Amazing Vintage Black and White NASA Project and Facilities Photos

May 28, 2013

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Guide vanes in the 19-foot Pressure Wind Tunnel at Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, form an ellipse 33 feet high and 47 feet wide. The 23 vanes force the air to turn corners smoothly as it rushes through the giant passages. If vanes were omitted, the air would pile up in dense masses along the outside curves, like water rounding a bend in a fast brook. Turbulent eddies would interfere with the wind tunnel tests, which require a steady flow of fast, smooth air. (March 15, 1950) - Courtesy of the awesomeness at Brainpickings.org — Guide vanes in the 19-foot Pressure Wind Tunnel at Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, form an ellipse 33 feet high and 47 feet wide. The 23 vanes force the air to turn corners smoothly as it rushes through the giant passages. If vanes were omitted, the air would pile up in dense masses along the outside curves, like water rounding a bend in a fast brook. Turbulent eddies would interfere with the wind tunnel tests, which require a steady flow of fast, smooth air. (March 15, 1950) – Courtesy of the awesomeness at Brainpickings.org

I saw this excellent article at a site I read called Brain Pickings regarding fear and the creative process a few nights ago as I bring to a close the entirety of the JimOnLight TV Episode 1 journey that has engulfed my life for the last year. In the process of this, I discovered an amazing article that boasts a ton of vintage NASA project photographs from decades gone by, and I could not resist sharing these amazing pieces of history.

You have got to check out Brain Pickings. Maria Popova is one of my heroes in this whole thing we call writing.

Maria, you’re awesome. I hope you read my site sometime.