NASA Armstrong's Prandtl-D1, is autographed by all the interns that have worked on the project. Prandtl-D1 is being shipped to the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution to be featured in its Innovations Gallery.

NASA Armstrong says goodbye to its Prandtl-D1 that is being shipped to the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution and Prandl-D3 that will be going to the California Science Center.

NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center conducted its first formation flight with the Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Lower Drag (Prandtl) aircrafts Prandtl-D2 and Prandtl-3C.

Student interns and NASA personnel cluster in front of PRANDTL-D No. 3 following a crash on Rosamond Dry Lake. The radio-controlled glider was built to validate a new spanload.

The Prandtl-D makes a test flight in 2014.

The Prandtl-M completes a successful research flight.

Dave Berger, right, and John Bodylski prepare the Prandtl-M for a test flight.

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.

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

A Prandtl-M aerodynamic model flies following an air launch from a remotely piloted Carbon Cub.

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

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

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.

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

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.

Abbigail Waddell and Nathaniel Boisjolie-Gair test a pressure system they and other students developed for the subscale Prandtl-D 3C glider.

Deborah Jackson integrates a pressure system she and other students developed for the subscale Prandtl-D 3C glider.

Deborah Jackson, Al Bowers and Abbigail Waddell successfully launch the subscale Prandtl-D 3C glider.

Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Lower Drag, or Prandtl-D1, will be displayed in an upcoming Innovations Gallery at the National Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian Institute. The aircraft, which flew from NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, uses a method of aircraft design that introduces a twist that results in a more efficient wing. From left are Robert "Red" Jensen, Logan Shaw, Christian Gelzer, Justin Hall, Al Bowers, Oscar Murillo, Brian Eslinger and Derek Abramson

The subscale Prandtl-D 3C glider, carrying a pressure system developed and integrated by students, successfully flies at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Al Bowers, center, and a group of student interns hook up a bungee cord for a flight of the Prandtl-D 3C subscale glider aircraft.

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.

The first of three Prandtl-M prototype aircraft was air launched Aug. 16, 2019, from an Aerostat blimp at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. Three different prototypes of varying size, two still in development, eventually will be air launched from a weather balloon at 100,000 feet to simulate the atmosphere on Mars. The validated Prandtl-M could give scientists options to fly sensors in the Martian atmosphere to collect weather and landing site information for future human exploration of Mars.

The Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Land on Mars, or Prandtl-M, glider flies after a magnetic release mechanism on the Carbon-Z Cub was activated to air launch the aircraft. A team from NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, conducted the successful research flight.

A Prandtl-M prototype is air launched from the Carbon Cub aircraft March 13, 2020, at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. The aircraft is the second of three prototypes of varying sizes to provide scientists with options to fly sensors in the Martian atmosphere to collect weather and landing site information for future human exploration of Mars.

A team from NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, prepares a Carbon-Z Cub to air launch the Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Land on Mars, or Prandtl-M, glider from a magnetic release mechanism on the cub.

Nathan Sam shows the Prandtl-M aircraft he helped fabricate at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. The aircraft is the second of three prototypes of varying sizes to provide scientists with options to fly sensors in the Martian atmosphere to collect weather and landing site information for future human exploration of Mars.

Al Bowers explains the Prandtl experimental aircraft and how its wing twist could redefine the efficiency of aircraft.

From left Eric Becker watches as Nathan Sam, Robert 'Red' Jensen and Justin Hall attach a Prandtl-M aircraft onto the Carbon Cub aircraft that air launched it at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. The aircraft is the second of three prototypes of varying sizes to provide scientists with options to fly sensors in the Martian atmosphere to collect weather and landing site information for future human exploration of Mars.

Nathan Sam and Robert “Red” Jensen lay material into a Prandtl-M aircraft mold at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. The aircraft is the second of three prototypes of varying sizes to provide scientists with options to fly sensors in the Martian atmosphere to collect weather and landing site information for future human exploration of Mars.

Justin Hall, left, attaches the Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Land on Mars, or Prandtl-M, glider onto the Carbon-Z Cub, which Justin Link steadies. Hall and Link are part of a team from NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, that uses an experimental magnetic release mechanism to air launch the glider.

A Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Land on Mars, or Prandtl-M, glider was air launched Sept. 7 using a magnetic release mechanism mounted on a Carbon-Z Cub. The team, based at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, includes, from left, Paul Bean, Justin Hall, Red Jensen, Justin Link, and Nathan Allaire.

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.