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Spinoff story
Unique Sensors Will Improve Aerodynamic Design, Aircraft Performance
A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.
About this technology
Overview
A series of NASA SBIR contracts, most of them with Langley Research Center, let Interdisciplinary Consulting Corporation (IC2) of Gainesville, Florida, invent the first commercial devices to directly measure the localized force that passing air exerts on the surface of a vehicle model, known as wall shear stress. This force accounts for about half of a vehicle’s overall drag, and the ability to observe it directly is improving wind tunnel testing and aerodynamic simulation software used to design aircraft and other vehicles.