An Encore Evening with the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex

The 25th Anniversary of the dedication of the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) will celebrated at NASA's Ames Research Center on December 11, 2012, exactly 25 years after the original dedication. A public presentation was scheduled on Monday, but we had such a strong response that we have added a second presentation on Tuesday. The presentation, to be held in the NASA Ames Conference Center, will reveal how the NFAC came to house the two largest wind tunnels in the world. The original capabilities of the facility that was completed in 1944 will be reviewed and the testing that was performed in the 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel into the 1980s will be discussed. With the re-powering of the drive system and the introduction of the completely new 80- by 120-Foot Wind Tunnel test section, a new era in full-scale wind tunnel testing began. In the past 25 years, testing has spanned many applications: U.S. Department of Defense aircraft development (F-35 Lightning and V-22 Osprey Tilt Rotor development), civilian aviation aircraft development (the MD 900 Explorer and the Sikorsky S-92 helicopters), clean renewable energy sources (wind turbines), and planetary space entry and descent technologies (Mars Exploration Rover and Mars Science Laboratory parachutes). The presentation is for a non-technical audience. Young people are encouraged to attend and will hopefully be inspired in STEM education and possibilities for future exciting and rewarding technical careers.
Space is limited. Tickets are free, but required, and available at this website: http://anencoreeveningwithnfac.eventbrite.com/

Note: Monday's session is sold out.  This is an encore of that presentation.