NASA试驾传奇重逢

Former flight test instructor and current NASA test pilot Nils Larson reunited with former student and current astronaut Victor Glover on Oct. 21 during an open house at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.
NASA / Dave Bowman

Nils Larson, aerospace engineer and test pilot for NASA’s X-59 aircraft, met up with his former student, Artemis II astronaut Victor Glover, on Saturday, Oct. 21 during an open house held at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The pilots originally met more than two decades ago when Larson was an instructor at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. Larson trained students – including Glover – using the T-38 aircraft.

“I always knew Victor would go far. It’s cool to think that far means the Moon,” said Larson, whose current test piloting work is critical to NASA’s Quesst mission. “I was excited to see him picked up as an astronaut, then get to fly to the International Space Station, and now he gets to go to the Moon as part of Artemis II. The sky’s not the limit anymore!”

Nearly 40,000 people attended the NASA Langley open house. Larson and Glover reunited at Langley’s hangar where other NASA legends, such as astronauts Neil Armstrong and Alan Shepard, trained on its historic Rendezvous Docking Simulator. The simulator remains a permanent fixture at the hangar.

10月21日，在弗吉尼亚州汉普顿的NASA兰利研究中心，前飞行测试教官、现任NASA试飞员尼尔斯·拉尔森与前学生、现任宇航员维克多·格洛弗重聚。
NASA / Dave Bowman

尼尔斯·拉尔森是NASA X-59飞机的航空工程师和试飞员，10月21日星期六，在弗吉尼亚州汉普顿的NASA兰利研究中心举行的一次开放日活动中，他会见了他以前的学生，阿尔特弥斯2号宇航员维克多·格洛弗。两位飞行员最初相识于20多年前，当时拉尔森是美国空军试飞员学校的一名教官。。拉尔森用T-38飞机训练学生，包括格洛弗。

“我一直知道维克多会走得很远。很酷的想法是，远意味着月球。”拉尔森说，他目前的试航工作对美国宇航局的探索任务至关重要。“我很高兴看到他成为一名宇航员，然后飞往国际空间站，现在他可以作为阿尔忒弥斯二号任务的一部分去月球。天空不再是极限了!”

近4万人参加了NASA兰利的开放日活动。拉尔森和格洛弗在兰利的机库重聚，其他NASA传奇人物，如宇航员尼尔·阿姆斯特朗和艾伦·谢泼德，在其历史性的交会对接模拟器上接受训练。该模拟器仍然是机库的永久固定装置。