Langley Research Center

NASA Langley Research Center

Aerial view of the Langley Research Center in 2011
Agency overview
Formed1917
Preceding agency
  • Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory (NACA)
JurisdictionU.S. Federal Government
HeadquartersHampton, Virginia, U.S.
Employees1,821 (2017)
Agency executives
  • Clayton P. Turner, Director
  • David Young, Deputy Director
  • Lisa Ziehmann, Associate Director
Parent agencyNASA
Websitenasa.gov/langley/
Map
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Map of NASA Langley Research Center
Footnotes
[1][2][3]

The Langley Research Center (LaRC or NASA Langley), located in Hampton, Virginia, near the Chesapeake Bay front of Langley Air Force Base, is the oldest of NASA's field centers.[1] LaRC has focused primarily on aeronautical research but has also tested space hardware such as the Apollo Lunar Module. In addition, many of the earliest high-profile space missions were planned and designed on-site. Langley was also considered a potential site for NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center prior to the eventual selection of Houston, Texas.[4]

Established in 1917 by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the research center devotes two-thirds of its programs to aeronautics and the rest to space. LaRC researchers use more than 40 wind tunnels to study and improve aircraft and spacecraft safety, performance, and efficiency. Between 1958 and 1963, when NASA (the successor agency to NACA) started Project Mercury, LaRC served as the main office of the Space Task Group.

In September 2019, after previously serving as associate director and deputy director, Clayton P. Turner was appointed director of NASA Langley.[3]

  1. ^ a b Bob Allen (December 17, 2015). "Dr. David E. Bowles, Director, NASA Langley Research Center". NASA Langley Research Center. Archived from the original on January 1, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2018. NASA Langley, founded in 1917, is the Nation's first civilian aeronautical research facility and NASA's oldest field center.
  2. ^ "FY 2017 Agency Financial Report" (PDF). NASA. November 15, 2017. pp. 10, 24, 146. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 1, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Samuel McDonald (September 1, 2019). "Clayton P. Turner, Director, NASA Langley Research Center". NASA Langley Research Center. Archived from the original on February 6, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2020. Clayton Turner is the Director of NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. Turner has served the agency for more than 29 years. He has held several roles at NASA Langley, including systems engineer, Chief Engineer, Engineering Director, Associate Center Director, and Deputy Center Director.
  4. ^ Korsgaard, Sean (July 20, 2019). "Williamsburg recalls watching Apollo 11 and helping crew get there". Virginia Gazette, Daily Press. Tribune Media. Archived from the original on July 24, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.