Celebrating the 50th year of the Langley Research Center, this NASA film highlights the many innovations and discoveries made from 1917 through 1967. Langley Research Center (LaRC) is the oldest of NASA’s field centers, located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. It directly borders Poquoson, Virginia and Langley Air Force Base. LaRC focuses primarily on aeronautical research, though the Apollo lunar lander was flight-tested at the facility and a number of high-profile space missions have been planned and designed on-site. The film features an appearance by Gen. Jimmy Doolittle (00:08:40:00), who was also celebrating his 50th year in aviation at this time. President John F. Kennedy is seen at the 12 minute mark, presenting the Collier Trophy to the Mercury Astronauts.
Established in 1917 by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the Center currently devotes two-thirds of its programs to aeronautics, and the rest to space. LaRC researchers use more than 40 wind tunnels to study improved aircraft and spacecraft safety, performance, and efficiency. Between 1958 and 1963, when NASA started Project Mercury, LaRC served as the main office of the Space Task Group, with the office being transferred to the Manned Spacecraft Center (now the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center) in Houston in 1962–63.
In 1917, less than three years after it was created, the NACA established Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory on Langley Field. Both Langley Field and the Langley Laboratory are named for aviation pioneer Samuel Pierpont Langley. The Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps had established a base there earlier that same year. The first research facilities were in place and aeronautical research was started by 1920. Initially the laboratory included four researchers and 11 technicians.
NASA Langley 14-foot (4 m) x 22-foot (7 m) Subsonic Wind Tunnel
Langley Field and NACA began parallel growth as air power proved its utility during World War I. The center was originally established to explore the field of aerodynamic research involving airframe and propulsion engine design and performance. In 1934 the world’s largest wind tunnel at that time was constructed at Langley Field with a 30 x 60 foot test section, which was large enough to test full scale aircraft, one of the first wind tunnels able to do this. (The 40 x 80 foot tunnel built at NASA Ames in California in the following decade stole away the “World’s Largest” title).
Early in 1943 the center expanded to include rocket research, leading to the establishment of a flight station at Wallops Island, Virginia. A further expansion of the research program permitted Langley Research Center to orbit payloads. As rocket research grew, aeronautics research continued to expand and played an important part when subsonic flight was advanced and supersonic and hypersonic flight were introduced.
Langley Research Center can claim many historic firsts, some of which have proven to be revolutionary scientific breakthroughs. These accomplishments include the development of the concept of research aircraft leading to supersonic flight, the world’s first transonic wind tunnels, the Lunar Landing Facility providing the simulation of lunar gravity, and the Viking program for Mars exploration.[6] Also, the grooving of aircraft runways was developed at Langley Research Center, which permits better grip by aircraft tires to the surface than a traditional smooth surface, was developed at Langley. This grooving is now the international standard for all runways around the world.
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2K. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
