Special Issue on Seventy Years of Aerospace Research and Technology Excellence at NASA Glenn Research Center

This special issue of the Journal of Aerospace Engineering provides a comprehensive review of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC) at Lewis Field research and technology development during the last 70 years. It reflects the past, celebrates the advancements, and provides some insight into the future direction of aerospace research at GRC. The articles in this issue are grouped according to GRC’s core competencies and disciplines so they can be referred to readily. These areas encompass air-breathing propulsion; inspace propulsion and cryogenic fluids management; communications technology and development; power, energy storage, and conversion; materials and structures for extreme environments; and physical sciences and biomedical technologies in space. This introductory paper provides the background of the GRC facility and outlines the progress of its research from GRC’s inception to the present day. NASA Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field in Cleveland, and at Plum Brook Station near Sandusky, Ohio, has more than 70 years of history in leading advanced research and technology development to support NASA’s mission and address the nation’s needs. Since operations started in 1942, GRC researchers have made major technology contributions that pushed the frontiers of both aviation and space exploration. These breakthrough knowledge and technology innovations have enabled the United States to assume a leadership position in the world aerospace marketplace and have made a difference in our daily lives. GRC’s history traces back to 1940, when the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) chose the site of the National Air Races, adjacent to the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, as the location for a new laboratory. This was the third laboratory that Congress had created under the NACA. (The first NACA laboratory, the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, was established in 1920 at Hampton, Virginia. The second laboratory, the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory, was established in 1939 at Moffett Field in California.) The Cleveland laboratory was to focus on aircraft engine research in response to the need to improve the engines of U.S. fighter planes during World War II. Initially called the Aircraft Engine ResearchLaboratory (AERL), the Cleveland laboratory was authorized to open by the First Supplemental Appropriation Act of 1941, and it began operations in 1942 with a nucleus of 150 staff transferred from the Langley laboratory—primarily from the Power Plants Division. Under the leadership of Dr. George W. Lewis, the first manager of the AERL, research began on May 8, 1942; however, the laboratorywas not officially dedicated until 1943when the Power Plants Division completed its move from Hampton, Virginia to Cleveland. During World War II, the AERL conducted research on improved fuel mixtures to reduce knock and foaming, piston engine cooling studies for military aircraft (including the B-29), and testing of the first U.S. turbojet engine in the Altitude Wind Tunnel and Jet Static Laboratory. It was also at this time that GRC’s world-class icing research began, initially to address the icing problems of military aircraft. The work expanded with the construction of the Icing Research Tunnel in 1944 to simulate the atmospheric conditions of an icing cloud. The research and technology advancement in the icing tunnel earned the AERL and industry team the prestigious Collier Trophy in 1946 from the National Aeronautics Association for an outstanding contribution in the development of thermal ice protection systems. The AERL was renamed the NACA Flight Propulsion Research Laboratory in 1947 to reflect the expansion of its propulsion research area to all types of flight vehicles. On September 28, 1948, following the death of its director, George Lewis, the laboratory was renamed the NACA Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory. The NACA’s primary products were technical papers that documented findings from basic research and scientific investigations. Some of them were widely used and cited, and they continue to be used today, not only by industries but also as teaching materials in the classroom. The NACA laboratories—Lewis, Langley, Ames, and Muroc Flight Test Unit (forerunner of today’s NASA Dryden Flight Research Center)—established U.S. leadership in flight research. When the Soviet Sputnik 1 launch prompted the space race in October 1957, NACA Director Hugh L. Dryden urged the government to give the NACA amajor role in any new national space programs. He argued that the agency had been increasing research related to the problems of space flight and noted that the Lewis Laboratory had developed a liquid hydrogenefueled rocket that would make flights to the Moon possible. On October 1, 1958, a legislative act was passed, creating NASA, and the NACA laboratories were absorbed by NASA as research centers. The Cleveland laboratory’s name changed once again, this time to the NASA Lewis Research Center (LeRC). Edward R. Sharp, the laboratory’s director since 1947, led the transition of approximately 2,700 employees to NASA. He held the center director position until 1960. During the 1960s and 1970s, LeRC conducted experiments and developed technologies in support of both the aeronautics and the space programs. In the early 1960s, the center pioneered and perfected the use of liquid hydrogen for propelling rockets. Liquid hydrogen rockets were used in the Mercury and Apollo missions, allowing the United States to win the race to the Moon. LeRC was also responsible for developing the upper-stage launch vehicle and managing the first successful launch of the Centaur rocket with its liquid hydrogenefueled RL-10 engines. The development of the Centaur’s versatile RL-10 engines benefited from at least two areas of LeRC research: liquid hydrogen regenerative cooling and coaxial propellant injection. In addition, electric propulsion capabilities were strengthened by the construction of the Electric Propulsion Research Building and the Electric Propulsion Laboratories. Even