My work trip was to Ames Research Center for meetings with some people we work with there. Ames has a lot of wind tunnels used for testing. In the far background of this shot you can see one of the largest around. This is a 120 by 80 foot wind tunnel and it is massive.
We got a tour of the Unitary Plan wind tunnel. There were some cool pictures on the wall in the area. This is a shot of the Wright Flyer in a wind tunnel. That’s just cool.
This is the 9 by 7 foot wind tunnel in the Unitary Plan tunnel complex.
This is what the Unitary Plan looks like from above. Its a massive complex with three wind tunnels in it. The 9 x 7 wasn’t being used, so we got to tour it. The 8 x 7 is down right now and the 11 x 11 was being used for a sensitive test that we couldn’t see.
This is a shot of some wind tunnel testing for the space shuttle.
That’s a coworker trying to get out of the shot quickly.
There’s an idea of the size of the tunnel.
This is from inside the tunnel looking down the chute.
The other side of the tunnel.
And looking down.
Standing in front of the wind tunnel.
This is from inside the tunnel.
Here’s a capsule model used for testing. It looks like Apollo.
This is part of the outside of the tunnel. Its huge.
Here’s one of the turbines where the get the speed up.
This is the sign outside one of the other tunnels.
This is a shot of the door to the 120 x 80 foot tunnel.
I love this sign. NACA was the predecessor to NASA, so that gives you an idea of how old this stuff is.
And this is on the way home. Slot machines in the airport in LA. Crazy.
And a random shot of our dogs going crazy because a cat was on our fence. We have two cats inside that get no reaction at all, but this cat was outside, so they went nuts.
That wraps up my shots for the trip. I’m sure Kendra will post more.
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