School buses used to be built on top of a regular truck chassis. But transporting many passengers, especially small children, puts very different demands on a vehicle. Determined to make a safer, more comfortable ride to school, one manufacturer turned to NASA, relying on three different design tools — including the NASTRAN structural analysis software — to create a bus chassis. Nearly three decades later, millions of children ride in their buses every day.
A computer-aided engineering program created at NASA in the 1960s remains at the cutting edge of its field, both in the internal workings of newer programs and as an industry standard in its own right. The NASA engineer who championed NASTRAN’s creation wanted a general-purpose program applicable well beyond spacecraft design. Products from cars to printers to oil platforms to steam turbines have been designed with its help.
Learn more about how NASA helped develop technology that impacts car chassis and brake systems within your city's automotive environment!