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!
Video and slides from these presentations have now been posted on our Events page. Photos from the presentation are in the Gallery.
Please join us on March 10, 2026, for our monthly LAA General Membership and Board Meetings. We are honored to welcome Dr. Trina Dyal, Acting Center Director of NASA Langley Research Center, who will provide an update on the state of NASA Langley. As March is Women’s History Month, we are especially grateful to have Dr. Dyal with us to share her insights and leadership. We look forward to an inspiring and informative briefing!
Dr. Trina Marsh Dyal currently serves as the acting center director of NASA Langley Research Center. In this role, Dr. Dyal is responsible of overseeing approximately 3,400 civil service and contractor personnel, facilities valued at more than $5 billion, and an annual budget of approximately $1 billion. She also leads a diverse team of world-class scientists, researchers, engineers, and mission support specialists to accomplish projects across all of NASA’s mission directorates.
Previously, Dr. Dyal was the director for NASA Langley’s Science Directorate. In that role, Dyal was responsible for executive leadership in conducting and improving world-class core capabilities in atmospheric science research and space flight instrument development for the Science Mission Directorate. Prior to joining the Science Directorate, Dr. Dyal was the director of NASA Langley’s Flight Project Directorate, where she managed the technical, programmatic, and administrative functions necessary to execute advanced flight projects.
In addition to her roles at NASA Langley, Dr. Dyal served in two detail assignments. The first assignment was the executive to NASA’s Agency Program Management Council (APMC). In that role, Dr. Dyal was responsible for managing the activities of the APMC to baseline and assess performance of NASA projects, programs, mission directorate portfolios, and the integrated agency portfolio to ensure successful outcomes supporting achievement of NASA strategic goals. She also managed the activities of the Baseline Performance Review to provide an integrated review of institutional, program, and project activities and was also the executive responsible for managing the Agency Acquisition Strategy. Dr. Dyal’s second detail was director, Strategic Planning and Integration, supporting the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), where she was responsible for daily strategic management and supervision. Dr. Dyal provided advice on strategic technology investments and functional direction for strategic integration planning across all nine STMD technology programs.
Dr. Dyal received a doctoral degree in systems engineering from Old Dominion University. She also earned a master’s degree in engineering management and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.
Video and slides from these presentations have now been posted on our Events page. Photos from the presentation are in the Gallery.
Please join us on February 10, 2026, for our monthly LAA General Membership and Board Meetings. We are honored to welcome Mr. Jeffrey (Jeff) Herath, Deputy Director, Space Technology and Exploration Directorate, NASA Langley Research Center, who will talk about NASA Langley’s support of the upcoming March ARTEMIS II launch.
Mr. Jeff Herath has served NASA Langley Research Center in various leadership roles since joining NASA in 2002. Jeff is recognized both nationally and internationally as a technical authority and expert in the field of electrical engineering and in Entry, Descent and Landing technologies. Jeff has successfully led the technical aspects of multi-center and international projects and continues to be a strong advocate for and developer of Langley partnerships.
Mr. Herath currently serves as the Space Technology and Exploration Directorate’s (STED’s) Deputy Director. Mr. Herath has 33 years of experience and has served NASA for 23 years in various leadership roles. He was previously STED’s Deputy Director for Flight Projects, managing overall development efforts for a significant and complex set of NASA projects for flight programs. Prior to that, he was the Associate Director for Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) in the Engineering Directorate. In that role Jeff served NASA Langley Research Center by representing the whole Center, from Concept to Flight, for EDL and overseeing and coordinating a broad program of research, technology, and flight systems development and demonstrations for EDL systems in support of the Agency’s missions. Mr. Herath previously served in the Engineering Directorate as Head of the Atmospheric Flight and Entry Systems Branch. He led and learned from the Branch while influencing Agency missions by conceiving, advocating, planning, implementing, and assuring the quality of Branch technical products and capabilities. Jeff led the definition, advocacy, investigation, and implementation of long-term technological solutions for aerospace flight systems, flight vehicles, and planetary exploration programs.
Prior to joining NASA, Jeff served as the Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Research and Development for several start-up companies. Three of these companies were based on technologies he developed, and he was granted several U.S. Patents. Prior to that he served as a senior electronics and systems engineer for a DoD contractor.
