LiveScience Image Gallery

Unique Aircraft

NASA

SR-71 Over Snow Capped Mountains

Dryden's SR-71B, NASA 831, slices across the snowy southern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California after being refueled by an Air Force Flight Test Center tanker during a recent flight. Capable of flying more than 2200 mph and at altitudes of over 85,000 feet, they are excellent platforms for research and experiments in aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, thermal protection materials, atmospheric studies, and sonic boom characterization. Click to enlarge.
NASA

F-16XL Ship #2

This in-flight view of NASA's two-seat F-16XL #2 research aircraft clearly shows that the left and right wings are definitely not mirror images of each other. The unique aircraft flew 45 research missions over a 13-month period in the SLFC program which ended November of 1996. The project demonstrated that laminar or smooth airflow could be achieved over a major portion of a wing at supersonic speeds by use of a suction system. Click to enlarge.
NASA

1997 Dryden Research Aircraft Fleet on Ramp

A collection of NASA's research aircraft on the ramp at the Dryden Flight Research Center in July 1997: X-31, F-15 ACTIVE, SR-71, F-106, F-16XL Ship #2, X-38, and X-36. Click to enlarge.
NASA

F-15B with attached X-33 Thermal Protection System

The F-15B in flight with the X-33 Thermal protection System (TPS) fixture mounted under its fuselage. Click to enlarge.
NASA

Shuttle Atlantis returning to Kennedy Space Center

The Space Shuttle Atlantis atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) returns to the Kennedy Space Center after a ten month refurbishment. Click to enlarge.
NASA

Helios Prototype on Lakebed

The Helios Prototype is an enlarged version of the Centurion flying wing, which flew a series of test flights at Dryden in late 1998. The craft has a wingspan of 247 feet, 41 feet greater than the Centurion, 2 1/2 times that of its solar-powered Pathfinder flying wing and longer than either the Boeing 747 jetliner or Lockheed C-5 transport aircraft. Developed by AeroVironment, Inc., of Monrovia, Calif., the unique craft is intended to demonstrate two key missions: the ability to reach and sustain horizontal flight at 100,000 feet altitude on a single-day flight, and to maintain flight above 50,000 feet altitude for at least four days, both on electrical power derived from non-polluting solar energy. Click to enlarge.
NASA

Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE)

A NASA SR-71 successfully completed its first flight October 31, 1997 as part of the NASA/Rocketdyne/Lockheed Martin Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE) at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The SR-71 took off at 8:31 a.m. PST. The aircraft flew for one hour and fifty minutes, reaching a maximum speed of Mach 1.2 before landing at Edwards at 10:21 a.m. PST, successfully validating the SR-71/linear aerospike experiment configuration. Click to enlarge.
NASA

Perseus B Parked on Ramp

The long, slender wing of the Perseus B remotely piloted research aircraft can be clearly seen in this photo, taken on the ramp of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in September 1999. Perseus B is a remotely piloted aircraft developed as a design- performance testbed under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) project. Perseus is one of several flight vehicles involved in the ERAST project. Click to enlarge.
NASA

NASA Aircraft and Ice Program

The OV-1 Mohawk, built by Northrop Grumman, is used for an icing test program by NASA. Click to enlarge.
NASA

NASA JF-104A Starfighter

The NASA JF-104A Starfighter with a ventrally-mounted test fixture. Click to enlarge.
NASA

NASA F-8A Crusader Supercritical Wing Aircraft

A Vought F-8A Crusader was selected by NASA as the testbed aircraft (designated TF-8A) to install an experimental Supercritical Wing in place of the conventional wing. The unique design of the Supercritical Wing reduces the effect of shock waves on the upper surface near Mach 1, which in turn reduces drag. In this photograph a Vought F-8A Crusader is shown being used as a flying testbed for an experimental Supercritical Wing airfoil. The smooth fairing of the fiberglass glove with the wing is illustrated in this view. Click to enlarge.
NASA

Lunar Landing Research Vehicle in Flight

This 1964 NASA Flight Research Center photograph shows the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) Number 1 in flight at the South Base of Edwards Air Force Base. When Apollo planning was underway in 1960, NASA was looking for a simulator to profile the descent to the moon's surface. Three concepts emerged: an electronic simulator, a tethered device, and the ambitious Dryden contribution, a free-flying vehicle. All three became serious projects, but eventually the NASA Flight Research Center's (FRC) Landing Research Vehicle became the most important. Click to enlarge.
NASA

U-2 Spy Plane With Fictitious NASA Markings

After Francis Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union during a CIA spy flight on May 1. 1960, NASA issued a press release with a cover story about a U-2 conducting weather research that may have strayed off course after the pilot reported difficulties with his oxygen equipment. To bolster the cover-up, a U-2 was quickly painted in NASA markings, with a fictitious NASA serial number, and put on display for the news media at the NASA Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base on May 6, 1960. The NASA cover story quickly blew up in the agency's face when both Gary Powers and aircraft wreckage were displayed by the Soviet Union, proving that it was a reconnaissance aircraft. This caused embarrassment for several top NASA officials. Click to enlarge.
NASA

Paresev 1-A on Lakebed with Tow Plane

The Paresev 1-A (Paraglider Research Vehicle) and the tow airplane, 450-hp Stearman Sport Biplane sitting on Rogers dry lakebed, Edwards, California. The control system in the Paresev 1-A had a more conventional control stick position and was cable-operated. The main landing gear used shocks and bungees with the 150-square-foot wing membrane being made of 6-ounce unsealed Dacron. Click to enlarge.
NASA

Vought VE-7 Aircraft With Model Wing Suspended

Active aircraft biplane, NACA 29-38131, with model wing suspended during flight. Click to enlarge.
NASA

First Powered, Controlled Flight

On December 17, 1903, at 10:30 am at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, this airplane arose for a few seconds to make the first powered, heavier-than-air controlled flight in history. The first flight lasted 12 seconds and flew a distance of 120 feet. Orville Wright piloted the historic flight while his brother, Wilbur, observed. The brothers took three other flights that day, each flight lasting longer than the other with the final flight going a distance of 852 feet in 59 seconds. This flight was the culmination of a number of years of research on gliders. Click to enlarge.
CREDIT: Michael J. Laine/LiftPort

Mike Melvill waves to the crowd

SpaceShipOne pilot Mike Melvill waves to onlookers after becoming the first civilian astronaut to reach space in a civilian spacecraft. SpaceShipOne reached suborbital space 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth. Click to enlarge.
NASA

SR-71 Over Snow Capped Mountains

Dryden's SR-71B, NASA 831, slices across the snowy southern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California after being refueled by an Air Force Flight Test Center tanker during a recent flight. Capable of flying more than 2200 mph and at altitudes of over 85,000 feet, they are excellent platforms for research and experiments in aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, thermal protection materials, atmospheric studies, and sonic boom characterization. Click to enlarge.
NASA

F-16XL Ship #2

This in-flight view of NASA's two-seat F-16XL #2 research aircraft clearly shows that the left and right wings are definitely not mirror images of each other. The unique aircraft flew 45 research missions over a 13-month period in the SLFC program which ended November of 1996. The project demonstrated that laminar or smooth airflow could be achieved over a major portion of a wing at supersonic speeds by use of a suction system. Click to enlarge.
NASA

1997 Dryden Research Aircraft Fleet on Ramp

A collection of NASA's research aircraft on the ramp at the Dryden Flight Research Center in July 1997: X-31, F-15 ACTIVE, SR-71, F-106, F-16XL Ship #2, X-38, and X-36. Click to enlarge.
NASA

F-15B with attached X-33 Thermal Protection System

The F-15B in flight with the X-33 Thermal protection System (TPS) fixture mounted under its fuselage. Click to enlarge.
NASA

Shuttle Atlantis returning to Kennedy Space Center

The Space Shuttle Atlantis atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) returns to the Kennedy Space Center after a ten month refurbishment. Click to enlarge.
NASA

Helios Prototype on Lakebed

The Helios Prototype is an enlarged version of the Centurion flying wing, which flew a series of test flights at Dryden in late 1998. The craft has a wingspan of 247 feet, 41 feet greater than the Centurion, 2 1/2 times that of its solar-powered Pathfinder flying wing and longer than either the Boeing 747 jetliner or Lockheed C-5 transport aircraft. Developed by AeroVironment, Inc., of Monrovia, Calif., the unique craft is intended to demonstrate two key missions: the ability to reach and sustain horizontal flight at 100,000 feet altitude on a single-day flight, and to maintain flight above 50,000 feet altitude for at least four days, both on electrical power derived from non-polluting solar energy. Click to enlarge.
NASA

Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE)

A NASA SR-71 successfully completed its first flight October 31, 1997 as part of the NASA/Rocketdyne/Lockheed Martin Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE) at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The SR-71 took off at 8:31 a.m. PST. The aircraft flew for one hour and fifty minutes, reaching a maximum speed of Mach 1.2 before landing at Edwards at 10:21 a.m. PST, successfully validating the SR-71/linear aerospike experiment configuration. Click to enlarge.
NASA

Perseus B Parked on Ramp

The long, slender wing of the Perseus B remotely piloted research aircraft can be clearly seen in this photo, taken on the ramp of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in September 1999. Perseus B is a remotely piloted aircraft developed as a design- performance testbed under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) project. Perseus is one of several flight vehicles involved in the ERAST project. Click to enlarge.
NASA

NASA Aircraft and Ice Program

The OV-1 Mohawk, built by Northrop Grumman, is used for an icing test program by NASA. Click to enlarge.
NASA

NASA JF-104A Starfighter

The NASA JF-104A Starfighter with a ventrally-mounted test fixture. Click to enlarge.
NASA

NASA F-8A Crusader Supercritical Wing Aircraft

A Vought F-8A Crusader was selected by NASA as the testbed aircraft (designated TF-8A) to install an experimental Supercritical Wing in place of the conventional wing. The unique design of the Supercritical Wing reduces the effect of shock waves on the upper surface near Mach 1, which in turn reduces drag. In this photograph a Vought F-8A Crusader is shown being used as a flying testbed for an experimental Supercritical Wing airfoil. The smooth fairing of the fiberglass glove with the wing is illustrated in this view. Click to enlarge.
NASA

Lunar Landing Research Vehicle in Flight

This 1964 NASA Flight Research Center photograph shows the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) Number 1 in flight at the South Base of Edwards Air Force Base. When Apollo planning was underway in 1960, NASA was looking for a simulator to profile the descent to the moon's surface. Three concepts emerged: an electronic simulator, a tethered device, and the ambitious Dryden contribution, a free-flying vehicle. All three became serious projects, but eventually the NASA Flight Research Center's (FRC) Landing Research Vehicle became the most important. Click to enlarge.
NASA

U-2 Spy Plane With Fictitious NASA Markings

After Francis Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union during a CIA spy flight on May 1. 1960, NASA issued a press release with a cover story about a U-2 conducting weather research that may have strayed off course after the pilot reported difficulties with his oxygen equipment. To bolster the cover-up, a U-2 was quickly painted in NASA markings, with a fictitious NASA serial number, and put on display for the news media at the NASA Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base on May 6, 1960. The NASA cover story quickly blew up in the agency's face when both Gary Powers and aircraft wreckage were displayed by the Soviet Union, proving that it was a reconnaissance aircraft. This caused embarrassment for several top NASA officials. Click to enlarge.
NASA

Paresev 1-A on Lakebed with Tow Plane

The Paresev 1-A (Paraglider Research Vehicle) and the tow airplane, 450-hp Stearman Sport Biplane sitting on Rogers dry lakebed, Edwards, California. The control system in the Paresev 1-A had a more conventional control stick position and was cable-operated. The main landing gear used shocks and bungees with the 150-square-foot wing membrane being made of 6-ounce unsealed Dacron. Click to enlarge.
NASA

Vought VE-7 Aircraft With Model Wing Suspended

Active aircraft biplane, NACA 29-38131, with model wing suspended during flight. Click to enlarge.
NASA

First Powered, Controlled Flight

On December 17, 1903, at 10:30 am at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, this airplane arose for a few seconds to make the first powered, heavier-than-air controlled flight in history. The first flight lasted 12 seconds and flew a distance of 120 feet. Orville Wright piloted the historic flight while his brother, Wilbur, observed. The brothers took three other flights that day, each flight lasting longer than the other with the final flight going a distance of 852 feet in 59 seconds. This flight was the culmination of a number of years of research on gliders. Click to enlarge.
CREDIT: Michael J. Laine/LiftPort

Mike Melvill waves to the crowd

SpaceShipOne pilot Mike Melvill waves to onlookers after becoming the first civilian astronaut to reach space in a civilian spacecraft. SpaceShipOne reached suborbital space 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth. Click to enlarge.