Title: NASA Ames – Dryden Flow Visualization Facility
Designer: John Del Frate and Patricia Seamount
Year it was designed: circa 1986 or ’87
Explanation or story behind the patch: At the time I (John) ran Dryden’s Water Tunnel aka the Flow Visualization Facility (FVF). We were doing some really cool work with laser sheets that we used to show us a cross-section of the flow around different models (such as the F-15 in the background). We thought it was time to make a patch and with the help of the gift shop we were able to pull it off. The dyes that were used in the tunnel fluoresced brightly the color of the mermaid in foreground when they were illuminated with laser light. Notice the mermaid’s hair is edged with vortex streets similar to what was observed in the water tunnel in our investigations. The blue background symbolized the water.
For more information on the Flow Visualization Facility, click https://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/multimedia/imagegallery/FVF/index.html