EC97-44012-1
This console and its complement of computers, monitors, and communications equipment make up the Research Engineering Test Station, the nerve center for a new aerodynamics experiment being conducted by NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif.
The equipment was installed on a modified Lockheed L-1011 Tristar jetliner operated by Orbital Sciences Corp., of Dulles, Va., for Dryden’s Adaptive Performance Optimization project. The experiment sought to improve the efficiency of long-range jetliners by using small movements of the ailerons to improve the aerodynamics of the wing at cruise conditions. About a dozen research flights in the Adaptive Performance Optimization project were planned over two to three years. Improving the aerodynamic efficiency should result in equivalent reductions in fuel usage and costs for airlines operating large, wide-bodied jetliners.Apr 1997NASA Photo