Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser spacecraft arrives by truck at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, located on Edwards Air Force Base. The spacecraft will undergo several months of testing in preparation for its approach and landing flight on the base’s 22L runway. The test series is part of a developmental space act agreement SNC has with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and will help SNC validate aerodynamic properties, flight software and control system performance. The Dream Chaser is also being prepared to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract beginning in 2019. The cargo Dream Chaser will fly at least six delivery missions to and from the space station by 2024.

NASA Acting Deputy Chief Technologist Vicki Crisp discusses Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser captive carry flight and future tests with former Astronaut Lee "Bru" Archambault, who is now a test pilot for the American company. The Dream Chaser completed a successful captive carry flight at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards, California, on Aug. 30, 2017.

NASA Acting Deputy Chief Technologist Vicki Crips being briefed by Tim Cox, Controls Engineer at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards, California, on the operation of the sonic boom prediction algorithms being used in engineering simulation for the NASA Supersonic Quest program.

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser spacecraft arrives by truck at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, located on Edwards Air Force Base. The spacecraft will undergo several months of testing in preparation for its approach and landing flight on the base’s 22L runway. The test series is part of a developmental space act agreement SNC has with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and will help SNC validate aerodynamic properties, flight software and control system performance. The Dream Chaser is also being prepared to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract beginning in 2019. The cargo Dream Chaser will fly at least six delivery missions to and from the space station by 2024.

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser spacecraft arrives by truck at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, located on Edwards Air Force Base. The spacecraft will undergo several months of testing in preparation for its approach and landing flight on the base’s 22L runway. The test series is part of a developmental space act agreement SNC has with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and will help SNC validate aerodynamic properties, flight software and control system performance. The Dream Chaser is also being prepared to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract beginning in 2019. The cargo Dream Chaser will fly at least six delivery missions to and from the space station by 2024.

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser spacecraft arrives by truck at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, located on Edwards Air Force Base. The spacecraft will undergo several months of testing in preparation for its approach and landing flight on the base’s 22L runway. The test series is part of a developmental space act agreement SNC has with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and will help SNC validate aerodynamic properties, flight software and control system performance. The Dream Chaser is also being prepared to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract beginning in 2019. The cargo Dream Chaser will fly at least six delivery missions to and from the space station by 2024.

These are the components of the Desert Christian experiment launched to space Dec. 3 that could one day lead to fast-charging batteries.

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser spacecraft arrives by truck at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, located on Edwards Air Force Base. The spacecraft will undergo several months of testing in preparation for its approach and landing flight on the base’s 22L runway. The test series is part of a developmental space act agreement SNC has with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and will help SNC validate aerodynamic properties, flight software and control system performance. The Dream Chaser is also being prepared to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract beginning in 2019. The cargo Dream Chaser will fly at least six delivery missions to and from the space station by 2024.

NASA’s Global Hawk aircraft was deployed to Florida from Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards, CA. on Oct. 6 to monitor and take scientific measurements of Hurricane Matthew. The unmanned Global Hawk will gather scientific data in support of NOAA’s Sensing Hazards with Operational Unmanned Technology (SHOUT) mission.

From left, former Desert Christian students Logan Francisco, Kyler Stephens and Jonathan Lokos and NASA Armstrong mentor Allen Parker show the elements of the experiment launched into space on Dec. 3.

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser spacecraft arrives by truck at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, located on Edwards Air Force Base. The spacecraft will undergo several months of testing in preparation for its approach and landing flight on the base’s 22L runway. The test series is part of a developmental space act agreement SNC has with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and will help SNC validate aerodynamic properties, flight software and control system performance. The Dream Chaser is also being prepared to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract beginning in 2019. The cargo Dream Chaser will fly at least six delivery missions to and from the space station by 2024.

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser spacecraft is removed from its delivery truck after arriving at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, located on Edwards Air Force Base. The spacecraft will undergo several months of testing in preparation for its approach and landing flight on the base’s 22L runway. The test series is part of a developmental space act agreement SNC has with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and will help SNC validate aerodynamic properties, flight software and control system performance. The Dream Chaser is also being prepared to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract beginning in 2019. The cargo Dream Chaser will fly at least six delivery missions to and from the space station by 2024.

Jesse Brady, an early career NASA employee at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards, California, discusses a NASA aircraft simulation project with NASA Acting Deputy Chief Technologist Vicki Crisp. The simulation accesses aircraft controllability with limited pilot visibility, using only front view cameras and side windows.

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser spacecraft arrives by truck at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, located on Edwards Air Force Base. The spacecraft will undergo several months of testing in preparation for its approach and landing flight on the base’s 22L runway. The test series is part of a developmental space act agreement SNC has with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and will help SNC validate aerodynamic properties, flight software and control system performance. The Dream Chaser is also being prepared to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract beginning in 2019. The cargo Dream Chaser will fly at least six delivery missions to and from the space station by 2024.

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser completed an important step toward orbital flight with a successful captive carry test at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, located on Edwards Air Force Base. A helicopter successfully carried a Dream Chaser test article, which has the same specifications as a flight-ready spacecraft, to the same altitude and flight conditions of an upcoming free flight test. The Dream Chaser is a lifting-body, winged spacecraft that will fly back to Earth in a manner similar to NASA’s space shuttles. The successful captive carry test clears the way for a free flight test of the spacecraft later this year in which the uncrewed Dream Chaser will be released to glide on its own and land.

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser spacecraft arrives by truck at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, located on Edwards Air Force Base. The spacecraft will undergo several months of testing in preparation for its approach and landing flight on the base’s 22L runway. The test series is part of a developmental space act agreement SNC has with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and will help SNC validate aerodynamic properties, flight software and control system performance. The Dream Chaser is also being prepared to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract beginning in 2019. The cargo Dream Chaser will fly at least six delivery missions to and from the space station by 2024.

A NASA TG-14 glider aircraft is prepared for flight at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, in support of the agency’s Quesst mission. The aircraft is equipped with onboard microphones to capture sonic boom noise generated during rehearsal flights, helping researchers measure the acoustic signature of supersonic aircraft closer to the ground.

NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory is fully loaded with seats and instrument racks in preparation for NASA's 2013 SEAC4RS climate science mission.

NASA’s Ikhana remotely piloted aircraft (front-right) is situated near NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s Hangar 4802 after an Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration into the National Airspace System Flight Test Series 4 flight, along with five flight “intruders.” These intruders, which include NASA’s TG-14 (front-left), T-34C (front-center), B-200 King Air (back-left), Gulfstream-III (back-center) and a Honeywell C-90 King Air (back-right), fly within a pre-determined distance to Ikhana to test Detect-and-Avoid technology during research flights.

The X-56A takes off on its maiden flight from NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, California.

The equipment bays and wing pods of NASA's high-altitude ER-2 will carry 15 specialized instruments to study how the vertical convection of air pollution and natural emissions affect climate change.

One of three microphone arrays positioned strategically along the ground at Edwards Air Force Base, California, sits ready to collect sound signatures from sonic booms created by a NASA F/A-18 during the SonicBAT flight series. The arrays collected the sound signatures of booms that had traveled through atmospheric turbulence before reaching the ground.

A joint NASA/Boeing team completed the first phase of flight tests on the unique X-48B Blended Wing Body aircraft at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, CA. The team completed the 80th and last flight of the project's first phase on March 19, 2010.

Engineers work on a wing with electric motors that is part of an integrated experimental testbed. From left are Sean Clarke, left, Kurt Papathakis at upper right and Anthony Cash in the foreground.

A NASA F/A-18 demonstrates different volumes of sonic booms for attendees of a NASA Social at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.

The Advanced Data Acquisition and Telemetry System team includes front row from left Mario Soto, Sam Habbal, Tiffany Titas, RIchard Hang, Randy Torres, Thang Quach, Otto Schnarr, Matthew Waldersen, Karen Estes, Andy Olvera, Stanley Wertenberger and Rick Cordes. In the second row from left are John Atherly, Doug Boston, Tom Horn, Brady Rennie, Chris Birkinbine, Jim McNally, Martin Munday and Tony Lorek.

A joint NASA/Boeing team completed the first phase of flight tests on the unique X-48B Blended Wing Body aircraft at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, CA. The team completed the 80th and last flight of the project's first phase on March 19, 2010.

The Air Force provided a C-17 Globemaster III for use in the Vehicle Integrated Propulsion Research (VIPR) effort. Researchers are using the airplane for ground testing of new engine health monitoring technologies.

The objectives of testing on PTERA include the development of tools and vetting of system integration, evaluation of vehicle control law, and analysis of SAW airworthiness to examine benefits to in-flight efficiency.

Boeing's colorful X-48B Blended Wing Body technology demonstrator showed off its unique triangular lines while parked on Rogers Dry Lake adjacent to NASA Dryden.

NASA’s Global Hawk aircraft deploys a dropsonde during a test flight over the Dryden Aeronautical Test Range in August 2015. The small, tube-shaped sensor will transmit data on temperature, humidity, and wind speed, which will be used to help improve weather model forecasts

The proposed Prandtl-m is based on the Prandtl-d seen coming in for a landing during a flight test in June. The aerodynamics offer a solution that could lead to the first aircraft on Mars.

The unique X-48B Blended Wing Body subscale demonstrator banked over desert scrub at Edwards AFB during the aircraft's fifth test flight Aug. 14, 2007.

Long, thin, high-aspect-ratio wings are considered crucial to the design of future long-range aircraft, including fuel-efficient airliners and cargo transports. Unlike the short, stiff wings found on most aircraft today, slender, flexible airfoils are susceptible to uncontrollable vibrations, known as flutter, and may be stressed by bending forces from wind gusts and atmospheric turbulence. To improve ride quality, efficiency, safety, and the long-term health of flexible aircraft structures, NASA is using the X-56A Multi-Utility Technology Testbed (MUTT) to investigate key technologies for active flutter suppression and gust-load alleviation.

With its spin parachute tail stinger extending aft, Boeing's sub-scale X-48B BWB technology demonstrator showed off its clean semi-triangular shape.

Flight Test Engineer Jacob Schaefer inspects the Cockpit Interactive Sonic Boom Display Avionics, or CISBoomDA, from the cockpit of his F-18 at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

David Lee, Golda Nguyen and Scott Gleason recover the Prandtl-D No. 3 after one of its first flights.

The X-56A Multi-Utility Technology Testbed (MUTT) is greeted on an Edwards Air Force Base runway by a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) team member. NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center and the AFRL, along with participants from Langley Research Center and Glenn Research Center, and support from Lockheed Martin, are using the second X-56A (dubbed “Buckeye”) to check out aircraft systems, evaluate handling qualities, characterize and expand the airplane’s performance envelope, and verify pre-flight predictions regarding aircraft behavior. The 20-minute flight marked the beginning of a research effort designed to yield significant advances in aeroservoelastic technology using a low-cost, modular, remotely piloted aerial vehicle.

Boeing's sub-scale X-48B Blended Wing Body technology demonstrator showed off its unique lines on the vast expanse of Rogers Dry Lake adjacent to NASA Dryden.

Test flights of the Prandtl-M have resumed. The airframe also is the basis for another aircraft that will collect weather data.

The X-56 Multi-Utility Technology Testbed (MUTT) undergoes ground vibration tests in Armstrong's Flight Loads Laboratory.

The Fly’s Eye Geostationary Lightning Mapper Simulator will map lightning strikes using 30 photometers, instruments that measure the intensity of light.

The WHAATRR team from NASA Armstrong includes, from left, Derek Abramson Dave Berger, John Bodylski, Robert “Red” Jensen, Scott Wiley, Al Bowers, Justin Hall, Luke Bard, Hussein Nasr and Samantha Ingersoll.

Workers move the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, or LLRV, into the Edwards Air Force Base Flight Test Museum in California for temporary display.

Team members of the Leading Edge Asynchronous Propeller Technology Ground Test team include from left Brian Soukup, Sean Clarke, Douglas Howe, Dena Gruca, Kurt Papathakis, Jason Denman, Vincent Bayne and Freddie Graham.

Workers drive the space shuttle Crew Transport Vehicle, or CTV, to the Edwards Air Force Base Flight Test Museum in California for display.

Mike Frederick and NASA interns Jack Ly and Kassidy McLaughlin monitor an F-15B flight.

NASA Armstrong’s Mission Control Center, or MCC, is where culmination of all data-gathering occurs. Engineers, flight controllers and researchers monitor flights and missions as they are carried out. Data and video run through the MCC and are recorded, displayed and archived. Data is then processed and prepared for post-flight analysis.

Sierra Nevada Corporation's (SNC) Dream Chaser® spacecraft shown on the runway at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center on May 20 preparing for a tow-test. The spacecraft is undergoing ground tests leading up to a free flight test later this year.

Vigilant Aerospace Systems CEO Kraettli Epperson, left, and NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Director David McBride, sign the agreement for the company to commercialize a large drone communication system for the Federal Aviation Administration's aircraft tracking system called the Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast. This communication system, which is to be mandated by the FAA for most aircraft in 2020, brings large, unmanned aircraft a step closer to flying in the National Airspace System.

The X-56A flies over the desert near NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. NASA researchers are using the remotely piloted X-56A to explore the behavior of lightweight, flexible aircraft structures.

The X-48B Blended Wing Body research aircraft banked smartly in this Block 2 flight phase image.

The electric propulsion system to be tested is secured at the top of the Airvolt test stand and instrumented to collect data.

The Fiber Optic Sensing System team includes in the front from left Nick Finks, Ryan Warner, Patrick Chan and Paul Bean. In the back row from left are Shideh Naderi, Jeff Bauer, Allen Parker, Frank Pena and Nathan Perreau. Lance Richards, Anthony Piazza and Phil Hamory are current FOSS team members who are not pictured.

Charlie Lundquist, NASA Orion deputy program manager, right, presents an American flag flown aboard the Orion capsule during the Exploration Flight Test-1 mission to Armstrong Deputy Director Patrick Stoliker.

The equipment required for an electric propulsion test is ready for research.

NASA researchers are using the X-56A, a low-cost, modular, remotely piloted aerial vehicle, to explore the behavior of lightweight, flexible aircraft structures.

Scientists and technicians ready an instrument rack for mounting in NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory in preparation for a complex mission to study how air pollution and natural emissions affect climate change

Jonathan Zur, from left, Alexandra Ocasio, Derek Abramson, Red Jensen, Etan Halberg and Keenan Albee wait for data to download from a Prandtl-d flight

SNC delivers Dream Chaser to NASA Armstrong posing it with the HL-10 lifting body flown the 1960s.

NASA’s SonicBAT team poses in front of the TG-14 motor glider and F/A-18 research aircraft, sitting side-by-side in front of Rogers Dry Lake prior to a SonicBAT flight at Armstrong Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, California. The TG-14 collected sound signatures of shockwaves created by the F/A-18, to compare with signatures collected on the ground.

Engineers gather aerodynamic data on the integrated experimental testbed without the electric motor propellers.

The Prandtl-D makes a test flight in 2014.

Media observe as ground crews tow NASA’s DC-8 airborne laboratory into its Palmdale, California hangar.

A new supersonic probe seen affixed to a F-15B flight test fixture might one day measure the sonic booms of a new generation of supersonic aircraft.

The F-16D Automatic Collision Avoidance Technology aircraft tests of the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System, or Auto-GCAS, included flights in areas of potentially hazardous terrain, including canyons and mountains.

X-57 principal investigator Sean Clarke flies the X-57 simulator at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, examining ideal maneuvers and reaction times for flight.

The CISBoomDA display allows the pilot of a supersonic aircraft to monitor the locations of any sonic booms produced, to prevent the aircraft from positioning booms in restricted area.

Media, including a puppeteer, participate in a press conference for the ATom airborne science mission which is studying the atmosphere.

NASA pilot Nils Larson, and flight test engineer and pilot Wayne Ringelberg, head for a mission debrief after flying a NASA F/A-18 at Mach 1.38 to create sonic booms as part of the SonicBAT flight series at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, to study sonic boom signatures with and without the element of atmospheric turbulence.

NASA Dryden Flight Research Center's T-34 support aircraft provided safety chase for the joint NASA/Boeing X-48B.

The volcanic ash distribution spider, shown here in the inlet of the engine while running, was used to send the ultra-fine particles of ash through the engine.

A number of atmospheric probes are installed along the fuselage of NASA's DC-8 in preparation for the SEAC4RS study to learn more about how air pollution and natural emissions affect climate change.

NASA’s Subsonic Research Aircraft Testbed, or SCRAT, is a modified Gulfstream III that operates out of Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. SCRAT the test bed aircraft for the ACTE flexible-flap research project, which examines flexible wing flap technology’s benefits to aerodynamic efficiency.

NASA Associate Administrator for Aeronautics Jaiwon Shin talked to staff and managers at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in California March 17 about the New Horizons initiative. The 10-year plan could substantially improve aviation and provide major economic benefits.

NASA engineer Gary Cosentino communicates with fellow X-48B flight team personnel in preparation for another flight.

Technicians unload the LEAPTech experimental wing upon its arrival at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center. Ground testing will begin after the wing is mounted on a specially modified truck.

The Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Land on Mars, or Prandtl-M, flies during a test flight. A new proposal based on the aircraft recently won an agencywide technology grant.

NASA's Global Hawk 872 lifted off the runway at Edwards Air Force Base during a checkout flight of instruments for the 2014 ATTREX mission over the western Pacific Ocean. Yellow and black pods housing the Hawkeye cloud particle probe instruments being used during the mission can be seen underneath the wings.

NASA Dryden engineer Gary Cosentino prepares the X-48B for flight.

Al Bowers attaches a bungee cord to the Prandtl-d, as Kassidy McLaughlin prepares to release and launch the aircraft.

The TAMDAR Edge probe seen in the middle of the NASA Armstrong Ikhana is flying on a large remotely piloted aircraft for the first time.

The Prandtl-D No. 3 research aircraft is being readied for new flight tests this summer. It had its first flight on Oct. 28, 2015.

Honeywell supplied a specially instrumented twin-engine King Air to serve as an intruder for NASA’s Ikhana UAS.

Engineers and researchers at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center monitored the flights, and were able to observe the mapping of the sonic boom carpet from the F-18, from the center’s Mission Control Center.

X-48B blended wing body aircraft during first flight on July 20, 2007.

The TAMDAR Edge probe seen in the middle of the NASA Armstrong Ikhana is flying on a large remotely piloted aircraft for the first time.

The streamers on the Prandtl-D No. 2 as it is launched illustrate how aerodynamic forces are maximized as birds overlap wingtips when flying in formation.

Otto Schnarr, front, and Matthew Waldersen check out the Advanced Data Acquisition and Telemetry System in an Armstrong laboratory.

The X-56A flies over the desert near NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. NASA researchers are using the remotely piloted X-56A to explore the behavior of lightweight, flexible aircraft structures.

Left to right: workhorse F-15B #836, "Mr. Bones" F-15D #884, and "2nd to None" F-15D #897 on the back ramp at NASA's Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center.

Shideh Naderi works on designing the electronics for the next generation Fiber Optic Sensing System.

Initial flight-testing of the ACTE followed extensive wind tunnel experiments. For the first phase of ACTE flights, the experimental control surfaces were locked at a specified setting. Varied flap settings on subsequent tests are now demonstrating the capability of the flexible surfaces under actual flight conditions.

Johanna Lucht, observing data from the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, received flight communications from an interpreter, seen on Lucht’s monitor, through American Sign Language. Two-way visual communication was established between Lucht and the interpreter, located at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia, for the flight. Interpreting technical terminology often requires cooperation to develop specific signs to ease communication. Using a familiar interpreter who is adept or practiced in the technical terminology of a NASA flight was beneficial, Lucht says.

Patrick Chan demonstrates one way that the Fiber Optic Sensing System is used by bending a fiber with a 3D representation of the fiber’s shape as it bends.

Left to right: "2nd to None" (F-15D #897), "Mr. Bones" (F-15D #884), and workhorse F-15B #836 on the back ramp at NASA's Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center.

The Prandtl-M completes a successful research flight.

Research on the Eagle Aero Probe is ongoing from an F-15B flight test fixture, as the aircraft flies missions over the high desert.

NASA's Global Hawk 872 soared over Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, during an instrument checkout flight for the 2014 ATTREX mission over the western Pacific Ocean. The aircraft carried 13 science instruments to measure moisture and chemical composition of the stratosphere during the campaign.

The U.S. Air Force's F-16D Automatic Collision Avoidance Technology, or ACAT, aircraft was used by NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center and the Air Force Research Laboratory to develop and test collision avoidance technologies.