 NASA is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA has many facilities around the United States, and the people working at them have a variety of jobs to do. Some work in aeronautics, others concentrate on improving aircraft engines, and some are involved with a space shuttle and space flight. At all the centers, many specialized skills are necessary. The Dryden Flight Research Facility is NASA's primary installation for flight research. It's located 80 miles north of Los Angeles on the western edge of the Mojave Desert. Over the desert, the sky is clear enough to fly almost every day of the year, and NASA has access to over 20,000 square miles of airspace for research flying. We use the same dry lake bed and runways that the Air Force uses, and these are the exact same runways in dry lake bed that the space shuttle uses when it lands at Edwards Air Base. Test flight programs began at Dryden in the late 1940s. Some of these aircraft look silly to us now, but the risks taken then have shaped airplane flight as we know it today. The X-Series, or experimental aircraft, showed that man could fly faster than the speed of sound. Tests on the X-15 in the late 1950s helped the United States develop a manned spacecraft. This funny-looking bird is the X-B70. During its flights over Dryden, NASA learned some things that made supersonic flight with large airplanes more practical. Quite a few wingless vehicles were pulled through the air or flew from Dryden during the 1960s and 70s. NASA was looking for a way to prove that it was possible to fly in space and safely return to Earth. These tests eventually led to what we know as the space shuttle. Before the all-electric flight control system and fly-by-wire technology was put into today's airplanes, they were much heavier and slower. That's because rods and connections to steer the planes and keep them in the air were made of heavier metals. Now computers could relay the pilot's instructions to the various parts of the airplane. The supercritical wing concept was also tested by NASA. It's a thinner wing, flatter on top and more rounded on the bottom. It cuts through the air better, which helps a plane cruise at higher speeds with less fuel. Tests today at Dryden include high-angle-of-attack research with the F-18, the X-29, SR-71, F-15 digital systems research and laminar flow studies with the F-16XLs. The people who work at Dryden need to know many different things, things like math, science and computer skills. Also, the people need to be able to speak clearly to one another and to understand their fellow workers. Let's take a look at some of the people who work in the shops and laboratories at the Dryden Flight Research Facility. This is the high temperature and loads calibration lab where people test many different aircraft parts. Researchers would much rather see what effects heat and stress have on these parts on the ground instead of in flight. There are shops at Dryden where finely-tooled aircraft parts are made. In another section, people repair, build and install electronics and other aircraft parts which keep the planes in the air. Aircraft communication and navigation equipment is maintained at Dryden. Technicians in the Environmental Testing Lab run the equipment through simulated flight conditions to make sure it works okay before it goes on an aircraft. This is the water tunnel at Dryden. Here, model airplanes are used. Die vents are installed on them so engineers can see the flows coming off the model the same as if it was an airflow across the real airplane. Adjustments made to the model can also apply to the actual airplane and help improve flight and it's less expensive than taking the life-size airplane through wind tunnel testing. Computer skills are needed for the people who work in the data analysis facilities at NASA. This is where flight research data is processed and information is shared with other NASA centers and test sites around the country. People working in Dryden simulator labs need a wide variety of high-tech and computer skills. This is where aircraft, flight simulators and computers create situations helpful in predicting how the aircraft will actually perform. Our specially equipped control rooms are manned by experts to monitor the various research gathering missions on the ground. The light support team keeps flight suits, parachutes, oxygen supplies and other equipment ready for our pilots and flight engineers who carry out the research flights. As you can see, NASA has helped shape aviation history in many ways. We've sent men and machines into space to the moon and other planets. We have satellites that circle the Earth which help people forecast the weather and information gathered from computer simulation that has even been used to make valves for an artificial heart. The Dryden Flight Research Facility is a very important part of NASA. What is being flown at Dryden today will have a direct impact on the airplanes of tomorrow. How they'll look, how they'll fly and how safe they'll be for you and me.