On the 20th of December, 1939, the second laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was founded. The facility at Moffett Field in Sunnyvale, California, would later be known as NASA’s Ames Research Center after the founding chairman of NACA, Joseph S. Ames — but no one could foresee how iconic Ames would become.
The Ames Research Center was founded to further the US’ research into the aerodynamics of World War II aircraft, and later it was developed further and further in order to conduct spaceflight research and information technology studies. As NASA remembers:
During its earliest days, the center’s researchers broke new ground in all flight regimes — the subsonic, transonic, supersonic and hypersonic — through construction of increasingly sophisticated wind tunnels, research aircraft, and methods of theoretical aerodynamics. Building upon its incredible capability with wind tunnels, Ames research expanded into computational fluid dynamics, simulation technology, information technology, air traffic management research, tilt rotorcraft, atmospheric entry systems, human factors and life sciences. Ames was influential in many ways in establishing what is now known as Silicon Valley. […] Today, in addition to its continuing research in aeronautics and life sciences, Ames pushes the frontiers of research in lunar science, astrobiology, small low-cost missions, airborne science and the search for planets outside of our own solar system.
Let’s celebrate ARC’s 75th Anniversary with the following set of gorgeous images selected from the NASA archives.
Dr. Joseph Sweetman Ames at his desk at the NACA headquarters.
Photo: NACA/NASA
Circa 1940: Lockheed P-38 model in 40x80ft wind tunnel.
Photo: NACA/NASA
1942: Free-flight investigation of a 1/4-scale dynamic model of XFV-1 in a 40 x 80ft wind tunnel.
Photo: NACA/NASA
1942: A scale model is being prepared for study in one of the 7×10 foot wind tunnels.
Photo: NACA/NASA
This June 2, 1943 photograph shows the construction of the Ames full-scale 40×80 foot wind tunnel.
Photo: NACA/NASA
A Lockheed P-80A Shooting Star sits on the ramp at the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory (1946).
Photo: NACA/NASA
An aerial view of the NACA Ames Aeronautical Laboratory, Moffett Field, California, in 1947.
Photo: NACA/NASA
1948: Test pilot Lawrence A. Clousing climbs into his Lockheed P-80 aircraft for a test flight.
Photo: NACA/NASA
1948: Testing advanced designs for high-speed aircraft, an engineer makes final calibrations to a model mounted in the 6×6-foot supersonic wind tunnel.
Photo: NACA/NASA
1954: A F-86 aircraft being lowered into the 40×80-foot full scale wind tunnel.
Photo: NASA
1954: The Republic F84F Thunderjet fighter-bomber involved in flight research at the NACA Ames Aeronautical Laboratory.
Photo: NASA
1962: A demonstration of a vertical landing by the NASA Ames Research Center’s Bell X-14A Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft.
Photo: NASA
1963: The “energy flash” when a projectile launched at speeds of up to 17,000 mph impacts a solid surface at the Hypervelocity Ballistic Range. This test is used to simulate what happens when a piece of orbital debris hits a spacecraft in orbit.
Photo: NASA
1963: A technician mounts a model of the Apollo Launch Escape System (LES) in the Unitary Wind Tunnel.
Photo: NASA
1963: An engineer mounts a model of the M-1 Lifting Body in the throat of the 3.5-foot Hypersonic Tunnel.
Photo: NASA Ames Research Center
Ames test pilot Fred Drinkwater, astronaut Neil Armstrong, and Ames project engineer Stu Rolls in front of the Ames Bell X-14 aeroplane being flown by Armstrong in February of 1964, five years before Armstrong landed on the moon.
Photo: Lee Jones/NASA
5 Degree Freedom of Motion Simulator with R. Gerdes.
Photo: NASA Ames Research Center
Schlieren image of an Apollo Command Module and Launch Escape System model being tested in the Ames 11-foot wind tunnel at Mach 1.20 and an angle of attack of 10.5 degrees.
Photo: NASA Ames Research Center
1965: The M2-F2 lifting body aircraft is mounted in the full scale wind tunnel.
Photo: NASA
M-2 Lifting Body being tested in the atmospheric entry simulator to determine the areas of most intense heat.
Photo: Dino Ponseggi/NASA
YF-12 inlet airframe interaction test in the 8X7-foot supersonic wind tunnel.
Photo: NASA Ames Research Center
1977: Hubert Vykukal (designer) demonstrates the mobility of the hard-suit AX-3 Space Suit design.
Photo: Lee Jones/NASA Ames Research Center
Circa 1978: McDonnell Douglas YAV-8B Harrier V/STOL Systems Research Aircraft hovering.
Photo: NASA Ames Research Center
Aerial View of the main buildings of NASA Ames Research Center, in 1982.
Photo: NASA
The Vestibular Research Facility (VRF) centrifuge in Building N-242 (1985).
Photo: Eric James/NASA
A 1/3 scale model of the space shuttle preparing for tests in the 40×80-foot test section.
Photo: NASA Ames Research Center
The space shuttle acoustics model in the 11-foot wind tunnel.
Photo: NASA Ames Research Center
1987: The largest wind tunnel in the World: the 80×120-foot wind tunnel drive fans.
Photo: Tom Trower/NASA Ames Research Center
1989: The AH-64 Apache helicopter simulator with Integrated Helmet & Display Sighting System (IHADSS).
Photo: NASA Ames Research Center
The Puma Robotic Sensor Arm, for use in Virtual Reality development and studies (1990).
Photo: Dominic Hart/NASA
1990: The EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity) Exercise Device for evaluation and effectiveness of weightlessness on astronauts during long duration spaceflights
Photo: Tom Trower/NASA
1990: The 40×80-foot Data Acquisition System.
Photo: NASA
1990: Mapping out the neural networks of the inner ear as part of Dr. Murial Ross’s study of the effects of space travel.
Photo: Tom Trower/NASA
The Cray Y 190A Supercomputer (1990).
Photo: NASA Ames Research Center
1991: The F-18 in the 80×120-foot wind tunnel
Photo: NASA
1995: NASA’s Virtual Airport Tower, a full-scale, highly sophisticated simulation facility that emulates Level 5 air traffic control towers and the busiest airports.
Photo: NASA
1995: Ames Robotics Laboratory, T-1 Robot in the “sandbox.”
Photo: NASA Ames Research Center
1998: Vertical Motion Simulator cab in motion.
Photo: NASA Ames Research Center
The parachute for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) passed flight-qualification after testing in March and April 2009 inside the world’s largest wind tunnel at NASA’s Ames Research Center.
Photo: NASA/Ames Research Center/JPL
2012: A model for the Experimental Evaluation Concept Boom and Performance Exploratory Test is tested in the NASA Ames 11×11-foot transonic wind tunnel.
Photo: Eric James/NASA Ames Research Center
2012: The Capsule Parachute Assembly System (CPAS) for Multi Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) class spacecraft undergoes wake deficit wind tunnel testing with pressure-sensitive paint. The testing occurred in the Ames Research Center’s 11×11-foot Transonic Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel.
