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NASA
Explore aviation articles about NASA.
NASA's SOFIA Boeing 747's Journey Comes To An End
The S tratospheric O bservatory f or I nfrared A stronomy ( SOFIA ) telescope, NASA's flying observatory, has now retired after its last flight that took off from the Palmdale regional airport in California at 9:14 a.m IST on September…
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Weightless route flight
The earth is always pulling us to its center with its gravity, a force to which all bodies on the planet are subjected. At the beginning of the space program of the United States, reduced gravity was an important matter in the general…
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Aerospace Medicine
Have you ever wondered about the possibility of suffering trauma or a pathology while flying? Almost everyone has experienced emotional sensations and behavior not very normal when flying by plane at some point whether on take-off or…
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The Boeing 747 Type That Failed
The majestic four-engine Boeing 747 is known as the "Queen of the Skies" by many all around the world. But did you ever know there was a tri-jet version of the 747? Yes, a trijet! Just like a DC-10, Boeing 727, or an MD-11. It's strange…
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The Puffin: A Personal Aircraft
It is “personal” because it has a crew capacity of one, only one person who is the pilot of the aircraft. Electric, low noise, capable of reaching a speed of 150 miles per hour, and how it works, it seems to be a fancy vehicle. The…
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Critical Mach Number
When talking about Mach, it is pretty common to relate it with supersonic aircraft, but not always. This number of airflow velocity helps to determine the limits of the aircraft performance in terms of maximum airspeed. The critical…
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VTOL - The Concept Behind It and Why It Is the FutureVtol - The Concept Behind It and Why It Is the Future
A V ertical Take-Off and Landing ( VTOL ) aircraft is one that can hover, take-off and land vertically. This classification includes a variety of aircrafts including fixed-wing aircrafts as well as choppers and other aircrafts with…
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Antonov An-225 Mriya: The Plane With 32 Wheels
The Antonov 225 “Mriya” is the world's biggest cargo plane that weighs around 285 tons when empty and is even bigger than the Airbus A380 airliner, the An-124, and the Boeing 747 Freighter. The sole purpose of the Myria is to carry…
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Science behind shockwaves and a sonic boom
Ever seen a fighter jet rush past you so fast that you hear a loud bang? Well, that loud bang is called a sonic boom. Now, what exactly is a sonic boom? A sonic boom is a thunder-like noise a person on the ground hears that is…
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NACA
Have you ever wondered about the beginning of one of the most important aeronautical research institution? NACA, stands for: “National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics”, it's an agency founded on March 3, 1915 in the United States to…
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The RAVN X: The World's Largest Drone
For years NASA has dominated delivering cargo and satellites to space, and now SpaceX seems to be doing the same almost every week. Sending cargo to space or delivering a satellite isn't exactly cutting-edge tech these days. Liftoff…
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Airborne Observatory
It seems like an airplane to observe, that is the name and the meaning. But all the aircraft seem to work under the same? Recognizance, spy or aerial surveying aircraft for mapping, they work in different scenarios and have different…
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The first high speed frontier.
260 years of unsolved and unknown regime of high speed dynamics of gases were broken with the significant flight of the Bell X-1 research vehicle installed under the B-29 bomber of World War II vintage, on October 14, 1947 in the Mojave…
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Flight on another planet (MARS)
Flights within the earth are possible taking into account our atmosphere composed of air. But when talking about flying through outer space or even an almost non-existent atmosphere or one that is composed of other gases like the…
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Would You Fly Over the Bermuda Triangle?
We’ve all heard various myths, misconceptions, and conspiracy theories regarding the Devil’s Triangle. Do you believe in any of them? Personally I’ve always thought that there must be a rational reason for everything. But what makes the…
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How planes became spaceplanes
After the first manned flight of the Wright brothers, it did not take more than 20 years to consider space flight, with the concepts and dreams of two men interested in reaching outer space. Herman Oberth , one of the founding fathers…
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The First Forward-Swept Wing Plane to Fly at a Supersonic Speed in Level flight in the World
Instead of the normal-looking planes we have today, did you know that a forward-swept wing aircraft existed? The Grumman X-29 is an aircraft that is surprisingly easy to fly due to its extraordinary design. Photo: deviantart.com…
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The 747 that carried America's space dreams
We all saw how spectacular and successful last Saturday's SpaceX launch was, as it marked the first time in almost a decade that America has launched people into space. But before the fancy new capsules and SpaceX technology came the…
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