NASA 'salutes' Team Edwards

  • Published
  • By Rebecca Amber
  • Staff writer
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center opened its doors to Team Edwards March 2 during its first ever SALUTE event. Salute stands for Science and Aerospace Leaders United as Team Edwards. Throughout the day there were various speakers and demonstrations in the two "NASA Talks" locations. A self-guided tour took visitors all over the center, through control rooms, machine shops and even simulator alley.

The goal for the event was to increase awareness of Armstrong's projects and programs within the base community and even within their own center community.

The event was organized by the employees participating in a NASA leadership program called Foundations of Influence, Relationships, Success and Teamwork. The program is geared towards employees who are early in their careers at NASA.

Their capstone project is to identify a problem within the center and solve it or find a way to improve the quality of life at the center.

Zachary Wright, contract specialist, and aerospace engineers Alexander Chin and Brittany Martin, put their heads together and SALUTE was born. The inaugural event took a year to plan.

The team asked each organization within the center to decide what to display.

"There are things I didn't even know we had at the center until they proposed a booth," said Wright.  "My favorite thing about this day is seeing everybody come together."

And after a successful first go at it, the team hopes to see SALUTE become a biennial event.

SALUTE also had an emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) outreach. Before the main event began, they invited 600 students grades 5 - 8 in the Muroc Joint Unified School district to tour the facilities.

The self-guided tour started in Projects and Operations where visitors could walk through the control rooms. In the first hangar there were booths for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), test fixtures that are put on aircraft, life support and the new two-glider air-launch concept.

Outside there were several science aircraft including a DC-8, F/A-18 and F-15D on display. The DC-8 can be used for measuring carbon dioxide and oxygen emissions, measuring land masses or taking arctic wind measurements.

From there, the tour took families to the experimental fabrication shop, flight loads lab and the information technology building.

"It's more than just the projects that we're putting on display, it's also the capabilities of the center. So we opened up the fabrication shop, IT lab, and loads lab," said Martin. "There are things those buildings can do that are of benefit to the whole community."

Some of the technology on display was not solely to NASA's credit. For example the Adaptive Compliant Trailing Edge flap technology is being developed collaboratively between the Armstrong Center and the US Air Force Research Laboratory. ACTE is a connective piece of material designed to replace the traditional flaps on an aircraft. If successful, the technology will improve fuel efficiency and aircraft performance. AFRL also worked with NASA on the X-56, a 28-foot wing span unmanned aerial vehicle designed to test active control of flexible structures.

"So many people don't know what Armstrong does," said Martin. "We do a lot of space exploration and support work here, but we do a variety of aircraft and aeronautics and research as well."