NASA Project Manager Honors Mother’s Impact

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA project manager Patricia Ortiz stands in front of the X-1E research aircraft at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA Lee esta historia en Español aquí. Patricia Ortiz is proud to be a first-generation Salvadoran American. Her mother, born and raised in El Salvador, came to the United States for a better opportunity despite not knowing anyone or the English language. As a project manager for Space Projects and Partnerships at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center…

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Una gerente de proyectos de la NASA rinde homenaje a la influencia de su madre

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) La gerente de proyectos de la NASA Patricia Ortiz se muestra delante del avión de investigación X-1E en el Centro de Investigación de Vuelo Armstrong de la NASA en Edwards, California. NASA Read this story in English here. Patricia Ortiz está orgullosa de ser una salvadoreña americana de primera generación. Su madre, nacida y criada en El Salvador, vino a Estados Unidos por una oportunidad mejor sin conocer a nadie ni el idioma inglés. En su función de gerente…

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NASA Develops Pod to Help Autonomous Aircraft Operators 

The NASA Airborne Instrumentation for Real-world Video of Urban Environments (AIRVUE) sensor pod is attached to the base of a NASA helicopter at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida in April 2024 before a flight to test the pod’s cameras and sensors. The AIRVUE pod will be used to collect data for autonomous aircraft like air taxis, drones, or other Advanced Air Mobility aircraft. NASA/Isaac Watson For self-flying aircraft to take to the skies, they need to learn about their environments to avoid hazards. NASA aeronautics researchers recently…

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Beyond the Textbook: DC-8 Aircraft Inspires Students in Retirement

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Idaho State University class of 2025 poses with their new hands-on learning tool, the DC-8 aircraft, after it was retired from NASA in May 2024 and arrived in Pocatello, Idaho. The university will use the aircraft to provide a hands-on learning experience for students in the university’s aircraft maintenance technology program. Idaho State University In May 2024, Idaho State University’s class of 2025 received a new learning tool from NASA. The DC-8 aircraft served the world’s scientific community for…

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Southern California Student Wins NASA Scholarship

Brad Flick, center director at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, presents a 2024 NASA College Scholarship Award to Sabrina Redifer. From left to right are Sabrina Redifer’s parents Matthew and Saynne Redifer, Flick, Sabrina Redifer, and her sister Samantha Redifer. NASA/Steve Freeman Sabrina Redifer, a 2024 graduate of Quartz Hill High School in Lancaster, California, won a NASA College Scholarship Award. Redifer plans to major this fall in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology at the University of California, Los Angeles. She earned a 4.0 grade-point average –…

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Meet NASA Women Behind World’s Largest Flying Laboratory

5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s DC-8 aircraft – the world’s largest flying science laboratory – began its science missions in 1987 and since then, has flown in service of the science community over places like Antarctica, Greenland, and Thailand. Aircraft like the DC-8 have enabled scientists to ask questions about life on Earth and explore them in a way that only NASA’s Airborne Science program can make happen. After 37 years, the DC-8 will retire to Idaho State University, where it will serve…

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NASA’s DC-8 Completes Final Mission, Set to Retire

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The DC-8 aircraft returned to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California, on April 1, 2024, after completing its final mission supporting Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality (ASIA-AQ). The aircraft and crew were welcomed back with a celebratory water salute by the U.S. Air Force Plant 42 Fire Department. NASA/Steve Freeman  After 37 years of successful airborne science missions, NASA’s DC-8 aircraft completed its final mission and returned to the agency’s Armstrong Flight…

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NASA Noise Prediction Tool Supports Users in Air Taxi Industry

1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The results from a NASA software tool called OVERFLOW, used to model the flow of air around aircraft, are shown in this image. NASA Several air taxi companies are using a NASA-developed computer software tool to predict aircraft noise and aerodynamic performance. This tool allows manufacturers working in fields related to NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility mission to see early in the aircraft development process how design elements like propellors or wings would perform. This saves the industry time and…

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Women’s History Month: Meet Denise Ryan

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Denise Ryan NASA Graphics In honor of Women’s History Month, we recently sat down with Denise Ryan, flight management specialist and member of the Women’s Networking Group (WNG) at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, to learn more about her role and working at NASA. What do you do at NASA and how do you help support Armstrong’s mission? I am a Flight Management Specialist and work in the Flight Operations Office where we schedule various ground…

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