Aircraft

Throughout its history, NASA has used several different types of aircraft on a permanent, semi-permanent, or short-term basis. These aircraft are usually surplus (or in a few cases new-built) military aircraft. Included among these are:

• B-57 Canberra. Two Martin WB-57Fs are currently operating from Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center as high altitude research platforms for atmospheric research and Space Shuttle monitoring.
• Boeing 747. Two 747s, one registered N905NA (which is a 747-100 model that was acquired from American Airlines in 1974) and a second registered N911NA (a 747-100SR model purchased from Japan Airlines in 1988) are currently used by NASA as Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Another Boeing 747 (a 747SP model purchased from United Airlines in 1996) is in use since 2007 as SOFIA.
• C-141 Starlifter. In the early 1960s a single C-141A was procured by NASA for use as a heavy transport aircraft. The C-141A Kuiper Airborne Observatory, was operated from 1974 to 1995.
• C-5 Galaxy. Two specially designed C-5Cs were procured by NASA for use as a heavy transport aircraft and flown by USAF crews.
• C-9 Skytrain II. One ex-USN C-9B was taken in hand in 2005 to replace the famous KC-135s used in NASA's Reduced Gravity Research Program.
• Convair 990. Nicknamed Galileo, it was used as an airborne laboratory for research in aeronautics, astronautics, astronomy, and earth observations. The Galileo I aircraft perished in a mid-air collision in 1973. The Galileo II continued service into the 1980s.
• F-104 Starfighter. Three F-104Gs delivered to NASA in 1963 for use as high speed chase aircraft and redesignated F-104N. One of these aircraft, piloted by Joe Walker, collided with the XB-70 Valkyrie experimental bomber on June 8, 1966, killing Walker. NASA retired its last F-104 in 1995.
• F-106 Delta Dart. From 1986 a handful of F-106As, redesignated QF-106A, were retained by NASA for test purposes, the last being retired in 1998.
• F-15 Eagle. One modified ex-USAF F-15, the F-15S/MTD, has been in use as a technology demonstrator and technology research aircraft since 1993, being used in the ACTIVE (1993-1999) and IFCS (2002-) programs.
• F-16 Fighting Falcon. From 1988 until 1999, 2 prototypes of the F-16XL, designed as a competitor to the F-15E Strike Eagle in the USAF's Enhanced Tactical Fighter program, were taken in hand by NASA for aeronautical research.
• F-8 Crusader. Several F-8Cs were used by NASA in the early 1970s to test such features as Digital Fly-By-Wire Control System and supercritical wings, which have become standard on modern high performance military aircraft.
• KC-135 Stratotanker. Two ex-USAF KC-135As (designated N930NA and N931NA) were used by NASA from 1973 to 2004 for the Reduced Gravity Research Program, where potential astronauts are exposed to simulated near-weightlessness. It were these aircraft that collectively gained the name Vomit Comet.
• Paresev. The Paresev program included the Paresev 1B designed by Charles Richard and flown by eight pilots was a hanging-pilot glider; the ornamental lines of the wing of the Paresev 1B along with influence from the Fleep and other related actions and patents by Francis M. Rogallo gave foundation to the large hang gliders, ultralight trikes, and ultralight aircraft developments from 1960 forward; in count, this development has been outnumbering all other manned aircraft in the world.
• P-3 Orion. NASA currently uses the P-3 as an earth-science suborbital research platform and is located at Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.
• SR-71 Blackbird. Two SR-71Bs were used as trainers by NASA between 1991 and 1999.
• T-38 Talon. A number of T-38As have been used by NASA as jet trainers for its astronauts since the 1960s. NASA's T-38 fleet is housed primarily at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas.
• U-2 "Dragon Lady". Two U-2s have been modified to the ER-2 (Earth Resources -2) standard and are currently in use at Dryden Flight Research Center for use in various high altitude research projects.
• North American X-15. Rocket plane which flew from 1959 to 1968. Conceived by NACA, three were built and explored the regime of hypersonic flight. It is often regarded as a direct predecessor to the Space Shuttle.
• Shuttle Training Aircraft - 4 Grumman Gulfstream II are used as advance trainers; they are stations at NASA Forward Operating Location in El Paso, Texas and rotated through Ellington Field (southeast of Houston, Texas).