National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

NASA GLENN RESEARCH CENTER

AERONAUTICS RESEARCH

NASA’s Glenn Research Center has a long history of supporting 

and advancing aviation research in the United States, and 

it is currently working to usher in a commercial air 

travel revolution. Glenn is researching technologies 

that are critical in supporting the development 

of new aircraft concepts and systems for the 

future of aeronautics. 

Our researchers are evolving next-generation aircraft propulsion 

systems that will significantly reduce the cost, energy consumption, 

noise and emissions, while opening up new markets and opportunities 

for U.S. industry. We are also committed to investigating the use of 

alternative energy sources and improving the safety and expediency 

of commercial and general aviation. 

OUR EXPERTISE

• Advanced propulsion and airframe integration

• Alternative fuels and more-electric aircraft propulsion

• Turbomachinery

• Engine and airframe icing research

• Propulsion acoustics and noise reduction

• Advanced materials and components

• Subsonic, supersonic and hypersonic research and testing

WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON

Icing Research

At NASA Glenn, “We Freeze to Please,” as 

most aircraft icing protection technologies 

in use today were largely developed here 

at NASA Glenn.

NASA Glenn, then known as Lewis, 

began researching aircraft icing in 

1944 following the completion of its Icing 

Research Tunnel (IRT), the longest-running 

and second-largest icing research facility in the 

world. 

Since then, NASA Glenn has been an international research 

leader on airframe and engine icing, contributing to an 

increase in aircraft safety. The center’s researchers have provided 

research and information on the effects of icing conditions—via 

ground-based testing, software tools and flight evaluations—

that has informed regulatory agencies, like the Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA). 

Today, Glenn’s icing research team uses the IRT, the Propulsion 

System Laboratory, and small-scale laboratories to create icing 

conditions for models, wing sections and engines on the ground, as 

well as utilizing flying laboratories to study icing conditions in real 

time. Glenn is also engaged with industry and academia on exploring 

new, developmental technologies, like icephobic materials, and in 

evaluating other potential aircraft icing issues.
www.nasa.gov PS–02612–0219

Electric Aircraft Propulsion

What does electric aircraft propulsion mean? 

This research represents an exciting opportunity to mature 

revolutionary engine technologies and materials 

that will dramatically improve the fuel 

efficiency, emissions, and noise levels 

in commercial transport aircraft.

NASA Glenn’s work in this area includes 

aircraft concepts, propulsion and electrical 

power systems, components and materials, and state-of-the-art 

test facilities, along with exploratory investment in engine-generator 

interactions and boundary-layer ingestion. Glenn is concentrating efforts on concept 

passenger aircraft that are large enough to carry at least 150 passengers for mediumto-long distances. 

Researchers are currently working to understand how electrification of the propulsion system affects things like overall energy during the 

course of a flight, how batteries might be used to boost power during takeoff and how to reduce drag through the strategic placement of 

electrically-driven engines.

Advanced Airframe and Propulsion Integration 

As an aircraft flies through the sky, it has four major forces acting on 

it—thrust, drag, weight and lift. Thrust makes an airplane go, drag 

slows it down and lift offsets the weight to keep it flying One of the 

main causes of drag on an airplane as it flies is a layer of slower 

moving air that builds up along the fuselage and wings, which is 

called the boundary layer. 

On today’s aircraft, engineers have attempted to decrease boundary 

layer effects by placing the engines on the wings or tail to move them 

away from the boundary layer. However, NASA engineers believe 

they can improve aircraft performance by embedding the engines 

into the airframe and having engines consume the boundary layer 

air. By ingesting the boundary layer, drag is significantly decreased, 

which leads to an improvement in overall aircraft efficiency. 

This may sound like a simple change, but it’s actually quite 

challenging. Boundary layer air is extremely turbulent, and that 

turbulence affects engine performance. To counteract the distorted 

airflow, these engines will need to be more durable than a typical 

engine used today.

Engineers at NASA Glenn are currently researching these Boundary 

Layer Ingestion (BLI) distortion-tolerant engines, and it’s believed 

this new technology has the potential to reduce the aircraft fuelburn by as much as 7 percent compared to today’s aircraft. In 2016, 

NASA Glenn successful tested a new BLI distortion tolerant engine 

in its 8×6 supersonic wind tunnel. The results of this first-of-itskind test were positive and NASA is continuing its BLI technology 

research.