NASA - Dryden Flight Research Center

Dryden News

Engineers Probe Valve Problem, Discovery's Launch Reset for Early Friday

Space Shuttle Discovery sits on Launch Pad 39A after rollback of the rotating service structure, or RSS. Discovery's scheduled launch on mission STS-128 mission to the International Space Station was scrubbed again Tuesday due to a liquid hydrogen valve malfunction.

Space Shuttle Discovery sits on Launch Pad 39A after rollback of the rotating service structure, or RSS. Discovery's launch on mission STS-128 mission to the International Space Station has been reset for early morning Friday after a liquid hydrogen valve malfunction forced Tuesday's launch to be scrubbed. (NASA photo / Troy Cryder)

NASA has rescheduled the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-128 to the International Space Station for shortly after midnight Friday morning, after a possible malfunction in a liquid hydrogen fill-and-drain valve during tanking operations forced postponement of Tuesday morning's launch attempt. Liftoff is now planned for 12:22 a.m. EDT Friday (9:22 p.m. PDT Thursday). Engineers are evaluating detailed test data about the valve before loading Discovery’s massive external fuel tank with propellant for the next scheduled launch attempt. Forecasts predict a 70 percent change of acceptable weather conditions at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the night launch, the last planned nighttime launch of the space shuttle program.

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News and Features

NASA Astronaut Vance Brand Plants ‘Moon Tree’ in Palmdale

Retired NASA Astronaut Vance Brand, (center), assisted by Steve Schmidt, director of NASA Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility and Mayor James Ledford of the City of Palmdale, Calif., planted a "Moon Tree" sycamore sapling at the AERO Institute in the Palmdale Civic Center.
Lancaster Jethawks Honor Last SR-71 Flight Crews

The last four crew members who flew aboard the famed triple-sonic Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird aircraft will be honored this Saturday evening, Aug. 15, by the Lancaster JetHawks baseball team during the team’s annual Aerospace Appreciation Weekend at Clear Channel Stadium in Lancaster.
Apollo's Legacy: Moon Missions Continue To Inspire The World

Retired NASA astronaut, space shuttle commander and research pilot Gordon Fullerton discussed the legacy of the Apollo 11 moon landing recently before a standing-room-only audience of employees and educators at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center.
Rake Airflow Gage Experiment Flies Again on NASA F-15B

NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center recently conducted a flight test of an airflow-measurement device mounted underneath its F-15B research aircraft in the Rake Airflow Gage Experiment, or RAGE.
NASA's G-III and UAVSAR Conducting East Coast Vegetation Study

NASA's Gulfstream-III environmental science research aircraft is conducting a two-week radar imaging mission along the East Coast.
Collision Avoidance Technology Flying Again at Dryden

Dryden is working with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to develop collision avoidance technologies for fighter/attack aircraft that would reduce the risk of ground and mid-air collisions in the Fighter Risk Reduction Project.
The LLRV / LLTV – Preparing Apollo’s Astronauts for Landing on the Moon

Following the challenge by President John F. Kennedy in 1962 to land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth, two separate entities began working on a way to prepare astronauts for the critical descent and landing on the moon. The problems facing them were considerable: how to build a free-flying simulator that could negate 5/6ths of the Earth's gravity while entirely eliminating the effects of the atmosphere, since the moon had no atmosphere and only 1/6th of Earth's gravity.

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Dryden Spotlight

STS-128

The STS-128 crew will deliver logistics and supplies to the International Space Station.
› Shuttle Mission Updates
G-III Conducting East Coast Vegetation Study

NASA's Gulfstream-III environmental science aircraft is conducting an East Coast radar imaging mission.

› Mission Status Report
› G-III Photo Gallery
Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle

NASA Dryden is leading the Orion crew module launch abort system flight test effort, including crew module systems integration for the first two flights.
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› Orion Photos
› Orion Movies
SOFIA

NASA is developing the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy - or SOFIA - as a world-class airborne observatory that will complement the Hubble, Spitzer, Herschel and James Webb space telescopes and major Earth-based telescopes.
› Mission Update
Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility

Our new aircraft operations facility in Palmdale offers the expanded space needed to manage Dryden's airborne science missions and research platforms.
Research Update

Current flight research projects and programs being flown at Dryden Flight Research Center.
This Week in Dryden's History

A collection of historical facts and events from Dryden's last 50 years.
50th Anniversary X-Press

Dryden has made many significant contributions to NASA's mission since the agency's inception five decades ago. The 50th anniversary issue of the X-Press profiles 61 employees and 28 current and past projects.

› Read 50th Anniversary X-Press
› View Special Photo Edition