NASA Langley Research Center Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary in 2017

Summary: NASA Langley Research Center celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2017 with a yearlong schedule of events honoring "A Storied Legacy, a Soaring Future."

NASA Langley Research Center celebrates 100 years of a storied legacy with a soaring future: NASA, Public Domain, via NASA Langley Research Center

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is preparing a yearlong schedule of events, themed as “A Storied Legacy, a Soaring Future,” as Langley Research Center celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2017.

The NASA Langley Research Center web site announces the upcoming celebration:

“In 2017, NASA Langley Research Center will be celebrating 100 years of excellence in aerospace achievements, scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs.

“We invite you to join us as we honor the many accomplishments in our rich history along with those yet to come.”

A preliminary timetable shares an event schedule that begins in April 2017 and carries through March 2018. The lineup presently consists of seven events.

April 8-June 25: The schedule opens with a NASA Art Exhibit from Saturday, April 8, to Sunday, June 25, 2017, at Peninsula Fine Arts Center in Newport News, Virginia. Associated with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Virginia’s capital, Richmond, the Peninsula Fine Arts Center (Pfac) is located about 10 miles west of Langley Research Center (LaRC) on the James River side of the Virginia Peninsula. Also known as the Lower Peninsula as a distinction from two other peninsulas to its north, the historic Virginia Peninsula features Jamestown, the site of the first English settlement in North America. Jamestown is located about 35 miles northwest of Langley Research Center along the peninsula’s James River coast.

May 6: Maker Faire at the Hampton Convention Center on Sunday, May 6, 2017, honors the research center’s namesake, aviation pioneer Samuel Pierpont Langley (Aug. 22, 1834 to Feb. 27, 1906). The convention center in Hampton is sited about five miles southwest of Langley Research Center.

During his tenure, from 1887 until his death in 1906, as the third Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Langley is credited with founding the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and with experimenting with piloted and unpiloted models of steam- and then gas-powered flying machines that he called aerodromes.

NASA Langley Research Center celebrates United States’ independence day, July the Fourth, during the center’s 100th anniversary. Fourth at the Fort Celebration spotlights Fort Monroe as another historic site on the super historic Virginia Peninsula. Located strategically at the Virginia Peninsula’s southern tip, Fort Monroe National Monument links back to 1609, in the Colony of Virginia’s earliest days as a wooden stockade. The fort’s primary facility, built of stone, was completed in 1834. The seven-sided stone fort is famed as the largest U.S.-built stone fort. The designation of portions of Fort Monroe as a National Monument on Nov. 1, 2011, represents the first exercise of his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 by 44th U.S. President Barack Obama.

July 12-July 14: A Centennial Symposium is taking place at the Hampton Convention Center from Wednesday, July 12 to Friday, July 14.

July 14: The symposium culminates in a Centennial Gala on July 14.

Oct. 21: NASA Langley Research Center hosts an Open House on its premises on Saturday, Oct. 21. Langley Research Center is the oldest of NASA’s 10 field centers. The other nine field centers are Ames Research Center (ARC) at Moffett Federal Airfield, California; Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) in Edwards Air Force Base, California; George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama; Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Maryland; the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena, California; John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi; John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field (GRC) in Brook Park, Ohio;  John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Merritt Island, Florida; and Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas.

NASA’s predecessor, the National Advisory Council for Aeronautics (NACA), was founded on March 3, 1915, with the mission of conducting aeronautical research. NACA established its research facility, known then as Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, in 1917. In the 21st century, the NASA Langley Research Center complex comprises over 40 major research facilities and approximately 180 administrative facilities, shops, and support facilities.

Langley Research Center currently is located in two areas that are separated by three miles of runways and taxiways under the control of the U.S. Air Force. Total area amounts to 784 acres, with occupancy of 764 acres by the West Area and 20.16 acres by the East Area. As the original 1917 site, the East Area includes seven major facilities, and all of its structures are older buildings.

October-March: From October 2017 through March 2018, NASA Langley Research Center is showing “100 Years in Photographs, NACA/NASA Photography Exhibit” at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia. The museum is located on the other side of the Hampton Roads natural harbor from the Virginia Peninsula, about 22 miles south of Langley.

The NASA Langley Research Center web site encourages visitors to check often for updates on the center’s yearlong 100th anniversary celebration.

“We’ll add news about events and opportunities to celebrate our centennial through 2017 (and even beyond),” notes the site’s open invitation to interested anniversary celebrants.

A video downloaded Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, by NASA Langley Research Center spotlights some of the center's current projects.

"Researchers at NASA Langley contribute to just about every mission NASA has from aviation to earth science to exploration," notes the video's summary. "Here's what just a few of NASA Langley's 3600 employees do in 2016 -- the year before the research facility turns 100."

"On Oct. 27, 2015, employees, retirees and family members gathered for an aerial centennial photo outside the historic hangar at NASA's Langley Research Center. A NASA photographer captured the image while flying in a helicopter supplied by Joint Base Langley-Eustis.": NASA/Sandie Gibbs via NASA

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

NASA Langley Research Center's 100th anniversary celebration announcement: NASA, Public Domain, via NASA Langley Research Center @ http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/langley100-storied-soaring.jpg

"On Oct. 27, 2015, employees, retirees and family members gathered for an aerial centennial photo outside the historic hangar at NASA's Langley Research Center. A NASA photographer captured the image while flying in a helicopter supplied by Joint Base Langley-Eustis.": NASA/Sandie Gibbs via NASA @ https://www.nasa.gov/langley/feature/nasa-langley-sets-the-stage-for-2017-centennial-celebration

For further information:

“Celebrating 100 Years: A Storied Legacy, a Soaring Future.” NASA/Langley Research Center.
Available @ http://www.nasa.gov/langley/100

“Exploring NASA’s Roots - The History of the Langley Research Center.” NASA. Dec. 31, 1992.
Available @ http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/factsheets/LaRC_History.html

“Langley Research Center.” NASA Cultural Resources (CRGIS). Last modified: 23 Jan. 2016, at 21:36.
Available @ http://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/Langley_Research_Center

McDonald, Samuel. "NASA Langley Sets the Stage for 2017 Centennial Celebration." NASA > Langley > Feature. Oct. 29, 2015.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/langley/feature/nasa-langley-sets-the-stage-for-2017-centennial-celebration

NASA Langley Research Center. “NASA Langley 2016.” YouTube. Feb. 9, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29q-GsqPsTA