After flying more than three decades and 158 science campaigns, just one flight remains. NASA’s DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory will make its final flight May 15 to Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho, where it will be used to train future aircraft technicians by providing real-world experience in the college’s Aircraft Maintenance Technology Program. Before … Read more
NASA’s DC-8 aircraft – the world’s largest flying science laboratory – began its science missions in 1987 and since then, has flown in service of the science community over places like Antarctica, Greenland, and Thailand. Aircraft like the DC-8 have enabled scientists to ask questions about life on Earth and explore them in a way … Read more
After 37 years of successful airborne science missions, NASA’s DC-8 aircraft completed its final mission and returned to the agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California, on April 1. The DC-8 and crew were welcomed back with a celebratory water salute by the U.S Air Force Plant 42 Fire Department after completing … Read more
During an event at NASA Headquarters in Washington Thursday, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra united to note progress their respective agencies are making in space and on Earth toward President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative. “We go to space not … Read more
NASA and international researchers are studying the air quality in Asia as part of a global effort to better understand the air we breathe. In collaboration with Korea’s National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER), the Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality, or ASIA-AQ mission, will collect detailed atmospheric data over several locations in … Read more
Contrails, the lines of clouds left by high-flying aircraft that crisscross the skies, are familiar sights, but they may have an unseen effect on the planet – trapping heat in the atmosphere. Working with Boeing, United Airlines, and other industry, government, and international partners, NASA researchers are collecting data to see how new, greener aviation … Read more
Based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., Joe Piotrowski is the lead operations engineer for the King Air and C-20A aircraft. He ensures the aircraft are safe to fly, overseeing everything from installing instruments to actual flight. Beyond monitoring aircraft maintenance, he determines which modifications the planes need for science experiments, and … Read more