orbital space shuttle missions.

    Rocket Man: Engle and X-15 Pilots Verified, Validated the Methods to Reach the Space Age

    On the eve of one of NASA's major space science milestones - the landing of its Mars Science Lab Curiosity rover on the Red Planet - retired Air Force test pilot and NASA astronaut Maj. Gen. Joe H. Engle recalled his involvement in several earlier spaceflight milestones during a recent Dryden visit.

  • Jim Montgomery, JPL's field test lead for the Mars Science Laboratory's Terminal Descent Sensor landing radar, outlined the 2011 flight tests of the system housed in a Quick-Test Experimental Pod on one of Dryden's F/A-18 aircraft.

    Montgomery Details Dryden MSL Role

    When the Curiosity rover made its complex descent to Mars Aug. 5, it represented a moment of truth for researchers not only at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., but for contributors across NASA and around the world.

  • This artist's concept shows the Curiosity rover using its Chemistry and Camera, or ChemCam, instrument to investigate the composition of a rock surface.

    Mars is More Than Just a Curiosity

    An important day for NASA is drawing ever closer as the Mars Science Laboratory carrying its Curiosity rover rockets to Earth's nearest planetary neighbor.

  • Students in front of SR-71 aircraft.

    Applying What They've Learned: Students Chosen for Work Experience Programs

    If it seems like there are a lot of new faces at Dryden this month, it's because there are. About 90 students in 11 programs are gaining valuable work experience this summer while learning to apply the theories to the practice of their specialties.

  • Social media learned about NASA's Ikhana.

    Dryden Organizers Showcase Center at First NASA Social

    Followers of NASA's social media accounts get an all-day behind-the-scenes look and the planes, people and projects that make up NASA Dryden.

  • Nadia Wright and Shawn Albertson talk to a Dryden employee.

    Wright Helps Make it SAFE

    Safety Action Forum for Employees works to educate people about safety.

  • NASA’s Ikhana glides in for landing at the conclusion of the first checkout test flight of the new ADS-B Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast aircraft tracking technology on an unmanned aircraft system.

    New Tech May Help Air Traffic Control

    Mail and packages may one day move from city-to-city aboard unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, flying in the same airspace as airliners, cargo planes, business jets and private aircraft.

  • Officers work through a drill where they have to shoot a suspect from a seated position.

    Protective Services Aims for Success

    Dryden Protective Services officers see a suspicious man who was possibly armed and dangerous enter a building.