[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 111 (Thursday, July 31, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1571]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   NASA LEWIS RESEARCH CENTER: PART 2

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 30, 1997

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor and pay credit to the 
excellent work being conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration's [NASA's] Lewis Research Center [Lewis].
  The center, located in Cleveland, OH, is one of 10 NASA field 
centers, Employing more than 2,000 personnel and comprised in more than 
140 buildings, Lewis is one of NASA's larger research facilities and 
has, since its groundbreaking in 1941, been invested with some $480 
million. Lewis has developed an international reputation for its 
research on jet propulsion systems and under the current directorship 
of Donald Campbell, research and development of new propulsion power is 
continuing to flourish.
  NASA has designated Lewis as its No. 1 center for aeropropulsion. Its 
pioneering work in developing and verifying aeropropulsion technology 
has benefited the Nation directly, through the results and data which 
it has complied and also through the transfer of this knowledge to U.S. 
industry. Indirectly, such advances have significantly contributed to 
the promotion of economic growth and national security through safe and 
superior U.S. aircraft propulsion systems.
  Lewis is also NASA's Center of Excellence in Turbomachinery. It has 
developed innovative technology and made use of its analytical and 
experimental expertise to enhance future aerospace technology. Lewis' 
other roles and missions include aeronautics research, on-board space 
applications and commercial communications.
  The following Congressional Research Service report, ``NASA Lewis 
Research Center: Part 2,'' outlines the functions, history, and current 
roles and missions of the center:

                   NASA Lewis Research Center: Part 2


                              Introduction

       This report examines the National Aeronautics and Space 
     Administration's (NASA's) Lewis Research Center (LeRC).\1\ 
     Changes at the center during the 1990s are examined as well 
     as how NASA's announced plans compare with Lewis' current 
     roles and missions.
       Whenever the closing of any of NASA's centers is discussed 
     within the space community, some mention Lewis as a likely 
     candidate. This report finds that although Lewis has been 
     downsized at a greater rate in the 1990s than most of NASA's 
     centers, it does not appear to be in danger of being closed 
     in the near-term if currently planned budgets are funded. As 
     currently envisioned, Lewis is expected to have a significant 
     role in NASA's future in fulfilling the goals set forth in 
     the agency's strategic plan through 2025 and beyond.


                                Location

       The center is located 20 miles southwest of Cleveland, 
     Ohio, occupying 350 acres of land adjacent to Cleveland 
     Hopkins International Airport. Lewis comprises more than 140 
     buildings that include 24 major facilities and over 500 
     specialized research and test facilities. Additional 
     facilities are located at Plum Brook Station, a 6,400-acre 
     facility about 50 miles west of Cleveland and 3 miles south 
     of Sandusky, Ohio. The center currently has approximately 
     2,150 employees and on-site contractors totaling 
     approximately 1,600.\2\ Since its initial groundbreaking in 
     1941, more than $480 million has been invested in the 
     center's capital plant. According to the center, its 
     currently estimated replacement cost is approximately $1.3 
     billion.
       The Director of LeRC is Donald J. Campbell and the Deputy 
     Director is Martin P. Kress. Julian M. Earls is the Deputy 
     Director for Operations.


                                History

       Lewis was established in 1941 by the National Advisory 
     Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). At that time it was known 
     as the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory. It was one of 
     three NACA centers nationwide.\3\ Named for George W. 
     Lewis, NACA's Director of Research from 1924 to 1947, the 
     center developed an international reputation for its 
     research on jet propulsion systems. The three NACA Centers 
     became the nucleus of NASA when it was created in October 
     1958.


                       Current Roles and Missions

       The work of Lewis is directed toward research and 
     development of new propulsion, power, and communications 
     technologies for application to aeronautics and space. 
     Microgravity research in fluids and combustion also is a main 
     area of focus. The end product of Lewis' work is knowledge, 
     usually in the form of a report, that is made fully available 
     to potential users--the aircraft engine industry, the energy 
     industry, the automotive industry, the space industry, other 
     NASA centers, and other federal government organizations.
       NASA has designated Lewis as its Lead Center for 
     Aeropropulsion. The center's role is to develop, verify, and 
     transfer aeropropulsion technologies to U.S. industry. The 
     center's aeropropulsion program plays a significant role in 
     the agency's goals to promote economic growth and national 
     security through safe, superior, and environmentally 
     compatible U.S. civil and military aircraft propulsion 
     systems. The agency's major efforts are in subsonic, 
     supersonic, hypersonic, general aviation, and high-
     performance aircraft propulsion systems, as well as in 
     materials, structures, internal fluid mechanics, 
     instrumentation and controls, interdisciplinary technologies, 
     and aircraft icing research.
       Lewis has also been designated NASA's Center of Excellence 
     in Turbomachinery. It develops innovative technology and 
     leverages its computational, analytical, and experimental 
     expertise in turbomachinery to enhance future aerospace 
     programs. The goal is to attain improvements in reliability, 
     performance, and efficiency; increases in affordability, 
     capacity, safety, and environmental capability; and 
     reductions in design cycle time and development costs. Areas 
     of focus include air-breathing propulsion and power systems, 
     primary and auxiliary propulsion and power systems, on-board 
     propulsion systems, and rotating machinery for the pumping of 
     fuels. Related technologies include fans, compressors, 
     turbines, pumps, combustors, bearings, seals, gears, inlets, 
     nozzles, sensors, and actuators. Related disciplines include 
     materials, structures, lubrication, acoustics, heat transfer, 
     computational fluid dynamics, combustion, cryogenics, icing, 
     and controls.
       Lewis' roles and missions include: Managing a broad array 
     of aeronautics research and technology propulsion activities 
     including propulsion support technology and propulsion 
     systems analysis; space applications involving power and on-
     board propulsion; commercial communications; managing 
     intermediate and large payload launch vehicles; and 
     microgravity research in the disciplines of combustion 
     science, fluids physics, and ground-based research.
       Lewis is a major contributor to many NASA-wide programs. 
     These programs include: NASA's High Speed Research program in 
     the areas of combustor design and enabling propulsion 
     materials; the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite 
     (ACTS) effort; microgravity research on board the Space 
     Shuttle in addition to its historical contributions to the 
     program; the development of the Lewis-designed Electrical 
     Power System for the International Space Station (ISS). Lewis 
     will also be a major contributor to the microgravity science 
     aboard the ISS including the development of the Fluids and 
     Combustion Facility; U.S.-Russian cooperative programs such 
     as the Mir Cooperative Solar Array and providing microgravity 
     science experiments; and the Mars Pathfinder mission.


                               FOOTNOTES

     \1\ Lewis is one of 10 NASA field centers. The other nine 
     field centers are Ames Research Center (ARC) in California, 
     Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) in California, Goddard 
     Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Maryland, the Jet Propulsion 
     Laboratory in California, the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in 
     Texas, the Langley Research Center (LaRC) in Virginia, the 
     Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Alabama, and the John 
     C. Stennis Space Center (SSC) in Mississippi. Except for JPL, 
     which is a federally funded research and development center 
     (FFRDC) run by the California Institute of Technology, all 
     these centers are federally owned and operated facilities.
     \2\ Employee levels are as of March 1997.
     \3\ Ames Research Center in California and Langley Research 
     Center in Virginia were the other two.

     

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