Questions tagged [nasa]
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is a United States government agency that is responsible for aerospace research.
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questions
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Calculating Lift of a closed-wing drone
A group of students and I are designing a theoretical closed-wing drone and need to calculate lift based on the NASA lift equation. We've designed fixed-wing aircraft before and when it came to ...
2
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1answer
162 views
Why Apollo 11 was launched in summer? (Performance question) [closed]
The question could seems stupid, but i think that best moment to launch a rocket is when temperature is lowest in order to achieve the best performance in a reaction engine. I do not know if there is ...
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2answers
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How did NASA Langley end up with the first 737?
This answer shows N515NA, CN/MSN: 19437 as an early 737, and mentions that it may be the first one.
Was this a special design built for NASA, or perhaps a prototype that nobody wanted for commercial ...
11
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2answers
897 views
How is the camera positioned for these plane-to-plane Schlieren images of shock waves?
These two popular press articles discuss the use of schlieren photography to image shock waves of jets during flight using a special schlieren camera on a third plane.
Gizmodo: NASA Captures First-...
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1answer
265 views
How many B747s SCA does NASA have?
How many B747s that used as Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) does NASA have?
Please include:
The number of B747 SCAs that are still in service.
The number of B747 SCAs that have already been retired (...
4
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2answers
2k views
Why was F-18 chosen to escort Space Shuttle Endeavour?
This question is kind of a continuation to Why does NASA have F/A-18s?
The accepted answer states that
"NASA uses them for pilot training and as chase planes for research
aircraft."
So, why ...
4
votes
1answer
235 views
What might the business model be for a hypersonic jet? [closed]
According to this video, NASA and Boeing are doing research into a new generation of hypersonic passenger planes that can travel at Mach 5. The designs look really cool and I would love to see them in ...
6
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2answers
243 views
How unusual is it for remotely piloted aircraft fly through commercial or general aviation airspace?
According to the Phys.org article NASA flies large unmanned aircraft in public airspace without chase plane for first time:
Flights of large craft like Ikhana, have traditionally required a safety ...
4
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3answers
2k views
How to draw NACA 6-Series Airfoils?
In relation to the question on the NACA 64-2A015 airfoil I would like to know how to draw this airfoil.
At least these two reports [1,2] by NASA provide the equation for it.
However, I am not able ...
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1answer
188 views
Is there an analytical description of the NACA 642-015A profile?
While searching for symmetric profiles I stumbled across different definitions (point-clouds) of the NACA 642-015A profile.
http://airfoiltools.com/airfoil/seligdatfile?airfoil=n64015a-il
http://www....
4
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1answer
484 views
Is it viable to put an engine at the rear of the plane like in this photo?
I saw this image on a NASA page talking about hybrids and I was wondering if the back-engine placemente is actually viable and if it is why hasn't been done yet?
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1answer
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Why does the NASA GL-10 Greased Lightning run on diesel?
I've been reading about NASA's experimental GL-10 Greased Lightning tilt-wing aircraft with interest.
My understanding is that this is a diesel-electric hybrid aircraft uses stored electrical energy ...
33
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5answers
6k views
What's the point of using T-38 to instill flight proficiency in Space Shuttle pilots?
As discussed in this Q&A, NASA pilots had to fly 15 hours a month on T-38 to maintain flight proficiency.
NASA Dryden's T-38 Talon trainer jet in flight over the main base complex at Edwards Air ...
39
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2answers
10k views
Why does NASA's B-52 008 have a smoking engine in this photograph?
This is a photograph from the launch of an X-43 from the NASA owned and operated B-52 '008'. It appears that one engine is producing a plume of smoke in the photograph. Why is this?
Source
4
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2answers
596 views
Could the vertical stabilizer be removed on the NASA X-57?
I was reading this article about how NASA will develop this new X-57 X-plane which has many tiny electric motors mounted on the wing.
Now, I wonder: How come this aircraft still has a vertical ...
0
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1answer
409 views
What are the design goals for NASA's X-57? [duplicate]
There have obviously been work going on prior to the X-57 announcement (see LEAPTech and Joby Aviation http://www.jobyaviation.com/LEAPTech/). However, what does NASA actually think they will achieve ...
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1answer
566 views
How do I interpret these values in NASA's C-MAPSS dataset files?
I was studying a dual-speed, high-bypass ratio turbofan engine dataset which I happened to obtain from NASA's website. This dataset was generated from C-MAPSS simulator where dataset has nominal and ...
11
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4answers
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How is the D8 Double Bubble aircraft by NASA so efficient?
How does the 'double bubble' fuselage cross-section of the "Double Bubble D8" aircraft (developed by MIT for NASA) help improve overall efficiency by around 70%?
Image credit: NASA/MIT/Aurora Flight ...
26
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2answers
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Why does NASA have F/A-18s?
I always remember playing FSX as a kid and using the NASA F/A-18, and never thought much about it. And then I saw the picture of the Space Shuttle on top of the 747 being escorted by these planes.
...
7
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0answers
2k views
Why were the toggle switch guards in the Space Shuttle titanium? [closed]
I recently found out that the little protective rails over the toggle switches in the space shuttle were made out of titanium. I'm not sure of which alloy specifically, but probably 6AL4V (or "Grade ...
12
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1answer
4k views
Does NASA use T-38's to train all crew members of a space flight as pilots?
Did all NASA flight crew recruits learn to fly when preparing for Space Shuttle missions?
Obviously, the pilot — and I am guessing the commander, too — would be USAF / USN / USMC pilots, but what ...
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2answers
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Did the Space Shuttle really wait until 50 feet above the ground before they put the gear down?
I saw a sign at the Smithsonian about the Space Shuttle where it said that their gear was not extended until 50 feet above the ground. I've searched and searched for something definitive that had the ...
