NASA Dryden aerospace engineer Allen Parker (at left) explains aspects of the fiber-optic sensing system developed at Dryden to former NASA Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, second from right, and Dr. Ronald F. Probstein of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at right. They were among members of the National Research Council's Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board who toured the NASA field center April 20. (NASA / Tom Tschida)
Members of the National Research Council's Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board toured NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on April 20. The study team reviewed a number of aeronautics research projects, specialized aircraft and research facilities at NASA Dryden as part of their three-day visit to the center.
The NRC group has been tasked to provide an assessment of NASA's aeronautics flight research activities, and the tour and briefings served as an introduction to aeronautical research activities under way or planned for the future at the NASA field center. This was the first meeting of the team in their data-gathering mission. The study is expected to take 18 months and provide NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate with recommendations about how best to integrate flight research into the current fundamental research and integrated systems research activities.