(Credit: NASA Langley/Preston Martin)
Build a tiny plane, cover it in fluorescent oil, and use the results to improve the design of future air-based transport.
That’s what researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., hope to achieve with a toy-size model of a hybrid plane. The image above shows a 5.8 percent scale model of a futuristic hybrid wing body, coated in fluorescent oil before being blasted with air.
Related stories
- NASA scientist: Slamming used asteroid into moon ‘makes sense’
- Household plastic ingredient spotted in space
The team sent the hybrid plane through a 14×22-foot subsonic wind tunnel to “see” and document the patterns of air flowing over and around the model.
While a vast amount of data can be recorded by viewing the movement of a plane with the naked eye, using oil helps researchers view minute details and tweak designs with more precision. By documenting lift and drag in this manner, NASA hopes to improve the aerodynamics of future planes.
The space agency has been pushing research to improve flig… [Read more]
Related Links:
NASA probe takes off to solve moon dust mystery
Need 70 days off your feet? NASA pays volunteers $18K to lie in bed
Google loses Pentagon fuel subsidy on private jets
Life on Mars: Down but not out says Mars Society founder
Imaging technology captures tumor growth in real time
     |
Post a Comment