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Spinoff story
Simplified Aircraft Modeling Packs Weeks of Analysis into Minutes
A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.
About this technology
Overview
Using software to model how an airplane flies in real-world conditions requires major computing power. Langley Research Center engineer Walter Silva designed software that makes at least one aspect of this modeling much faster, by creating a simplified version of the aircraft structure using a mathematical tool called system identification. The software, called Reduced Order Model, is now available for license, and Huntsville, Alabama-based CFD Research Corporation is using it for current and planned future contracts.