Diane Lopez

NASA Langley Research Center

May 10, 2023

The NASA Langley Center has many centers where the team brings together materials,

structure, and improves on their designs. The Integrated Engineering Services Building is one of

them, it is a home to the Engineering Design Studio offers transformative ways for NASA

engineers to work together in a single space and share their ideas, research, and calculations to

create a functional design. An example is the big, amazing project carried by the IESB on SAGE

and the Mars Ice Dome. Another structure such as the NASA’s hanger is specialized in flight and

Earth Science research to help inform vital insights into Earth, and new insights on clouds and

particles in its atmosphere that affect Earth’s weather and quality. The Transonic facility is

another example, it is the largest pressurized cryogenic wind tunnel that uses super cold nitrogen

gas at high pressures to duplicate true flight aerodynamics and seeks support for the US

government and commercial space industries. The Vacuum Sphere at the Hypersonic Facilities

Complex helps make commercial hypersonic travel possible and enable alternative propulsion

systems in space by using a higher pressure and vacuum sphere’s to create the air flow. These

structures get their materials from the Structure and Materials Testing where they explore and

ensure the light, durable materials, building structures, and test concepts to improve how we

travel through Earth’s atmosphere and help define the building blocks of future aircrafts. Lastly,

the Manufacturing and Assembly in Space with Robotics is where all the unique testing for

zero-gravity autonomous systems takes place, this helps detect any issues and realistically

construct structures with zero-gravity.

 Everything in this field trip really caught my attention and was very interesting. New

inventions and improvements from different facilities were very interesting to hear and visualize.

All these new designs and structures surprised me with how perfect and exact they need to be for

astronauts to fly safely and arrive anywhere in space. What really caught my attention was the

Manufacturing and Assembly in Space with Robotics, their testing with a flat floor and air

hockey table of zero-gravity to float for a realistic representation of the structure in space. This

caught my attention because most people need a visual representation of the zero-gravity effect

on a structure and this building will help improve for a safer flight for many astronauts. Another

thing that interested me was the Transonic Facility where the transonic speed regime could

encompass speeds from 600-900 miles per hour. This is an extraordinary speed that I found was

impossible yet got proven wrong with this structure. This experience of a virtual field trip was

very informative and I am very excited to see how much improvement NASA will bring for

future projects.

President Kennedy had started the research on the moon for a big victory of superiority

over the Soviet Union and was very successful. Their long space mission has been to sustain

human presence on the moon for several weeks and better understand how to prepare for a

multiyear round trip to Mars. The International Space Station has created a shield from radiation

by the Earth’s magnetic field. By learning and using the resources present on the surface and

transforming particles into rocket fuel by cracking it into separate hydrogen and oxygen atoms,

improvements on aircrafts will be made in future examples. With the help of new vehicles and

sustainable access to energy sources, NASA has developed portable nuclear mission systems to

solve any problem on the moon much easier and reach Mars. As Apollo’s mission to bring 400

kilograms of lunar rock was successful, Jessica Meir explains that new samples will give her
team a bigger chance to further deepen their knowledge of celestial objects and formation and

change the way they view their solar system. Overall, with new technology over the years, it will

help improve a safer and efficient way to reach NASA’s goal.