06 Jan 2017

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden told Armstrong employees the value they add is part of why he believes the agency has a bright future.
In introducing Bolden to employees at a town hall Nov. 29, Center Director David McBride thanked the administrator for helping solidify space exploration, refocus and reinvigorate aeronautics and help make NASA one of the best places to work in the federal government.

“We really have been blessed to have a pilot at the helm of NASA,” McBride said. “He is someone who really appreciates the dangers and risks associated with the work you do well and do safely.”
What Armstrong and its employees provide is important for NASA, the nation and the world, said Bolden, who is set to retire in January.

“This is an unbelievable place and you do unbelievable things,” he added.
Bolden, who landed at Edwards twice as a space shuttle astronaut in addition to his visits as NASA administrator, recognized Armstrong’s 70th anniversary.

“The first group to come out here supported the U.S. Air Force supersonic flights and exceeding what was believed to be a sound barrier,” he said. “We have been here ever since asking and answering new questions about atmospheric flight, space flight, Earth science and pursuing other NASA missions.”
Uncertainty is inherent in transitioning to a new leadership, Bolden said, but it is important for everyone to remain focused on the missions ahead and to tell the stories about the work accomplished here.

“Armstrong employees have worked diligently to make flight safer for everyone and develop new methods of controlling aircraft that are incorporated into aircraft today,” Bolden said. “Many of you here are helping us to advance technology by using aircraft to study autonomy and to transform aviation by improving safety and efficiency of future vehicles to include the development of an automatic ground collision avoidance system. Not only has this system worked, and it has been recognized recently with a NASA Honor Award, but more importantly it has saved lives.”

In addition, the Earth monitoring missions Armstrong supports also have provided a treasure trove of data.
“This center has also advanced science through flight by using aircraft to monitor our ever-changing planet,” he added. “For example the just completed IceBridge mission that continues to study changes in glaciers and the Korea and United States Air Quality Study, which examined how air quality affects human health.”

NASA Deputy Administration Dava Newman told Bolden about her flight earlier this year on the NASA 747 Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, which she also documented in a blog. The flying observatory has thrilled the world with discoveries about the solar system and the universe.
“SOFIA was able to observe Pluto’s atmosphere by traveling in its shadow,” Bolden said. “The shadow was moving across the Pacific Ocean at 50,000 mph. SOFIA’s unique capability as a high-flying observatory allowed it to be at the right place at the right moment where Pluto’s shadow crossed the Earth. That is mind boggling.”

Newman also relayed to Bolden her experiences flying an IceBridge mission on NASA’s DC-8. Bolden challenged employees to go out into the community and share experiences supporting the center’s unique work from hurricane hunting to NASA’s newest X-plane called the X-57 Maxwell. “Talk about what you do.”
Maxwell is a part of a larger new Aviation Horizons Initiative, a major aeronautics effort supported at Armstrong. Center engineers are also working to design and develop tools to test and validate new propulsion technologies for aircraft such as the all-electric X-57. The aircraft is designed to increase efficiency, operate quieter and have zero carbon emissions.

The Aviation Horizons Initiative has other elements that will involve Armstrong.
“The return of X-planes will also include a supersonic aircraft incorporating years of NASA’s sonic boom research to quiet the noise created from traveling faster than the speed of sound,” Bolden said. “A low boom flight demonstrator has been proposed that could open up the door for future supersonic commercial travel over land instead of taking five or six hours to go from New York to Los Angeles, it will take maybe two or three.”

U.S. law currently prohibits supersonic aircraft to fly over land due to the sound the sonic booms create, but Armstrong is helping us to change all of that.
Armstrong is also leading the multi-center effort to integrate unmanned aircraft systems integration into the National Airspace System, which will allow these vehicles into the national airspace alongside commercial aircraft, Bolden said.

Additionally, replacing the wings on a G-III aircraft with advanced flexible trailing edge wing flaps, in a joint effort with the Air Force, aiming to determine if this wing design can both improve airplane aerodynamic efficiency and reduce airport noise for takeoffs and landings, he explained. Current work is focusing on landing gear innovations.
Armstrong has a long history of testing space vehicles such as the approach and landing research flights for the space shuttle. Soon, Sierra Nevada’s Dreamchaser will return for an additional approach and landing flight. Dreamchaser could provide critical cargo transportation for our astronauts to the International Space Station and commercial space is a vital component of our journey to Mars, Bolden said.

Another area of Armstrong support is the Orion AA-2 abort test scheduled for launch in 2019. The flight is a follow on to the successful pad abort PA-1 test to validate a key component of astronaut safety in 2010 that was managed by Armstrong for NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
Bolden also praised the center’s management of the Flight Opportunities program, which matures technology, enables exploration and supports commercial space industry by using its available vehicles to fly payloads.

“Two technologies to benefit from this program are the Made in Space 3-D printer, which there are two of them on the International Space Station, and the Gecko Grippers that can stick on command in the harsh environment of space and are also on the ISS,” Bolden said.
Bolden recognized the center’s success and the employees who make it happen.

“I want to thank all of you for the great work you have done to advance aviation, science and our journey to Mars,” Bolden said. “Stay focused and safe on the missions that we have and make sure that not only do we plan them well, but execute them with the type of excellence that has become tradition here at Armstrong.”
In a decade, Bolden said he is optimistic that the first Americans will walk on Mars, passengers will fly quiet supersonic aircraft around the world in six hours and NASA resources will continue to lead to the discovery of new planets.

“We’ve done incredible things, but there is still more to do and we need every single one of you to be on deck when we do that,” Bolden concluded.

Image:
(B) NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, a former pilot and astronaut who flew on four shuttle missions, used the simulator cockpit to land the X-57.