NASA Aerial Photographer Completes 1,000th Flight

The Orion parachute system enters another phase of its descent after an air launch from a C-17 aircraft on Wednesday, July 18, 2012. Photographers and videographers from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, and the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston documented a test version of the Orion during Capsule Parachute Assembly System project tests at the U.S. Army Proving Ground, near Yuma, Arizona.

Orion teams perform an Orion Capsule Parachute Assembly System (CPAS) drop test using the Parachute Test Vehicle (PTV) at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Yuma, Arizona on Dec. 20, 2012. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

CPAS PTV Drop 12-20-12

NASA Aerial Photographer Completes 1,000th Flight

The NASA SR-71 triple-supersonic aircraft carries the Linear Aerospike Experiment on Wednesday, March 4, 1998, during a flight from NASA’s Armstrong (then Dryden) Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Gaseous helium and liquid nitrogen cycled through the linear aerospike engine during the flight to check the engine’s plumbing system for leaks and to check the engine operating characteristics. Cold-flow tests must be accomplished successfully before firing the rocket engine experiment in flight.

NASA Aerial Photographer Completes 1,000th Flight

An instrumented mannequin ejects, with help of pyrotechnics, from a specially modified YF-4J drone at the Naval Warfare Center Weapons Division at China Lake, California, on Wednesday May 19, 1999. The test was the final flight in NASA’s ejection seat research, which began in 1995 at NASA’s Armstrong (then Dryden) Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The project was a collaboration between NASA, the Naval Warfare Center, and the Canada’s Department of National Defense.

NASA Aerial Photographer Completes 1,000th 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 Completes 1,000th Flight

Troy Asher, acting center director, presents NASA aerial photographer Carla Thomas with an award commemorating her 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. The milestone flight was completed in the backseat of a NASA F-15 aircraft piloted by NASA Armstrong chief pilot Wayne Ringelberg.

NASA Aerial Photographer Completes 1,000th Flight

NASA aerial photographer Carla Thomas captured this top-down view of the Space Shuttle Endeavor mounted on a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft from an inverted F/A-18 on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008, over the Mojave Desert in California. The shuttle, returning to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, landed at Edwards Air Force Base in Edwards, California, and was prepared nearby at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center for the return trip to Kennedy.

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.

NASA Aerial Photographer Completes 1,000th Flight