Aircraft List
The NASA Airborne Science Program aircraft list provides unique NASA aircraft and commercial aircraft that benefit the earth science community. These manned and unmanned aircraft carry the sensors that provide data to support and augment NASA spaceborne missions.
Reminder: All investigators with approved or pending proposals from the Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) announcements that have a requirement for a NASA Airborne Science platform/instrument, must submit a Flight Request. The Flight Request is also the method to acquire an estimate if your proposal requires a cost estimate for Airborne Science support. However, for investigators proposing to participate on large, multi- aircraft experiments, such as the ROSES 2011: South East Asia Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling Regional Studies (SEAC4RS), a single Flight Request will be submitted for each mission by the project scientist or project manager. The Science Operations Flight Request System (SOFRS) can be reached directly at http://airbornescience.nasa.gov/sofrs.
For all "Commercial" aircraft, in addition to filing a Flight Request, investigators are responsible for contacting vendors to determine if the platform meets the requirements of the proposed scientific investigation. It is the responsibility of the investigator to ensure that before any preliminary test flights or actual data collection flights utilizing NASA personnel, instruments or funds occur, all vendors successfully complete a NASA airworthiness/flight safety review in accordance with NASA Aviation Safety Policy for Non-NASA Aircraft.
WB-57
The NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas is the home of the NASA WB-57 High Altitude Research Program. Two fully operational WB-57 aircraft are based near JSC at Ellington Field. Both aircraft have been flying research mission from Ellington Field since the early-1970's, and continue to be an asset to the scientific community with professional, reliable, customer-oriented service designed to meet all scientific objectives.
The WB-57 is a mid-wing, long-range aircraft capable of operation for extended periods of time from sea level to altitudes well in excess of 60,000 feet. Two crew members are positioned at separate tandem stations in the forward section of the fuselage. The pilot station contains all the essential equipment for flying the aircraft while the sensor operator station contains both navigational equipment and controls for the operation of the payloads that are located throughout the aircraft. The WB-57 can fly for approximately 6.5 hours and has a range of approximately 2500 miles.
Owner/Operator:
NASA - JSC
Type:
Conventional Aircraft
Duration:
6 hours (payload and weather dependent)
Useful Payload:
6,000 lbs
Gross Take-off Weight:
63,000 lbs
Onboard Operators:
2 (including pilot)
Max Altitude:
60,000 ft and above (payload dependent)
Air Speed:
410 knots
Range:
2,500 Nmi
Power:
110V/60Hz AC, 110V/400Hz AC, and 28 VDC
Point(s) of Contact:
-
Images
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