NASA Armstrong Experimental Aircarft

“The purpose of flight research is to separate the real from the imagined problems and to make known the overlooked and the unexpected.” – Hugh L. Dryden, former NACA administrator and NASA’s first deputy administrator. X-planes – experimental aircraft – are developed for a wide range of flight research missions: from technology and concept demonstrators to unmanned test vehicles and full-scale prototypes. At NASA Armstrong, the X-1 was the first in a long line of research aircraft that helped shape our culture of innovation and discovery. Our high-speed, high-altitude flight campaigns have explored everything from thermal conditions and structural integrity to control, maneuverability, and human physiology – all essential to the advancement of aviation and spaceflight.