Dryden Today Much has changed since the initial NACA cadre of 13 engineers and support personnel arrived at Muroc in 1946. Technology has made great advances in the past half century. However the problems have become more complex. Now, instead of simply trying to break through the speed of sound, America needs aircraft that can do that while still being highly maneuverable, 3stealthy,2 or environmentally sensitive. Computers have made aircraft more capable, but they have also created new possibilities for problems.
Software is now as critical to aircraft as the spars in their wings.
Today, as Dryden faces the start of its second half century, it is continuing the tradition of diversified flight research in support of national goals and efforts. Its F-16XL supersonic laminar flow project aims to develop technology to help make a High Speed Civil Transport more aerodynamically, and therefore cost, efficient. The Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology program is attempting to develop remotely controlled aircraft capable of sustained, slow flight at high altitudes to gather currently unavailable information about our atmosphere. And a Reusable Launch Vehicle research effort using the Lockheed Martin X-33 is exploring technologies designed to make access to space more efficient and economical. 3Technical Agility2 Over its 50 year history, there have been several factors that have enabled Dryden to successfully accommodate a wide variety of challenges and changes while continuing to play a significant role in advancing the nation1s state of the art in aeronautics and aerospace design.