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NASA LANGLEY FORECAST: CONTINUING TO SOAR TO NEW
HEIGHTS
Mars Rovers Up … Langley Prepared to Help them Come
Down. More than a dozen Langley engineers are paying close
attention to the Mars Exploration Rover currently on its way to the
Red Planet. The second rover is due to follow in early July.
Langley helped develop the capsules that will protect the rovers
from excessive heat while entering the Martian atmosphere. They
also helped design and test the giant parachute that will slow the
landers during descent and will help maneuver the capsules to the
precise landing zone. The 400-pound, golf-cart sized "Spirit" and
"Opportunity" rovers are scheduled to reach Mars in January. The
Mars Exploration Rover missions seek to determine the history of
climate and water at two sites on Mars where conditions may have
once been favorable to life. Contact Kathy Barnstorff at
757-864-9886 or k.a.barnstorff@larc.nasa.gov
Hypersonic X-Vehicle Ready for Reflight. NASA has set
this fall for the reflight of the experimental X-43A hypersonic
flight demonstrator. Since the first flight attempt failed in June
2001, an investigative board has completed its review of the mishap
and NASA has reduced risk for the upcoming flight in a number of
ways. As before, a NASA B-52 will carry the Pegasus launch vehicle
and X-43A aloft for their release after which the booster will
accelerate the unpiloted 12-foot-long vehicle to seven times the
speed of sound. The flight will demonstrate, for the first time,
"air-breathing" engine technologies on an aircraft in flight. These
technologies may lead to a cheaper way to get into space. NASA
Langley manages the overall program, while NASA Dryden Flight
Research Center at Edwards AFB, Calif. manages the flight
element.
Interested media may contact Keith Henry at 757-864-6120 or h.k.henry@larc.nasa.gov
Competition Leads Students to Think Science. NASA
announces a student competition in honor of Leonardo Da Vinci. The
VINNY is an award for the best one-minute videos on how science,
technology, engineering or math can help solve common problems. The
videos are accepted in English and Spanish in the following
categories: grades K-5; 6-8; and 9-12. Registration is open until
Oct. 31; videos are due March 15. The VINNY is sponsored by NASA
Langley's Center for Distance Learning, in cooperation with
Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Va., and with funding
from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
Contact Kimberly W. Land at 757-864-9885 or k.w.land@larc.nasa.gov
Cloud Changes May Lead to Altered Climate. NASA-funded
research indicates changes in clouds might have more to do with
global warming than originally thought. A decrease in clouds from
the mid-1980s through the 1990s may be the result of a postulated
24-year cycle in cloud cover. Researchers expanded a recent NASA
study using satellite observations to include all of the area
between the 40th parallels. They showed that a decrease in
cloudiness over the area was consistent with changes in the
radiation budget, or the balance between Earth's incoming and
outgoing energy, and could be part of a global cloud cover
cycle.
Contact Chris Rink at 757-864-6786 or christopher.p.rink@nasa.gov
NASA Langley Helps Southeast States Celebrate the Centennial
of Flight. Volunteers from NASA Langley will bring a special
celebration of the Centennial of Flight to state fairs in West
Virginia, Kentucky, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia
this summer and fall. The traveling exhibit will offer a hands-on,
interactive experience not only to inspire the next generation of
explorers, but also to show how the world has benefited from NASA
aerospace research since Langley, its first laboratory, was founded
in 1917. Displays will chronicle the history of aviation from the
first flight to space flight, present the latest in NASA research
and highlight ground-breaking technologies that will change the
future of aerospace.
Contact Kathy Barnstorff at 757-864-9886 or k.a.barnstorff@larc.nasa.gov
Future Aircraft Will Change Shape in Flight. NASA Langley
scientists are developing new materials, systems and technologies
to make aircraft quieter, more fuel-efficient, safer and more
maneuverable. While some previous aircraft designs feature moveable
swept-wings, the NASA Morphing Program is focused on eliminating
the mechanics needed for this design method and introduce instead a
system where embedded "smart" materials and actuators work to
change an airplane's shape. The sensors will be able to respond to
the constantly changing conditions of flight and will act like the
nerves in a bird's wing to measure the pressure over the entire
surface of the wing. The actuators will also change the shape of
the aircraft's wings to continually optimize flying conditions,
just as a bird's feathers would.
Interested media may contact Bill Uher at 757-864-3189 or w.c.uher@larc.nasa.gov
Inspiration from Nature. NASA Langley's Biomimetics
Program is entrenched in the idea that Mother Nature makes the best
flyers on the planet. But how does one go about proving that theory
and learning from it? By simply having experts in several different
fields work together. That is exactly what NASA scientists are
doing. Aerodynamicists are taking the unusual step and are talking
to biologists, trying to decipher how to make something fly using
nature's abilities. Looking closely at the flight characteristics
of creatures such as seagulls, eagles and even sharks, biomimetics
will gain insight and use what is learned to build safer and more
efficient flying machines.
Interested media may contact Bill Uher at 757-864-3189 or w.c.uher@larc.nasa.gov
Speaker series:
September 9 — The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the
Most Astonishing Number
Presented by Mario Livio, author and mathematician.
The Golden Ratio is beloved of numerologists and mystics who
claim that the Ancient Babylonians, the builders of the pyramids,
were guided in their every action by adherence to the Golden Ratio.
Livio thoroughly and entertainingly debunks these claims, going
back to historical sources, and illustrating the intellectual
dishonesty involved in such analyses.
Contact Kimberly W. Land at 757-864-9885 or k.w.land@larc.nasa.gov
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