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By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A Boeing-built X-66 full-span model underwent testing in the 11-Foot Transonic Unitary Plan Facility at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley between January and March 2025.NASA / Brandon Torres NASA and Boeing are currently evaluating an updated approach to the agency’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project that would focus on demonstrating thin-wing technology with broad applications for multiple aircraft configurations.
Boeing’s proposed focus centers on a ground-based testbed to demonstrate the potential for long, thin-wing technology. Work on the X-66 flight demonstrator – which currently incorporates a more complex transonic truss braced wing concept that uses the same thin wing technology as well as aerodynamic, structural braces — would pause for later consideration based on the thin-wing testbed results and further truss-braced configuration studies.
Under this proposal, all aspects of the X-66 flight demonstrator’s design, as well as hardware acquired or modified for it, would be retained while the long, thin-wing technology is being investigated with more focus. NASA and Boeing would also continue to collaborate on research into the transonic truss-braced wing concept.
The proposal is based on knowledge gained through research conducted under the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project so far.
Since NASA issued the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator award in 2023, the project has made significant progress toward its goal of informing future generations of more sustainable commercial airliners. Boeing and NASA have collaborated on wind tunnel tests, computational fluid dynamics modeling, and structural design and analysis aimed at exploring how best to approach fuel-efficient, sustainable designs.
This research has built confidence in the substantial potential energy-savings benefits that technologies investigated through the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project and other NASA research can make possible. The Boeing proposal identifies the thin-wing concept as having broad applications for potential incorporation into aircraft with and without truss braces.
NASA and Boeing are discussing potential options for advancing these sustainable flight technologies. NASA’s ultimate goal for this sustainable aircraft research is to achieve substantial improvements for next-generation airliner efficiency, lower costs for travelers, reduced fuel costs and consumption, and increase U.S. aviation’s technological leadership.
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Last Updated Apr 24, 2025 EditorLillian GipsonContactRobert Margettarobert.j.margetta@nasa.gov Related Terms
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
One of several NASA distributed sensing ground nodes is set up in the foreground while an experimental air taxi aircraft owned by Joby Aviation sits in the background near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on March 12, 2025. NASA is collecting information during this study to help advance future air taxi flights, especially those occurring in cities, to track aircraft moving through traffic corridors and around landing zones.NASA/Genaro Vavuris NASA engineers began using a network of ground sensors in March to collect data from an experimental air taxi to evaluate how to safely integrate such vehicles into airspace above cities – in all kinds of weather.
Researchers will use the campaign to help improve tools to assist with collision avoidance and landing operations and ensure safe and efficient air taxi operations in various weather conditions.
For years, NASA has looked at how wind shaped by terrain, including buildings in urban areas, can affect new types of aircraft. The latest test, which is gathering data from a Joby Aviation demonstrator aircraft, looks at another kind of wind – that which is generated by the aircraft themselves.
Joby flew its air taxi demonstrator over NASA’s ground sensor array near the agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California producing air flow data. The Joby aircraft has six rotors that allow for vertical takeoffs and landings, and tilt to provide lift in flight. Researchers focused on the air pushed by the propellers, which rolls into turbulent, circular patterns of wind.
NASA aeronautical meteorologist Luke Bard adjusts one of several wind lidar (light detection and ranging) sensors near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on March 12, 2025, in preparation to collect data from Joby Aviation’s experimental air taxi aircraft. NASA is collecting information during this study to help advance weather-tolerant air taxi operations for the entire industryNASA/Genaro Vavuris This rolling wind can affect the aircraft’s performance, especially when it’s close to the ground, as well as others flying in the vicinity and people on the ground. Such wind turbulence is difficult to measure, so NASA enhanced its sensors with a new type of lidar – a system that uses lasers to measure precise distances – and that can map out the shapes of wind features.
“The design of this new type of aircraft, paired with the NASA lidar technology during this study, warrants a better understanding of possible wind and turbulence effects that can influence safe and efficient flights,” said Grady Koch, lead for this research effort, from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.
Data to Improve Aircraft Tracking
NASA also set up a second array of ground nodes including radar, cameras, and microphones in the same location as the sensors to provide additional data on the aircraft. These nodes will collect tracking data during routine flights for several months.
The agency will use the data gathered from these ground nodes to demonstrate the tracking capabilities and functions of its “distributed sensing” technology, which involves embedding multiple sensors in an area where aircraft are operating.
One of multiple NASA distributed sensing ground nodes is set up in the foreground while an experimental air taxi aircraft owned by Joby Aviation hovers in the background near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on March 12, 2025. NASA is collecting information during this study to help advance future air taxi flights, especially those occurring in cities, to track aircraft moving through traffic corridors and around landing zones.NASA/Genaro Vavuris This technology will be important for future air taxi flights, especially those occurring in cities by tracking aircraft moving through traffic corridors and around landing zones. Distributed sensing has the potential to enhance collision avoidance systems, air traffic management, ground-based landing sensors, and more.
“Our early work on a distributed network of sensors, and through this study, gives us the opportunity to test new technologies that can someday assist in airspace monitoring and collision avoidance above cities,” said George Gorospe, lead for this effort from NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.
Using this data from an experimental air taxi aircraft, NASA will further develop the technology needed to help create safer air taxi flights in high-traffic areas. Both of these efforts will benefit the companies working to bring air taxis and drones safely into the airspace.
The work is led by NASA’s Transformational Tools and Technologies and Convergent Aeronautics Solutions projects under the Transformative Aeronautics Concepts program in support of NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility mission. NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility mission seeks to deliver data to guide the industry’s development of electric air taxis and drones.
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Last Updated Apr 17, 2025 EditorDede DiniusContactTeresa Whitingteresa.whiting@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related Terms
Armstrong Flight Research Center Advanced Air Mobility Ames Research Center Convergent Aeronautics Solutions Drones & You Flight Innovation Glenn Research Center Langley Research Center Transformational Tools Technologies Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program Explore More
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By NASA
Thomas Ozoroski, a researcher at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, takes icing accretion measurements in October 2024 as part of transonic truss-braced wing concept research. Researchers at NASA Glenn conducted another test campaign in March 2025.Credit: NASA/Jordan Cochran In the future, aircraft with long, thin wings supported by aerodynamic braces could help airlines save on fuel costs. But those same wings could be susceptible to ice buildup. NASA researchers are currently working to determine if such an issue exists, and how it could be addressed.
In the historic Icing Research Tunnel at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, scientists and engineers are testing a concept for a transonic truss-braced wing. Their goal: to collect important data to inform the design of these potential efficient aircraft of the future.
This artist’s concept shows the transonic truss-braced wing concept. NASA’s Advanced Air Transport Technology project is exploring the design, which involves a longer, thinner wing structure with struts to enhance aerodynamic efficiency and reduce fuel consumption.Credit: NASA A transonic truss-braced wing generates less drag in flight compared to today’s aircraft wings, requiring an aircraft to burn less fuel. This revolutionary design could make the wing more prone to ice buildup, so it must undergo a series of rigorous tests to predict its safety and performance. The data the research team has collected so far suggests large sections of the frontmost part of the wing (also known as the leading edge) will require an ice protection system, similar to those found on some commercial aircraft.
NASA Glenn can simulate icing conditions in its Icing Research Tunnel to identify potential challenges for new aircraft designs. These tests provide important information about how ice builds up on wings and can help identify the most critical icing conditions for safety. All commercial aircraft must be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to operate in all kinds of weather.
Because of the thinness of transonic truss-braced wing design, ice tends to build up during cold conditions, as seen during a test in October 2024. Researchers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland conducted another test campaign in March 2025, collecting important data to ensure safety. Credit: NASA/Jordan Cochran This research is part of NASA’s work to mature transonic truss-braced technology by looking at issues including safety and how future aircraft could be integrated into U.S. aviation infrastructure. Boeing is also working with NASA to build, test, and fly the X-66, a full-sized demonstrator aircraft with transonic truss-braced wings. Because the experimental aircraft will not be flown in icy conditions, tests in the Icing Research Tunnel are providing answers to questions about ice buildup.
This work advances NASA’s role in developing ultra-efficient airliner technologies that are economically, operationally, and environmentally sustainable. For about two decades, NASA has invested in research aimed at advancing transonic truss-braced wing technology to the point where private sector aeronautics companies can integrate it into commercial aircraft configurations. NASA invests in this research through initiatives including its Advanced Air Transport Technology project, which investigates specific performance aspects of transonic truss-braced wing concepts, such as icing. The Advanced Air Transport Technology project is part of NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program.
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By NASA
Although NASA’s Lucy spacecraft’s upcoming encounter with the asteroid Donaldjohanson is primarily a mission rehearsal for later asteroid encounters, a new paper suggests that this small, main belt asteroid may have some surprises of its own. New modeling indicates that Donaldjohanson may have been formed about 150 million years ago when a larger parent asteroid broke apart; its orbit and spin properties have undergone significant evolution since.
This artist’s concept compares the approximate size of Lucy’s next asteroid target, Donaldjohanson, to the smallest main belt asteroids previously visited by spacecraft — Dinkinesh, visited by Lucy in November 2023, and Steins — as well as two recently explored near-Earth asteroids, Bennu and Ryugu. Credits: SwRI/ESA/OSIRIS/NASA/Goddard/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab/University of Arizona/JAXA/University of Tokyo & Collaborators When the Lucy spacecraft flies by this approximately three-mile-wide space rock on April 20, 2025, the data collected could provide independent insights on such processes based on its shape, surface geology and cratering history.
“Based on ground-based observations, Donaldjohanson appears to be a peculiar object,” said Simone Marchi, deputy principal investigator for Lucy of Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado and lead author of the research published in The Planetary Science Journal. “Understanding the formation of Donaldjohanson could help explain its peculiarities.”
“Data indicates that it could be quite elongated and a slow rotator, possibly due to thermal torques that have slowed its spin over time,” added David Vokrouhlický, a professor at the Charles University, Prague, and co-author of the research.
Lucy’s target is a common type of asteroid, composed of silicate rocks and perhaps containing clays and organic matter. The new paper indicates that Donaldjohanson is a likely member of the Erigone collisional asteroid family, a group of asteroids on similar orbits that was created when a larger parent asteroid broke apart. The family originated in the inner main belt not very far from the source regions of the near-Earth asteroids Bennu and Ryugu, recently visited respectively by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx and JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s) Hayabusa2 missions.
“We can hardly wait for the flyby because, as of now, Donaldjohanson’s characteristics appear very distinct from Bennu and Ryugu. Yet, we may uncover unexpected connections,” added Marchi.
“It’s exciting to put together what we’ve been able to glean about this asteroid,” said Keith Noll, Lucy project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “But Earth-based observing and theoretical models can only take us so far – to validate these models and get to the next level of detail we need close-up data. Lucy’s upcoming flyby will give us that.”
Donaldjohanson is named for the paleontologist who discovered Lucy, the fossilized skeleton of an early hominin found in Ethiopia in 1974, which is how the Lucy mission got its name. Just as the Lucy fossil provided unique insights into the origin of humanity, the Lucy mission promises to revolutionize our knowledge of the origin of humanity’s home world. Donaldjohanson is the only named asteroid so far to be visited while its namesake is still living.
“Lucy is an ambitious NASA mission, with plans to visit 11 asteroids in its 12-year mission to tour the Trojan asteroids that are located in two swarms leading and trailing Jupiter,” said SwRI’s Dr. Hal Levison, mission principal investigator at the Boulder, Colorado branch of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. “Encounters with main belt asteroids not only provide a close-up view of those bodies but also allow us to perform engineering tests of the spacecraft’s innovative navigation system before the main event to study the Trojans. These relics are effectively fossils of the planet formation process, holding vital clues to deciphering the history of our solar system.”
Lucy’s principal investigator is based out of the Boulder, Colorado, branch of Southwest Research Institute, headquartered in San Antonio. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and safety and mission assurance. Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, built the spacecraft. Lucy is the 13th mission in NASA’s Discovery Program. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Discovery Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
By Deb Schmid and Katherine Kretke, Southwest Research Institute
Media Contact:
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
Nancy N. Jones
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Mar 17, 2025 EditorMadison OlsonContactNancy N. Jonesnancy.n.jones@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The Compact Fire Infrared Radiance Spectral tracker, or C-FIRST, is managed an operated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and supported by NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office. Combining state-of-the-art imaging technology with a compact design, C-FIRST enables scientists to gather data about fires and their impacts on ecosystems with greater accuracy and speed than other instruments. C-FIRST was developed as a spaceborne instrument, and flew onboard NASA’s B200 aircraft in January 2025 to conduct an airborne test.NASA/JPL-Caltech The January wildfires in California devastated local habitats and communities. In an effort to better understand wildfire behavior, NASA scientists and engineers tried to learn from the events by testing new technology.
The new instrument, the Compact Fire Infrared Radiance Spectral Tracker (c-FIRST), was tested when NASA’s B200 King Air aircraft flew over the wildfires in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena, California. Based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, the aircraft used the c-FIRST instrument to observe the impacts of the fires in near real-time. Due to its small size and ability to efficiently simulate a satellite-based mission, the B200 King Air is uniquely suited for testing c-FIRST.
Managed and operated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, c-FIRST gathers thermal infrared images in high-resolution and other data about the terrain to study the impacts of wildfires on ecology. In a single observation, c-FIRST can capture the full temperature range across a wide area of wildland fires – as well as the cool, unburned background – potentially increasing both the quantity and quality of science data produced.
“Currently, no instrument is able to cover the entire range of attributes for fires present in the Earth system,” said Sarath Gunapala, principal investigator for c-FIRST at NASA JPL. “This leads to gaps in our understanding of how many fires occur, and of crucial characteristics like size and temperature.”
For decades, the quality of infrared images has struggled to convey the nuances of high-temperature surfaces above 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (550 degrees Celsius). Blurry resolution and light saturation of infrared images has inhibited scientists’ understanding of an extremely hot terrain, and thereby also inhibited wildfire research. Historically, images of extremely hot targets often lacked the detail scientists need to understand the range of a fire’s impacts on an ecosystem.
NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, flew the B200 King Air in support of the Signals of Opportunity Synthetic Aperture Radar (SoOpSAR) campaign on Feb. 27, 2023.NASA/Steve Freeman To address this, NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office supported JPL’s development of the c-FIRST instrument, combining state-of-the-art imaging technology with a compact and efficient design. When c-FIRST was airborne, scientists could detect smoldering fires more accurately and quickly, while also gathering important information on active fires in near real-time.
“These smoldering fires can flame up if the wind picks up again,” said Gunapala. “Therefore, the c-FIRST data set could provide very important information for firefighting agencies to fight fires more effectively.”
For instance, c-FIRST data can help scientists estimate the likelihood of a fire spreading in a certain landscape, allowing officials to more effectively monitor smoldering fires and track how fires evolve. Furthermore, c-FIRST can collect detailed data that can enable scientists to understand how an ecosystem may recover from fire events.
“The requirements of the c-FIRST instrument meet the flight profile of the King Air,” said KC Sujan, operations engineer for the B200 King Air. “The c-FIRST team wanted a quick integration, the flight speed in the range 130 and 140 knots on a level flight, communication and navigation systems, and the instruments power requirement that are perfectly fit for King Air’s capability.”
By first testing the instrument onboard the B200 King Air, the c-FIRST team can evaluate its readiness for future satellite missions investigating wildfires. On a changing planet where wildfires are increasingly common, instruments like c-FIRST could provide data that can aid firefighting agencies to fight fires more effectively, and to understand the ecosystemic impacts of extreme weather events.
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Last Updated Feb 28, 2025 EditorDede DiniusContactErica HeimLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related Terms
Earth Science Airborne Science Armstrong Flight Research Center B200 Earth Science Technology Office Earth's Atmosphere General Jet Propulsion Laboratory Explore More
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