NASA Shares Aeronautics through the Net

Aero Design Team Online virtually brings students and classrooms into flight simulators and wind tunnels to see NASA employees conducting aerodynamic research.

Participants hear from the engineers, technicians, mechanics, and designers working to make tomorrow's planes safer, more efficient, quieter, and faster. The project follows the folks as they operate flight simulators, prepare models for wind tunnel tests, run tests and analyze data, compute fluid dynamics, and more.

Aero Design Team Online, located online at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/

"I remember watching the astronauts land on the Moon on TV when I was in the first grade. I think this is when I wanted a career in science. Growing up in Boston near the airport, I was always interested in airplanes. I wanted to learn how to fly them. Every time I went on an airplane, I got excited." -- Mina Casppuccio

Team members also tell why they like their jobs.

"Working with the simulator is great fun. It's like playing a giant video game with real aircraft that lets you program what can happen. I get to spend time, seven to eight weeks for each project, in the lab getting hands-on flying time and checking out the aircraft." -- Chris Sweeney

"I help to juggle all of the different things we had planned with the practical realities of real-world testing. This is something like building a picture puzzle while other people change the shape of the pieces. It's exciting and challenging, and rather intense." -- Jeff Samuels

Aero Design Team members also share field journals with information about their day-to-day experiences.

"One of the planning duties of a lead test engineer involves filling out a 30-page-plus document called a 'test plan.' This document outlines the 'who,' the 'what,' the 'when,' and the 'how' for the test." -- Frank Quinto

"The Computational Fluid Dynamics program I used needed to be modified to match the conditions the space probe experienced. A colleague of mine agreed to make the necessary changes. I then ran my computer program on the NASA supercomputer system. The machine I used was a Cray C-90, the world's fastest computer." -- Grant Palmer

"Rotors in the wind tunnels have to be flown. They can't just spin in the wind. They need someone to manage their collective (which governs the amount of lift a rotor develops) and cyclic (which governs the propulsive force generated) controls." -- Brent Wellman

Aero Design Team Online also provides opportunities to interact with these enthusiastic people. Through e-mail, classroom questions are answered by NASA experts. An example follows.

Question: I have noticed when I fly on commercial planes that more and more of them have a vertical attachment on the end of each wing. What is this for? Doesn't it add to the drag the wind produces? Does the wind produce the drag or the wing?

Answer (from Steve Smith): The vertical part of a wingtip is called a winglet. Believe it or not, well-designed winglets reduce the overall drag by three to seven percent, depending on size.

Through Aero Design Team Online, students even have the opportunity for live interactions with experts through Web chats. Here is an excerpt from a chat with Flight Simulation Engineer Estela Hernandez.

Megan from Denver: What are your favorite simulations - helicopters, fighter planes, or the shuttle?

Estela: My favorite simulators are the fighter airplanes because you can do a lot of maneuvering.

The initial focus of Aero Design Team Online is on the research and tests being conducted at NASA's Ames Research Center. Eventually, it is hoped, the project will include other NASA centers.

Aero Design Team Online is open to anyone, but students and teachers will definitely enjoy the experience. For more information on the project, visit the Web site again. It is located at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/.

And be sure to join the Aero Design Team Online mail list, the best way to stay up-to-date on new and coming events. To join the mail list, send e-mail to listmanager@quest.arc.nasa.gov. In the message body, write exactly these words: subscribe updates-aero.

Curator: Randolph Kim
Responsible NASA Official: Mark Leon
Last Updated: 07/02/2002

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