Ames Research Center

Ames Research Center

Aerial view of Moffett Field and Ames Research Center in 1982
Agency overview
Formed	December 20, 1939
Preceding agency	NACA Ames Aeronautical Laboratory
Type	Research center
Jurisdiction	U.S. federal government
Headquarters	Moffett Federal Airfield, U.S.
Employees	3,200+[1]
Agency executive	Eugene Tu, Director
Parent agency	NASA
Website	www.nasa.gov/ames
Map
Map of NASA Ames Research Center

37°24′55″N 122°03′46″W / 37.415229°N 122.062650°W / 37.415229; -122.062650

The Ames Research Center (ARC), also known as NASA Ames, is a NASA field center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California's Silicon Valley. Founded in 1939 as the second laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), it became part of NASA when that agency was established in 1958. The center is named for Joseph Sweetman Ames, a physicist and founding member of NACA.

Ames was originally established for wind-tunnel research on propeller-driven aircraft. Its work later expanded to spaceflight, planetary science, astrobiology, small spacecraft, supercomputing, entry systems, intelligent systems, human factors, and aviation operations. Ames has led or supported missions including Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Lunar Prospector, LCROSS, Kepler, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, and LADEE.

NASA traces the center's founding to December 20, 1939, when NACA established the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory at Moffett Field as its second laboratory, named for Joseph Sweetman Ames, a physicist who chaired NACA from 1927 to 1939.^[2][3] Smith J. DeFrance, a senior NACA aeronautical engineer, served as Engineer-in-Charge beginning July 1940 and oversaw construction of the center's first wind tunnels and flight research facilities.^[4]

During World War II, Ames conducted aerodynamics research on aircraft stability, drag reduction, and high-speed performance.^[5] In the early 1950s, aerodynamicist H. Julian Allen and Alfred J. Eggers Jr. developed the blunt-body reentry theory at Ames, demonstrating that a blunt, rounded nose shape generates a detached shock wave that carries away most aerodynamic heating during atmospheric reentry rather than conducting it into the vehicle structure.^[6] The research, initially classified, became the design basis for the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo capsules and for subsequent planetary entry probes. Allen later served as center director from 1965 to 1968.

NACA was dissolved on October 1, 1958, and its personnel and facilities transferred to the newly created NASA; the laboratory became NASA Ames Research Center.^[1] Ames subsequently expanded from aeronautics into planetary science, life sciences, astrobiology, and supercomputing. The center managed NASA's Pioneer program from the mid-1960s through the late 1970s and contributed entry-systems development for multiple spacecraft.^[7]

In 1994, the United States Navy transferred Moffett Federal Airfield to NASA, placing the airfield and the research center under a single agency.^[8] The airfield site falls within the U.S. Naval Air Station, Sunnyvale, California, Historic District, an NRHP historic district covering the former Navy installation's hangars and structures dating from the 1930s, including Hangars One, Two, and Three.^[9] The National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex and the Arc Jet Complex were individually listed on the National Register in 2017.

Although Ames is a NASA research center rather than a flight center, it has managed or supported a range of planetary and astronomy missions.

The Pioneer program's eight successful space missions from 1965 to 1978 were managed by Charles Hall at Ames, initially aimed at the inner Solar System.^[10] By 1972, Ames supported flyby missions to Jupiter and Saturn with Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11.^[11] Those missions collected data on the radiation environment, moons, and gravity-assist trajectories later used by planners of the more complex Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 missions. In 1978, the program returned to the inner Solar System with the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Multiprobe, using orbital insertion rather than flyby.^[12][13]

Lunar Prospector was the third mission selected by NASA for full development and construction as part of the Discovery Program.^[14] At a cost of $62.8 million, the 19-month mission was put into a low polar orbit of the Moon, mapping surface composition and possible polar ice deposits, measuring magnetic and gravity fields, and studying lunar outgassing events. Based on Lunar Prospector Neutron Spectrometer (NS) data, mission scientists determined that water ice existed in the polar craters of the Moon.^[15] The mission ended July 31, 1999, when the orbiter was guided to an impact into a crater near the lunar south pole in an attempt to vaporize any polar water for spectroscopic analysis from Earth.^[16]

The 11-pound (5 kg) GeneSat-1, carrying bacteria inside a miniature laboratory, was launched on December 16, 2006, as a secondary payload on a Minotaur I rocket from Wallops Flight Facility.^[17]

The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) launched on June 18, 2009, on an Atlas V rocket from Kennedy Space Center as a secondary payload accompanying the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. LCROSS impacted a permanently shadowed crater near the lunar south pole on October 9, 2009; analysis of the debris plume confirmed the presence of water ice.^[18]

The Kepler space telescope launched on March 7, 2009, and was NASA's first mission capable of finding Earth-size planets around other stars. It monitored the brightness of more than 150,000 stars simultaneously, detecting planets by the slight dimming caused as they transited their host stars. Kepler confirmed more than 2,600 exoplanets before its fuel was exhausted; NASA retired the spacecraft on October 30, 2018.^[19]

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) was a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) that operated an infrared telescope aboard a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft, flying at altitudes above most of the atmospheric water vapor that blocks infrared wavelengths. The aircraft was supplied by the U.S. and the telescope by Germany. Modifications to the airframe were made by L-3 Communications Integrated Systems of Waco, Texas.^[20] SOFIA began science operations in 2014 and was retired on September 29, 2022.^[21]

The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), launched June 27, 2013, is a partnership with the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory to study the processes at the boundary between the Sun's chromosphere and corona. The mission is sponsored by the NASA Small Explorer program.^[22]

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), developed and managed by NASA Ames, launched September 6, 2013, to study the composition of the lunar exosphere and the behavior of dust near the lunar surface. The spacecraft impacted the Moon on April 18, 2014, after completing its science mission.^[23]

Ames has also contributed to several other missions, including the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Exploration Rover missions, where the Ames Intelligent Robotics Laboratory contributed robotics work.^[24] Ames contributed to the Phoenix Mars lander through Arc Jet testing of its aeroshell thermal protection system.^[25] NASA Ames also contributed to Mars Science Laboratory and its Curiosity rover.^[26]

The Aviation Systems Division conducts research and development in advanced air traffic management, airspace integration, and high-fidelity aerospace simulation. Its air traffic management work includes automation and decision-support tools for the National Airspace System.^[27]

For high-fidelity flight simulation, the division operates the Vertical Motion Simulator, a Level-D Boeing 747-400 simulator, and a panoramic air traffic control tower simulator.^[27] NASA describes the Vertical Motion Simulator as the world's largest motion flight simulator; it can move as much as 60 feet (18 m) vertically and 40 feet (12 m) horizontally inside a ten-story tower.^[28] Ames simulators have been used for Space Shuttle pilot training, development of future spacecraft handling qualities, advanced airspace and airport-surface concepts, helicopter control system testing, and accident investigations.^[27] Customers outside NASA have included the Federal Aviation Administration, United States Department of Defense, United States Department of Homeland Security, United States Department of Transportation, National Transportation Safety Board, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing.

Ames has contributed to NASA aeronautics projects including the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology aircraft. NASA has described Ames' X-59 work as including computational fluid dynamics, wind-tunnel testing, supercomputing, and systems engineering.^[29]

The center's flight simulation and guidance laboratory was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.^{[citation needed]}

Ames houses NASA organizations working in advanced supercomputing, human factors, and artificial intelligence. These groups support NASA programs in aeronautics, science, exploration, and space operations. The center also manages the E Root nameserver of the Domain Name System.^[30]

The Intelligent Systems Division develops software and autonomous systems for NASA missions. Its work has included MAPGEN, automated planning software used to schedule daily activities for the Mars Exploration Rover mission, and autonomous systems for the International Space Station.^[31] Deep Space 1, launched in 1998, carried an autonomous navigation system developed at Ames as one of the first such systems used on a deep-space mission.^[32]

The Human Systems Integration Division studies human-centered design, human performance, and human-automation interaction in aerospace systems.^[33]

The NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division at Ames operates computing systems for NASA science and engineering. The NASA Advanced Supercomputing Facility provides supercomputing resources and services for about 1,500 users from NASA centers, academia, and industry.^[34] NASA announced in January 2026 that Athena, housed in the Modular Supercomputing Facility at Ames, had become the agency's most powerful supercomputer.^[35]

In September 2009, Ames launched NEBULA as a cloud computing platform for NASA data sets.^[36] This pilot used open-source components, complied with FISMA, and was designed to scale to government-sized data demands. In July 2010, NASA CTO Chris C. Kemp open sourced Nova, the technology behind the NEBULA Project, in collaboration with Rackspace, launching OpenStack.^[37]

The Ames Research Center wind tunnels support research and testing for aircraft, spacecraft, rotorcraft, and entry systems.^[39]

The Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel (UPWT) was completed in 1956 under the Unitary Plan Act of 1949. It is a continuous-flow tunnel with three test sections covering Mach numbers from 0.2 to 3.5.^[40] Commercial transports, military aircraft, and NASA space vehicles have been tested in the tunnel complex, including Space Shuttle configurations and Mars Science Laboratory aeroshell designs.^[39]

Ames Research Center also houses the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC), which NASA describes as containing the world's largest wind tunnels. Its 40-by-80-foot and 80-by-120-foot test sections are used for full-scale and large-scale air-vehicle research.^[39] The complex of wind tunnels was listed on the National Register in 2017.

The 40 by 80 foot wind tunnel circuit was originally constructed in the 1940s and is now capable of providing test velocities up to 300 knots (560 km/h; 350 mph).^[41] It is used to support an active research program in aerodynamics, dynamics, model noise, and full-scale aircraft and their components. The aerodynamic characteristics of new configurations are investigated with an emphasis on estimating the accuracy of computational methods. The tunnel is also used to investigate the aeromechanical stability boundaries of advanced rotorcraft and rotor-fuselage interactions. Stability and control derivatives are also determined, including the static and dynamic characteristics of new aircraft configurations. The acoustic characteristics of most of the full-scale vehicles are also determined, as well as acoustic research aimed at discovering and reducing aerodynamic sources of noise. In addition to the normal data gathering methods (e.g., balance system, pressure measuring transducers, and temperature sensing thermocouples), non-intrusive instrumentation (e.g., laser velocimeters and shadowgraphs) is available to determine flow direction and velocity around lifting surfaces. The 40 by 80 Foot Wind Tunnel is primarily used for determining the low- and medium-speed aerodynamic characteristics of high-performance aircraft, rotorcraft, and fixed wing, powered-lift V/STOL aircraft.

The 80 by 120 Foot Wind Tunnel is the world's largest wind tunnel test section. This open circuit leg was added and a new fan drive system was installed in the 1980s. It is currently capable of air speeds up to 100 knots (190 km/h; 120 mph).^[41] This section is used in similar ways to the 40 by 80 foot section, but it is capable of testing larger aircraft, albeit at slower speeds. Test programs have included the F-18 High Angle of Attack Vehicle, DARPA/Lockheed Common Affordable Lightweight Fighter, XV-15 Tilt Rotor, and Advance Recovery System Parafoil. The 80 by 120 foot test section is capable of testing a full size Boeing 737.

Although decommissioned by NASA in 2003, the NFAC is now being operated by the United States Air Force as a satellite facility of the Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC).^[42]

The Ames Arc Jet Complex is an advanced thermophysics facility where sustained hypersonic- and hyperthermal testing of vehicular thermoprotective systems takes place under a variety of simulated flight- and re-entry conditions.^[43] Of its seven available test bays, four currently contain Arc Jet units of differing configurations. These are the Aerodynamic Heating Facility (AHF), the Turbulent Flow Duct (TFD), the Panel Test Facility (PTF), and the Interaction Heating Facility (IHF). The support equipment includes two D.C. power supplies, a steam ejector-driven vacuum system, a water-cooling system, high-pressure gas systems, data acquisition system, and other auxiliary systems.^[43]

The largest power supply is capable of delivering 75 megawatts (MW) over 30 minutes or 150 MW over 15 seconds, which, coupled with a high-volume 5-stage steam ejector vacuum-pumping system, allows Ames to match high-altitude atmospheric conditions with large samples.^[43] The Thermo-Physics Facilities Branch operates four arc jet facilities. The Interaction Heating Facility (IHF), rated at over 60 MW, can run for up to one hour and test large samples in both stagnation and flat-plate configurations. The Panel Test Facility (PTF) uses a semielliptic nozzle for panel-section testing; powered by a 20-MW arc heater, it can run samples for up to 20 minutes. The Turbulent Flow Duct provides supersonic, turbulent high-temperature airflows over flat surfaces; its 20-MW Hüls arc heater can test samples 203 by 508 millimeters (8.0 by 20.0 in) in size. The Aerodynamic Heating Facility (AHF) accepts either a Hüls or segmented arc heater up to 20 MW and accommodates varied sample sizes and extended run times. A cold-air-mixing plenum simulates ascent and high-speed flight conditions. Catalycity studies using air or nitrogen can be conducted in the facility, and a 5-arm model support system maximizes testing throughput.

The Arc Jet Complex was listed on the National Register in 2017.

NASA's Ames Ballistic Range Complex supports hypervelocity aerodynamics and impact-physics testing. It includes the Ames Vertical Gun Range, the Hypervelocity Free-Flight Aerodynamic Facility, and the Hypervelocity Free-Flight Gun Development Facility.^[44]

The Ames Vertical Gun Range (AVGR) was designed to conduct scientific studies of lunar impact processes in support of the Apollo missions. In 1979, it was established as a National Facility, funded through the Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program. In 1995, increased scientific needs across various disciplines resulted in joint core funding by three different science programs at NASA Headquarters (Planetary Geology and Geophysics, Exobiology, and Solar System Origins). The AVGR has provided support for planetary missions including Stardust and Deep Impact.^[44]

Using its 0.30 cal light-gas gun and powder gun, the AVGR can launch projectiles to velocities ranging from 500 to 7,000 m/s (1,600 to 23,000 ft/s; 1,100 to 15,700 mph). By varying the gun's angle of elevation with respect to the target vacuum chamber, impact angles from 0° to 90° relative to the gravitational vector are possible. This capability supports studies of crater formation processes.

The target chamber is approximately 2.5 meters (8 ft 2 in) in diameter and height and can accommodate a wide variety of targets and mounting fixtures. It can maintain vacuum levels below 0.03 torrs (4.0 Pa), or can be back filled with various gases to simulate different planetary atmospheres. Impact events are typically recorded with high-speed video/film, or Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV).

The Hypervelocity Free-Flight (HFF) Range currently comprises two active facilities: the Aerodynamic Facility (HFFAF) and the Gun Development Facility (HFFGDF). The HFFAF is a combined Ballistic Range and shock tube-driven wind tunnel. Its primary purpose is to examine the aerodynamic characteristics and flow-field structural details of free-flying aeroballistic models.

The HFFAF has a test section equipped with 16 shadowgraph-imaging stations. Each station can be used to capture an orthogonal pair of images of a hypervelocity model in flight. These images, combined with the recorded flight time history, can be used to obtain critical aerodynamic parameters such as lift, drag, static and dynamic stability, flow characteristics, and pitching moment coefficients. For very high Mach number (M > 25) simulations, models can be launched into a counter-flowing gas stream generated by the shock tube. The facility can also be configured for hypervelocity impact testing and has an aerothermodynamic capability as well. The HFFAF is currently configured to operate the 1.5 inches (38 mm) light-gas gun in support of continuing thermal imaging and transition research for NASA's hypersonics program.

The HFFGDF is used for gun performance enhancement studies, and occasional impact testing. The Facility uses the same arsenal of light-gas and powder guns as the HFFAF to accelerate particles that range in size from 3.2 to 25.4 millimeters (0.13 to 1.00 in) diameter to velocities ranging from 0.5 to 8.5 km/s (1,100 to 19,000 mph). Most of the research effort to date has centered on Earth atmosphere entry configurations (Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Shuttle), planetary entry designs (Viking, Pioneer Venus, Galileo and MSL), and aerobraking (AFE) configurations. The facility has also been used for scramjet propulsion studies (National Aerospace Plane (NASP)) and meteoroid/orbital debris impact studies (Space Station and RLV). In 2004, the facility was used for foam-debris dynamics testing in support of the Return to Flight effort. As of March 2007, the GDF has been reconfigured to operate a cold gas gun for subsonic CEV capsule aerodynamics.

The Electric Arc Shock Tube (EAST) Facility is used to study radiation and ionization in shock-heated gases encountered by atmospheric entry vehicles. NASA describes it as the only U.S. shock tube capable of simulating very-high-enthalpy shock-heated gas environments for such vehicles. Its operating envelope covers velocities from 1.3 to 46 km/s (2,900 to 102,900 mph) in several planetary atmospheres.^[45]

The following persons had served as the Ames Research Center director:^[46][47]

No.	Image	Director	Start	End	Notes
1		Smith J. DeFrance	July 25, 1940	June 24, 1947	Engineer-in-Charge, NACA Ames Aeronautical Laboratory
			June 24, 1947	October 1, 1958	Director, NACA Ames Aeronautical Laboratory
			October 1, 1958	October 15, 1965	Director, NASA Ames RC[48]
2		H. Julian Allen	October 15, 1965	November 15, 1968	[49]
3		Hans Mark	February 20, 1969	August 15, 1977	[50]
Acting		Clarence A. Syvertson	August 15, 1977	April 30, 1978
4			April 30, 1978	January 13, 1984	[51]
5		William F. Ballhaus Jr.	January 16, 1984	February 1, 1988	[52]
			February 1, 1989	July 15, 1989
Acting		Dale L. Compton	February 1, 1988	February 1, 1989
Acting			July 15, 1989	December 20, 1989
6			December 20, 1989	January 28, 1994	[53]
7		Ken Munechika	January 28, 1994	March 4, 1996	[54]
8		Henry McDonald	March 4, 1996	September 19, 2002	[55]
9		G. Scott Hubbard	September 19, 2002	February 15, 2006	[56]
Acting		Marvin Christensen	February 15, 2006	May 4, 2006
10		Simon P. Worden	May 4, 2006	March 31, 2015	[57]
11		Eugene Tu	May 4, 2015	present	[58]

In 2016, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) announced plans to relocate its West Coast science center from nearby Menlo Park to Ames at Moffett Field.^[59] The relocation formally began with a ribbon-cutting event in July 2019.^[60] As of April 2024, the project was described as "wrapping up", with "full relocation ... scheduled by the end of the year."^[61]

The NASA Ames Visitor Center is located at the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland, California. Ames does not host public tours of its research campus, which remains an active laboratory.^[62] The Chabot visitor center opened on November 12, 2021, and includes artifacts and exhibits about Ames work in entry systems, computing, aeronautics, astrobiology, life sciences, robotics, space science, and Earth science.^[63][64]

The on-site NASA Ames Exploration Center was a science museum and education center with displays about NASA technology, missions, and space exploration. It included a Moon rock, a meteorite, and other geologic samples.^[65]

The Robotics Alliance Project, developed at Ames, supports educational robotics programs and competitions as a way to build robotics capabilities relevant to future space exploration missions.^[66]

NASA Research Park, established through a 2002 development plan, is a public-private campus within the Ames site hosting university, commercial, and nonprofit tenants.^[67] NASA has also entered into long-term leases with private partners for portions of Moffett Federal Airfield adjacent to the research center.

On September 28, 2005, Google and Ames Research Center disclosed details to a long-term research partnership. In addition to pooling engineering talent, Google planned to build a 1,000,000-square-foot (9.3 ha) facility on the ARC campus.^[68] One of the projects between Ames, Google, and Carnegie Mellon University was the Gigapan Project, a robotic platform for creating, sharing, and annotating terrestrial gigapixel images. The Planetary Content Project sought to integrate and improve data used for Google Moon and Google Mars.^[69] On June 4, 2008, Google announced it had leased 42 acres (170,000 m²) from NASA at Moffett Federal Airfield, for use as office space and employee housing.^[70]

Google opened its Bay View campus on Ames property in May 2022.^[71]

In May 2013, Google announced it was launching the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab, hosted at Ames. The lab housed a 512-qubit quantum computer from D-Wave Systems, with the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) inviting researchers to share time on it to study how quantum computing might advance machine learning.^[72][73][74]

Announced on November 10, 2014, Planetary Ventures LLC, a Google subsidiary, leased Moffett Federal Airfield from NASA. The lease covers about 1,000 acres, includes restoration of Hangar One and hangars Two and Three, and runs for 60 years.^[75] NASA reported in March 2026 that Planetary Ventures had completed restoration of Hangar One in December 2025.^[76]

• Timeline of Ames Research Center
• NASA Research Park
• Pleiades (supercomputer)
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Santa Clara County, California

• Adventures in Research: A History of Ames Research Center, 1940–1965. NASA SP-4302. NASA. 1970. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
• Atmosphere of Freedom: Sixty Years at the NASA Ames Research Center. NASA SP-4314. NASA. 2000. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
• Searching the Horizon: A History of Ames Research Center 1940–1976. NASA SP-4304. NASA. 1985. Retrieved May 23, 2026.

• Official website
• NASA – About Ames
• NASA – Ames current programs and projects
• NASA Ames Visitor Center