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like other commuters in the South Bay

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the people who work at Ames Research

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Center have to navigate the same boring

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traffic as everyone else but between the

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hangar that once housed a nineteen

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thirties airship and the largest wind

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tunnel is a world that takes them to the

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two

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in the 1960s the concept of a space

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shuttle was pure science fiction until

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NASA and President Nixon announced the

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space transportation system in early

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nineteen seventy-two this space vehicle

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would launch like a rocket to low-earth

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orbit its crew would release satellites

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and deliver parts for the space station

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a fiery plunge back into the atmosphere

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would turn the vehicle into a glider it

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could be piloted to a controlled landing

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on a runway it would be the most complex

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machine ever built on April 12 1981 NASA

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successfully launched sts-1 the first

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shuttle mission safely accelerating this

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machine to 17,500 miles an hour required

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years of sophisticated aerodynamic tests

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over half of all wind tunnel tests for

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the shuttle were done at Ames these

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facilities provided an unmatched range

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of sizes and speeds in the 1970s Ames

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tunnels allowed scientists to actually

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see complex shock waves created by the

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shuttle before the first orbiter

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Columbia ever flew

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the same wind tunnels conducted safety

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tests of new fuel tank features in 2005

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before the shuttle returned to flight

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status Ames computer simulations began

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in the 1970s and then improved

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exponentially today they can simulate

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speeds and conditions no wind tunnel

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could match work done on the Columbia

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supercomputer helped put the shuttle

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the shuttle has performed many

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transportation tasks while in orbit

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dozens of satellites and spacecraft were

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one was Galileo which was developed in

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part by Ames and eventually spent years

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orbiting Jupiter it sent back

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breathtaking photos more recently

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shuttles have carried components of the

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all astronauts agree the perspective

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from orbit is breathtaking but not all

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of them are comfortable with zero

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gravity now that humans are spending

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more time in this environment the study

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of how it affects living organisms is

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critical for the future of spaceflight

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aims life sciences division explored

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this subject for over 40 years some

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experiments were done on the ground and

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others were conducted on the shuttle

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flight experiments were installed in

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specially designed lab modules carried

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in the shuttles payload Bay starting in

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april of nineteen ninety-one ames

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participated in shuttle missions such as

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Space Lab life sciences one and two

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international microgravity labs one and

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two Space Lab j and neuro lab these

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studied the effects of space flight

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conditions on plants animals and humans

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now we have a much better understanding

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of how zero gravity affects our balance

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and visual perception how muscles bone

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and blood are affected our immune

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systems change and how plants grow

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results have already helped astronauts

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adapt to different gravity levels on

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missions and recover faster after

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next to launch re-entry is the most

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dangerous part of a shuttles flight Ames

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developed a technique in 1953 that has

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been used by all American spacecraft

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since then Ames scientist Harvey Allen

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rendered 1950s spaceplane designs

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obsolete he showed that a blunt body not

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appointed one could survive re-entry

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better by creating a shockwave that

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would act as another heat shield this

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idea was used to create the shapes for

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Mercury Gemini Apollo in every other

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American space vehicle although the

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shuttle uses the same principle it still

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needs insulation from extreme heat

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starting in the 1970s Ames scientists

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developed feather-like insulation tiles

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Ames also develop the largest arc jet

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wind tunnel this high-speed blowtorch

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allowed them to test tile material at

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3,500 degrees the same temperature as

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the outer surface of a shuttle during

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reentry these reusable tiles were so

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successful they were incorporated into

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most of the shuttles main heat shield

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surfaces after a shuttle lands the

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stress on the tiles is obvious to help

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the technicians check thousands of tiles

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for damage Ames developed a handheld

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laser scanner that speeds the process

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considerably

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after debris damage the leading edge of

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Columbia's weighing in 2003 the arc jet

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was tasked with testing proposed patch

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materials the resulting test data was

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fed into the Columbia supercomputer

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which further predicted reliability on

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re-entry shuttle during descent has been

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described like a brick with wings an

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early question was how to give it

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effective flight control Ames earlier

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innovations provided a foundation for

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the shuttles basic concept starting in

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1957 al eggers and sy sy Ritson

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developed and tested lifting bodies

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simple shapes that could survive

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re-entry and provide just enough lift

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and control so they could glide

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unpowered to a safe landing high

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altitude drop tests at edwards air force

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base in the 1960's proved their

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airworthiness before the orbiter

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enterprise was flight tested in 1977

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Ames did extensive wind tunnel tests of

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the shuttle perched atop of 747 Carrier

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aircraft starting in nineteen seventy

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long before a final shuttle design a

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flight simulator at Ames allowed

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astronauts to fly approaches while

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testing prototype flight controls

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astronauts Gordon Fullerton and Fred

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Hayes practiced in a larger and moveable

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simulator at Ames before climbing into

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the enterprise miner control problems on

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the first flight were ironed out in the

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same simulator to improve later tests in

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the commuters who come to farthest to

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aims are the shuttle pilots and

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commanders starting with the crew of the

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first mission sts-1 and commander has

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practiced hundreds of landings in Ames

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vertical motion simulator it offers the

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most realistic motion available the

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head-up display developed here was

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incorporated into colombia's cockpit

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before the first flight in 1981 and is a

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part of every orbiter today Ames wind

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tunnel tests also prove the safety of

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the long-distance carrier that return

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the shuttle to Florida after landings in

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California today NASA is developing the

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crew exploration vehicle this Apollo

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shaped capsule will take astronauts back

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like it has for over 40 years Ames is

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contributing the same level of

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scientific expertise and craftsmanship

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to help create this new space vehicle

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and like they always have ames staff is

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still working with one foot on the