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NASA Pushes New Wing Design to Find Structural Limits

2026-07-17 23:08

3 Min Read

NASA Pushes New Wing Design to Find Structural Limits

A wide view of a test structure in a laboratory shows a full test assembly secured inside a steel rig. Hydraulic lines, sensors, and support equipment surround the structure, with additional lab equipment visible in the background.

The 15-foot Structural Wing Experiment Evaluating Truss-bracing test article is fully installed in the Flight Loads Laboratory at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. The model is part of NASA’s research to develop technologies for future ultra-efficient aircraft.

Credits: NASA/Carla Escamilla

NASA researchers recently put a new wing design, appearing long and thin with a lightweight structural design, through a series of grueling tests to find its structural limits. What they found left them encouraged about the wing’s potential, even when they pushed it past its intended limits.

The 15-foot Structural Wing Experiment Evaluating Truss-bracing (SWEET-15) test article is part of NASA’s research to develop future ultra-efficient aircraft. The design incorporates a long wing supported by an aerodynamic strut, based on NASA’s earlier Transonic Truss‑Braced Wing concept.

The research team is working to understand whether SWEET-15’s design and its new lightweight structural designs could help commercial airliners save fuel. But first, they need to understand how it behaves under the kinds of force wings experience in flight.

A group of people work together in a large workshop, handling and inspecting a long metallic structure laid across padded tables. Tools, materials, and protective equipment are spread across the workspace.

Lab technicians Phil Tofts, Chris McLain, and Jeff Howell and NASA engineers Erin Anderson and Richard Larson prepare the 15-foot Structural Wing Experiment Evaluating Truss-bracing model in the Flight Loads Laboratory at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. The model is part of NASA’s research to develop technologies for future ultra-efficient aircraft.

NASA/Christopher LC Clark

The SWEET-15 design originated with combining five different advanced composite manufacturing and assembly technologies that enabled the novel structural design. The 15-foot-long test article was then designed and fabricated at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, before traveling to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, for testing.

Over several months, NASA engineers intentionally bent the test wing in the Flight Loads Laboratory at NASA Armstrong. Numerous strain and load sensors, including fiber-optic strain sensors, were placed throughout the structure to track how the wing responded as forces increased.

The data from the sensors confirmed the predictions made by NASA’s computer models. According to initial findings, the wing withstood the anticipated in-flight forces without issue. The results provided the team with confidence in the new manufacturing approaches and methods for connecting wing parts used in SWEET-15, which could support future efficient aircraft designs. The manufacturing approach, developed at NASA Langley used the Integrated Structural Assembly of Advanced Composites robot, aims to produce lighter and stronger composite structures for aerospace vehicles.

A long beam is suspended in a laboratory while personnel observe and guide its placement. Overhead support equipment, cables, and lab infrastructure surround the test area.

Lab technicians Jeff Howell, left and Chris Mount install the 15-foot Structural Wing Experiment Evaluating Truss-bracing model in the Flight Loads Lab at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, Wednesday, February 11, 2026. The model is part of NASA’s research to develop technologies for future ultra-efficient aircraft.

NASA/Christopher LC Clark

The test concluded with a deliberate test-to-failure, where engineers increased loads beyond the wing’s design limits to determine how and where it would fail. The structure ultimately failed at roughly 127% of its design limit load, with visible damage appearing near the back edge of the wing and in the upper wing cover. This element of testing provided valuable insight into how the joints connecting the wing to its main strut and a secondary one, called a jury strut, behave under forces beyond the expected flight envelope.

This marks the first time a representative composite truss-braced wing configuration has undergone this type of structural evaluation. It was made possible only through NASA collaboration across centers and projects, with researchers utilizing agency resources such as the Fiber Optic Sensing System developed to gather data on both aircraft and spacecraft.

A man wearing ear protection works closely with multiple hydraulic and instrumentation units connected to a large beam mounted on a test structure. Numerous cables, hoses, and measurement devices extend from the setup.

NASA research engineer Walter Hargis regulates the 15-foot Structural Wing Experiment Evaluating Truss-bracing model in the Flight Loads Laboratory at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. The model is part of NASA’s research to develop technologies for future ultra-efficient aircraft.

NASA/Ryan Kline

To prepare for the testing, engineers at NASA Langley designed, analyzed, and manufactured the wing and completed safety preparations and lab setup.

Researchers will now analyze the data collected during testing to inform future airframe designs and support NASA’s ongoing efforts to develop more efficient aviation technologies.

The work is being conducted through NASA’s Subsonic Flight Demonstrator project in the agency’s Research Technology Mission Directorate. The successful testing of multiple innovative components marks a milestone in NASA’s aeronautics research.

To learn more, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics/

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Last Updated

Jul 17, 2026

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Dede Dinius

Contact

Sarah Mann

sarah.mann@nasa.gov

Location

Armstrong Flight Research Center

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The Growing Crescent of Mars as NASA’s Psyche Mission Approaches

2026-07-17 22:32

1 Min Read

The Growing Crescent of Mars as NASA’s Psyche Mission Approaches

A time-lapse composite against a black background shows a series of concentric, glowing orange crescent planetary horizons that expand outward from a small central point, illustrating a spacecraft's approach during a Mars flyby.

PIA26586

Credits:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

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The Growing Crescent of Mars as NASA’s Psyche Mission Approaches

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This composite of images taken by NASA’s Psyche mission shows the crescent of Mars grow as the spacecraft approached the planet for a gravity assist from May 2 to May 15, 2026. The series begins with the smallest crescent at the center of the of the image as Mars is farthest from the spacecraft, and progressively grows as the spacecraft gets closer. After these views were captured by the spacecraft’s multispectral imager instrument, Mars began to overfill the field of view as Psyche made close approach with the planet and captured a series of high-resolution images of the surface.

Because Psyche approached Mars from a high phase angle, the planet appeared as a thin crescent in the days running up to the close approach, lit by sunlight reflecting off its surface. Using these views of the approach, close approach, and departure from Mars, the Psyche team compiled a stunning time-lapse of its entire Mars encounter.

For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/

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Establishing a VTE Risk Score for Astronauts Algorithm

2026-07-17 21:01

Spontaneous echo contrast (SEC) grade 3 with peripheral echogenicity.

NASA/Pavela

In April 2026, NASA’s Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer (OCHMO) initiated a working group to review updated VTE case information, additional data gathered revealing altered blood flow status within a cohort of astronauts, and discuss progress of research and clinical activities intended to mitigate the risk of VTE during spaceflight with new evidence-based clinical practice recommendations.

Recommendations

The following is a summary of the working group’s recommendations:

The working group’s conclusions emphasized that stasis in the left internal jugular vein (IJV) is consistently viewed as a dominant risk factor for VTE in microgravity, though there is active debate regarding the relative contributions of slow qualitative flow, endothelial factors and/or retrograde flow.
Limitations of current in-flight ultrasound capabilities to accurately measure stasis/slow flow was cited as a concern, especially if using only stasis as a factor for indicating the need for prophylaxis.
Additional review of assessing stasis with ultrasound in-flight was recommended.
After reviewing the risk factors, additional discussions following the working group led to the majority of the panel agreeing that stasis and retrograde flow warranted use of prophylaxis.
The working group also recommended assessing all other risk factors other than stasis to also determine when prophylaxis is warranted.
Based on a literature review and summary of the panel contributions, a VTE Risk Score for Astronauts Algorithm was developed, which includes providing anticoagulation prophylaxis for stasis alone, or a combination of other thrombosis risk factors that are weighted by terrestrial literature.

Risk of Venous Thromboembolism During Spaceflight

NASA initially formed a working group in October 2024 after diagnosing venous thromboembolisms (VTEs) in astronauts during ISS missions. Experts reviewed case data, updated Clinical Practice Guidelines, and examined possible causes.

Approximate location of identified thrombi in crewmembers.

Source: Modified from Cerebral Sinus Venous Thrombosis – University of Colorado Denver

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Last Updated

Jul 17, 2026

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NASA Awards Facilities Support Services Contract for Ames Research Center

2026-07-17 20:34

CONTRACT RELEASE

NASA has selected Chugach Intelligence Solutions LLC to provide comprehensive operations, maintenance, and repair services for NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.

The Ames Facilities Support Services II contract ensures that the center’s historic and specialized facilities are properly maintained, fully operational, and capable of supporting the agency’s missions and tenant partners in the NASA Research Park.

The hybrid contract has a five-year period of performance, consisting of a 12-month base period and four 12-month option periods, with the possibility of a six-month extension. The performance period is expected to begin Thursday, Aug. 13. The contract includes cost-plus-award-fee core requirements, firm-fixed-price phase-in, and indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity task orders, providing flexibility to address both routine and emergent facility needs. The award has a maximum potential value of approximately $158 million, inclusive of all options and total indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity ceiling value.

For more information about NASA and its missions, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov

-end-

Jeanne Neal
Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley, Calif.
650-604-4789
jeanne.c.neal@nasa.gov

NASA’s Chandra and IXPE Study Pulsar in Lighthouse Nebula

2026-07-17 20:05

This composite multiwavelength image captures the turbulent environment surrounding the Lighthouse pulsar, set against a vast, black background speckled with twinkling white and faint green stars. In the upper-left quadrant, a massive, cloud-like nebula glows in a textured, vibrant purple hue, anchored by a prominent four-pointed star shining brightly near its center. Moving toward the lower-right quadrant, the pulsar itself is located at the lower tip of a concentrated, brilliant whitish-blue elongated point of light. Extending outward from its core is a long, narrow, and slightly curved jet of purple and blue emission that streaks upward and to the right. This jet represents a massive 37-light-year tail of high-energy particles trailing behind the rapidly spinning star as it plow through interstellar space. This composite image contains X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory in purple, additional X-ray from NASA's IXPE in blue, and radio data from CSIRO in green. The starfield is optical data from the 2MASS survey.

Scientists using NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) directly measured the magnetic fields of PSR J1101−6101, a pulsar located within what is often referred to as the “Lighthouse” Nebula, for the first time.

X-ray: Chandra: NASA/CXC/Stanford Univ./J. Dinsmore et al.; IXPE: NASA/MSFC/J. Dinsmore et al., Radio: CSIRO/ATNF/ATCA; Optical: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare

This composite image, released on July 9, 2026, shows the region around a pulsar – a neutron star with a strong magnetic field that spins incredibly fast – within the Lighthouse nebula. The image contains X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory in purple, X-rays from NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) in blue, and radio emission captured by the Australia Compact Telescope Array in green.

Scientists used IXPE – for the first time ever – to directly measure the magnetic fields of the pulsar. The results provide new insight into the structure of some of the most extreme objects in the cosmos, as NASA continues to explore the secrets of how the universe works. A paper describing the results published July 9 in the Astrophysical Journal.