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From: eugene@ames.UUCP (Eugene Miya)
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: reentry of paper airplanes?
Message-ID: <975@ames.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 7-May-85 20:47:06 EDT
Article-I.D.: ames.975
Posted: Tue May  7 20:47:06 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 11-May-85 02:45:14 EDT
References: <1631@mordor.UUCP> <336@aurora.UUCP>
Organization: NASA-Ames Research Center, Mtn. View, CA
Lines: 30

At the Ames Research Center, we have about two dozen wind tunnels used to
test a variety of conditions.  They range in different air velocities,
pressures, and other conditions.  Recently in Science, the editor made a
some what bogus statement that computers have replaced wind tunnels.

You may have seen in recent postings that there is debate about where
money is spent in NASA [say: not on the Space Shuttle or not on the Space
Station].  My immediate supervisor calls Ames "part of the little A in
NASA" meaning "Aeronautics."  We are poorly funded by comparison to the
Shuttle or Space Station although the tiles were developed here [not the
glue!] and we sometimes live off the perpheral edges of the Shuttle and
Station.  This situation tends to worry some people here.  What does this
have to do with airplanes?

Many months ago, the Associate Director of NASA, Hans Mark, stopped by here.
He noted the above concern and he pointed out that we use wind tunnels
as test beds to reentry design.  He suggested that we start to consider
the Space Station as the next platform (testbed) from which to start
scale models reentering the earth's atmosphere (rather than a wind tunnel).
Our 'arm" will be the space station, and while the planes won't be made of
paper, this idea is under consideration.

Second note: Re: stuck in space.  There are films from the Skylab days
showing swimming motions in the air without the benefit of pushing off
walls or objects.  It's slow, but you get there.

--eugene miya
  NASA Ames Research Center
  {hplabs,ihnp4,dual,hao,decwrl,allegra}!ames!aurora!eugene
  @ames-vmsb.ARPA:emiya@jup.DECNET