NASA Aircraft

Armstrong Flight Research Center
Advanced Air Vehicles Program
Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate
Aeronautics Technology
Ames Research Center
Commercial Supersonic Technology
Glenn Research Center
High-Speed Flight
Integrated Aviation Systems Program
Langley Research Center
Low Boom Flight Demonstrator
NASA Aircraft
Quesst (X-59)
Quesst: The Vehicle
Supersonic Flight
NASA’s X-59 experimental aircraft is preparing for its second flight, a step that will set the pace for more flight testing in 2026.  Over the coming months, NASA will take the quiet supersonic jet faster and higher, while validating safety and performance, a process known as envelope expansion.  NASA test pilot Jim “Clue” Less will be at the X-59’
Posted March 17, 2026
Armstrong Flight Research Center
Aeronautics
Flight Innovation
NASA Aircraft
NASA History
Nestled in the Mojave Desert, NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, pushes the boundaries of flight to advance the agency’s aeronautics mission. This is where Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier and engineers are now pioneering the future of high-speed, autonomous, and electrified aircraft.
Posted February 27, 2026
Aeronautics
Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate
Armstrong Flight Research Center
Integrated Aviation Systems Program
Low Boom Flight Demonstrator
NASA Aircraft
Quesst (X-59)
Supersonic Flight
As NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft continues a series of flight tests over the California high desert in 2026, its pilot will be flying with a buddy closely looking out for his safety.  That colleague will be another test pilot in a separate chase aircraft. His job as chase pilot: keep a careful watch on things as he tracks the […]
Posted January 20, 2026
Armstrong Flight Research Center
Aeronautics
Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate
Commercial Supersonic Technology
Integrated Aviation Systems Program
Langley Research Center
Low Boom Flight Demonstrator
NASA Aircraft
Quesst (X-59)
Quesst: The Vehicle
Supersonic Flight
After years of design, development, and testing, NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft took to the skies for the first time Oct. 28, marking a historic moment for the field of aeronautics research and the agency’s Quesst mission. The X-59, designed to fly at supersonic speeds and reduce the sound of loud sonic booms to […]
Posted November 20, 2025
Langley Research Center
B200
General
Goddard Space Flight Center
Heliophysics
Heliophysics Division
Modeling
NASA Aircraft
Radiation
Science & Research
Science in the Air
Science Mission Directorate
Space Weather
Recent airborne science flights to Greenland are improving NASA’s understanding of space weather by measuring radiation exposure to air travelers and validating global radiation maps used in flight path planning.
Posted September 26, 2025
Earth Science
Earth
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
NASA Aircraft
NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey have been mapping the planets since Apollo. One team is searching closer to home for minerals critical to national security and the economy. If not for the Joshua trees, the tan hills of Cuprite, Nevada, would resemble Mars. Scalded and chemically altered by water from deep underground, the rocks […]
Posted July 10, 2025
Earth
Applied Sciences Program
Earth Science Division
Ellington Field
Floods
General
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Johnson Space Center
NASA Aircraft
NASA Headquarters
Science Mission Directorate
WB-57
In response to recent flooding near Kerrville, Texas, NASA deployed two aircraft to assist state and local authorities in ongoing recovery operations.
Posted July 9, 2025
NASA History
Aeronautics
NASA Aircraft
The X-15 hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft, built by North American Aviation (NAA), greatly expanded our knowledge of flight at speeds exceeding Mach 6 and altitudes above 250,000 feet. A joint project among NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Navy, the X-15’s first powered flight took place on Sept. 17, 1959, at the Flight Research […]
Posted September 17, 2024
Armstrong Flight Research Center
NASA Aircraft
Science in the Air
Science Mission Directorate
In June 2024, a new tail number swept the sky above NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Pilots conducted flights of a Gulfstream IV (G-IV) to evaluate its handling characteristics and to familiarize pilots with it before it begins structural modifications.
Posted August 29, 2024
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