AMES-DRYDEN FLIGHT RESEARCH FACILITY FACT SHEET JANUARY 1991 The Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility is NASA's premier installation for aeronautical research and flight testing. It is located at Edwards, Calif., on the western edge of the Mojave Desert 80 miles north of metropolitan Los Angeles. The facility, within the boundaries of Edwards Air force Base, is on thenorthwest edge of Rogers Dry Lake, a 44-square mile natural playa used for aviation research and test operations and emergency landings. An addi8tional 22 square miles of similar smooth clay surface is provided by nearby Rosamond Dry Lake. The Early Years The history of the Ames-Dryden complex dates back to the summer of 1946 when a group of five aeronautical engineers arrived at what is now Edwards from NACA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., to begin preparing for the X-i supersonic research flights in a joint NACA-Army Air Corps program. NACA -- the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics -- was the predecessor organization of today's NASA. Since the days of the X-i, first aircraft to fly faster than the speed of sound, the facility has grown in size and significance and is associated with many important milestones in aviation -- supersonic and hypersonic flight, wingless lifting bodies, fly-by-wire, supercritical and forward swept wings, and the Space Shuttles. Among the aircraft flown by NACA and NASA pilots at Ames- Dryden in earlier years were: -- Original X-Series: The A,B,D, and E models of the original X-1, and the X-3, X-4 and X-5 aircraft. These research vehicles pioneered flight at and beyond the speed of sound, and proved the concepts of swept and variable-sweep wings. -- D-558-1 and 2: The No. 1 aircraft investigated stability and control at transonic speeds, while the D-558-2 became the first aircraft to fly twice the speed of sound. -- X-15: This was a rocket-powered vehicle that extended manned aircraft to use thrusters for pitch, yaw, and roll control on the fringes of the atmosphere. Data on stability, flight controls, and thermal heating used in development of spacecraft and future aircraft. Flown between 1959 and 1968, it is considered the most productive and successful of any research aircraft to date. -- XB-70: This prototype supersonic bomber became largest experimental aircraft ever. Research data used in the design of future supersonic military and civilian aircraft. -- Lifting Bodies: Five wingless vehicle designs -- M2-F2, M2-F3, HL-10, X-24A and X-24B -- were flown from 1966 1975 in a program to obtain data bout controllable atmospheric reentry that contributed to development of the Space Shuttle. An earlier Ames-Dryden-built lightweight ligting body, the M2-F1, pioneered the concept and paved the way for the formal program with the heavyweight vehicles. The Recent Years More recent projects led to major advancements in the design and capabilities of many military and civilian aircraft. In the 1970s, Ames-Dryden modified a former Navy F-8 aircraft with an all-electric flight control system and with it pioneered the Digital Fly-By-Wier (DFBW) concept now used on many military and commercial aircraft. A DFBW system replaces mechanical and hydraulic linkages between the cockpit and control surfaces and allows pilots to fly complex, high performance aircraft more efficiently. It also reduces aircraft weight and the space needed for systems installation. The DFBW f-8 was also the testbed for the fly-by-wire system used in the Space Shuttle. Another F-8 in the 1970s was the testbed for a new airfoil called the Supercritical Wing. The NASA-designed airfoil is flatter on top and more rounded on the bottom than a conventional wing. At high subsonic speeds it allows higher cruise speeds with less fuel and power requirements. Supercritical Wings are now used on a number of military and commercial aircraft. Other major programs in recent years have included: -- Mission Adaptive Wing: Evaluation of a wing on which standard control surfaces were eliminated and leading and trailing edges were contoured in flight to form an airfoil best suited for speed, altitude and maneuvers. Project aircraft was an F-111. -- Advanced Propellers: Utilizing a NASA Jetstar, scale-model propellers were acoustically tested in a program to lower interior aircraft cabin noise and reduce structural vibrations -- Ground Vehicle Fuel Conservation Study: Conducted by Ames-Dryden in 1974 and 1975 for the Department of Transportation, it showed that add-on wind deflectors and other similar devices reduce aerodynamic drag on truck-trailer rigs from 2 to 24 percent and help reduce fuel costs. They are seen daily now on many vehicles. Today at Ames-Dryden The current major projects at Ames-Dryden include: -- X-29: The No. 2 X-29 is being flown in a program to study the high angle of attack characteristics of the forward swept wing design, and to study possible military utility of the unique wing-canard configuration. Earlier research with the No. 1 aircraft centered on the aircraft's advanced technologies, including the forward swept wing, aeroelastic tailoring, the canard -wing interaction, strake flaps, and advanced flight controls that include variable camber wings. The No. 1 aircraft logged 242 research flights during Phase 1 of the program, the most of any "X" aircraft flown by NASA, and showed the forward swept wing reduces drag by up to 20 percent. -- F-18 High Angle of Attack Research Vehicle: Ames- Dryden is flying a modified F-18 to study airflow, behavior of flight control surfaces, and engine performance at high angles of attack. The information is being gathered to create a data base for aircraft designers to accurately predict airflow over surfaces at high angles of attack. Technology is expected to result in control and performance improvements and better flight safety in future high performance aircraft, and help reduce costly design improvements that sometimes occur during development. A thrust-vectoring system using spoon-shaped paddles has been installed on the aircraft to direct engine exhaust flow. The thrust-vectoring system provides pitch and yaw control to enhance maneuverability and control of the research aircraft at high angles of attack and allows the project to collect a greater amount of data for longer periods of time. -- F-15 HiDEC: The HIDEC (Highly Integrated Digital Electronic Control) F-15 program conducts flight research on integrated digital electronic flight and engine control systems and had demonstrated improved rates of climb, fuel savings, and engine thrust by optimizing systems performance based on mission and real-time needs. The HIDEC F-15 also tested and evaluated a computerized self-repairing flight control system for the Air Force. The system can detect damaged or failed flight control components -- rudders, ailerons, elevators, flaps -- and reconfigure unaffected flight surfaces so the pilot can maintain aircraft control to either complete the mission or land safely. -- F-16XL: NASA is using the two F-16XL prototypes in a laminar flow research program that, for the first time, is studying ways to improve airflow over the wings at supersonic speeds. Current wing designs produce turbulence at the wing surface and the penalty is decreased performance and fuel efficiency. The "XL" program is investigating methods of minimizing the turbulent layer of air. -- CV-990: A NASA CV-990 aircraft is being modified to test Space Shuttle landing gear assemblies. Called the LSRA -- Landing Systems Research Aircraft -- it will produce data to help improve Space Shuttle landing gear performance and give shuttle crews and engineers data about tire, wheel, and systems failures. -- B-52: The NASA B-52 aircraft has been used in recent years as the air-launch platform for several remotely piloted vehicles studying aircraft spin-stall characteristics, high angle of attack, and fighter technologies. It was used to verify the parachute recovery system on the Space Shuttle's solid rocket boosters and the F-111 crew capsule parachute recovery system, and it is the launch aircraft for the first several flights of the commerically developed Pegasus space booster system. And Space Shuttle orbiters. The NASA B-52, with a tail number of "008," is the same airlaunch aircraft used in the X-15 and lifting body programs and is the oldest B-52 in flying status. -- SR-71: Three triple-sonic SR-71s are being used by NASA for aeronautical research that calls for high speed, high altitude environments. Data collected by the SR-71 "Blackbirds" will help in the development of future high speed military and civil aircraft. In The Future Planning is underway at Ames-Dryden on the flight test program for the X-30, an experimanetal vehicle of the National AeroSpace Plane program that is expected to be tested at Ames-Dryden in the late 1990s. Ames-Dryden's Thermostructures Research Facility is also carrying out early structures research on components tht may be used to build the X-30. Expected to fly 8,000 mph in the upper atmosphere, the liquid hydrogen-powered X-30 will also have the capability of achieving low earth orbit and still operate from a conventional runway. To support development of the X-30, and other potential users of liquid hydrogen fuel, a Liquid Hydrogen Structural Test Facility will be built at Ames-Dryden to conduct load and thermal static tests of structural components used in liquid hydrogen fuel systems. Space Shuttles Among the most visible projects involving Ames-Dryden has been the Space Shuttle. The facility was the site of the Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) in 1977. The prototype orbiter Enterprise was used in ALT to verify the glide and handling qualities of the vehicle for its return into the atmosphere from space. During ALT Enterprise was taken aloft atop the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and air launched for the glide fights back to the lakebed and to the main runway at Edwards. Since orbital flights began in April 1981, the majority of landings have been at Ames-Dryden. After the landings, the orbiters are serviced at Ames-Dryden for the ferry flights back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. The ALT program and the first several orbital landings during the shuttle's test and development stahe were at Ames-Dryden because of the safety margin presented by Rogers Dry Lake. Landings will resume at the Kennedy Space Center, where orbiters have landed six times, once the braking and nose wheel steering systems have been thoroughly tested and additional aerodynamic and handling data is obtained. Ames- Dryden, however, will always remain a desirable landing site on future missions if there is unfavorable weather in Florida at the time of the planned landing. Ames-Dryden is always considered a backup landing site because of the many landing options presented by the main concrete and the lakebed runways at Edwards when heavy payloads are being returned to Earth, or for contingency reasons. Rosamond Dry Lake at Edwards also has two lakebed runways available for contingency landings, if needed. Facilities The Ames-Dryden complex has grown from an initial group of five engineers in 1946 to a facility with more than 450 NASA government employees and about the same number of civilian contractor personnel. Annual Fiscal Year 1991 budget for Ames-Dryden site operations in $124 million: a $20 million payroll, $10 million for institutional support, $32 million for facilities construction, and $62 million for research, development and associated expenditures. Along with a varied fleet of research and support aircraft, Ames-Dryden facilities include a high temperature and loads calibration laboratory to ground test aircraft and structural components for the combined effects of loads and heat; a highly developed aircraft flight instrumentation capability; a flight systems laboratory with a diversified capability for avionics system development; a flow visualization facility to study flow patterns on models and small aircraft componennts; a data analysis facility to process flight research data; a facility to carry out flight research with remotely piloted vehicles; and communications and data transmission capabilities linking Ames-Dryden to Western Aeronautical Test Range facilities at Ames Research Center and with NASA's Crows Landing complex near Ames. These facilities have given Ames-Dryden pilots, engineers, scientists, and technicians an unique and highly specialized capability to conduct flight research programs unmatched anywhere in the world. The list of diverse vehicles flown and operated by Ames-Dryden includes not only high speed research aircraft but such diverse vehicles as the wingless lifting bodies, the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, and others investigating flight stability, new control and probpulsion systems, and technology to make aircraft more maneuverable and safer to fly. Under construction is an Integrated Test Facility that will be used to carry out simiultaneous systems checks on a wide variety of aircraft. It is scheduled tobe operational in late 1991. Ideal Location The location of Ames-Dryden is ideal for aerospace research. The dry lakebeds are used for planned operations and they provide an important safety margin for emergency landings. More than 20,000 square miles of restricted airspace over California's high desert, known as the R-2508 Complex, are available for research flying. Agencies monitoring flights in R-2508 are linked directly to NASA's Western Aeronautical Test Range to provide positive control and enhance flight safety. The test range also includes restricted airspace off the California coast. The desert environment provides good flying weather an average of 345 days a year, and the absence of large population centers throughout the high desert help elimincate problems associated with aircraft noise and light patterns. Dr. Hugh L. Dryden The name of the Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility honors an individual who is a significant part of NASA history. Dr. Hugh L. Dryden was an internationally known aeronautical scientist who became a member of NACA in 1931 while working for the Bureau of Standards. In 1946, he was appointed NACA's Director of Aeronautical Research, NACA's highest fulltime official then. He was responsible for making Ames-Dryden a permanent facility in 1947. Dryden was named to the newly created post of NACA director in 1949. When NACA became a new agency under the name of NASA in 1958, Dryden remained as deputy administrator until he died Dec. 2, 1965. The facility was named the Dryden Flight Research Center (later Ames-Dryden )on Mar. 26, 1975.