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Spinoff story
NASA Code Speeds Nation’s Aircraft, Spacecraft Design
A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.
About this technology
Overview
In the late 1980s, NASA engineers were working to improve airflow simulation software. The Space Shuttle, with an external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters each generating interacting airflows, posed a distinct challenge. To better model multiple-body problems, a NASA team created the overset-grid method and built OVERFLOW software to run the simulations. Now available through Langley Research Center, OVERFLOW has been widely adopted, including at Seattle-based Boeing Commercial Airplanes, which uses it throughout its operations for development of planes, rotorcraft, advanced concepts, and more.