Space History Photo: Icing Research Photo

This image shows icing that occured on the propeller and fuselage during a test. (Image credit: GRC.)

In this historical photo from the U.S. space agency, ice formations on the propeller and fuselage surfaces of a test unit installed in March of 1945 in the Icing Research Tunnel at the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, Cleveland, Ohio, now known as John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field, show what may happen to an airplane in flight under certain atmospheric conditions.

Ice degrades the performance of an aircraft in flight and can cause loss of control.

The National Advisory Committe on Aeronautics (NACA) was a precursor to NASA. NACA was created by Congress in 1915.

Each weekday, SPACE.com looks back at the history of spaceflight through photos (archive).

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

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. It's 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, of visit: nasa.gov.