WEBVTT

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- Have you ever wondered how
something like this

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turns into something like that?

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Find out next on "Real World."

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- Here at NASA, everything
begins with an idea.

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But somebody has to take that
idea

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and turn it into a vehicle that
flies.

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A physical model is a great way
to begin.

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Models allow engineers to test
their ideas

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before a full-scale version is
even built.

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Let's check in with Kevin
McClain

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at NASA's Langley
Research Center

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so he can show us how these
models are made.

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- So to make a physical model,

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we start with an idea that's
given to us by a researcher

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or an engineer, and we sit
down,

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and we talk about what we want
to build

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and what those parameters of
that test is gonna be.

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So for a physical model,
math is very important,

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'cause there's a lot of
different variables

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that could come up where you
need to know

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the different weights of
materials

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compared to what a
finished product's gonna be

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at your end weight of the
model.

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Then you're going into
measuring what dimensions,

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so every part of that model has
to be measured and constructed

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to a specific scale.

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So if you start with an actual
airplane in real time,

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you need to know how to
dynamically scale that down

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or just scale it down to
the ratios compared

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with the fractions of different
parts

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and how things move within
space.

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And then you need to know,
like,

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for when you're cutting
materials to actually put into

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these laminates or these skins,

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you have to know what a
hypotenuse is gonna be

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so you can actually put
everything together

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and splice in really weird
kind of contours

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that are gonna be in your
model,

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'cause nothing's ever gonna be
perfectly straight.

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So, there's a lot of different
geometry

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that goes into creating
air foils.

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Most of our physical models we
build here in the model shop.

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If they're not tested here
on Center,

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we do send them elsewhere.

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And here on Center, we can put
it in NTF,

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and that's a cryogenic tunnel,

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so it can get really, really
cold,

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and see--kind of substitute
what happens when a plane gets

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really, really high in the
atmosphere.

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And then we have, like, some of
the three-D printed models.

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They go into our low-speed
tunnels,

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which can be 12 foot,
or our spin tunnel.

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The spin tunnel looks at what
happens in a flat spin

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if a model's falling out and it
stalls.

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How well can that model gain
its kind of footing back

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and start flying again without
crashing?

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Or how bad does it crash?

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So a model can help make a
prediction by allowing us

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to visualize and understand
what happens

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when we put something that
we've never done before

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into a situation or an
environment

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that we just can't understand.

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- Technicians use math to build
more than just physical models.

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They're building prototypes to
bring innovative

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new ideas to life.

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- Whether it's a physical model
or a computer simulation,

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researchers use math to take an
idea from concept to flight.

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I'm Mishay, and I'll see you
next time on "Real World."

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