Channel: NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center

Category: Science & Technology

Tags: antennaaeronauticscaselectromagneticneil a. armstrong flight research centernational aeronautics and space administrationtelemetryengineeringglenn research centercommunicationaerogelradio

Description: NASA’s four aeronautics research centers collaborated to create a new lightweight antenna to boost aircraft and antenna performance. This unique conformal antenna is designed to minimize drag to gain efficiency compared to a conventional satellite dish. Current satellite dishes are heavy and bulky and require a gimbal to maneuver and point at different satellites for communications. This multicenter effort used aerogels to develop the conformal antenna under the Conformal Lightweight Antenna Structures for Aeronautical Communications Technologies (CLAS-ACT) activity within the Convergent Aeronautics Solutions project. NASA’s Ames Research Center and Armstrong Flight Research Centers in California, Glenn Research Center in Ohio and Langley Research Center in Virginia are the agency’s aeronautics centers. Read more: nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/features/aerogel-antenna.html