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Above the deserts of Southern California in 1947, the American rocket powered X-1 experimental aircraft broke the sound barrier.

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It signaled the future of aviation and opened a new chapter in the history of flight.

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An important part of the X-1 team came from the NACA's Langley Aeronautical Laboratory in Virginia.

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This group of research engineers and test pilots founded the NACA's High-Speed Flight Research Station west of the Mojave Desert,

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which became NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center.

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Armstrong has been home to the design and testing of experimental aircraft since the sound barrier was broken.

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Whether taking the X-15 to the edge of space, or testing the concepts that allowed

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the space shuttle to land back on Earth, going to space and returning has always required flight testing in the atmosphere.

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The NACA's legacy lives on today at NASA's research centers.

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After more than 100 years since its establishment in 1915, the NACA's creativity and pursuit of the fundamental challenges of flight

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in the skies above and the space beyond, remind us, that the first “A” in NASA is aeronautics.