NASA officially opened on Friday the first major wind tunnel built in over 40 years. The Flight Dynamics Research Facility, located at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, will play a key role in developing next-generation aircraft and spacecraft.
NASA Langley Center Director Dr. Trina Dyal said the opening of the facility is a significant advancement for NASA and the country. Dyal stated that by consolidating modern testing capabilities under one roof, they will enable transformative research that will help the U.S. maintain its leadership in aviation and exploration.
Built in partnership with the U.S. General Services Administration, the facility replaces two older facilities that have been in use for over 80 years. The project is part of NASA's efforts to modernize its aging infrastructure and reduce maintenance costs.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, "If we continue to spend our resources maintaining historic facilities that are no longer in high demand, it will be to the detriment of meeting today's mission and the next-generation capabilities we envision for the future."
Hundreds of industry leaders, government officials, and community members attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Langley. Some attendees later had the opportunity to tour the new facility.
The 25,000-square-meter facility includes a vertical test section 20 feet in diameter and 24 feet high. The temperature-controlled tunnel can generate wind speeds up to 117 miles per hour.
NASA Dragonfly parachute deceleration system technical lead Giovanny Guecha said, "The capabilities in terms of the wind speed it can provide are much higher. This is almost ten times more than the previous method. This helps us test conditions closer to Venus, more stressful conditions."
The tunnel is powered by four motors, each 750 horsepower, and an eight-bladed fan 14 feet in diameter. The lightweight carbon fiber blades allow engineers to quickly adjust airflow during free-flight tests and simulate high-altitude conditions.
The wind tunnel will be used to test technologies for future exploration missions to Venus and Saturn's largest moon Titan, as well as the Moon and Mars. It will also be able to evaluate scale models of vehicles traveling through atmospheres, including spacecraft returning to Earth.
NASA transonic dynamics tunnel facility manager David Storch said, "This facility will absolutely play a role in every future space mission. For anything that needs to return to Earth, definitely."
The facility will provide NASA and its partners with a critical resource for testing the safety and performance of next-generation aircraft, rockets, space exploration vehicles, X-planes, drones, and autonomous flight vehicles.
