NASA's DC-8 airborne science laboratory is shadowed by a NASA F/A-18 chase plane during a flyover of the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif.
NASA's DC-8 airborne science laboratory is shadowed by a NASA F/A-18 chase plane during a flyover of the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif.
NASA's modified DC-8 now carries the name of the late Edwin W. Lewis below its cockpit window, a tribute to his 18 years piloting the unique science laboratory.
Michael Griffin addresses the media during his first press conference as NASA Administrator, Monday, April 18, 2005, at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Renee Bouchard)
Michael Griffin addresses the media during his first press conference as NASA Administrator, Monday, April 18, 2005, at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Renee Bouchard)
Michael Griffin addresses the media during his first press conference as NASA Administrator, Monday, April 18, 2005, at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Renee Bouchard)
Michael Griffin addresses the media during his first press conference as NASA Administrator, Monday, April 18, 2005, at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Renee Bouchard)
Michael Griffin addresses the media during his first press conference as NASA Administrator, Monday, April 18, 2005, at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Renee Bouchard)
Michael Griffin addresses the media during his first press conference as NASA Administrator, Monday, April 18, 2005, at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Renee Bouchard)
Kenneth Harris II, an engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, speaks with students about working in a clean room, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at Garfield Elementary School in Washington, DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Kenneth Harris II, an engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, is seen in a “bunny suit” as he speaks with students about working in a clean room, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at Garfield Elementary School in Washington, DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA) DC-8 deployment to Cape Verde, Sal island, Africa
S70-17646 (18 April 1970) --- An unidentified airline passenger snapped these bright objects, believed to be the Apollo 13 Service Module (SM) and Lunar Module (LM) as they entered Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean on April 18, 1970. The aircraft, an Air New Zealand DC-8 was midway between the Fiji Islands (Nandi Island to be specific) and Auckland, New Zealand, when the photograph was taken. The crew men of the problem plagued Apollo 13 mission jettisoned the LM and SM prior to entering Earth's atmosphere in the Apollo 13 Command Module (CM).
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy delivers remarks during a news conference on NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, DC. Through a Funded Space Act Agreement, The Boeing company and its industry team will collaborate with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Bob Pearce, associate administrator for NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, answers a question from a member of the media during a news conference on NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, DC. Through a Funded Space Act Agreement, The Boeing company and its industry team will collaborate with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson delivers remarks during a news conference on NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, DC. Through a Funded Space Act Agreement, The Boeing company and its industry team will collaborate with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson delivers remarks during a news conference on NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, DC. Through a Funded Space Act Agreement, The Boeing company and its industry team will collaborate with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy delivers remarks during a news conference on NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, DC. Through a Funded Space Act Agreement, The Boeing company and its industry team will collaborate with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
A model of an aircraft with a Transsonic Truss-Braced Wing is seen during a news conference on NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, DC. Through a Funded Space Act Agreement, The Boeing company and its industry team will collaborate with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Todd Citron, chief technology officer, The Boeing Company, answers a question from a member of the media during a news conference on NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, DC. Through a Funded Space Act Agreement, The Boeing company and its industry team will collaborate with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson holds a model of an aircraft with a Transonic Truss-Braced Wing during a news conference on NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, DC. Through a Funded Space Act Agreement, The Boeing company and its industry team will collaborate with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Bob Pearce, associate administrator for NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, delivers remarks during a news conference on NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, DC. Through a Funded Space Act Agreement, The Boeing company and its industry team will collaborate with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson holds a model of an aircraft with a Transonic Truss-Braced Wing during a news conference on NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, DC. Through a Funded Space Act Agreement, The Boeing company and its industry team will collaborate with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins speaks with students about his time aboard the International Space Station during the Crew-1 mission, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at Garfield Elementary School in Washington, DC. Hopkins and fellow NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi launched on the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program and spent 168 days in space across Expeditions 64 and 65. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA astronaut Shannon Walker speaks with students about her time aboard the International Space Station during the Crew-1 mission, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at Garfield Elementary School in Washington, DC. Walker and fellow NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi launched on the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program and spent 168 days in space across Expeditions 64 and 65. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA astronaut Victor Glover points to the Crew Dragon spacecraft on the Crew-1 mission patch as he speaks with students about his time aboard the International Space Station during the Crew-1 mission, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at Garfield Elementary School in Washington, DC. Glover and fellow NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Mike Hopkins, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi launched on the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program and spent 168 days in space across Expeditions 64 and 65. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left, Bob Pearce, associate administrator for NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, center, and Todd Citron, chief technology officer, The Boeing Company, right, are seen following a news conference on NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, DC. Through a Funded Space Act Agreement, The Boeing company and its industry team will collaborate with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins shows his crew’s “zero-G indicator” as he speaks with students about his time aboard the International Space Station during the Crew-1 mission, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at Garfield Elementary School in Washington, DC. Hopkins and fellow NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi launched on the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program and spent 168 days in space across Expeditions 64 and 65. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA astronaut Victor Glover speaks with students about his time aboard the International Space Station during the Crew-1 mission, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at Garfield Elementary School in Washington, DC. Glover and fellow NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Mike Hopkins, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi launched on the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program and spent 168 days in space across Expeditions 64 and 65. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Media Affairs Specialist, JPL, DC Agle, moderates a NASA Perseverance rover mission engineering and technology overview, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The Perseverance Mars rover is due to land on Mars Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
NASA astronaut Victor Glover speaks with students about his time aboard the International Space Station during the Crew-1 mission, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at Garfield Elementary School in Washington, DC. Glover and fellow NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Mike Hopkins, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi launched on the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program and spent 168 days in space across Expeditions 64 and 65. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Brent Cobleigh, program manager for the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, center, answers a question from a member of the media during a news conference along with NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, left, and Todd Citron, chief technology officer, The Boeing Company, right, on NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, DC. Through a Funded Space Act Agreement, The Boeing company and its industry team will collaborate with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA astronaut Shannon Walker is interviewed by the media during a visit to Garfield Elementary School with fellow NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Mike Hopkins, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, Washington, DC. Walker, Hopkins, Glover, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi launched on the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program and spent 168 days in space across Expeditions 64 and 65. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins speaks with students about his time aboard the International Space Station during the Crew-1 mission, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at Garfield Elementary School in Washington, DC. Hopkins and fellow NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi launched on the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program and spent 168 days in space across Expeditions 64 and 65. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA astronaut Shannon Walker speaks with students about her time aboard the International Space Station during the Crew-1 mission, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at Garfield Elementary School in Washington, DC. Walker and fellow NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi launched on the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program and spent 168 days in space across Expeditions 64 and 65. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Mark Pestana is a research pilot and project manager at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif. He is a pilot for the Beech B200 King Air, the T-34C and the Predator B. He flies the F-18 Hornet as a co-pilot and flight test engineer. Pestana has accumulated more than 4,000 hours of military and civilian flight experience. He was also a flight engineer on the NASA DC-8 flying laboratory. Pestana was the project manager and pilot for the Hi–rate Wireless Airborne Network Demonstration flown on the NASA B200 research aircraft. He flew B200 research missions for the X-38 Space Integrated Inertial Navigation Global Positioning System experiment. Pestana also participated in several deployments of the DC-8, including Earth science expeditions ranging from hurricane research over the Caribbean Sea to ozone studies over the North Pole, atmospheric chemistry over the South Pacific, rain forest health in Central America, Rocky Mountain ice pack assessment, and volcanic and tectonic activity around the Pacific Rim. He came to Dryden as a DC-8 mission manager in June 1998 from NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, where he served as the Earth and Space Science discipline manager for the International Space Station Program at Johnson. Pestana also served as a flight crew operations engineer in the Astronaut Office, developing the controls, displays, tools, crew accommodations and procedures for on-orbit assembly, test, and checkout of the International Space Station. He led the analysis and technical negotiations for modification of the Russian Soyuz spacecraft as an emergency crew return vehicle for space station crews. He joined the U.S. Air Force Reserve in 1991 and held various positions as a research and development engineer, intelligence analyst, and Delta II launch vehicle systems engineer. He retired from the U.S. Air Force Reserve with the rank of colonel in 2005. Prior to 1990, Pestana was on active duty with the U.S. Air Force as the director of mi
Jackie McGuinness, NASA’s Press Secretary, left, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Bob Pearce, associate administrator for NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, Brent Cobleigh, program manager for the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, and Todd Citron, chief technology officer, The Boeing Company, are seen as they take questions from members of the media during a news conference on NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, DC. Through a Funded Space Act Agreement, The Boeing company and its industry team will collaborate with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA astronauts Victor Glover, back left, Mike Hopkins, middle, and Shannon Walker, front right, speak with students about his time aboard the International Space Station, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at Ben’s Chili Bowl in Washington, DC. Students from Cardozo Educational Campus, Friendship Technology Preparatory High School, McKinley Technical High School, Phelps High School, and Wilson High School heard NASA astronauts Glover, Hopkins, and Walker speak about the Crew-1 mission, the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program and the 168 days they spent in space across Expeditions 64 and 65. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA astronaut Shannon Walker speaks with students from about his time aboard the International Space Station, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at Ben’s Chili Bowl in Washington, DC. Students from Cardozo Educational Campus, Friendship Technology Preparatory High School, McKinley Technical High School, Phelps High School, and Wilson High School heard NASA astronauts Walker, Mike Hopkins, and Victor Glover speak about the Crew-1 mission, the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program and the 168 days they spent in space across Expeditions 64 and 65. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins speaks with students about his time aboard the International Space Station, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at Ben’s Chili Bowl in Washington, DC. Students from Cardozo Educational Campus, Friendship Technology Preparatory High School, McKinley Technical High School, Phelps High School, and Wilson High School heard NASA astronauts Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker speak about the Crew-1 mission, the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program and the 168 days they spent in space across Expeditions 64 and 65. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Todd Citron, chief technology officer, The Boeing Company, left, delivers remarks during a news conference on NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project as NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, second from left, Bob Pearce, associate administrator for NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, and Brent Cobleigh, program manager for the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, look on, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, DC. Through a Funded Space Act Agreement, The Boeing company and its industry team will collaborate with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins speaks with students about his time aboard the International Space Station, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at Ben’s Chili Bowl in Washington, DC. Students from Cardozo Educational Campus, Friendship Technology Preparatory High School, McKinley Technical High School, Phelps High School, and Wilson High School heard NASA astronauts Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker speak about the Crew-1 mission, the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program and the 168 days they spent in space across Expeditions 64 and 65. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA astronaut Shannon Walker speaks with students from about his time aboard the International Space Station, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at Ben’s Chili Bowl in Washington, DC. Students from Cardozo Educational Campus, Friendship Technology Preparatory High School, McKinley Technical High School, Phelps High School, and Wilson High School heard NASA astronauts Walker, Mike Hopkins, and Victor Glover speak about the Crew-1 mission, the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program and the 168 days they spent in space across Expeditions 64 and 65. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins speaks with students about his time aboard the International Space Station, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at Ben’s Chili Bowl in Washington, DC. Students from Cardozo Educational Campus, Friendship Technology Preparatory High School, McKinley Technical High School, Phelps High School, and Wilson High School heard NASA astronauts Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker speak about the Crew-1 mission, the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program and the 168 days they spent in space across Expeditions 64 and 65. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA astronaut Victor Glover speaks with students about his time aboard the International Space Station, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at Ben’s Chili Bowl in Washington, DC. Students from Cardozo Educational Campus, Friendship Technology Preparatory High School, McKinley Technical High School, Phelps High School, and Wilson High School heard NASA astronauts Glover, Mike Hopkins, and Shannon Walker speak about the Crew-1 mission, the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program and the 168 days they spent in space across Expeditions 64 and 65. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, center, is seen with Bob Pearce, associate administrator for NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Todd Citron, chief technology officer, The Boeing Company, and Brent Cobleigh, program manager for the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, following a news conference on NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, DC. Through a Funded Space Act Agreement, The Boeing company and its industry team will collaborate with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Todd Citron, chief technology officer, The Boeing Company, left, delivers remarks during a news conference on NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project as NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, second from left, Bob Pearce, associate administrator for NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, and Brent Cobleigh, program manager for the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, look on, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, DC. Through a Funded Space Act Agreement, The Boeing company and its industry team will collaborate with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Craig R. Bomben became a pilot in the Flight Crew Branch of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., in June 2001. His flying duties include a variety of research and support activities while piloting the F/A-18, DC-8, T-34C and King Air aircraft. He has more than 17 years and 3,800 hours of military and civilian flight experience in over 50 different aircraft types. Bomben came to NASA Dryden from a U.S. Navy assignment to the Personnel Exchange Program, Canada. He served as a test pilot in the Canadian Armed Forces located in Cold Lake, Alberta. He participated in numerous developmental programs to include CT-133 airborne ejection seat testing, F/A-18 weapons flutter testing and F/A-18 night vision goggles integration. Bomben performed U.S. Navy fleet service in 1995 as a strike-fighter department head. He completed two overseas deployments onboard the USS George Washington and USS Stennis. As a combat strike leader, he headed numerous multi-national missions over Iraq in support of Operation Southern Watch. Bomben graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1992 and was subsequently assigned to the Naval Weapons Test Squadron at Pt. Mugu, Calif. During this tour he developed the F-14D bombsight and worked on various other F-14D and F/A-18 weapon systems developmental programs. Bomben is a 1985 graduate of Washington State University with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering. He graduated from naval flight training in 1987 and was recognized as a Commodore List graduate. His first assignment was to Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., where he was an instructor in the T-2B Buckeye. When selected to fly the F/A-18 in 1989, he joined a fleet squadron and deployed aboard the USS Forrestal. Bomben is married to the former Aissa Asuncion. They live in Lancaster, Calif., with their 3 children.
A close-up image of the crack spreading across the ice shelf of Pine Island Glacier shows the details of the boulder-like blocks of ice that fell into the rift when it split. For most of the 18-mile stretch of the crack that NASA’s DC-8 flew over on Oct. 26, 2011, it stretched about 240 feet wide, as roughly seen here. The deepest points ranged from about 165 to 190 feet, roughly equal to the top of the ice shelf down to sea level. Scientists expect the crack to propagate and the ice shelf to calve an iceberg of more than 300 square miles in the coming months. This image was captured by the Digital Mapping System (DMS) aboard the DC-8. Credit: NASA/DMS NASA's Operation IceBridge returns to a base camp of Punta Arenas, Chile for the third year of flights over Antarctica's changing sea ice, glaciers and ice sheets. NASA's DC-8, outfitted with seven remote-sensing instruments, and a Gulfstream 5 operated by the National Science Foundation and National Center for Atmospheric Research and outfitted with a high-altitude laser-ranging mapper, will fly from Chile over Antarctica in October and November. The mission is designed to record changes to Antarctica's ice sheets and give scientists insight into what is driving those changes. Follow the progress of the mission: Campaign News site: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/icebridge/index.html" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/icebridge/index.html</a> IceBridge blog: <a href="http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/newui/blog/viewpostlist.jsp?blogname=icebridge" rel="nofollow">blogs.nasa.gov/cm/newui/blog/viewpostlist.jsp?blogname=ic...</a> Twitter: @nasa_ice <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>
Richard G. (Dick) Ewers became a pilot in the Flight Crew Branch of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, in May 1998. His flying duties focus on operation of the Airborne Science DC-8 and Systems Research F/A-18 aircraft, but he also maintains qualifications in the King Air and T-34C. He has more than 32 years and nearly 9,000 hours of military and civilian flight experience in all types of aircraft from jet fighters to blimps. Ewers came to NASA Dryden from a position as an engineering test pilot with Northrop Grumman's Electronic Sensors and Systems Division (formerly Westinghouse's Electronic Systems Group). He spent eight and a half years with Westinghouse flight testing radar and forward looking infrared systems under development for military and civilian use. Before going to work for Westinghouse, Ewers served for more than 21 years as a U.S. Marine Corps fighter and test pilot, flying F-4, A-4, and F/A-18 aircraft. He underwent flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., in 1969-70. He was subsequently assigned to both fighter/attack and reconnaissance squadrons before ultimately commanding an F-4S squadron for two years. Additionally, his flying included combat service in Vietnam and operational exchange tours with both U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force squadrons flying F-4s around the world, including off aircraft carriers. Ewers graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1981 and subsequently served two tours as a test pilot at the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Md. Most of his flight test experience was with the F/A-18 Hornet. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1989 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Ewers graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1968 with a bachelor of science degree in engineering mechanics. He earned a master of science degree in aeronautical systems from the University of West Florida in 1970.
Edwin W. Lewis Jr. is a research pilot in the Airborne Science program, Flight Crew Branch, Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. He currently flies the DC-8, F/A-18, Lear Jet 24, King Air, and T-34C in support of Dryden's flight operations and is mentor pilot for the King Air and the Lear Jet. Prior to accepting this assignment Lewis was a pilot for eight years at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, flying 10 different aircraft C-130B, DC-8-72, UH-1, SH-3, King Air, Lear 24, T-38A, T-39G and YO-3A in support of NASA flight missions. Lewis also flew the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (a modified civilian version of the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter). He was project pilot for Ames' 747 and T-38 programs. Lewis was born in New York City on May 19, 1936, and began flight training as a Civil Air Patrol cadet in 1951, ultimately earning his commercial pilot's certificate in 1958. He received a bachelor of arts degree in biology from Hobart College, Geneva, N.Y., and entered the U.S. Air Force through the Reserve Officer Training Corps. Following pilot training he was assigned to Moody Air Force Base, Ga., as an instructor pilot, for both the T-33 and T-37 aircraft. He served in Vietnam in 1965 and 1966, where he was a forward air controller, instructor and standardization/evaluation pilot, flying more than 1,000 hours in the O-1 "Bird Dog." Lewis separated from the regular Air Force and joined Pan American World Airways and the 129th Air Commando Group, California Air National Guard (ANG) based in Hayward, California. During his 18-year career with the California ANG he flew the U-6, U-10, C-119, HC-130 aircraft and the HH-3 helicopter. He retired as commander, 129th Air Rescue and Recovery Group, a composite combat rescue group, in the grade of colonel. During his 22 years as an airline pilot, he flew the Boeing 707, 727 and 747. He took early retirement from Pan American in 1989 to become a pilot with NASA.
NASA's SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) satellite observatory conducted a field experiment as part of its soil moisture data product validation program in southern Arizona on Aug. 2-18, 2015. The images here represent the distribution of soil moisture over the SMAPVEX15 (SMAP Validation Experiment 2015) experiment domain, as measured by the Passive Active L-band System (PALS) developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, which was installed onboard a DC-3 aircraft operated by Airborne Imaging, Inc. Blue and green colors denote wet conditions and dry conditions are marked by red and orange. The black lines show the nominal flight path of PALS. The measurements show that on the first day, the domain surface was wet overall, but had mostly dried down by the second measurement day. On the third day, there was a mix of soil wetness. The heterogeneous soil moisture distribution over the domain is typical for the area during the North American Monsoon season and provides excellent conditions for SMAP soil moisture product validation and algorithm enhancement. The images are based on brightness temperature measured by the PALS instrument gridded on a grid with 0.6-mile (1-kilometer) pixel size. They do not yet compensate for surface characteristics, such as vegetation and topography. That work is currently in progress. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19879
“We did science fair projects in eighth grade. So my dad and I designed an experiment to look at what cooking oil is best for cooking popcorn. Now you go to science fairs and you see this experiment everywhere. But in 1989, it was like, ‘wow, a kid who knows the scientific method!’ “I made a lot of popcorn. My poor brothers had to eat it all. I measured volume popped and how many kernels were left unpopped. But I also measured the taste factor. For example, cooking popcorn in peanut oil actually has good yield but it doesn’t taste good. “In high school, I had this chemistry teacher named Carol Palmer. I’ll never forget her. The science fairs were really important to her. She had partnerships with laboratories in town, and through this program, I got to go to a stainless steel foundry. “Do you know what paper machines are like? Picture giant rolls, like the size of an 18-wheeler truckbed. This place made those things. This was the early 90s, so we were just starting to recycle paper. But the machines had begun falling apart because of all the corrosive chemicals added to the mix to remove ink. I was simulating that process in the laboratory through different experiments. And I won two years in a row at the state-level science fair: I won first prize in electrochemistry and I won first prize in chemistry. “It was all because of this teacher. And to be honest, I wouldn’t have known that materials science was a thing or that I should study it if I hadn’t had that opportunity. It really put me on course.” Kathleen Boggs, Systems and Technology Demonstration Manager in the International Space Station Division of the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, Thursday, March 5, 2020, at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Frank Batteas is a research test pilot in the Flight Crew Branch of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. He is currently a project pilot for the F/A-18 and C-17 flight research projects. In addition, his flying duties include operation of the DC-8 Flying Laboratory in the Airborne Science program, and piloting the B-52B launch aircraft, the King Air, and the T-34C support aircraft. Batteas has accumulated more than 4,700 hours of military and civilian flight experience in more than 40 different aircraft types. Batteas came to NASA Dryden in April 1998, following a career in the U.S. Air Force. His last assignment was at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, where Lieutenant Colonel Batteas led the B-2 Systems Test and Evaluation efforts for a two-year period. Batteas graduated from Class 88A of the Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards Air Force Base, California, in December 1988. He served more than five years as a test pilot for the Air Force's newest airlifter, the C-17, involved in nearly every phase of testing from flutter and high angle-of-attack tests to airdrop and air refueling envelope expansion. In the process, he achieved several C-17 firsts including the first day and night aerial refuelings, the first flight over the North Pole, and a payload-to-altitude world aviation record. As a KC-135 test pilot, he also was involved in aerial refueling certification tests on a number of other Air Force aircraft. Batteas received his commission as a second lieutenant in the U. S. Air Force through the Reserve Officer Training Corps and served initially as an engineer working on the Peacekeeper and Minuteman missile programs at the Ballistic Missile Office, Norton Air Force Base, Calif. After attending pilot training at Williams Air Force Base, Phoenix, Ariz., he flew operational flights in the KC-135 tanker aircraft and then was assigned to research flying at the 4950th Test Wing, Wright-Patterson. He flew extensively modified C-135
Former NASA astronaut C. Gordon Fullerton, seated in the cockpit of an F/A-18, is a research pilot at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif. Since transferring to Dryden in 1986, his assignments have included a variety of flight research and support activities piloting NASA's B-52 launch aircraft, the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), and other multi-engine and high performance aircraft. He flew a series of development air launches of the X-38 prototype Crew Return Vehicle and in the launches for the X-43A Hyper-X project. Fullerton also flies Dryden's DC-8 Airborne Science aircraft in support a variety of atmospheric physics, ground mapping and meteorology studies. Fullerton also was project pilot on the Propulsion Controlled Aircraft program, during which he successfully landed both a modified F-15 and an MD-11 transport with all control surfaces neutralized, using only engine thrust modulation for control. Fullerton also evaluated the flying qualities of the Russian Tu-144 supersonic transport during two flights in 1998, one of only two non-Russian pilots to fly that aircraft. With more than 15,000 hours of flying time, Fullerton has piloted 135 different types of aircraft in his career. As an astronaut, Fullerton served on the support crews for the Apollo 14, 15, 16, and 17 lunar missions. In 1977, Fullerton was on one of the two flight crews that piloted the Space Shuttle prototype Enterprise during the Approach and Landing Test Program at Dryden. Fullerton was the pilot on the STS-3 Space Shuttle orbital flight test mission in 1982, and commanded the STS-51F Spacelab 2 mission in 1985. He has logged 382 hours in space flight. In July 1988, he completed a 30-year career with the U.S. Air Force and retired as a colonel.
Lori Losey, an employee of Arcata Associates at Dryden, was honored with NASA's 2004 Videographer of the Year award for her work in two of the three categories in the NASA video competition, public affairs and documentation. In the public affairs category, Losey received a first-place citation for her footage of an Earth Science mission that was flown aboard NASA's DC-8 Flying Laboratory in South America last year. Her footage not only depicted the work of the scientists aboard the aircraft and on the ground, but she also obtained spectacular footage of flora and fauna in the mission's target area that helped communicate the environmental research goals of the project. Losey also took first place in the documentation category for her acquisition of technical videography of the X-45A Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle flight tests. The video, shot with a hand-held camera from the rear seat of a NASA F/A-18 mission support aircraft, demonstrated her capabilities in recording precise technical visual data in a very challenging airborne environment. The award was presented to Losey during a NASA reception at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas April 19. A three-judge panel evaluated entries for public affairs, documentation and production videography on professional excellence, technical quality, originality, creativity within restrictions of the project, and applicability to NASA and its mission. Entries consisted of a continuous video sequence or three views of the same subject for a maximum of three minutes duration. Linda Peters, Arcata Associates' Video Systems Supervisor at NASA Dryden, noted, "Lori is a talented videographer who has demonstrated extraordinary abilities with the many opportunities she has received in her career at NASA." Losey's award was the second major NASA video award won by members of the Dryden video team in two years. Steve Parcel took first place in the documentation category last year for his camera and editing
In May 2014, two new studies concluded that a section of the land-based West Antarctic ice sheet had reached a point of inevitable collapse. Meanwhile, fresh observations from September 2014 showed sea ice around Antarctica had reached its greatest extent since the late 1970s. To better understand such dynamic and dramatic differences in the region's land and sea ice, researchers are travelling south to Antarctica this month for the sixth campaign of NASA’s Operation IceBridge. The airborne campaign, which also flies each year over Greenland, makes annual surveys of the ice with instrumented research aircraft. Instruments range from lasers that map the elevation of the ice surface, radars that "see" below it, and downward looking cameras to provide a natural-color perspective. The Digital Mapping System (DMS) camera acquired the above photo during the mission’s first science flight on October 16, 2009. At the time of the image, the DC-8 aircraft was flying at an altitude of 515 meters (1,700 feet) over heavily compacted first-year sea ice along the edge of the Amundsen Sea. Since that first flight, much has been gleaned from IceBridge data. For example, images from an IceBridge flight in October 2011 revealed a massive crack running about 29 kilometers (18 miles) across the floating tongue of Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier. The crack ultimately led to a 725-square-kilometer (280-square-mile) iceberg. In 2012, IceBridge data was a key part of a new map of Antarctica called Bedmap2. By combining surface elevation, ice thickness, and bedrock topography, Bedmap2 gives a clearer picture of Antarctica from the ice surface down to the land surface. Discoveries have been made in Greenland, too, including the identification of a 740-kilometer-long (460-mile-long) mega canyon below the ice sheet. Repeated measurements of land and sea ice from aircraft extend the record of observations once made by NASA’s Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite, or ICESat, which stopped functioning in 2009. In addition to extending the ICESat record, IceBridge also sets the stage for ICESat-2, which is scheduled for launch in 2017. Credit: IceBridge DMS L0 Raw Imagery courtesy of the Digital Mapping System (DMS) team/NASA DAAC at the National Snow and Ice Data Center More info: <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84549" rel="nofollow">earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84549</a> <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84549" rel="nofollow">earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84549</a>