NASA Glenn Accepts Aviation Award For “NEAT” Facility
Each year, Aviation Week (AW) Network recognizes a limited number of innovators who achieve extraordinary accomplishments in the global aerospace arena with AW’s prestigious Laureate Award. These innovators represent the values and vision of the global aerospace community and change the way people work and move through the world.
On March 6, NASA’s Glenn Research Center accepted an AW Laureate Award in commercial aviation for NASA’s Electric Aircraft Testbed (NEAT) located at NASA Glenn’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. NEAT allows government, industry, and academia to collaborate and conduct testing of high-powered electric powertrains, which generate power and propel aircraft forward. The goal is to transform commercial flight by creating more sustainable, fuel-efficient commercial aircraft.
NEAT enables ground testing of cutting-edge systems prior to experimental flight testing. As a result, researchers can troubleshoot issues that only occur at altitude and improve them earlier in the design cycle, which both accelerates the path to flight and makes it safer.
A number of “firsts” have been accomplished in the electric aircraft testbed.
Ohio State graduate research assistant Alec Schnabel, left, University of Wisconsin doctoral candidate James Swanke, center, and Ohio State graduate research engineer Robert Borjas conduct tests on aircraft hardware at NASA’s Electric Aircraft Testbed (NEAT). Credit: NASA/Jef Janis
https://www.nasa.gov/newsletters/aerospace-frontiers/nasa-glenn-accepts-aviation-award-for-neat-facility/