Monday, August 31, 2009

Science needs research; research needs the biggest wind tunnel of them all

Help save the Langley Full Scale Wind Tunnel!

The Langley Full Scale Wind Tunnel (LFST) is slated for destruction by NASA at the end of September 2009, yet this national asset has valuable contributions to make to energy conservation at a time when this has become a pressing national priority.

It does not have to be this way. The wind tunnel belongs to the United States and its citizens. We, the taxpayers, can have a say about the future of the tunnel.

Write the Senators and Congressmen whom serve on the Appropriations Subcommittee that oversee NASA. Write or email your Congressmen and Senators. We have to let them know how we feel about this planned course of action.

--Tell them that tearing down the tunnel now, while it is still operational, makes no sense and is a waste of taxpayer dollars.

--Tell them American science and technology still needs the research the tunnel provides today and in the future.

--Tell them that the educational training and hands on experience for the Old Dominion University and other aerospace engineering students that help keep the tunnel running is a resource we do not want to lose. Students are attracted to the university precisely because of its access to this unique research facility.

--Tell them extensive and ongoing research conducted in this tunnel has pinpointed practical, affordable energy savings efforts totaling more than 1.5 billion gallons of petroleum fuels per year. And that's just the beginning.

--Tell them we must save the tunnel!

Your actions can make a difference.

To locate Senators on the Appropriations Subcommittee that oversee NASA, use the link: http://appropriations.senate.gov/sc-commerce.cfm

To locate Congressmen on the Appropriations Subcommittee that oversee NASA, use the link: http://appropriations.house.gov/Subcommittees/sub_cjs.shtml

To locate your local representative, use the link: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

To read some recent articles and learn more about the wind tunnel:

(page 1 Wall Street Journal article, video, and slideshow about the LFST written by Barry Newman on August 26, 2009). http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125124533797458837.html

(an editorial written by a LFST customer in The Daily Press from Hampton Roads, VA) http://www.dailypress.com/news/opinion/dp-ed_sunltrs_08300aug30,0,7514951.story

There is no pressing reason to destroy this incomparable research tool at this time... There is every reason to keep it operating.

Ken Hyde

http://www.wrightexperience.com/