A Gulfstream G-III takes off Friday, March 27, 2026, from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The G-III will join other NASA aircraft to capture imagery of the Orion spacecraft’s heat shield during Artemis II reentry. The mission is part of NASA’s Scientifically Calibrated In-Flight Imagery (SCIFLI) project, based at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits in a run stall during sunrise on Tuesday, March 20, 2026, near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, ahead of its second flight.

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits in a run stall during sunrise on Tuesday, March 20, 2026, near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, ahead of its second flight.

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits in a run stall during sunrise on Tuesday, March 20, 2026, near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, ahead of its second flight.

F-15 aircraft crew chief Zack Burke, left, and X-59 mechanic Jamie Trescott, center back, splash buckets of ice water on NASA aerial photographer Carla Thomas in celebration of her 1,000th flight at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Monday, April 20, 2026. Tim Krall, NASA Armstrong support aircraft fleet manager, watches. Thomas completed her flight in the backseat of a NASA F-15 aircraft flown by NASA Armstrong chief pilot Wayne Ringelberg. For 38 years, Thomas has captured aerial photographs of research and science flights.

NASA aerial photographer Carla Thomas waves from the backseat of a NASA F-15 aircraft as chief pilot Wayne Ringelberg taxis following Thomas’ 1,000th flight at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Monday, April 20, 2026. For 38 years, Thomas has captured aerial photographs of research and science flights.