December 28, 2006

Dryden Flight Research Center

P.O. Box 273
Edwards, California 93523
Phone 661/276-3449
FAX 661/276-3566

Alan Brown
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
Phone: 661/276-3872
alan.brown@dfrc.nasa.gov
RELEASE: 06-51

2006 – A YEAR OF CHALLENGE AND ACCOMPLISHMENT AT NASA

DRYDEN

EDWARDS AFB -- A year of challenge, a year of transition, a year of

accomplishment – that was 2006 at NASA's Dryden Flight Research
Center at Edwards Air Force Base.

As it marked its 60th anniversary in 2006, NASA Dryden completed a

number of flight research projects and supported a variety of
environmental science efforts, gathering and analyzing data that
would contribute to aerospace technology, the agency's space
exploration goals and the knowledge and protection of our
environment.

As Dryden enters its seventh decade as NASA's lead center for

atmospheric flight research and operations, the center is actively
engaged in all four of NASA's mission concentrations – space
exploration systems, human spaceflight, environmental and space
science and aeronautics research. Several major projects, a renewed
emphasis on fundamental aeronautics research and several new science
demonstration aircraft are expected to highlight activity at the
center in coming months.

Human Spaceflight

Dryden, working in support of NASA's Orion Project under the

Constellation program, will be responsible for performing the flight
tests of the Orion's Launch Escape System. Dryden's role includes
development of flight re-entry and landing profiles, drop tests,
landing and recovery tests, and range-safety requirements and
integration.
Dryden established the Launch Abort Flight Test Team for Orion in
2006. Dryden's team, in conjunction with other NASA Centers and other
government agencies, will be responsible for integrating the Lockheed
Martin/Orbital Launch Escape System with a NASA-built Crew
Exploration Vehicle flight test article, and performing the launch
abort tests at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico beginning
in late 2008. The team started detailed planning efforts and began
the process to procure rocket boosters from the Air Force in
preparation for Orion ascent abort testing. These booster rockets
will fly the anticipated Ares Launch Vehicle trajectory to deliver
the Orion command module test article and launch abort system to the
right test conditions, including automatic vehicle reorientation and
a parachute landing.

Although there were no space shuttle landings at Edwards in 2006, NASA

Dryden maintained its readiness to support potential landings of all
three shuttle missions that were flown during the year, including
recovery, servicing and ferry flight operations to return the shuttle
to the Kennedy Space Center launch site.

On April 10, NASA Dryden recalled the 25th anniversary of the first
space shuttle landing at Edwards in 1981 by hosting a media
roundtable with NASA retirees and various others who supported that
milestone event. Inside NASA's shuttle carrier aircraft, media
interviewed those who worked the different areas of operations that
made the landing appear seamless. Since orbital missions began in
1981, Dryden has been the site of 50 shuttle landings.

Aeronautics Research

In early 2006, NASA Dryden flew 18 flights with the second generation
of Intelligent Flight Control (IFCS) software on Dryden's highly
modified NF-15B research aircraft. The Generation II flight tests
allowed the adaptive, self-learning neural network system to take
more direct control of the aircraft, working alongside the flight
controller to adjust for any shortcomings. The IFCS project holds
promise to develop adaptive and fault-tolerant flight control systems
leading to unprecedented levels of safety and survivability for both
civil and military aircraft.

Dryden used the same aircraft late in the year to validate

improvements to a space-based navigation system in support of NASA's
Constellation program to return humans to the moon and eventually on
to Mars or other destinations in the solar system.
Gulfstream Aerospace and NASA Dryden teamed in a project called Quiet
Spike™ to investigate the suppression of sonic booms. The
project uses a retractable, 24-foot-long, three-segment spike mounted
on the nose of NASA Dryden's F-15B research testbed aircraft. The
spike, made primarily of composite materials, creates three small
shock waves that are intended to travel all the way to the ground
without combining into a single strong shockwave, producing less
noise than typical supersonic shockwaves.

Since flights began last August, the system's structural integrity has
been put to the test and the shock strength from the spike has been
measured at speeds up to Mach 1.4. These tests have shown that the
spike's articulating design has promise of reducing the intensity of
sonic booms.

Sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA),

the Autonomous Aerial Refueling Demonstration validated flight
control software that will enable an unmanned aircraft to
autonomously rendezvous and refuel from an airborne tanker.

In 2007, Dryden will continue to push the frontier of aeronautics

research in subsonic fixed-wing, supersonics, hypersonics, integrated
vehicle health management, and integrated resilient aircraft control.

Boeing Phantom Works, partnering with NASA and the Air Force Research
Laboratory, is studying the structural, aerodynamic and operational
advantages of the Blended Wing Body concept, a cross between a
conventional plane and a flying wing design. The Air Force is
interested in the design's potential as a multi-role, long-range,
high-capacity military transport aircraft.

Low-speed taxi tests have already begun, and at least five test
flights of the sub-scale X-48B are scheduled in early 2007. Flight
tests will focus on the low-speed, low-altitude flight
characteristics of the blended wing-body configuration, including
engine-out control, stall characteristics and handling qualities.
Based on the results of the initial flight series, a follow-on series
of flights tests may also be considered.

Other aeronautics research efforts in 2007 are expected to include:

-- Vehicle Health Management – development and validation of new

techniques for strain measurements using fiber optics that can lead
to advanced control and vehicle health management technologies.
-- Hypersonic Test Capability – continued development of a
hypersonic test capability using demilitarized air-launched Phoenix
missiles obtained from the U.S. Navy.

-- Intelligent Systems – continued development and testing of

techniques for adaptive control of aircraft with airframe damage or
flight control system degradations.

Earth and Space Science

In August, NASA chose Dryden to play a key role in developing the

Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). Dryden was
tasked with completing systems installation and integration and
conducting flight tests of the flying observatory.

SOFIA is an airborne astronomical observatory consisting of a

2.5-meter telescope provided through a partnership with the German
Aerospace Center permanently installed in a highly modified Boeing
747 aircraft. The airborne observatory will provide routine access to
space observations in several parts of the spectrum beyond what is
visible to the eye.

After initial check flights from Waco, Texas where modifications were
carried out over the past several years, the SOFIA aircraft is due to
be ferried to Dryden in early 2007. It will be the focus of an
extensive systems integration and two-phase flight test program
before beginning operational astronomy missions in about 2010.

NASA provided support to the U.S. Forest Service during late October's
Esperanza wildfire near Banning, Calif. Using General Atomics
Aeronautical System's Altair UAS, a wildfire sensor designed at
NASA's Ames Research Center collected and sent 100 images and more
than 20 data files containing the location of the fire perimeter over
a 16-hour period. The Esperanza Fire Incident Command Center used the
data to map fire behavior and direct resources to critical areas on
the fire. NASA Dryden's flight management team coordinated use of the
aircraft and worked with the FAA to gain approval for the flight.

NASA's high-altitude ER-2 earth resources aircraft continued

supporting the science community in a series of missions during 2006.
Following a major overhaul, ER-2 No. 806 flew sensitive instruments
to calibrate and validate data from sensors installed on the recently
launched CALIPSO and CloudSat weather, climate and air quality
monitoring satellites.
Dryden flight crews flew several major missions on NASA's DC-8
airborne laboratory during the year, including a tropical storm
formation study off the west coast of Africa. It is anticipated that
Dryden flight crews will continue to operate the aircraft on its
major earth science and satellite validation missions for the
foreseeable future.

Educational Outreach

NASA Dryden continued its support of efforts to improve science and

mathematics education during 2006. Students from Cole Middle School,
Lancaster, and Edwards Middle School, located on Edwards Air Force
Base, had the opportunity to ask questions of the Expedition 12 crew
during a March 2 International Space Station downlink. Former
astronaut John Herrington made a mid-August visit to Dryden's two new
Explorer Schools in Arizona -- Cottonwood Day School in Chinle and
Sanders Middle School in Sanders.

In cooperation with the AERO Institute and the City of Palmdale, NASA
Dryden opened the Aerospace Exploration Gallery in April 2006. The
gallery, in the Palmdale Institute of Technology located in the
Palmdale Civic Center, serves as an off-site public visitor center
for Dryden, and an educational asset for Dryden's Office of Academic
Investments.

The gallery features unique glimpses of NASA's past, present, and

future in the Antelope Valley and in space. Displays include the
refurbished forward fuselage including the cockpit of an AV-8 Harrier
jet aircraft, a representation of flight research activities in the
Antelope Valley circa 1949, and visiting displays that depict aspects
of aerospace exploration.

Looking Ahead

To leverage its expertise in operation of unmanned aircraft, NASA

Dryden is acquiring a General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Predator B
unmanned aircraft system scheduled to be delivered in the spring of
2007. To be named Ikhana, the aircraft will be modified to support
its role as a testbed for unmanned vehicle technology development as
well as a long-endurance platform for airborne science missions.

Dryden is also looking to acquire two early-model Northrop Global Hawk

developmental unmanned aircraft no longer needed by the Air Force,
with potential transfer expected in mid-2007. These Advanced Concept
Technology Demonstration aircraft would be flown on long-endurance,
high-altitude technology demonstrations and on science missions,
supplementing the two manned Lockheed ER-2 aircraft currently flown
by Dryden in the latter role.

Dryden is planning to re-activate F/A-18 No. 853 that flew in the

Active Aeroelastic Wing project that concluded in early 2005. The
heavily instrumented aircraft may be used in varied research efforts,
including follow-on work in Intelligent Flight Controls and possible
follow-on research sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory on
the Active Aeroelastic Wing concept.

Dryden's civil service staff grew by about 50 positions in 2006, a

sign of increased activity in the Constellation program and SOFIA. At
year end, Dryden's civil servant staff numbered about 540, with about
the same number of contractor employees on site. NASA Dryden expects
staffing will increase by another five percent in the coming year,
and an active effort to recruit qualified aerospace engineers is
under way.

For more on aerospace research past and present at NASA Dryden, log
onto www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden on the Internet.

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