Spinoff: Transportation

Experiments Result in Safer, Spin-Resistant Aircraft

NASA Technology

James M. Patton Jr. completed a whopping 8,000 spin turns throughout his career at NASA. As a research pilot at Langley Research Center, Patton and his...

Spinoff: Transportation

Heat Shield Paves the Way for Commercial Space

NASA Technology

Comets are beautiful, and apparently it’s a youthful kind of beauty, because they look about the same from the time they were born. Often referred to as dirty...

Spinoff: Transportation

Interfaces Visualize Data for Airline Safety, Efficiency

NASA Technology

It was Henry Ford who said, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” Following such an adage,...

Spinoff: Transportation

Shuttle Repair Tools Automate Vehicle Maintenance

NASA Technology

Successfully building, flying, and maintaining the space shuttles was an immensely complex job that required a high level of detailed, precise engineering. After...

Spinoff: Transportation

Wireless Sensors Pinpoint Rotorcraft Troubles

NASA Technology

Helicopters present many advantages over fixed-wing aircraft: they can take off from and land in tight spots, they can move in any direction with relative ease, and...

Spinoff: Transportation

Anti-Icing Formulas Prevent Train Delays

NASA Technology

In the winter of 2009, Washington, DC, workers faced the prospect of a difficult commute due to record-setting snowfalls. But thousands of the city’s Metrorail riders...

Spinoff: Transportation

Speech Recognition Interfaces Improve Flight Safety

NASA Technology

“Alpha, Golf, November, Echo, Zulu.” “Sierra, Alpha, Golf, Echo, Sierra.” “Lima, Hotel, Yankee.”

It looks like some strange word game, but...

Spinoff: Transportation

Polymers Advance Heat Management Materials for Vehicles

NASA Technology

For 6 years prior to the retirement of the Space Shuttle Program, the shuttles carried an onboard repair kit with a tool for emergency use: two tubes of...

Spinoff: Transportation

Cameras Improve Navigation for Pilots, Drivers

NASA Technology

After 10 months of traveling through deep space to Mars, the Phoenix Lander finally approached its destination. The last 7 minutes of the spacecraft’s 423...

Spinoff: Transportation

Modeling Programs Increase Aircraft Design Safety

NASA Technology

“Flutter” may sound like a benign word when associated with a flag in a breeze, a butterfly, or seaweed in an ocean current. When used in the context of...

Spinoff: Transportation

Integrated Design Tools Reduce Risk, Cost

NASA Technology

As NASA designs new spacecraft for its science missions and begins designs for the next generation of human spaceflight vehicles, it also works to revolutionize Earth’s...

Spinoff: Transportation

Advisory Systems Save Time, Fuel for Airlines

NASA Technology

Heinz Erzberger never thought the sky was falling, but he knew it could benefit from enhanced traffic control. Throughout the 1990s, Erzberger led a team at Ames...

Spinoff: Transportation

Fly-by-Wire Systems Enable Safer, More Efficient Flight

NASA Technology

In 1961, not long after NASA received the imperative from President John F. Kennedy to land a man on the Moon within the decade, then-NASA administrator...

Spinoff: Transportation

Sensor Systems Collect Critical Aerodynamics Data

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

The next time you blow out a candle, watch how the smoke behaves. You will see that it rises first in an even stream. At a certain point,...

Spinoff: Transportation

Coatings Extend Life of Engines and Infrastructure

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Every time a jet engine is started, it goes through a thermal cycle of extreme temperatures, reaching as high as 2,700 °F within the...

Spinoff: Transportation

Programs Model the Future of Air Traffic Management

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Try describing the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS), and you will inevitably end up rattling off a series of large numbers. There...

Spinoff: Transportation

Tail Rotor Airfoils Stabilize Helicopters, Reduce Noise

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Given the eye-catching nature of space shuttle launches, deep-space imagery, and Mars exploration, it can be easy to forget...

Spinoff: Transportation

Personal Aircraft Point to the Future of Transportation

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

In the late 1970s, general aviation (GA) in the United States was experiencing its heyday. In 1978, as many as 18,000 GA aircraft...

Spinoff: Transportation

Ducted Fan Designs Lead to Potential New Vehicles

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

From the myth of Icarus, who flew too close to the Sun on wings made of wax, to the designs Leonardo da Vinci drew of flying machines...

Spinoff: Transportation

Winglets Save Billions of Dollars in Fuel Costs

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Anyone who has made a paper airplane knows that folding the wingtips upward makes your plane look better and fly farther, though the...

Spinoff: Transportation

Tools Lighten Designs, Maintain Structural Integrity

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

While working on designs for a new high-speed aircraft, a group of software engineers at NASA’s Langley Research Center developed a...

Spinoff: Transportation

Insulating Foams Save Money, Increase Safety

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Researchers at the Advanced Materials and Processing Branch at Langley Research Center created a superior polyimide foam as insulation for...

Spinoff: Transportation

Polyimide Resins Resist Extreme Temperatures

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Spacecraft and aerospace engines share a common threat: high temperature. The temperatures experienced during atmospheric reentry can reach...

Spinoff: Transportation

Nontoxic Resins Advance Aerospace Manufacturing

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

A small pile of PETI-330 resinous powder PETI-330 is the first resin created specifically for high-temperature composites formed with resin...

Spinoff: Transportation

Sensors Locate Radio Interference

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

While many air travelers are accustomed to rules against electronic devices during takeoff and landing, they might not be aware that these devices are...

Spinoff: Transportation

Surface Operations Systems Improve Airport Efficiency

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

As part of its research to make air travel safer, NASA began collaborating with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2005...

Spinoff: Transportation

Software Performs Complex Design Analysis

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Designers use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to gain greater understanding of the fluid flow phenomena involved in...

Spinoff: Transportation

Engineering Models Ease and Speed Prototyping

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

NASA astronauts plan to return to the Moon as early as 2015 and establish a lunar base, from which 6-month flights to Mars...

Spinoff: Transportation

Aerodynamics Research Revolutionizes Truck Design

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

The last 35 years have seen a sea change in the design of trucks on America’s highways, reflecting extensive research...