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Supersonic test flights of the Bell X-1\h
rocket-powered aircraft marked the beginning\h\h

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of NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center. On\h
September 30th, 1946, 13 members of the National\h\h

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Advisory Committee for Aeronautics arrived\h
at Edwards Air Force Base in California.\h\h

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75 years later, NASA Armstrong continues high risk\h
atmospheric flight research and test projects.\h\h

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Despite the ongoing pandemic\h
NASA Armstrong continues to\h\h

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explore technologies that improve the\h
sustainability of commercial aviation\h\h

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and enable new markets for supersonic\h
passenger flight and advanced air mobility.

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Lockheed Martin's assembly of NASA's X-59\h
Quiet Supersonic Technology, or QueSST,\h\h

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is near completion. The aircraft was transported\h
to Fort Worth, Texas in December for ground testing\h\h

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and will begin a trailblazing series of\h
flight tests at NASA Armstrong in 2022.\h\h

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Facilities engineers refurbished one of\h
Armstrong's old hangers that will house\h\h

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the 100 foot long X-59 aircraft when\h
it arrives at the center for testing.

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Engineers are in the process of building and\h
testing new unmanned audio ground recording\h\h

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systems that will be used to characterize\h
the X-59 sonic thumps. The Armstrong team\h\h

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will create high-resolution pictures of the X-59\h
sonic thump effects as it flies over hundreds of\h\h

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automated ground systems placed throughout\h
the urban, suburban, and rural communities.\h\h

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NASA's engineers are also in the\h
process of validating a supersonic\h\h

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shock wave imaging system and\h
a shock wave measuring probe.

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Both will be installed on chase aircraft to\h
gather critical data on the X-59 sonic thump.

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NASA and Empirical Systems Aerospace are\h
making significant progress assembling\h\h

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NASA's first all-electric\h
X-plane, the X-57 Maxwell.\h\h

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NASA Armstrong is advancing the goal of developing\h
distributed electric propulsion technology that\h\h

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will make aviation more efficient, quiet, and\h
environmentally friendly. High voltage functional\h\h

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ground testing was completed and installation\h
of the aircraft's advanced high-capacity\h\h

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batteries will begin soon. Test flights are\h
planned in early 2022. The X-57 second phase\h\h

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and eventually third phase designs will set\h
standards for future all-electric aircraft.

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scenario Striker 13...

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NASA's Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign\h
project continues to help emerging aviation\h\h

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markets develop an air transportation system\h
that moves within urban, suburban, rural, and\h\h

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regional environments. Testing was conducted to\h
better understand how a future urban air mobility\h\h

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vehicles will need to operate within a congested\h
environment. Air taxi testing with Joby Aviation\h\h

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prototype aircraft collected information about\h
how the vehicle moved, sounded, and communicated\h\h

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with controllers. We're replicating an actual\h
mishap that happened... Armstrong's Resilient\h\h

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Autonomy team continues to collaborate with\h
other NASA centers, the Department of Defense,\h\h

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the Federal Aviation Administration and industry\h
to create new autonomous aircraft technology that\h\h

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could help prevent accidents... Our display\h
is already indicating you can't get over that.\h\h

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NASA's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration in\h
the National Airspace System project concluded\h\h

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its demonstrations of the safe integration of UAS\h
for commercial applications. Aerial inspections\h\h

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of gas and petroleum pipelines were simulated\h
during NASA's final SIO demonstration flights.

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Armstrong C-20 aircraft equipped with an\h
innovative precision autopilot system,\h\h

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worked with the Jet Propulsion\h
Laboratory's Uninhabited Aerial\h\h

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Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar team to\h
study wetland changes in the Mississippi\h\h

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River Delta and track and map the oil\h
spill in Huntington Beach, California.\h\h

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After completing critical maintenance in May,\h
NASA Armstrong's DC-8 deployed to St. Croix,\h\h

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U.S Virgin Islands for the Convective Processes\h
Experiment studying Aerosols and Winds.\h\h

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The mission performed calibration activities\h
for a recently launched earth science satellite.\h\h

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The team also conducted studies\h
into the interaction of eastbound\h\h

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and westbound winds over the South Atlantic.

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NASA's ER-2 completed missions studying ecosystems\h
and natural disasters as well as a summer campaign\h\h

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studying how convective storm systems affect air\h
pollution over the stormy central United States.

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NASA's King Air B200 science aircraft traveled to\h\h

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NASA's Ames Research Center to begin the\h
Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics experiment.

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The NASA Earth Venture Suborbital-3\h
mission will study small ocean whirlpools,\h\h

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eddies, and currents to understand the role\h
these ocean processes play in the movement\h\h

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of heat, nutrients, oxygen, and carbon from\h
the ocean surface to the ocean layers below.\h\h

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NASA Armstrong continues to operate\h
the SOFIA airborne laboratory\h\h

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to study the solar system at altitudes\h
above the moisture in the atmosphere.

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Key observations in 2021 included investigating\h
water on the sunlit portion of the moon.\h\h

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Science deployments were completed\h
in Europe and the Southern Hemisphere.

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Perseverance is continuing to descend under\h
parachute. We are coming up on the initialization\h\h

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of terrain relative navigation... NASA's Perseverance\h
rover successfully landed on mars in 2021.\h\h

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Using the lander vision\h
system and terrain-relative navigation\h\h

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system capabilities first tested and\h
validated at NASA Armstrong in 2014.

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NASA's Flight Opportunities supported more\h
than 25 suborbital flights. Researchers tested\h\h

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a capability that uses small satellites to create\h
a network between spacecraft and ground stations.\h\h

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Other demonstrations include a plant\h
experiment aboard Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo;\h\h

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an imaging system designed to capture\h
a lander's descent and landing;\h\h

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and a payload return capsule able to\h
navigate to a predefined touchdown location.\h\h

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Early-career Armstrong engineers were\h
awarded agency level funding to develop\h\h

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lunar-dust repelling decoupling magnets\h
as well as ways to instrument supersonic\h\h

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parachute canopies used for Mars\h
entry descent and landing. X-15 NASA 1...10 seconds Neil...

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As part of our 75th anniversary, simulation\h\h

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engineers are developing the Greater\h
Heights virtual reality experience

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where users will be able to\h
learn Armstrong's storied history.

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That's Armstrong Flight Research\h
Center's 2021 highlights.\h\h