Are you interested in sending your name around the Moon? Click here to register! Submitted names will be included on an SD card that will fly inside Orion when the Artemis II mission launches in 2026. Stay tuned for the latest mission updates, including information about launch at nasa.gov.
Did you retire from NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) between January 1, 2025, and January 31, 2026?
Please join us May 1 for a Langley Alumni Association and NASA LaRC Retirement Celebration!
Please email info@larcalumni.org for additional details!
Please join us on April 14, 2026, for our monthly LAA General Membership and Board Meetings. We are honored to welcome LAA’s own Rick Ross, who will talk about “Charlatans, Swindlers and Bilks.”
Rick Ross joined the NASA Langley team in 1986 as a contractor with Wyle Laboratories doing development and support of data acquisition systems for the National Transonic Facility (NTF), and later for other Langley wind tunnels and facilities. In 1997, Rick became a civil servant in Data Acquisition and Information Management Branch (DAIMB) within the Experimental Testing Technology Division.
In 2003, Rick joined the Mechanics and Durability Branch (MDB). Following a reorganization, he moved to the Mechanics of Structures and Materials Branch, which later became the Durability, Damage Tolerance, and Reliability Branch (DDTRB). While in DDTRB, Rick became an Associate Principal Investigator for the Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) project, then served as Project Scientist for the Vehicle Systems Safety Technologies (VSST) project.
In 2015, Rick transitioned to the Research Directorate (RD) as the Contracting Officer’s Representative for the National Institute for Aerospace (NIA). Rick concluded his career as the Senior Contracts Manager, overseeing all RD-led research contracts. Rick retired at the end of 2020 during the height of COVID-19. He now enjoys hobbies including photography, building projects, and taking classes at Virginia Peninsula Community College for personal enjoyment and continuing education.
NASA Langley Research Center hosted an Aerial Drone Competition on February 21, 2026, for middle and high school students. Students competed in teamwork, piloting, and autonomous flight missions. A special thank you to the LAA members who volunteered their time and support –Sharon Monica Jones, Louis Glaab, Lil Richwine, Kathy Ferrare, Linda Bangert, Mary DiJoseph, Dave Hinton, Lawrence Taylor, John Berry, and Christina Moats-Xavier (not pictured). Their responsibilities included working the check-in desk, serving as a referee, pit administration, lunch assistance, inspection table support, and team queueing. Feedback from the LAA volunteers highlighted how exciting it was to watch the teams collaborate, noting the students’ enthusiasm and strong competitive spirit throughout the event. Additional pictures of the event are posted here.
Below is an email and photos from Bob Stuever as a follow-up to the email that Dick Hueschen sent out on January 30, 2026.
Jay Brandon and I had the very last NASA test in the FSWT, in 1995, before ownership/management of it was turned over to Old Dominion Univ. It was a study of wake turbulence encounters, and we did a full suite of free-flight, static, and I think forced-oscillation dynamic tests, using the NASA B737-100 as a model. We later flew the full-scale airplane in wake encounter flight tests (which I also flew aboard) in an attempt to compare wind-tunnel to full-scale. The free-flight tests were to study the dynamics of wake encounters, the static/forced-oscillation tests were to primarily measure forces/moments in wakes plus capture supplemental content for a planned simulation database.
Three of several pictures I have are attached [see links below], and one clearly shows the tunnel fans one of which is now in the NA&SM per the article below [referring to the article Dick sent on 1/30/2026].
Joe Chambers described this test along with countless other tests in his very good historical book on the FSWT, Cave of the Winds, The Remarkable History of the Langley Full-Scale Wind Tunnel.
Bob Stuever
Wichita, Kansas
https://larcalumni.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/737-WV-1995-Static-1.jpeg
https://larcalumni.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/737-WV-1995-Static-2.jpeg
https://larcalumni.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/737-FF-1995-6-scaled.jpeg
Historical and exciting things are happening at NASA! The Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft arrived at Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 17. Engineers then began preparations for an upcoming wet dress rehearsal targeted for no later than February 2. Artemis II launch window opens as early as Friday, February 6. The mission management team will assess flight readiness after the wet dress rehearsal across the spacecraft, launch infrastructure, and the crew and operations teams before selecting a launch date.
Go to Artemis II Updates for additional information and the latest updates.
Langley Research Center, for the upcoming Artemis II mission and beyond, is actively shaping mission architecture, characterizing launch vehicle and spacecraft atmospheric, ascent and reentry aerodynamics, building safety systems for astronauts, crafting electronics for instrumentation, programming robotics for in-space assembly, and developing business approaches for space commerce. NASA Langley’s Contributions to Artemis – NASA
The Artemis II test flight will send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on an approximately 10-day journey around the Moon and back. It is another step toward new U.S.-crewed missions to the Moon’s surface, leading to a sustained presence on the Moon that will help the agency prepare to send the first astronauts – Americans – to Mars. Let’s Go!
