Space History Photo: Variable Density Wind Tunnel

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NACA staff conduct tests on airfoils in the Variable Density Wind Tunnel. (Image credit: NACA.)

In this historical photo from the U.S. space agency, taken on March 15, 1929, a quartet of NACA staff — from left to right: Eastman Jacobs, Shorty Defoe, Malvern Powell, and Harold Turner — conduct tests on airfoils in the Variable Density Tunnel. (In 1985, the Variable Density Tunnel was declared a National Historic Landmark.) Eastman Jacobs is sitting (far left) at the control panel.

The National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) was a precursor to NASA. NACA was created by Congress in 1915.

Each weekday, SPACE.com looks back at the history of spaceflight through photos (archive).

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