NASA opens its first wind tunnel in 40 years at Langley Research Center – WTOP News

Friday was a historic day for NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. A stellar lineup of VIPs from NASA, GSA, Congress, Virginia and Langley employees celebrated the ribbon-cutting ceremony for NASA’s newest and most advanced wind tunnel: the Flight Dynamics Research Facility.

The $53 million, 25,000-square-foot FDRF, built by BL Harbert International, is the first wind tunnel added to NASA’s wind tunnel assets in 40 years. The project was started in June 2022, with construction completed in March 2026.

Over the next few months, the facility will undergo more data collection and certifications before it can begin actual wind tunnel test runs. The first flight test run will involve NASA’s experimental and revolutionary X-66 Transonic Truss-Braced Wing project.

Langley was NASA’s first field center, established in 1917, with the purpose of studying aeronautics, or aircraft flight. It may surprise you, but NASA, or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, has been central to the development and testing of America’s military and civilian aircraft, helicopters and now drones.

One of the main focal points of Langley, working under the auspices of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), NASA’s predecessor in the 1920s, was determining aircraft spin mode profiles, how an aircraft goes into a spin and how can the pilot recover as a result. The hit movie “Top Gun” showed Maverick and Goose going into a flat spin from which they could not recover and had to eject.

Langley, at its inception and for the future with the FDRF, has been central to aircraft and spacecraft development and testing. For decades, Langley utilized its two historic wind tunnels — the 20-foot vertical spin tunnel and the 12-foot low-speed tunnel. In her speech given to a large audience, Dr. Trina Dyal, director of the Langley Research Center, said that components from these historic wind tunnels are incorporated into the new wind tunnel.

If it flies in the atmosphere or enters the atmosphere of Earth or the planets and moons of the Solar system with atmospheres, it gets tested at Langley. The latest solar system mission spacecraft getting tested at Langley is headed to the planet Venus and is called DAVINCI.

One of the highlights in touring the FDRF and visiting the Virginia Air and Space Museum, which is Langley’s visitor center, was seeing parts of these historic tunnels and the models of aircraft and spacecraft tested by them. I saw wind tunnel blades, biplanes, World War II aircraft and just about every aircraft flown in the U.S. military and commercial fleet.

I also saw precision scale models of the crewed spacecraft of Projects Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and now Orion, which is a key component of Artemis, all having been tested at Langley. The testing of Orion also included the Launch Abort System, which clears the Orion spacecraft from the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in case of an emergency.

In fact, a model of the Orion spacecraft equipped with a parachute, got “tested” by NASA Administrator Jared Issacman at the FDRF. The “test” was successful as the parachute fully deployed and was eventually retrieved by a fancy fishing net. He also personally greeted the new Langley interns.

During his speech, Sen. Tim Kaine, of Virginia, highlighted the impact NASA Langley has had on inspiring Virginia’s STEM students.

In WTOP’s continuing reporting on NASA Artemis, NASA Langley has been quite active in supporting America’s return to the moon to stay this time, just as it did for Apollo.

To get more information on Artemis support at Langley, Mr. Jeremy T. Pinier, SLS aerosciences team lead at Langley, did work on the Ares I-X test flight as part of NASA’s Constellation program, which was canceled in 2011. In that same year, the SLS program began to take shape and eventually a reality.

He explained that the data provided by 200 sensors on the SLS for Artemis I led to significant changes to the SLS for Artemis II that helped smooth the airflow and ride.

Having watched the entire eight-minute liftoff video for Artemis II, which included views from the SLS, I commented how amazingly smooth the SLS looked on the entire ascent. Pinier pointed out the “white strakes” I saw in the video really smoothed out the ride for Artemis II.

He commented that data acquisition from future SLS launches and resulting testing at Langley will contribute significantly to Artemis. 

In closing, looking at the FDRF harkens one to imagine it is from a “Star Wars” movie set and that the “Millennium Falcon” should be there at the top of the futuristic 130-foot tall structure. 

One thing is for sure: FDRF and Langley will be at the forefront of America’s future aeronautic and spacecraft frontiers.

Follow Greg Redfern’s daily blog to keep up with the latest news in astronomy and space exploration.

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