Sneak Peek Inside NASA’s Ames and Langley Wind Tunnel Testing Facilities for Next-Gen Rockets

The short 1-minute video below contains some interesting shots of wind tunnel testing facilities used by NASA – including a scale model rocket under placement/construction and various simulations. Also, new rockets coming soon!!

Engineers at NASA’s Langley Research Center and Ames Research Center are running tests in supersonic wind tunnels to develop the next, more powerful version of the world’s most advanced launch vehicle, the Space Launch System — capable of carrying humans to deep space destinations. The new wind tunnel tests are for the second generation of SLS. It will deliver a 105-metric-ton (115-ton) lift capacity and will be 364 feet tall in the crew configuration — taller than the Saturn V that launched astronauts on missions to the moon. The rocket’s core stage will be the same, but the newer rocket will feature a powerful exploration upper stage. On SLS’s second flight with Orion, the rocket will carry up to four astronauts on a mission around the moon, in the deep-space proving ground for the technologies and capabilities needed on NASA’s Journey to Mars.


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2 Comments

  1. Nice. You’ve got:

    0:00 Ames 11′ Transonic, PSP Testing, classic glam shot
    0:06 Ames 9×7 Supersonic
    0:11 Langey TDT
    0:18 Ames 9×7 again
    0:26 Ames 9×7, trip dots! (two rows???)
    0:34 Langley TDT again, long model change and/or instrumentation issue, blue tape covering kulites?
    0:40 CGI exit

    The Ames 11′ and 9×7 are part of the same facility called the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, which is a national historic landmark for good reason.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_Plan_Wind_Tunnel_(Mountain_View,_California)

  2. Thanks Carter!

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