Airborne Science Program

NASA's Airborne Science Program is administered from the NASA Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center, in Edwards, California. The program supports the sub-orbital flight requirements of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. Dryden maintains and operates two ER-2 high-altitude "satellite simulator" aircraft and a DC-8 which is specially configured as a "flying laboratory".

ER-2 #709 takes off from NASA Dryden

The scientific disciplines that employ these aircraft include Earth sciences, astronomy, atmospheric chemistry, climatology, oceanography, archeology, ecology, forestry, geography, geology, hydrology, meteorology, volcanology and biology. The DC-8 and ER-2 are also important tools for the development of sensors intended to fly aboard future Earth-observing satellites, and to validate and calibrate the sensors which are used onboard satellites which currently orbit the Earth.

NASA research aircraft types operated

Present
Aircraft Number in service Introduced Research Center
McDonnell Douglas DC-8 1 1987 Armstrong Flight Research Center
Lockheed ER-2 2 1981 Armstrong Flight Research Center
Gulfstream C-20A 1 2008 Armstrong Flight Research Center
Gulfstream III 1 2012 Johnson Space Center
Gulfstream III 1 2012 Langley Research Center
Gulfstream V 1 2012 Johnson Space Center
Lockheed P-3 Orion 1 1991 Wallops Flight Facility

See also

References
    • "NASA Airborne Science Program". NASA. Archived from the original on 29 September 2005. Retrieved October 18, 2005.
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