During the five-minute flight, the aircraft reached an altitude of approximately 4,900 feet. A total of 23 flights are planned for the entire program, which will last several months. Photos and video are available. A new Dryden-developed software program and a powerful research computer may allow commercial airlines to make small improvements in aircraft efficiency that could translate into big savings. The first checkout and data-collection flight in the program occurred at Meadows Field in Bakersfield, Calif., May 21, and several more research flights are planned over the next year.
Photos are available.
The experiment, developed by the Eidetics Corp., Torrance, Calif., will test whether electrically heating the skin of large jetliners could reduce the turbulence of the airflow along the fuselage, improving aerodynamic efficiency. Congress established the SBIR program in 1982 to provide seed capital to assist American-owned small businesses to participate in U.S. federal agency research and development efforts. NASA could use a crew return vehicle to evacuate crew members to Earth in cases of injury or illness. Also, the six-person vehicle could return the crew to Earth if an orbiter was unavailable or if the Space Station became disabled. Photos are available.