Space

NASA Testing Aims at Supercooled Large Droplet Aviation Safety

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Based on a feed excerpt; full article content has not been acquired. Source evidence retrieved 06/10/2026, 11:20:25 UTC.

Briefings

NASA conducted a test campaign from June 8-11, 2026, at the Icing Research Tunnel to measure droplet sizes in supercooled large drops (SLD) exceeding 2,000 microns. Researchers used new probes capable of detecting drops larger than 45 microns to calibrate the size spectrum, which will be compared with smaller probe data. This milestone supports the Subsonic Flight Demonstrator project aimed at improving aviation safety against rare icing hazards.

Key points

• NASA tested SLD Instrumentation Test in IRT from June 8-11, 2026, using probes capable of measuring drops larger than 45 microns.
• The test campaign measured droplets up to 2,000 microns in diameter, a size range significantly larger than typical aviation icing conditions.

Context

NASA is addressing rare but persistent aviation hazards where aircraft encounter unusually large, very cold water droplets in clouds that remain liquid. This test campaign supports the Subsonic Flight Demonstrator project to enhance equipment for generating and measuring experimental clouds for testing in the Icing Research Tunnel.

Limitations

Test data is limited to the IRT test section from June 8-11, 2026. Results are pending final analysis and sharing with the broader aerospace community. Uncertainty exists regarding the complete droplet size spectrum due to the need to compare large and small probe measurements.

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