NASA’s Freedom 250 F-5 team, including NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, performs a flyover during the national anthem at an NFL game between the Cleveland Browns and the Carolina Panthers at Huntington Bank Field, Sept. 27, 2026, in Cleveland.
Credit: NASA/Jordan Cochran
As part of the agency’s Inspiration Tour flyover, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman will pilot one of three F-5 fighter jets to kick off the New York Jets vs. Cleveland Browns game in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday, Oct. 11.
NASA team members will engage with fans at the agency’s Experience Zone, located at the Jets Tailgate Zone outside the stadium, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT before the game. Fans can learn more about NASA’s return to the Moon under the agency’s Artemis dome, enjoy interactive games, and capture photos with a large, inflatable SLS (Space Launch System) rocket.
Isaacman will be available for limited media interviews during the game. To arrange interviews, please contact Camille Gallo at: camille.m.gallo@nasa.gov or 202-531-8057.
With stops across the nation, NASA’s Inspiration Tour convenes academic, industry, and public sector stakeholders to connect the agency with the people, technologies, and organizations that drive American leadership in space.
The tour will culminate in MAX POWER, a public exposition of American air and space innovation, Saturday, Nov. 7, and Sunday, Nov. 8, on and near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Held in honor of America’s historic 250th anniversary, the multi-day, family-friendly event will showcase the next-generation aircraft, spacecraft, autonomous vehicles, and technologies that will help define the future of transportation in air and space.
For more information about MAX POWER and the agency’s missions, visit:
NASA Testing Aims at Supercooled Large Droplet Aviation Safety
Ice collection seen on un-heated sections of the 1D2D-X ice drop detection probe in the test section of the IRT (Icing Research Tunnel). Drop Size Probe testing – SFD (Subsonic Flight Demonstrator) of SLD (Supercooled Large Drop) Instrumentation Test in IRT (Icing Research Tunnel) – Particle Size Distribution Entry, June 8-11, 2026 Large Drop Testing in IRT
Credits: NASA/Quentin Schwinn
NASA is leveraging its expertise and enhancing its test facilities to help address a rare but persistent aviation hazard: icing that occurs when aircraft encounter unusually large, very cold water droplets in clouds.
The problem, known as “supercooled large droplet icing,” occurs when aircraft fly through clouds containing unusually large drops of water that are very cold but remain liquid. When a plane passes through those drops, they can rapidly freeze to surfaces that are not protected from ice buildup.
With a series of tests in the Icing Research Tunnel at Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, NASA researchers are helping U.S. industry better understand the phenomenon.
SFD (Subsonic Flight Demonstrator) of SLD (Supercooled Large Drop) Instrumentation Test – Particle Size Measurement in the IRT (Icing Research Tunnel), June 8-11, 2026. Drop size shown on computer from Drop Sizing Probe seen in the IRT test section.
NASA/Quentin Schwinn
Supercooled water is common in clouds – droplets can go below 32 degrees Farenheit but not freeze unless they encounter dust or other tiny particles around which they can crystalize. Aircraft are designed to encounter typical icing conditions where droplets range from 2 to 100 microns in diameter (for comparison, a human hair is about 70 microns wide). But in rarer cases, clouds can contain supercooled large drops up to 2,000 microns in diameter (if you’ve ever been caught in freezing rain, you’ve encountered these droplets at ground level). These much larger droplets can hit or splash to the aft of an aircraft, including areas behind conventional ice protection systems.
The aviation industry relies on engineering tools to help design their aircraft. Current tools work well for typical clouds, but engineers have questions about how well they account for the physics of supercooled large drops. To help answer those questions, NASA is working to enhance the equipment it uses to generate and measure experimental clouds for testing in the Icing Research Tunnel.
Ice collection seen on un-heated sections of the ice drop detection probe in the test section of the IRT (Icing Research Tunnel). Drop Size Probe testing – SFD (Subsonic Flight Demonstrator) of SLD (Supercooled Large Drop) Instrumentation Test in IRT (Icing Research Tunnel) – Particle Size Distribution Entry, June 8-11, 2026
NASA/Quentin Schwinn
NASA researchers have experimented with brand new probes that help calibrate the sizes of the drops in the clouds the tunnel produces. The probes can “see” drops larger than 45 microns and perform a real-time analysis of their sizes. NASA will compare these results, a laborious technique of post-processing droplet size image data from the tunnel. The results will be mated to results from a different probe that measures droplets smaller than 45 microns. With this, the complete droplet size spectrum is known.
The test campaign marks an important milestone for the Subsonic Flight Demonstrator project, part of NASA’s Research and Technology Mission Directorate. Detailed analysis of the collected data continues, and NASA’s project team will share results with the broader aerospace community once complete.
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Left: The Benchmark Supercritical Wing not illuminated in unsteady Pressure Sensitive Paint inside the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel at NASA’s Langley Research Center. Right: The Benchmark Supercritical Wing illuminated in unsteady Pressure Sensitive Paint during testing inside the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel at NASA’s Langley Research Center.
Left: NASA/Sarah Peak | Right: NASA
Groundbreaking tests at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, are paving the way for new wind tunnel capabilities for designing the aircraft technologies of the future.
In a first-of-its-kind test in NASA Langley’s Transonic Dynamics Tunnel, researchers used unsteady Pressure Sensitive Paint to study how air flows around a standard wind tunnel model known as the Benchmark Supercritical Wing. As the team observed the test, the paint’s special capabilities made the model wing glow pink-purple when exposed to special ultraviolet lights, while high-speed cameras captured every detail.
The test combined two valuable NASA tools. NASA’s benchmark wings don’t represent a particular type of aircraft, rather they are meant as universal models to help researchers improve computer modeling using wind tunnel data.
Unsteady pressure sensitive paint is a specialized coating that varies in brightness according to how much pressure the air flow applies to the wing. High-speed cameras capture those changes, providing data for computer models. For years, NASA researchers at centers including Langley and the agency’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley have been working to integrate the paint into wind tunnel tests for aircraft and rockets. NASA researchers consider the paint a vital tool and expect to find many more wind tunnel applications in the future.
This test marked the technique’s first use on a large-scale, freely moving model in a low‑oxygen environment, an achievement made possible by the Transonic Dynamic Tunnel’s unique testing capabilities.
This milestone opens the door for upcoming tests on flexible aircraft models that are designed to bend and adapt during flight to improve efficiency. It also lays the foundation for better simulations and designs as NASA advances the future of flight.
On Sept. 30, 1946, five National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics (NACA) engineers arrived at Muroc Army Airfield in California’s high desert to achieve supersonic flight for the first time. In less than two years, NACA flew the X-1 aircraft faster than the speed of sound, marking an important milestone in aviation history.
Fast forward 80 years, and that former NACA outpost is now NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, flying the X-59 supersonic X-plane in the same skies to demonstrate that supersonic flight doesn’t have to come with a boom.
Over Armstrong’s 80-year history, the center has supported milestone missions ranging from space shuttle landings to SR-71 flights, shaping the evolution of science, aeronautics, and space research.
This Southern California NASA center is poised to lead the next era of aeronautics and human spaceflight, advancing technologies that will define the future of flight.
Fast facts
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman recently named Armstrong as the agency’s Center of Excellence for Flight Test and Aircraft Operations, recognizing the center’s unmatched rigor in executing unique missions only NASA can fly.
To support NASA’s Artemis missions and return to the Moon, Armstrong uses research aircraft such as a 737 for astronaut suit testing, the G-III for Artemis II heat-shield data collection, and an F/A-18 aircraft that tested the autopilot for the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket.
NASA’s aeronautics centerpiece, the X-59, is undergoing rigorous testing and a series of flights at Armstrong to prepare for upcoming quiet supersonic demonstrations over U.S. communities.
NASA Armstrong has transformed commercial and military aviation — from early supersonic flight research to digital fly-by-wire — and continues working with other government agencies, industry, and academia to make flying safer, more autonomous, and more efficient.
The center plays a vital role in global science by flying aircraft like the ER-2, C-20A, and Gulfstream G-III/IV/V to collect critical data on wildfires, glacier melt, pollution, minerals, and more.
Behind these achievements are the engineers, pilots, technicians, and mission support teams who continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible.
Red, White, and Boom, the U.S. Air Force Test Center’s celebration of America’s 250th anniversary and NASA Armstrong’s commemoration of its 80th year, was Fr...
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Testing at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley in March 2026 demonstrated autonomous technology that could identify an incursion – a vehicle, wayward suitcase, or other runway obstacle that could impact an aircraft’s safe landing.
NASA/Brandon Torres-Navarrete
NASA’s researchers know that when you settle into your seat on a commercial flight, you expect a smooth takeoff, views over the clouds, a steady descent, and hopefully an early arrival at your destination. But when your flight gets delayed on the tarmac instead of lifting off, or it ends up in a holding pattern rather than landing on time, things start to change. Your experience goes from smooth to anxiety-inducing as you worry about making your connection or getting home in time for dinner.
Large airports are among the busiest, most complex environments in aviation, with aircraft, ground crews, and service vehicles sharing crowded taxiways. Researchers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley recently worked with Boeing to advance three types of field tests – digital taxi information, safe taxiway, and safe runways – that could lead to safer, more efficient runway environments at airports.
During the digital taxi tests, pilots were given taxiway guidance directly on cockpit displays or tablets, instead of verbally from air traffic controllers. Aircraft autonomously followed digital routes while researchers monitored a suite of sensors designed to identify vehicles or other aircraft impeding the taxi path and runway. The system reduced pilot and air traffic controller workloads and the risk of verbal errors.
Safe runway technology testing can also improve situational awareness for approaching aircraft. While preparing to land a Boeing aircraft during testing, the same sensors successfully flagged a vehicle on the runway, providing additional awareness to ensure pilots could avoid potential collisions or other safety concerns.
Together, these NASA capabilities aim to reduce miscommunication, ease pilot workloads, and keep airport traffic moving smoothly. Future testing will integrate the sensor and digital taxi systems into a simulated air traffic control environment to evaluate how the technologies can benefit overall management of the airspace.
For years, NASA has worked to improve your experience when flying by developing new technologies to modernize the commercial airline system. Key NASA technologies streamline and digitize the flying experience – from the departure gate, to the skies, to your safe arrival at your destination.
“Aviation safety is key to NASA’s research,” said Parimal Kopardekar, director of NASA’s Airspace Operations and Safety project. “Technology that can provide additional autonomy and support a future airspace with multiple aircraft operating in harmony is key to advancing the National Airspace System.”
NASA’s research innovations continue after your flight takes off. Modern flights constantly respond to shifting weather, turbulence, and traffic. Even small changes in direction or altitude can affect when a plane arrives. These changes can force flights into holding patterns while air traffic controllers attempt to rebalance the busy airspace.
NASA’s air traffic management researchers have been working for years to reduce those situations. In a 2025 collaborative effort with Boeing, United Airlines, and international partners, NASA evaluated real‑time trajectory sharing on domestic and transoceanic flights.
During that testing, a United Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft shared frequent flight information with airline operations centers and air traffic control. NASA used the data to understand how frequently those updates should be sent and what details matter most for generating accurate arrival predictions. Better information helps controllers sequence traffic more precisely, which means fewer holding patterns and more direct descents for passengers.
Digital rerouting technology could reduce workloads for controllers, suggesting new routes to prevent or avoid delays without the back-and-forth needed to adjust flight paths manually.
NASA
Pre-departure rerouting technology and digital exchange tools developed at NASA allow dispatchers and controllers to see the same digital picture of flights preparing to depart.
When a better route becomes available, controllers could coordinate the change digitally instead of relying on verbal communication between pilots, controllers, and dispatchers. The technology could lead to fewer delays, reduced fuel consumption, and more predictable operations for passengers.
NASA has now transferred the routing technology to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and airlines will continue to test it. These tools build on decades of NASA contributions to national airspace modernization.
In coordination with the FAA, NASA has advanced automation concepts, improved how arrival and departure flows are managed, and introduced data‑driven software that commercial airlines use every day.
By working closely with airlines, manufacturers, and global partners, NASA is helping to improve every phase of flight to make air travel safer and more reliable, now and in the future.
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Derek Abramson, Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory chief engineer, left, communicates with the Edwards Air Force Base air traffic control tower for approval to fly the Alta-X drone near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. Justin Link, small uncrewed aircraft pilot, second from left, and laboratory chief pilot Justin Hall await flight clearance. Researchers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston developed the advanced guidance and navigation system known as the Safe and Precise Landing – Integrated Capabilities Evolution (SPLICE) experiment, which is installed on the Alta-X. SPLICE will help spacecraft land precisely and detect and avoid potential hazards, which is critical for NASA missions to the Moon and to Mars.
NASA/Ryan Kline
Long before they helped shape NASA’s future aerospace breakthroughs, Derek Abramson, Justin Hall, and Justin Link were in their garages and homes building radio‑controlled aircraft, testing new ideas, and flying their creations at hobby events. That early passion now fuels the work of NASA’s Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory at the agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
At NASA Armstrong’s subscale flight lab, the team turns that lifelong enthusiasm into mission-focused innovation. The laboratory supports research that ranges from advanced navigation systems for future landings on the Moon and Mars to emerging aeronautics concepts that need quick, low-cost evaluation. NASA’s small, remotely piloted and autonomous aircraft allow engineers to explore ideas that could be difficult, risky or expensive to test at full scale.
Skilled team
Abramson, Hall, and Link play key roles in that work. Abramson serves as the laboratory’s chief engineer. Hall is the chief pilot. Link is a drone pilot. Together, they integrate emerging aerospace technologies with the lab’s subscale aircraft fleet and, when needed, design and build aircraft or flight experiments to evaluate new concepts.
Derek Abramson, chief engineer at the Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, is shown with his Kalt Cyclone radio-controlled helicopter in the mid-1980s. Abramson loved flying this aircraft as a child, and he has been an aviation enthusiast for as long as he can remember.
Derek Abramson
Abramson’s expertise, built through service in the U.S. Navy and the aerospace industry, centers on technical oversight, management, and system design. Hall is known for creative approaches to problem solving and uses practical methods to address technical challenges and maintain flight safety. Link specializes in designing and fabricating research vehicles and draws on extensive hands-on experience to understand what works, and what does not, in flight.
On weekends, the team often tinkers in their garages or hangars building radio-control aircraft, researching hobby trends, or exploring new technologies. You might see them flying their creations at hobby events or attending trade shows. Their passion for flight brought Abramson, Hall, and Link together years before they one-by-one joined NASA more than a decade ago, though each discovered that spark in a different way.
Early influences
Abramson’s interest began as a child with rubber-band powered stick and tissue aircraft and radio-controlled models. His early aviation pursuits led to his first solo flight while in high school and a pilot’s license. In the Navy, he worked on multiple aircraft, including EA-6B and the F-18, as an avionics technician. As an engineer, he supported the B-1 and CV-22 Osprey aircraft flight tests. As an intern at NASA Armstrong, he used his operational and engineering experience on remotely piloted and autonomous aircraft.
Hall’s interest grew after seeing historic aircraft including the Mach 3 SR-71 fly over his elementary school playground and watching Space Shuttle Challenger land from above his dad’s shoulders. He has built and flown model and remotely piloted aircraft for as long as he can remember. His reputation flying radio-controlled hobby aircraft at fly-ins and trade events led to an offer to fly subscale aircraft at NASA.
Justin Hall, chief pilot at the Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, stands in front of a radio-controlled aircraft with his dad, David Hall, in August 2020. David Hall built the Gee Bee aircraft years earlier but was unable to fly it due to his health. He asked his son to fly the aircraft so he could see it in the air, which Justin did the day of this photo. Shortly afterward, David Hall passed away.
Justin Hall
Justin link, drone pilot at the Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, and his dad, Don Link, hold a Firebird radio-controlled aircraft on the day of its first flight in September 2023. It was a project they worked on together. Don Link reduced the dimensions of the original larger-scale model aircraft and drew the plans, while Justin Link manufactured composite molds and built the aircraft from scratch.
Justin Link
Link was five years old when he built balsa-wood aircraft with his dad and flew them in a field near their home. As he grew older, his hobby expanded to include radio-controlled cars, boats, helicopters, and aircraft. Aviation runs deep in Link’s family. His great grandfather served in the U.S. Army Air Corps, his grandfathers served in the U.S. Air Force, and his dad was an Air Force avionics technician. Link raced sailplanes, competed with scaled warbird aircraft, and was encouraged by family and friends to pursue an aviation profession. He has worked with large drones for more than 11 years, focusing on research and development, composite materials, and specialized fabrication methods.
Together, the team applies its experience and knowledge in rapid design, fabrication, integration and flight testing to bring new ideas to flight. Their work continues to support NASA’s missions across aeronautics, science, and exploration.
A football floats in microgravity aboard the International Space Station, high above the Earth.
Credit: NASA
Editor’s Note: This release was updated on Sept. 14, 2026 to reflect the latest game details.
Through a new collaboration between NASA and the National Football League (NFL), the agency will soon bring America’s strengths in space exploration and aeronautics innovation to the football field.
NASA will conduct flyovers, astronaut appearances, and fan engagement at NFL games across the United States as part of its new Inspiration Tour.
“This is the first season NASA is taking part in flyovers at NFL games, bringing the excitement of America’s space program directly to fans across the country,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “We’re returning to the Moon, building a Moon Base, advancing fission-powered spacecraft, and pushing the boundaries in aeronautics, science, and discovery. Achieving those ambitions will take the very best of America, and partnering with the NFL gives us an incredible platform to inspire the next generation to look up and imagine the possibilities.”
NASA participation is targeted for the following games. Additional details will be released prior to each game, and more dates may be added:
1 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 13: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Atlanta Falcons in Pittsburgh
1 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 20: Baltimore Ravens vs. New Orleans Saints in Baltimore
1 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 27: Cleveland Browns vs. Carolina Panthers in Cleveland
1 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 4: Philadelphia Eagles vs. Los Angeles Rams in Philadelphia
1 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 11: New York Jets vs. Cleveland Browns in East Rutherford, New Jersey
Flyovers scheduled at some of the games will showcase NASA’s fleet of aircraft, which are used for high-speed testing, high-altitude research, astronaut training, and more. Regularly flying the aircraft maintains the health of the fleet and publicly demonstrates new technologies that may be applied to future commercial air travel.
With stops across the nation and led by Isaacman, NASA’s Inspiration Tour convenes academic, industry, and public sector stakeholders to connect the agency with the people, technologies, and organizations that drive American leadership in space.
The tour will culminate in MAX POWER, a public exposition of American air and space innovation, Nov. 7 and Nov. 8, on and near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Held in honor of America’s historic 250th anniversary, the multi-day, family-friendly event will showcase the next-generation aircraft, spacecraft, autonomous vehicles, and technologies that will help define the future of transportation in air and space.
For more information about MAX POWER and the agency’s missions, visit:
Accedi
