Passion Meets Precision at NASA’s Flight Research Lab
Long before they helped shape NASA’s future aerospace breakthroughs, Derek Abramson, Justin Hall, and Justin Link were in their garages and homes building radio‑controlled aircraft, testing new ideas, and flying their creations at hobby events. That early passion now fuels the work of NASA’s Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory at the agency’s Armstrong Flight […] The post Passion Meets…
Derek Abramson, Justin Hall, and Justin Link, three engineers with NASA’s Subscale Flight Research Laboratory, share a common origin story that began with a shared passion for aviation at a young age. Long before their careers at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, the trio constructed and piloted model and remotely piloted aircraft in their personal garages and hobby events.
Today, these engineers apply their lifelong enthusiasm for flight to advance NASA’s mission-focused innovation. As the laboratory’s chief engineer, Abramson oversees technical oversight, management, and system design. Hall, the chief pilot, utilizes his creative problem-solving skills to address technical challenges and ensure flight safety. Link, a drone pilot, specializes in designing and fabricating research vehicles, drawing from hands-on experience in the field.
Their company extends beyond NASA. On weekends, the trio dedicates time to building radio-controlled aircraft, researching hobby trends, and evaluating emerging technologies. The lab’s subscale fleet and the team's expertise allow them to explore innovative concepts that would be impractical, risky, or costly to test at full scale.
Leveraging their pioneering pastime as children, Abramson, Hall, and Link now contribute to crucial research for future lunar and Martian landings, ensuring precision and hazard avoidance with NASA’s Safe and Precise Landing – Integrated Capabilities Evolution (SPLICE) experiment.
Written by urgent.news from NASA Science's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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