From NasaCRgis

Facility 1244
Center:	Langley Research Center
Location:	Hampton, Virginia
Year Built:	1951
Historic Eligibility:	Eligible for National Register
Important Tests:	Gemini, Apollo, Jet Shoes

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Contents 1 Tours 2 History 3 Photos 3.1 Building 3.2 Old Timers 3.3 Aircraft 4 Films 5 Programs 6 Interviews 7 Documents 8 Simulators 9 For Students and Teachers

[top] Tours

3D Model

[top] History

NASA Langley's newest hangar, the Flight Research Laboratory, was constructed in 1951. The building also housed meteorological equipment, navigational maps, a library.

The 1960s were a time of preparation for space exploration. Kennedy's speech to land man on the moon challenged the country and our center to reach the moon by 1969. Although virtually every building at LaRC was involved with some aspect of the mission, the hangar was a major center of activity.

The original Mercury Seven astronauts selected for the space program were Virgil 'Gus' Grissom, Scott Carpenter, Donald 'Deke' Slayton, Gordon Cooper, Alan Shepherd, Walter Shirra, and John Glenn. NASA Langley Test Pilot-Astronaut Robert Champine trained with all seven.

The most widely known improvement, the Rendezvous Docking Simulator, became operational in June 1963. This was followed by the Static Rendezvous Simulator, which included an inflatable planetarium and static Gemini cockpit, in 1964; and the permanent 40-foot diameter Projection Planetarium in 1965.

[top] Photos

[top] Building

1951 Framework of Hangar (Air Scoop)	1951 Hangar (Air Scoop)	1959 Communication Satellite (Aviation Week)	1962 Controls	Control Room
Controls	1966-06-01 Building Layout	1968	1970 Bldg 1244	1970 Bldg 1244
1970 Bldg 1244/1244C	1970 Bldg 1244A	1970 Bldg 1244C	1972 Personnel	1981
1983	1983	1983	1984	1984
1991 Aerial View	1991 Aerial View	1991 Aerial View	1994 Aircraft	2002 Hangar
2010 Complex Layout	Research Poster

[top] Old Timers

2010 Group Photo

2010 Steve Cavallo

[top] Aircraft

1963: Lunar Landing Research Vehicle	Lunar Excursion Module	1973: 737	1974: NASA #515 - 1st B-737 built	1974: Yankee with Jim Bowman, Jim Patton, and Tod Burk with Stall/Spin Program (Video)
Chute on the Yankee	1980: T-39	1982: F-106 Thunderstrike	1991: Various Aircraft in Front of Hangar	1992: HL-20
1992: World Record Paper Airplane	1992 Various Aircraft in Front of Hangar	1994 All Aircraft in Front of Hangar	UH1H	1998: B200
1998: T-34	1999: Test #918 OV-10 CERES	Lancair IV-P and Cirrus SR20	2001:Various Aircraft in Front of Hangar	2001: Lancair Columbia 300

[top] Films

The XF-88B Propeller Flight Research Program (Flight Tests on Supersonic Propellers)

1960 Preliminary Tethered Hovering Tests of the Doak VZ-4DA, Chrysler VZ-6C, and Short SC-1

[top] Programs

Advanced Transport Operating Systems (ATOPS)

[top] Interviews

Lee Person on His Career: July 21, 2010

[top] Documents

1965 Research Aircraft Operations Record

1966 Building Description

1966 Projection Planetarium

1966 Technical Facilities Resume for Projection Planetarium

1974 Real-Time Dynamic Simulator Fact Sheet

1990 Facility Resume

2005 Property Detail for Hangar Complex

[top] Simulators

• The Air Lubricated Free Attitude Trainer: This trainer allowed astronauts to practice controlling the pitch, yaw, and roll of their space craft using windows displaying Earth, the moon, and celestial bodies as references.

• The Procedures Trainer, built by McDonnell, allowed the astronauts to practice controlling the attitude of the space craft (the pitch, roll, and yaw) while also experiencing space suit pressurization, noise, and heat.

• The Environmental Control Simulator was placed in a decompression chamber, and astronauts would practice using the module controls in pressurized situations that were similar to the conditions they would experience during their trip to space and back.

[top] For Students and Teachers

NASA Langley Research Center hosted most training for the Mercury Astronauts. Most engineers and scientists who worked on Project Mercury were Langley employees and were available to train and work with the astronauts prior to their flights. Simulator training took place in the large hanger on the Langley Campus. The trainers were suspended from the hanger's ceiling and astronauts sitting in the trainers would maneuver the modules, simulating their future space experiences. The seven Mercury astronauts took graduate space science courses, learning about reentry from space, astronomy, and how to navigate using stars. A large tank, the hydrodynamic tank, was used to practice exiting the capsule. Once techniques were perfected in the tank, the astronauts took the capsule into the river behind the Center for practice in the elements.

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