Space History Photo: 1944 Icing Research Tunnel

NACA's Icing Research Tunnel (Image credit: NACA)

Before Check Yeager could make his historic first supersonic flight in 1947 in the rocket-powered X-1, a lot of testing was done to understand how jet engines would perform at extreme speeds and high altitudes. Some of that testing was done at the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) Airplane Engine Research Laboratory (AERL) Icing Research Tunnel. (NACA was a precursor to NASA.)

Chuck Yeager and the Bell X-1. (Image credit: USAF)

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the U.S. government agency in charge of the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Founded in 1958, NASA is a civilian space agency aimed at exploring the universe with space telescopes, satellites, robotic spacecraft, astronauts and more. The space agency has 10 major centers based across the U.S. and launches robotic and crewed missions from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral Florida. Its astronaut corps is based at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. To follow NASA's latest mission, follow the space agency on Twitter or any other social channel, visit: nasa.gov.