Historic Photos of NASA's Cavernous Wind Tunnels

Historic Photos of NASA's Cavernous Wind Tunnels(theatlantic.com)

45 points by ohjeez 2 days ago | 8 comments

echoangle 41 minutes ago |

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/05/historic-photos-of...

Magnetically levitating the model in the tunnel and measuring the forces by measuring how the magnets need to be driven to keep the model in place is pretty cool.

JKCalhoun 1 hour ago |

More from Langley:

https://www.cnet.com/pictures/photos-langley-test-tunnel-get...

https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/328830main_E...

https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/hl-10-el-199...

https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/146749main_i...

trebligdivad 2 hours ago |

The 1937 construction picture with the horses is a great contrast of technologies.

robviren 2 hours ago |

Reminds me of the old construction photos for nuclear reactors in the US. Astoundingly complex machines at a massive scale getting out together at what now feels like impossible speed. I can't help but feel like a Roman 100 years after the fall staring up at aqueducts wondering how anyone every built such a thing.

I'm positive someone could show me an impressive thing we built recently. I don't feel like that is my point. Im just astounded those people in that time could build what they built with the tools they had as fast as they did.

Samtidsfobiker 1 hour ago | |

We can build amazing things today too, but we have a lot higher standards and a lot more requirements than they did, which makes everything take longer time. Outside my office window an enormous new new warehouse was erected in just a few weeks, but it is just a huge box with no added extras so it can't have been very hard to do

lorislab 53 minutes ago | |

One thing that changed is that modern engineering moved a lot of complexity from the construction site into the design phase. A project today may take longer because we simulate, certify, model failures, and optimize before pouring concrete. The old projects sometimes had more visible physical labor, but less computational overhead.

close04 1 hour ago |

> In 1920, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) completed its first wind-tunnel facility, a copy of an existing British tunnel.

This is a reminder that nobody starts at the top. They usually start by copying a lot of what those at the top do, as a shortcut to getting there.

coreyh14444 2 hours ago |

Imagine what Adrian Newey could have done in there...