Electric Polygons

TRANSPORTATION SPECIALIST DAVID NORRIS DEMONSTRATES MARSHALL'S FIRST ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATION, WHICH IS PART OF A PROGRAM DESIGNED TO REDUCE THE AGENCY'S ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT.

Electric Sail 6U CubeSat Testbed Article with Tether Mockup

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

David Norris, Marshall transportation specialist, stands alongside two new, fully electric cars capable of traveling approximately 115 miles on a 5 1/2-hour charge using Marshall's 240-volt charging station. The electric cars join five "green" vehicles in use at Marshall since spring 2016.

Several newly installed electric vehicle (EV) charging stations are in view near the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 14, 2022. Part of a partnership between Kennedy and Florida Power & Light (FPL) to bring 23 EV charging stations to the spaceport, the ChargePoint CT4000, Level 2 chargers are capable of charging electric vehicles at a rate of 15-30 miles of range per hour. This partnership was set up under FPL’s EV program and provides a charging infrastructure that includes a simple way for businesses and employees to pay for usage.

Spencer Davis, a NASA Traffic Management specialist in the Spaceport Integration Directorate at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, stands near a newly installed electric vehicle (EV) charging station near the Central Campus Headquarters Building at Kennedy on Sept. 14, 2022. Part of a partnership between Kennedy and Florida Power & Light (FPL) to bring 23 EV charging stations to the spaceport, the ChargePoint CT4000, Level 2 chargers are capable of charging electric vehicles at a rate of 15-30 miles of range per hour. This partnership was set up under FPL’s EV program and provides a charging infrastructure that includes a simple way for businesses and employees to pay for usage.

Several newly installed electric vehicle (EV) charging stations are in view near the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 14, 2022. Part of a partnership between Kennedy and Florida Power & Light (FPL) to bring 23 EV charging stations to the spaceport, the ChargePoint CT4000, Level 2 chargers are capable of charging electric vehicles at a rate of 15-30 miles of range per hour. This partnership was set up under FPL’s EV program and provides a charging infrastructure that includes a simple way for businesses and employees to pay for usage.

Spencer Davis, a NASA Traffic Management specialist in the Spaceport Integration Directorate at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, stands near a newly installed electric vehicle (EV) charging station near the Central Campus Headquarters Building at Kennedy on Sept. 14, 2022. Part of a partnership between Kennedy and Florida Power & Light (FPL) to bring 23 EV charging stations to the spaceport, the ChargePoint CT4000, Level 2 chargers are capable of charging electric vehicles at a rate of 15-30 miles of range per hour. This partnership was set up under FPL’s EV program and provides a charging infrastructure that includes a simple way for businesses and employees to pay for usage.

A newly installed electric vehicle (EV) charging station is in view near the Central Campus Headquarters Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 14, 2022. Part of a partnership between Kennedy and Florida Power & Light (FPL) to bring 23 EV charging stations to the spaceport, the ChargePoint CT4000, Level 2 chargers are capable of charging electric vehicles at a rate of 15-30 miles of range per hour. This partnership was set up under FPL’s EV program and provides a charging infrastructure that includes a simple way for businesses and employees to pay for usage.

First Generation Agile Engineering Prototype of Electric Sail 6U CubeSat Testbed Article

Development of Lightweight, Electrically Conductive, Multi-functional Textiles and Composites

Development of Lightweight, Electrically Conductive, Multi-functional Textiles and Composites

Advanced Electric Propulsion Systems Contract, Technology Demonstration Unit, TDU-3 Checkout Test Hardware Installed in Vacuum Facility 5, VF-5

Advanced Electric Propulsion Systems Contract, Technology Demonstration Unit, TDU-3 Checkout Test Hardware Installed in Vacuum Facility 5, VF-5

Advanced Electric Propulsion Systems Contract, Technology Demonstration Unit, TDU-3 Checkout Test Hardware Installed in Vacuum Facility 5, VF-5

Advanced Electric Propulsion Systems Contract, Technology Demonstration Unit, TDU-3 Checkout Test Hardware Installed in Vacuum Facility 5, VF-5

Advanced Electric Propulsion Systems Contract, Technology Demonstration Unit, TDU-3 Checkout Test Hardware Installed in Vacuum Facility 5, VF-5

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.

The Quiet Electric Engine V1 (QUEEN V1) experiment that was performed in the NASA GRC Acoustical Testing Laboratory (ATL). Equipment is installed in the anechoic chamber and in the adjacent control room. In response to the pervasive health and environmental problems associated with aviation noise and air pollution, NASA’s Quiet Electric Engine (QUEEN) team is working to increase the peace and quiet in the world by researching ways to make engines for large single-aisle aircraft safer, cleaner, and quieter.

The Quiet Electric Engine V1 (QUEEN V1) experiment that was performed in the NASA GRC Acoustical Testing Laboratory (ATL). Equipment is installed in the anechoic chamber and in the adjacent control room. In response to the pervasive health and environmental problems associated with aviation noise and air pollution, NASA’s Quiet Electric Engine (QUEEN) team is working to increase the peace and quiet in the world by researching ways to make engines for large single-aisle aircraft safer, cleaner, and quieter.

The Quiet Electric Engine V1 (QUEEN V1) experiment that was performed in the NASA GRC Acoustical Testing Laboratory (ATL). Equipment is installed in the anechoic chamber and in the adjacent control room. In response to the pervasive health and environmental problems associated with aviation noise and air pollution, NASA’s Quiet Electric Engine (QUEEN) team is working to increase the peace and quiet in the world by researching ways to make engines for large single-aisle aircraft safer, cleaner, and quieter. Posing with the experiment is aerospace engineer, Jonathan M. Goodman.

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

SPACE ELECTRIC ROCKET TEST, SERT II IN TANK 5

Advanced Electric Propulsion Systems Contract, Technology Demonstration Unit, TDU-3 Checkout Test Hardware Installed in Vacuum Facility 5, VF-5

Advanced Electric Propulsion Systems Contract, Technology Demonstration Unit, TDU-3 Checkout Test Hardware Installed in Vacuum Facility 5, VF-5

All NASA Aquarius electrical interfaces have successfully been connected to the SAC-D service platform S/P.

UIUC’s megawatt machine (right) was connected to a dynamometer (left) to test its effectiveness as an electric generator in a safety enclosure at a Collins Aerospace test facility in Rockford, Illinois. This unusual design has its rotating parts on the outside, so that both the cylinder on the right and the cylinder with arrows spin during operation.

Advanced Electric Propulsion System, AEPS, Engineering Test Unit 2, ETU-2, Thruster Hardware

Telemetry testing begins on the X-57 Maxwell, NASA’s first all-electric X-plane, as the operations crew at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center records the results. Telemetry testing is a critical phase in X-57’s functional test series. In addition to confirming the ability of the X-57 aircraft to transmit speed, altitude, direction, and location to teams on the ground, telemetry testing also confirms the ability to transmit mission-critical-data, such as voltage, power consumption, and structural integrity. X-57’s goal is to help set certification standards for emerging electric aircraft markets.

Telemetry testing begins on the X-57 Maxwell, NASA's first all-electric X-plane, as the operations crew at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center records the results. Telemetry testing is a critical phase in X-57's functional test series. In addition to confirming the ability of the X-57 aircraft to transmit speed, altitude, direction, and location to teams on the ground, telemetry testing also confirms the ability to transmit mission-critical-data, such as voltage, power consumption, and structural integrity. X-57's goal is to help set certification standards for emerging electric aircraft markets.

Telemetry testing begins on the X-57 Maxwell, NASA’s first all-electric X-plane, as the operations crew at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center records the results. Telemetry testing is a critical phase in X-57’s functional test series. In addition to confirming the ability of the X-57 aircraft to transmit speed, altitude, direction, and location to teams on the ground, telemetry testing also confirms the ability to transmit mission-critical-data, such as voltage, power consumption, and structural integrity. X-57’s goal is to help set certification standards for emerging electric aircraft markets.

Telemetry testing begins on the X-57 Maxwell, NASA's first all-electric X-plane, as the operations crew at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center records the results. Telemetry testing is a critical phase in X-57's functional test series. In addition to confirming the ability of the X-57 aircraft to transmit speed, altitude, direction, and location to teams on the ground, telemetry testing also confirms the ability to transmit mission-critical-data, such as voltage, power consumption, and structural integrity. X-57's goal is to help set certification standards for emerging electric aircraft markets.

Telemetry testing begins on the X-57 Maxwell, NASA's first all-electric X-plane, as the operations crew at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center records the results. Telemetry testing is a critical phase in X-57's functional test series. In addition to confirming the ability of the X-57 aircraft to transmit speed, altitude, direction, and location to teams on the ground, telemetry testing also confirms the ability to transmit mission-critical-data, such as voltage, power consumption, and structural integrity. X-57's goal is to help set certification standards for emerging electric aircraft markets.

Telemetry testing begins on the X-57 Maxwell, NASA's first all-electric X-plane, as the operations crew at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center records the results. Telemetry testing is a critical phase in X-57's functional test series. In addition to confirming the ability of the X-57 aircraft to transmit speed, altitude, direction, and location to teams on the ground, telemetry testing also confirms the ability to transmit mission-critical-data, such as voltage, power consumption, and structural integrity. X-57's goal is to help set certification standards for emerging electric aircraft markets.

Telemetry testing begins on the X-57 Maxwell, NASA's first all-electric X-plane, as the operations crew at NASAâ' Armstrong Flight Research Center records the results. Telemetry testing is a critical phase in X-57's functional test series. In addition to confirming the ability of the X-57 aircraft to transmit speed, altitude, direction, and location to teams on the ground, telemetry testing also confirms the ability to transmit mission-critical-data, such as voltage, power consumption, and structural integrity. X-57's goal is to help set certification standards for emerging electric aircraft markets.

Telemetry testing begins on the X-57 Maxwell, NASA’s first all-electric X-plane, as the operations crew at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center records the results. Telemetry testing is a critical phase in X-57’s functional test series. In addition to confirming the ability of the X-57 aircraft to transmit speed, altitude, direction, and location to teams on the ground, telemetry testing also confirms the ability to transmit mission-critical-data, such as voltage, power consumption, and structural integrity. X-57’s goal is to help set certification standards for emerging electric aircraft markets.

Telemetry testing begins on the X-57 Maxwell, NASA's first all-electric X-plane, as the operations crew at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center records the results. Telemetry testing is a critical phase in X-57's functional test series. In addition to confirming the ability of the X-57 aircraft to transmit speed, altitude, direction, and location to teams on the ground, telemetry testing also confirms the ability to transmit mission-critical-data, such as voltage, power consumption, and structural integrity. X-57's goal is to help set certification standards for emerging electric aircraft markets.

Telemetry testing begins on the X-57 Maxwell, NASA’s first all-electric X-plane, as the operations crew at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center records the results. Telemetry testing is a critical phase in X-57’s functional test series. In addition to confirming the ability of the X-57 aircraft to transmit speed, altitude, direction, and location to teams on the ground, telemetry testing also confirms the ability to transmit mission-critical-data, such as voltage, power consumption, and structural integrity. X-57’s goal is to help set certification standards for emerging electric aircraft markets.

Telemetry testing begins on the X-57 Maxwell, NASA’s first all-electric X-plane, as the operations crew at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center records the results. Telemetry testing is a critical phase in X-57’s functional test series. In addition to confirming the ability of the X-57 aircraft to transmit speed, altitude, direction, and location to teams on the ground, telemetry testing also confirms the ability to transmit mission-critical-data, such as voltage, power consumption, and structural integrity. X-57’s goal is to help set certification standards for emerging electric aircraft markets.

Telemetry testing begins on the X-57 Maxwell, NASA’s first all-electric X-plane, as the operations crew at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center records the results. Telemetry testing is a critical phase in X-57’s functional test series. In addition to confirming the ability of the X-57 aircraft to transmit speed, altitude, direction, and location to teams on the ground, telemetry testing also confirms the ability to transmit mission-critical-data, such as voltage, power consumption, and structural integrity. X-57’s goal is to help set certification standards for emerging electric aircraft markets.

Telemetry testing begins on the X-57 Maxwell, NASA’s first all-electric X-plane, as the operations crew at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center records the results. Telemetry testing is a critical phase in X-57’s functional test series. In addition to confirming the ability of the X-57 aircraft to transmit speed, altitude, direction, and location to teams on the ground, telemetry testing also confirms the ability to transmit mission-critical-data, such as voltage, power consumption, and structural integrity. X-57’s goal is to help set certification standards for emerging electric aircraft markets.

Electric Sail (E-Sail) Tether Team Discusses 6U CubeSat Test Article and Tether Deployment System (Right to left: Tom Bryan, Davis Hunter (student intern), Jonathan MacArthur (student intern), Charles Cowen, Mike Tinker)

Electric Sail (E-Sail) Tether Team with 6U CubeSat Prototypes and Current Version of Tether Deployer Test Article, (Right to left: Tom Bryan, Davis Hunter (student intern), Jonathan MacArthur (student intern), Charles Cowen, Mike Tinker)

Electric Sail (E-Sail) Tether Team Discusses 6U CubeSat Test Article and Tether Deployment System (Right to left: Tom Bryan, Davis Hunter (student intern), Jonathan MacArthur (student intern), Charles Cowen, Mike Tinker)

As presented by Gerhard Heller of Marshall Space Flight Center's Research Projects Division in 1961, this chart illustrates three basic types of electric propulsion systems then under consideration by NASA. The ion engine (top) utilized cesium atoms ionized by hot tungsten and accelerated by an electrostatic field to produce thrust. The arc engine (middle) achieved propulsion by heating a propellant with an electric arc and then producing an expansion of the hot gas or plasma in a convergent-divergent duct. The electromagnetic, or MFD engine (bottom) manipulated strong magnetic fields to interact with a plasma and produce acceleration.

Yohan Lin, Airvolt integration lead, prepares the electric propulsion test stand.

Advanced Electric Propulsion System, AEPS, Engineering Test Unit 2, ETU-2, Thruster Hardware

Advanced Electric Propulsion System, AEPS, Engineering Test Unit 2, ETU-2, Thruster Hardware

Advanced Electric Propulsion System, AEPS, Engineering Test Unit 2, ETU-2, Thruster Hardware

Advanced Electric Propulsion System, AEPS, Engineering Test Unit 2, ETU-2, Thruster Hardware

Advanced Electric Propulsion System, AEPS, Engineering Test Unit 2, ETU-2, Thruster Hardware

Advanced Electric Propulsion System, AEPS, Engineering Test Unit 2, ETU-2, Thruster Hardware

Advanced Electric Propulsion System, AEPS, Engineering Test Unit 2, ETU-2, Thruster Hardware

Advanced Electric Propulsion System, AEPS, Engineering Test Unit 2, ETU-2, Thruster Hardware

Advanced Electric Propulsion System, AEPS, Engineering Test Unit 2, ETU-2, Thruster Hardware

Advanced Electric Propulsion System, AEPS, Engineering Test Unit 2, ETU-2, Thruster Hardware

Advanced Electric Propulsion System, AEPS, Engineering Test Unit 2, ETU-2, Thruster Hardware

Advanced Electric Propulsion System, AEPS, Engineering Test Unit 2, ETU-2, Thruster Hardware

Technicians prepare the Space Electric Research Test (SERT-I) payload for a test in Tank Number 5 of the Electric Propulsion Laboratory at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center. Lewis researchers had been studying different methods of electric rocket propulsion since the mid-1950s. Harold Kaufman created the first successful engine, the electron bombardment ion engine, in the early 1960s. These electric engines created and accelerated small particles of propellant material to high exhaust velocities. Electric engines have a very small amount of thrust, but once lofted into orbit by workhorse chemical rockets, they are capable of small, continuous thrust for periods up to several years. The electron bombardment thruster operated at a 90-percent efficiency during testing in the Electric Propulsion Laboratory. The package was rapidly rotated in a vacuum to simulate its behavior in space. The SERT-I mission, launched from Wallops Island, Virginia, was the first flight test of Kaufman’s ion engine. SERT-I had one cesium engine and one mercury engine. The suborbital flight was only 50 minutes in duration but proved that the ion engine could operate in space. The Electric Propulsion Laboratory included two large space simulation chambers, one of which is seen here. Each uses twenty 2.6-foot diameter diffusion pumps, blowers, and roughing pumps to remove the air inside the tank to create the thin atmosphere. A helium refrigeration system simulates the cold temperatures of space.

NASA Administrator Bridenstine tests the X-57 "Maxwell" simulator at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center. The simulator is designed to provide feedback to NASA test pilots based on the aircraft's unique design and distributed electric propulsion system.

NASA Administrator Bridenstine tests the X-57 "Maxwell" simulator at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center. The simulator is designed to provide feedback to NASA test pilots based on the aircraft's unique design and distributed electric propulsion system.

The Quiet Electric Engine V1 (QUEEN V1) experiment that was performed in the NASA GRC Acoustical Testing Laboratory (ATL). Equipment is installed in the anechoic chamber and in the adjacent control room. In response to the pervasive health and environmental problems associated with aviation noise and air pollution, NASA’s Quiet Electric Engine (QUEEN) team is working to increase the peace and quiet in the world by researching ways to make engines for large single-aisle aircraft safer, cleaner, and quieter.

The Quiet Electric Engine V1 (QUEEN V1) experiment that was performed in the NASA GRC Acoustical Testing Laboratory (ATL). Equipment is installed in the anechoic chamber and in the adjacent control room. In response to the pervasive health and environmental problems associated with aviation noise and air pollution, NASA’s Quiet Electric Engine (QUEEN) team is working to increase the peace and quiet in the world by researching ways to make engines for large single-aisle aircraft safer, cleaner, and quieter.

The Quiet Electric Engine V1 (QUEEN V1) experiment that was performed in the NASA GRC Acoustical Testing Laboratory (ATL). Equipment is installed in the anechoic chamber and in the adjacent control room. In response to the pervasive health and environmental problems associated with aviation noise and air pollution, NASA’s Quiet Electric Engine (QUEEN) team is working to increase the peace and quiet in the world by researching ways to make engines for large single-aisle aircraft safer, cleaner, and quieter.

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

electrical engineer.NACA engineer Kitty Joyner, believed to be the first NACA female engineer, as well as the first women engineer to graduate from UVA.

The 5 KW, state-of-the-art solar demonstration site at NASA Dryden is validating earthly use of solar cells developed for NASA's Helios solar-electric aircraft.

The record-setting AeroVironment/NASA Pathfinder-Plus solar-electric flying wing is enshrined in the National Air & Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.

Concept of a vehicle journeys from Earth to Mars propelled by thrusters powered by electricity from photovoltaic cells on its large fan shaped sails

This four-spike tool, called the thermal and electrical conductivity probe, is in the middle-right of this photo, mounted near the end of the arm near NASA Phoenix Mars Lander scoop upper left.

Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy tours the General Electric exhibit on Friday, July 29, 2022 at EAA AirVenture.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center tested 16 commercially-manufactured electric vehicles, including this modified Pacer, during the mid-1970s. The Electric Vehicle Project was just one of several energy-related programs that Lewis and the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) undertook in the mid-1970s. NASA and ERDA embarked on this program in 1976 to determine the state of the current electric vehicle technology. As part of the project, Lewis tested a fleet composed of every commercially available electric car. The Cleveland-area Electric Vehicle Associates modified an American Motors Pacer vehicle to create this Change-of-Pace Coupe. It was powered by twenty 6-volt batteries whose voltage could be varied by a foot control. The tests analyzed the vehicle’s range, acceleration, coast-down, braking, and energy consumption. Some of the vehicles had analog data recording systems to measure the battery during operation and sensors to determine speed and distance. Lewis researchers found that the vehicle performance varied significantly from model to model. In general, the range, acceleration, and speed were lower than conventional vehicles. They also found that traditional gasoline-powered vehicles were as efficient as the electric vehicles. The researchers concluded, however, that advances in battery technology and electric drive systems would significantly improve the performance and efficiency.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center tested 16 commercially-manufactured electric vehicles, including this Metro, during the mid-1970s. Lewis and the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) engaged in several energy-related programs in the mid-1970s, including the Electric Vehicle Project. NASA and ERDA undertook the program in 1976 to determine the state of the current electric vehicle technology. As part of the project, Lewis and ERDA tested every commercially available electric car model. Electric Vehicle Associates, located in a Cleveland suburb, modified a Renault 12 vehicle to create this Metro. Its 1040-pound golfcart-type battery provided approximately 106 minutes of operation. The tests analyzed the vehicle’s range, acceleration, coast-down, braking, and energy consumption. Some of the vehicles had analog data recording systems to measure the battery during operation and sensors to determine speed and distance. The researchers found the performance of the different vehicles varied significantly. In general, the range, acceleration, and speed were lower than that found on conventional vehicles. They also found that traditional gasoline-powered vehicles were as efficient as the electric vehicles. The researchers concluded, however, that advances in battery technology and electric drive systems would significantly improve efficiency and performance.

Advanced eLectrical Bus (ALBus) CubeSat: From Build to Flight A new CubeSat, launched Sunday, December 16, will test high power electric systems and the use of unique shape memory alloy (SMA) components for the first time. CubeSats are very small, lightweight satellites, about the size of a loaf of bread, and typically operate within a power range of 5-20 watts. Lower power systems are typically used in CubeSats because of size and weight limits, while higher power systems and components cause excessive heat. Completely designed and led by a team of 12 early career scientists and engineers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, the Advanced Electrical Bus, or ALBus, will be the first CubeSat to demonstrate power management and distribution of a 100-watt electrical system. The CubeSat will also employ a custom-built SMA release mechanism and hinges to deploy solar arrays and conduct electricity.

Environmental Portrait of Research Engineer Wensheng Huang working on a Hall thruster in the Electric Propulsion Laboratory at NASA Glenn Research Center.

Second Generation Agile Engineering Prototype of Electric Sail 6U CubeSat Testbed Article

The Pathfinder-Plus solar-electric flying wing lifts off Rogers Dry Lake adjoining NASA Dryden Flight Research Center on a turbulence-measurement flight.

As the rising sun dawns over the parched bed of Rogers Dry Lake, AeroVironment's solar-electric Pathfinder-Plus awaits takeoff on its final research flight.

The Pathfinder-Plus solar-electric flying wing lifts off Rogers Dry Lake adjoining NASA Dryden Flight Research Center on a turbulence-measurement flight.

Interior of the 20-foot diameter vacuum tank at the NASA Lewis Research Center’s Electric Propulsion Laboratory. Lewis researchers had been studying different electric rocket propulsion methods since the mid-1950s. Harold Kaufman created the first successful ion engine, the electron bombardment ion engine, in the early 1960s. These engines used electric power to create and accelerate small particles of propellant material to high exhaust velocities. Electric engines have a very small thrust, but can operate for long periods of time. The ion engines are often clustered together to provide higher levels of thrust. The Electric Propulsion Laboratory, which began operation in 1961, contained two large vacuum tanks capable of simulating a space environment. The tanks were designed especially for testing ion and plasma thrusters and spacecraft. The larger 25-foot diameter tank included a 10-foot diameter test compartment to test electric thrusters with condensable propellants. The portals along the chamber floor lead to the massive exhauster equipment that pumped out the air to simulate the low pressures found in space.

A front view of the Lunar Electric Rover (LER) during the Desert Research and Technology Studies (RATS) remote field test at Black Point Lava Flow, Arizona in 2008.

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 Tecnam P2006T undergoes wing integration at Scaled Composites in Mojave, California, where the aircraft’s system will be converted to feature electric propulsion.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center tested 16 commercially-manufactured electric vehicles, including these, during the mid-1970s. Lewis and the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) engaged in several energy-related programs in the mid-1970s, including the Electric Vehicle Project. NASA and ERDA undertook the program in 1976 to determine the state of the current electric vehicle technology. The tests were primarily conducted on a 7.5-mile track at the Transportation Research Center located approximately 160 miles southwest of Cleveland, Ohio. Some of the vehicles had analog data recording systems to measure the battery during operation and sensors to determine speed and distance. The tests analyzed the vehicle’s range, acceleration, coast-down, braking, and energy consumption. From left to right: RIPP-Electric, EVA Contactor, Otis P-500, C.H. Waterman DAF, Zagato Elcar, unknown, Sebring-Vanguard Citicar, and Hattronic Minivan

4' and 24' Shock Tubes - Electric Arc Shock Tube Facililty N-229 (East) The facility is used to investigate the effects of radiation and ionization during outer planetary entries as well as for air-blast simualtion which requires the strongest possible shock generation in air at loadings of 1 atm or greater.

The Thorad-Agena launch vehicle with the SERT-2 (Space Electric Rocket Test-2) spacecraft on launch pad at the Western Test Range in California. The SERT-2 was launched on February 4, 1970 and tested the capability of an electric ion thruster system.

This 1960 artist's concept shows a 24-hour communication satellite design incorporating an arc engine with a nuclear power source. The concept was one of many missions proposed by the Marshall Space Flight Center for electrically-propelled spacecraft.

A back view of the Lunar Electric Rover (LER) during the Desert Research and Technology Studies (RATS) remote field test at Black Point Lava Flow, Arizona in 2008. Two Mark III spacesuits are visibly mounted on the LER suit port.

NASA Glenn Research Center has received the first of three Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) thrusters for the Gateway lunar space station. Built by L3Harris Technologies, the thruster will undergo testing before integration with Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element, launching with the HALO module ahead of Artemis IV.

This graphic shows how Saturn and its moon Enceladus are electrically linked. Magnetic field lines, invisible to the human eye but detectable by the fields and particles instruments on NASA's Cassini spacecraft, arc from Saturn's north polar region to south polar region. Enceladus resides in the arc of a set of the field lines and feeds charged particles into the Saturn atmosphere. As Enceladus orbits around Saturn, the "footprint" of its connection to Saturn's north polar region, visible in ultraviolet light, also rotates. A doughnut of plasma, or hot ionized gas, revolves around Saturn at the same pace as the planet turns. The interaction of this plasma cloud with Enceladus shoots electrons along the magnetic field lines into the polar region of Saturn. The rain of electrons into Saturn's atmosphere creates an ultraviolet glow in an aurora-like phenomenon. Cassini's radio and plasma wave science instrument has detected a "hiss-like" radio noise generated by electrons moving along magnetic field lines from Enceladus to the glowing patch of ultraviolet light on Saturn. An animation is available at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA13897

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.

NASA Glenn Technician Mark Springowski works on a 10-kilowatt Stirling Power Conversion Unit, which is part of the Fission Surface Power Technology Demonstration Unit. This is a system level demonstration of a surface power system, which could potentially be used to support manned missions to the moon or Mars. A flight system would use 180 kilowatt nuclear fission reactor and four Stirling PCU’s to produce 40 kW of electricity for manned surface missions.

NASA Glenn engineer Dr. Peter Peterson prepares a high-power Hall thruster for ground testing in a vacuum chamber that simulates the environment in space. This high-powered solar electric propulsion thruster has been identified as a critical part of NASA’s future deep space exploration plans.

A mechanic watches the firing of a General Electric I-40 turbojet at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory. The military selected General Electric’s West Lynn facility in 1941 to secretly replicate the centrifugal turbojet engine designed by British engineer Frank Whittle. General Electric’s first attempt, the I-A, was fraught with problems. The design was improved somewhat with the subsequent I-16 engine. It was not until the engine's next reincarnation as the I-40 in 1943 that General Electric’s efforts paid off. The 4000-pound thrust I-40 was incorporated into the Lockheed Shooting Star airframe and successfully flown in June 1944. The Shooting Star became the US’s first successful jet aircraft and the first US aircraft to reach 500 miles per hour. NACA Lewis studied all of General Electric’s centrifugal turbojet models during the 1940s. In 1945 the entire Shooting Star aircraft was investigated in the Altitude Wind Tunnel. Engine compressor performance and augmentation by water injection; comparison of different fuel blends in a single combustor; and air-cooled rotors were studied. The mechanic in this photograph watches the firing of a full-scale I-40 in the Jet Propulsion Static Laboratory. The facility was quickly built in 1943 specifically in order to test the early General Electric turbojets. The I-A was secretly analyzed in the facility during the fall of 1943.

The X-57 operations crew at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center prepare for telemetry testing on NASA's first all-electric X-plane, the X-57 Maxwell. Shown here in its first all-electric configuration, known as Mod II, X-57's series of functional tests helps engineers confirm that the vehicle will be ready for taxi and flight tests, and the telemetry testing confirms the ability of the aircraft to transmit location and test data to the ground. X-57 will help set certification standards for emerging electric aircraft markets.

The X-57 operations crew at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center prepare for telemetry testing on NASA's first all-electric X-plane, the X-57 Maxwell. Shown here in its first all-electric configuration, known as Mod II, X-57's series of functional tests helps engineers confirm that the vehicle will be ready for taxi and flight tests, and the telemetry testing confirms the ability of the aircraft to transmit location and test data to the ground. X-57 will help set certification standards for emerging electric aircraft markets.

X-57 Maxwell principal investigator, Sean Clarke, talks about the innovative contributions the X-57 research team made to the electric propulsion community during a knowledge sharing event at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

NASA Glenn Research Center has received the first of three Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) thrusters for the Gateway lunar space station. Built by L3Harris Technologies, the thruster will undergo testing before integration with Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element, launching with the HALO module ahead of Artemis IV.

NASA's all-electric X-57 Maxwell continues to undergo high-voltage ground testing with successful spinning of the propellers under electric power at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. The principal goals of the X-57 Project are to share the X-57 design and airworthiness process with regulators and standards organizations; and to establish the X-57 as a reference platform for integrated approaches of distributed electric propulsion technologies.