NASA Aircraft and Missions

Various NASA aircraft involved in space missions and training, highlighting space exploration technology and scientific advances.

IL-96-400 VIP airliner of the Russian Federal Security Service taxiing.

X-34 Attached to L-1011

A crowd files aboard the KC-10A Extender aircraft that was just delivered here by Douglas Aircraft Company. Base: Barksdale Air Force Base State: Louisiana (LA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

An-124 Ruslan transport airplane, Zhukovsky, Russia.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On the runway at the Shuttle Landing Facility, or SLF, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Shuttle Training Aircraft is ready for takeoff. STS-125 Commander Scott Altman and Pilot Gregory C. Johnson are practicing shuttle landings on the SLF runway in preparation for their launch on space shuttle Atlantis, scheduled for 2:01 p.m. EDT on May 11. On Atlantis STS-125 mission, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope will be serviced for the fifth and final time. The flight will include five spacewalks during which astronauts will refurbish and upgrade the telescope with state-of-the-art science instruments. As a result, Hubble's capabilities will be expanded and its operational lifespan extended through at least 2014.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft parks near the mate/demate device at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida.The aircraft, known as an SCA, arrived at 5:35 p.m. EDT to prepare for shuttle Discoverys ferry flight to the Washington Dulles International Airport in Sterling, Va., on April 17. This SCA, designated NASA 905, is a modified Boeing 747 jet airliner, originally manufactured for commercial use. One of two SCAs employed over the course of the Space Shuttle Program, NASA 905 is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. NASA 911 was decommissioned at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in California in February. Discovery will be placed on permanent public display in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

An Orbital ATK L-1011 Stargazer aircraft carrying a Pegasus XL Rocket with eight NASA Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS, spacecraft takes off from the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. With the aircraft flying off shore, the Pegasus rocket will be released. Five seconds later, the solid propellant engine will ignite and boost the eight hurricane observatories to orbit. The eight CYGNSS satellites will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes.

Northrop Grumman's L-1011 Stargazer is ready for takeoff Oct. 19, 2018, from the hot pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The company's Pegasus XL rocket, containing NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON), is attached beneath the aircraft. The Pegasus XL rocket will launch from the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. ICON will study the frontier of space - the dynamic zone high in Earth's atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above. The explorer will help determine the physics of Earth's space environment and pave the way for mitigating its effects on our technology and communications systems.

Vintage Argosy cargo aircraft, Woodbourne, Blenheim, Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand.

NASA's Super Guppy aircraft has arrived on the tarmac at the Shuttle Landing Facility, managed and operated by Space Florida, at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Orion service module structural test article for Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), built by the European Space Agency, will be loaded into the Guppy for shipment to Lockheed Martin's Denver facility to undergo testing. The Orion spacecraft will launch atop the agency's Space Launch System rocket on EM-1 in 2019.

Germany, Rheinland-Pfalz, Speyer,Technik Museum Speyer, Russian Antonov AN-22, jumbo cargo aircraft

DF-SC-85-11588. Base: Edwards Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A NASA C-9 Pathfinder” DC-9 takes off from the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of space shuttle Discovery, which is bolted to the top of a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. The craft are set to begin their 3 1/2 hour ferry flight to the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia at about 7 a.m. EDT. The Pathfinder will fly about 100 miles ahead of the attached pair, making sure the flight path is free of harmful weather or hazardous conditions. Discovery is leaving Kennedy after more than 28 years of service beginning with its arrival on the space coast Nov. 9, 1983. Discovery first launched to space Aug. 30, 1984, on the STS-41D mission. Discovery is the agency's most-flown shuttle with 39 missions, more than 148 million miles and a total of one year in space. Discovery is set to move to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center on April 19 where it will be placed on public display.

South African Airways aeroplane Douglas DC-4 1009 ZS-BMH at Limpopo Valley Airfield. Northern Tuli Game Reserve. Botswana

DN-SC-87-10225. Country: Unknown

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, is readied for mating with the space shuttle Discovery at the Shuttle Landing Facility, or SLF, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida.This SCA, designated NASA 905, is a Boeing 747 jet originally manufactured for commercial use, which was modified by NASA to transport the shuttles between destinations on Earth. NASA 905 is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. Discoverys new home will be the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

DN-ST-86-11180. Country: Unknown

Douglas C117 'super gooneybird' at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona. The civilian version was the DC 3

Observation aircraft A319 OH Open Skies of the German Armed Forces, 22. 06. 2005. ILA International Aerospace Exhibition Berlin, Schoenefeld, Brandenburg, Germany, Europe

Thousands of NASA Ames employees and their families toured NASA's SOFIA flying observatory during its first visit to NASA Ames Research Center, Jan. 14, 2008.

An air-to-air left side view of a Soviet Tu-95 Bear aircraft. Country: Unknown

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii (Jan. 28, 2022) - A C-40 aircraft assigned to Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VR) 61 prepares to transport water flushing samples to U.S. mainland testing facilities. The Interagency Drinking Water System Team is a joint initiative where the U.S. Navy is working closely with the Hawaii Department of Health, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army to restore safe drinking water to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam housing communities through sampling and flushing.

Barbed Wire Airplane Old Airplane Behind Barbed Wire Copyright: xZoonar.com/MarkoxBericx 15700247

An-30 surveillance aircrafts of the Russian Air Force at their parking positions, Kubinka, Russia.

A right side view of a KC-10A Extender aircraft refueling an F-4D Phantom II aircraft while in flight above the clouds. State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

PISTA CON AVIONES DE DISTINTAS LINEAS AEREAS:AIR FRANCE Y AIR INDIA. Location: AEROPUERTO. ORLY. France.

Middle East, United Arab Emirates, Emirate of Sharjah. Disused Umm al Quwain Airport. Russian Airplane Cargo Ilyushin IL 76

A Tu-214VPU command aircraft of the Russian Federal Security Service in flight.

A three quarter front view of a McDonnell Douglas-built C-9A Nightingale aircraft from the 375th Airlift Wing, Air Mobility Command inflight near it's home base. Base: Scott Air Force Base State: Illinois (IL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Observation aircraft A319 OH Open Skies of the German Armed Forces, 22. 06. 2005. ILA International Aerospace Exhibition Berlin, Schoenefeld, Brandenburg, Germany, Europe

Ulyanovsk Aircraft Museum, Ulyanovsk, Russia, Europe

A Fokker F27M-300 Troopship in the painting of the United Nations.

TWA Constellation at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.

View of airplane in sky

in crains austalia little popular plane parking in the airport

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Final checkouts are being completed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as preparations continue for the launch from the L-1011 carrier aircraft of the Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus XL rocket with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, solar observatory.Scheduled for launch from Vandenberg on June 26, 2013, IRIS will open a new window of discovery by tracing the flow of energy and plasma through the chromospheres and transition region into the suns corona using spectrometry and imaging. The IRIS mission will observe how solar material moves, gathers energy and heats up as it travels through a largely unexplored region of the solar atmosphere. The interface region, located between the sun's visible surface and upper atmosphere, is where most of the sun's ultraviolet emission is generated. These emissions impact the near-Earth space environment and Earth's climate.

1970s BOEING 727 AIRPLANE PLANE FLYING TRANSPORTATION COMMERCIAL AVIATION AIR TRAVEL

Aircrafts - HU-25 Guardian - 26-HK-55-35. HU-25s on ramp2. Hurricane Katrina

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Technicians and engineers at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California mate the Pegasus XL rocket with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, solar observatory to the Orbital Sciences L-1011 carrier aircraft.Scheduled for launch from Vandenberg on June 26, 2013, IRIS will open a new window of discovery by tracing the flow of energy and plasma through the chromospheres and transition region into the suns corona using spectrometry and imaging. The IRIS mission will observe how solar material moves, gathers energy and heats up as it travels through a largely unexplored region of the solar atmosphere. The interface region, located between the sun's visible surface and upper atmosphere, is where most of the sun's ultraviolet emission is generated. These emissions impact the near-Earth space environment and Earth's climate.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - A photographer (left) captures the moment after the shipping container holding the OSTM/Jason-2 satellite has been offloaded from the cargo plane at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The satellite will be taken to the Astrotech processing facility. The OSTM, or Ocean Topography Mission, on the Jason-2 satellite is a follow-on to Jason-1. It will take oceanographic studies of sea surface height into an operational mode for continued climate forecasting research and science and industrial applications. This satellite altimetry data will help determine ocean circulation, climate change and sea-level rise. OSTM is a joint effort by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, Frances Centre National dEtudes Spatiales and the European Meteorological Satellite Organisation. OSTM/Jason-2 will be launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7320 from Vandenberg on June 15.

Air to air side view of Air Mobility Command's 375th Military Airlift Wing's C-9 Nightingale aeromed evacuation aircraft flying over the Mississippi River and past the landmark, St. Louis Arch during a training mission from Scott AFB, Illinois. Exact Date Shot Unknown. Country: Unknown

An-72 transport aircraft of the Russian security service at an airport in Russia.

Spectators observe the arrival of the Space Shuttle orbiter and its specially-modified 747 transport aircraft at Koln-Bonn Airport. The Enterprise is at the airport for five days prior to going to the Paris Air Show. Country: Deutschland / Germany (DEU)

990216-F-5544L-002. Base: Peterson Air Force Base State: Colorado (CO) Country: United States Of America (USA)

A Convair UC-880 aircraft, the only such aircraft in U.S. Navy service, prepares to conduct an aerial refueling. The Convair is assigned to Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, and is employed in Tomahawk cruise missile testing and refueling aircraft procedures. Country: Unknown

T&R Enterprise Demated from SCA

A left front view of a Philippine Air Force F-5 Tiger II aircraft on the flight line during the air combat training exercise COPE THUNDER '83-1. Subject Operation/Series: COPE THUNDER '83-1 Base: Clark Air Base State: Luzon Country: Philippines (PHL)

Katrina Operations - Venice, Louisiana - 26-HK-361-172. Hurricane Katrina

A P-3C Orion aircraft of Patrol Squadron 30 (VP-30), a Fleet Reserve Squadron (FRS), about to land on runway 090 during pilot training. Base: Naval Air Station, Jacksonville State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

With this Fokker F-28 Fellowship of the state of the Netherlands, H.K.H. Koningin Beatrix and Z.K.H. Prince Claus at Airport Eelde to visit the city of Groningen on Queen's Day 1982.

DF-ST-86-09702. Base: Paris Country: France (FRA)

050116-F-4177H-001. Base: Katunayake Country: Sri Lanka (LKA)

A Tu-154M military transport aircraft of the Russian Air Force landing, Russia.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --- A crew hatch access vehicle is positioned against space shuttle Endeavour on Runway 15 at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility at the end of the STS-123 mission, a 16-day flight to the International Space Station. The vehicle provides a "white room" in which a physician performs a brief preliminary medical examination of the crew members before they leave the shuttle. This was the 16th night landing at Kennedy. The main landing gear touched down at 8:39:08 p.m. EDT. The nose landing gear touched down at 8:39:17 p.m. and wheel stop was at 8:40:41 p.m. The mission completed nearly 6.6 million miles. The landing was on the second opportunity after the first was waved off due to unstable weather in the Kennedy Space Center area. The STS-123 mission delivered the first segment of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, known as Dextre.

ETIHAD 777 Landing at Toronto Pearson

Boeing 747 in flight

Madrid, Spain, Europe, Another Niki aircraft stands on the runway, ready for take-off, Europe

A Boeing 747 commercial aircraft of Kuwait Airways stands on the flight line beside a C-141B Starlifter aircraft. Base: Andrews Air Force Base State: Maryland (MD) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Departure Aircraft Swiss, Boeing 777-300ER, HB-JNG, Zurich Kloten, Switzerland, Europe

Australia, State of Queensland, Archerfield. Mig 15 Fighter Jet on a pedestal at the Brisbane Fighter Museum.

An air-launched cruise missile sits on its trailer. Base: Eglin Air Force Base State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Close-up of an airplane at an airport

Operation Zephyr - 26-HK-154-23. Images from Lt. Williams. Hurricane Katrina

The crew of a ski-equipped LC-130 Hercules from the New York National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing takes off July 28, 2010, from a remote science research site on Greenland's ice sheet. The 109th Airlift Wing is the only military unit in the world to fly such aircraft and has flown missions to Greenland since 1975. The unit now provides airlift support to the National Science Foundation's polar research program there. (Department of Defense photo/Fred W. Baker III)

Tu-154M-LK-1 observation airplane of Russian Air Force.

Victorville, United States - 28 March 2025: Aerial view of numerous grounded FedEx airplanes creating a stark contrast against the arid desert landscape.

SOFIA (Stratospheric Ovservatory for Infrared Astronomy) visit to Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA landing and taxi to tower

The Antonov 124 cargo aircraft, carrying the United Launch Alliance booster for NASAs Mars Perseverance rover, taxis off the runway at the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida on May 18, 2020. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch in mid-July atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Pad 41 at CCAFS. The rover is part of NASAs Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

A left side view of a C-141 Starlifter aircraft from the 437th Military Airlift Wing, Military Airlift Command, moving down the runway during takeoff. The C-141B is making a flight to Honduras in support of the joint United States/Honduran exercise AHUAS TARA (BIG PINE). Subject Operation/Series: AHUAS TARA (BIG PINE) Base: Howard Air Force Base Country: Panama (PAN)

Sint Maarten. Philipsburg, Air Lekkerbek Restaurant inside of antique airliner

ABC Islands, CURACAO, Willemstad/ Steenwijk: Air Curacao Cafe in the fuselage of old passenger airplane

Members of the launch team for NASAs Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) gather for a joyous group photo in front of the Northrop Grumman L-1011 Stargazer aircraft carrying the Pegasus XL rocket at the Skid Strip at Floridas Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Nov. 10, 2019. Hours later, the rocket containing ICON air-launched from beneath the aircraft off the coast of Daytona Beach. ICON will study the frontier of space - the dynamic zone high in Earth's atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above. The explorer will help determine the physics of Earth's space environment and pave the way for mitigating its effects on our technology, communications systems and society.

DC-8 NASA 717 in flight over San Francisco, Ca

Japan Air Transport Label, Aviation

A medium close up view of a aircraft hangar building displaying the sing of the 174TH Fighter Wing (FW), New York Air National Guard, with a city bus that advertises the Air National Guard program, and a F-16C Falcon aircraft from the 174th Fighter Wing parked in front of the building. Base: Syracuse State: New York (NY) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Art from McDonnell Douglas National Aerospace Plane (NASP) Md Donnell Douglas MD-2001 (artist Horonzak)

Aloha Airlines in one of the two major airlines connecting the islands, October 1973.

U.S. Navy Blue Angels visit Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, December 6, 2022 in preparation for Tinker AFB's air show July 1-2, 2023.

USSR - CIRCA 1969: A stamp printed by USSR shows Soviet Eight-Engine Aircraft ANT-20 Maxim Gorky, circa 1969 USSR - CIRCA 1969: A stamp printed by USSR shows Soviet Eight-Engine Aircraft ANT-20 Maxim Gorky, series, circa 1969 Copyright: xZoonar.com/OlgaxPopovax 3416990

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