In this 1957 photo, George Cooper, a test pilot for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, or NACA, stands next to a North American F-100, a supersonic fighter tested by the NACA. Cooper served as a pilot in World War II before being hired at the NACA’s Ames Aeronautical Laboratory in 1945. Between 1945 and his retirement in 1973, Cooper tested over 135 aircraft, routinely pushing them to their limits.
On March 3, 1915, the NACA was established by Congress to “supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight, with a view to their practical solution.” Over the course of its 43 years, the NACA became home to many of the nation’s best and brightest aeronautical engineers and world-class facilities. America’s flight capabilities for military and commercial uses were advanced through its cutting-edge research. It was upon this foundation that America’s civilian space agency was built. With the passing of the Space Act in 1958, the NACA was transformed into NASA and tasked with researching problems of flight in both the air and in space.
Celebrate the 110th anniversary of the founding of the NACA with a new video series.
Image credit: NASA
在这张摄于1957年的照片中，国家航空咨询委员会（NACA）的试飞员乔治·库珀（George Cooper）站在北美F-100超音速战斗机旁，该战机曾由NACA进行测试。库珀曾在二战期间担任飞行员，随后于1945年加入NACA阿姆斯航空实验室（Ames Aeronautical Laboratory）。从1945年到1973年退休，期间他共测试了 135架以上的飞机，并不断将它们推向性能极限。
1915年3月3日，NACA由国会成立，任务是“监督和指导飞行问题的科学研究，以寻求实际解决方案。”在其43年的历史中，NACA汇聚了许多美国最优秀的航空工程师，并建造了世界一流的研究设施。其尖端研究推动了美国军用和民用航空的飞行能力发展。正是在此基础上，美国的民用航天机构得以建立。1958年《太空法案》通过后，NACA转型为NASA，并承担起研究空中和太空飞行问题的任务。
影像来源: NASA
