Scientists presented the first images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory [SDO] during a special "first light" press conference, Wednesday, April 21 2010, at held at the Newseum in Washington DC.

NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center DC-8 taking off from Building 703 in Palmdale, CA for the Student Airborne Research Program flights on December 7, 2021.

NASA Student Airborne Research Program students, mentors and faculty pose in front of NASA’s DC-8 on December 7, 2021 at Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703.

NASA Student Airborne Research Program students, mentors and faculty pose in front of NASA's DC-8 on December 7, 2021 at Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703.

NASA's DC-8 in flight for the NASA Student Airborne Research Project (SARP) to measure aerosols with the Langley Aerosol Research Group Experiment (LARGE) instrument with the Cavity Attenuated Phase Shift (CAPS) PMex Monitor (Particle Optical Extinction).

A group of university students and mentors flew aboard NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s DC-8 aircraft to study air quality as part of NASA’s Student Airborne Research Program (SARP). Based at NASA’s Armstrong Building 703 in Palmdale, California, the DC-8 flew over the Central Valley to measure pollution and monitor air quality on Tuesday, June 21, 2022.

NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA) DC-8 deployment to Cape Verde, Sal island, Africa

Guests at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC prepare for a Tweetup on July 21, 2009. Nearly 200 of NASA’s Twitter followers are in attendance, which features a presentation and a question and answer session with the crew of the STS-125 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. Photo Credit: (Carla Cioffi)

Guests at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC prepare for a Tweetup on July 21, 2009. Nearly 200 of NASA’s Twitter followers are in attendance, which features a presentation and a question and answer session with the crew of the STS-125 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. Photo Credit: (Carla Cioffi)

Scientists presented the first images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory [SDO] during a special "first light" press conference, Wednesday, April 21 2010, at held at the Newseum in Washington DC. Credit: NASA/GSFC

Jupiter, left, and Saturn, right, are seen after sunset from Washington, DC, Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020. The two planets are now slowly separating from each other in the sky, after appearing a tenth of a degree apart during the "great conjunction" on December 21. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Jupiter, left, and Saturn, right, are seen during the “great conjunction” where the two planets appear a tenth of a degree apart from one another, Monday, Dec. 21, 2020, from Washington, DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Scientists presented the first images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory [SDO] during a special "first light" press conference, Wednesday, April 21 2010, at held at the Newseum in Washington DC. Here, scientists are showing an animation from Walt Feimer, lead animator for the Heliophysics team. Credit: NASA/GSFC

From left to right, Ukraine Deputy Minister of Economy, Ihor Fomenko, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Ambassador of Ukraine, Her Excellency Oksana Markarova, and Deputy Chairman of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Volodymyr Mikheiev, pose for a photo after Nelson and Mikheiev signed a joint statement on civil space cooperation between NASA and the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Friday April 21, 2023 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left, and Deputy Chairman of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Volodymyr Mikheiev, sign a joint statement on civil space cooperation between NASA and the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Friday April 21, 2023 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Sea ice is seen out the window of NASA's DC-8 research aircraft as it flies 2,000 feet above the Bellingshausen Sea in West Antarctica on Wednesday, Oct., 21, 2009. This was the fourth science flight of NASA’s Operation Ice Bridge airborne Earth science mission to study Antarctic ice sheets, sea ice, and ice shelves. Photo Credit: (NASA/Jane Peterson)

NASA's Orion spacecraft that flew Exploration Flight Test-1 on Dec. 5, 2014 is seen as it arrives at the White House complex, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, began manufacturing the Orion crew module in 2011 and delivered it in July 2012 to NASA's Kennedy Space Center where final assembly, integration and testing was completed. More than 1,000 companies across the country manufactured or contributed elements to the spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA's Orion spacecraft that flew Exploration Flight Test-1 on Dec. 5, 2014 is seen as it arrives at the White House complex, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, began manufacturing the Orion crew module in 2011 and delivered it in July 2012 to NASA's Kennedy Space Center where final assembly, integration and testing was completed. More than 1,000 companies across the country manufactured or contributed elements to the spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left, and Deputy Chairman of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Volodymyr Mikheiev, display their signed joint statements on civil space cooperation between NASA and the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Friday April 21, 2023 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

An iceberg is seen out the window of NASA's DC-8 research aircraft as it flies 2,000 feet above the Amundsen Sea in West Antarctica on Wednesday, Oct., 21, 2009. This was the fourth science flight of NASA’s Operation Ice Bridge airborne Earth science mission to study Antarctic ice sheets, sea ice, and ice shelves. Photo Credit: (NASA/Jane Peterson)

NASA's Orion spacecraft that flew Exploration Flight Test-1 on Dec. 5, 2014 is seen as it arrives at the White House complex, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, began manufacturing the Orion crew module in 2011 and delivered it in July 2012 to NASA's Kennedy Space Center where final assembly, integration and testing was completed. More than 1,000 companies across the country manufactured or contributed elements to the spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA's Orion spacecraft that flew Exploration Flight Test-1 on Dec. 5, 2014 is seen as it arrives at the White House complex, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, began manufacturing the Orion crew module in 2011 and delivered it in July 2012 to NASA's Kennedy Space Center where final assembly, integration and testing was completed. More than 1,000 companies across the country manufactured or contributed elements to the spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

From left to right, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Ambassador of Ukraine, Her Excellency Oksana Markarova, and Deputy Chairman of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Volodymyr Mikheiev, pose for a photo after Nelson and Mikheiev signed a joint statement on civil space cooperation between NASA and the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Friday April 21, 2023 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left, and Deputy Chairman of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Volodymyr Mikheiev, sign a joint statement on civil space cooperation between NASA and the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Friday April 21, 2023 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left shows Ambassador of Ukraine, Her Excellency Oksana Markarova, second from right, and Deputy Chairman of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Volodymyr Mikheiev, right, some of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) images before signing a joint statement on civil space cooperation between NASA and the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Friday April 21, 2023 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

The Moon, left, Saturn, upper right, and Jupiter, lower right, are seen after sunset from Washington, DC, Thurs. Dec. 17, 2020. The two planets are drawing closer to each other in the sky as they head towards a “great conjunction” on December 21, where the two giant planets will appear a tenth of a degree apart. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA's Orion spacecraft that flew Exploration Flight Test-1 on Dec. 5, 2014 is seen as it arrives at the White House complex, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, began manufacturing the Orion crew module in 2011 and delivered it in July 2012 to NASA's Kennedy Space Center where final assembly, integration and testing was completed. More than 1,000 companies across the country manufactured or contributed elements to the spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left, shakes hands with Deputy Chairman of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Volodymyr Mikheiev, while Ambassador of Ukraine, Her Excellency Oksana Markarova looks on, after a joint statement on civil space cooperation between NASA and the State Space Agency of Ukraine was signed, Friday April 21, 2023 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA's Orion spacecraft that flew Exploration Flight Test-1 on Dec. 5, 2014 is seen as it arrives at the White House complex, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, began manufacturing the Orion crew module in 2011 and delivered it in July 2012 to NASA's Kennedy Space Center where final assembly, integration and testing was completed. More than 1,000 companies across the country manufactured or contributed elements to the spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

An unidentified student speaks with astronauts aboard the Internatiional Space Station (ISS) via downlink during an event at the U.S. Department of Education, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009, in Washington. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan hosted Washington area middle and high school students Thursday for a live discussion with astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The event was part of the 10th annual celebration of International Education Week. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

Expedition 20 Flight Engineers Jeff Williams, left, and Nicole Stott, seen on screen, are asked a question by a NASA Twitter follower, right, during a question and answer session at a live Tweetup event at NASA Headquarters in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Students speak with astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) via downlink during an event at the U.S. Department of Education, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009, in Washington. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan hosted Washington area middle and high school students Thursday for a live discussion with astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The event was part of the 10th annual celebration of International Education Week. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

Students speak with astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) via downlink during an event at the U.S. Department of Education, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009, in Washington. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan hosted Washington area middle and high school students Thursday for a live discussion with astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The event was part of the 10th annual celebration of International Education Week. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

Expedition 20 Flight Engineers Jeff Williams, left, and Nicole Stott are seen during a live broadcast from the International Space Station (ISS) as they answer questions from NASA Twitter followers at NASA Headquarters in Washington, on what it is like to live and work in space, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Expedition 20 Flight Engineers Jeff Williams, left, and Nicole Stott, seen on screen, are asked a question by a NASA Twitter follower, center, during a question and answer session at a live Tweetup event at NASA Headquarters in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

NASA's Orion spacecraft that flew Exploration Flight Test-1 on Dec. 5, 2014 is seen after being uncovered in preparation for being moved onto the White House complex, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, began manufacturing the Orion crew module in 2011 and delivered it in July 2012 to NASA's Kennedy Space Center where final assembly, integration and testing was completed. More than 1,000 companies across the country manufactured or contributed elements to the spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA's Orion spacecraft that flew Exploration Flight Test-1 on Dec. 5, 2014 is seen while being moved into position to be lifted over a gate and onto the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, began manufacturing the Orion crew module in 2011 and delivered it in July 2012 to NASA's Kennedy Space Center where final assembly, integration and testing was completed. More than 1,000 companies across the country manufactured or contributed elements to the spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA's Orion spacecraft that flew Exploration Flight Test-1 on Dec. 5, 2014 is seen while being lifted over a gate and onto the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, began manufacturing the Orion crew module in 2011 and delivered it in July 2012 to NASA's Kennedy Space Center where final assembly, integration and testing was completed. More than 1,000 companies across the country manufactured or contributed elements to the spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left shows Ambassador of Ukraine, Her Excellency Oksana Markarova, second from left, Ukraine Deputy Minister of Economy, Ihor Fomenko, third from left, Deputy Chairman of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Volodymyr Mikheiev, right, and Embassy of Ukraine’s Chief of Staff, Denys Sienik, a model in his office before signing a joint statement on civil space cooperation between NASA and the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Friday April 21, 2023 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left greets Ambassador of Ukraine, Her Excellency Oksana Markarova, right, Deputy Chairman of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Volodymyr Mikheiev, second from right, Ukraine Deputy Minister of Economy, Ihor Fomenko, not pictured, and Embassy of Ukraine’s Chief of Staff, Denys Sienik, before signing a joint statement on civil space cooperation between NASA and the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Friday April 21, 2023 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left shows Ambassador of Ukraine, Her Excellency Oksana Markarova, second from left, Ukraine Deputy Minister of Economy, Ihor Fomenko, third from left, and Deputy Chairman of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Volodymyr Mikheiev, right, a model of the Space Launch System (SLS) before signing a joint statement on civil space cooperation between NASA and the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Friday April 21, 2023 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA's Orion spacecraft that flew Exploration Flight Test-1 on Dec. 5, 2014 is seen while being lifted over a gate and onto the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, began manufacturing the Orion crew module in 2011 and delivered it in July 2012 to NASA's Kennedy Space Center where final assembly, integration and testing was completed. More than 1,000 companies across the country manufactured or contributed elements to the spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA's Orion spacecraft that flew Exploration Flight Test-1 on Dec. 5, 2014 is seen in front of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, began manufacturing the Orion crew module in 2011 and delivered it in July 2012 to NASA's Kennedy Space Center where final assembly, integration and testing was completed. More than 1,000 companies across the country manufactured or contributed elements to the spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA's Orion spacecraft that flew Exploration Flight Test-1 on Dec. 5, 2014 is seen as it is lifted over a gate onto the White House complex, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, began manufacturing the Orion crew module in 2011 and delivered it in July 2012 to NASA's Kennedy Space Center where final assembly, integration and testing was completed. More than 1,000 companies across the country manufactured or contributed elements to the spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA's Orion spacecraft that flew Exploration Flight Test-1 on Dec. 5, 2014 is seen as it is lifted over a gate onto the White House complex, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, began manufacturing the Orion crew module in 2011 and delivered it in July 2012 to NASA's Kennedy Space Center where final assembly, integration and testing was completed. More than 1,000 companies across the country manufactured or contributed elements to the spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA's Orion spacecraft that flew Exploration Flight Test-1 on Dec. 5, 2014 is seen in front of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, began manufacturing the Orion crew module in 2011 and delivered it in July 2012 to NASA's Kennedy Space Center where final assembly, integration and testing was completed. More than 1,000 companies across the country manufactured or contributed elements to the spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Space Shuttle Orbiters: From its establishment in 1958, NASA studied aspects of reusable launch vehicles and spacecraft that could return to earth. On January 5, 1972, President Richard Nixon announced that the United States would develop the space shuttle, a delta-winged orbiter about the size of a DC-9 aircraft. Between the first launch on April 12, 1981, and the final landing on July 21, 2011, NASA's space shuttle fleet -- Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour – launched on 135 missions, helped construct the International Space Station and inspired generations. Poster designed by Kennedy Space Center Graphics Department/Greg Lee. Credit: NASA

NASA's Orion spacecraft that flew Exploration Flight Test-1 on Dec. 5, 2014 is seen while being lifted over a gate and onto the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, began manufacturing the Orion crew module in 2011 and delivered it in July 2012 to NASA's Kennedy Space Center where final assembly, integration and testing was completed. More than 1,000 companies across the country manufactured or contributed elements to the spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA's Orion spacecraft that flew Exploration Flight Test-1 on Dec. 5, 2014 is seen after being uncovered in preparation for being moved onto the White House complex, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, began manufacturing the Orion crew module in 2011 and delivered it in July 2012 to NASA's Kennedy Space Center where final assembly, integration and testing was completed. More than 1,000 companies across the country manufactured or contributed elements to the spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

A NASA team studying the causes of electrical storms and their effects on our home planet achieved a milestone on August 21, 2002, completing the study's longest-duration research flight and monitoring four thunderstorms in succession. Based at the Naval Air Station Key West, Florida, researchers with the Altus Cumulus Electrification Study (ACES) used the Altus II remotely-piloted aircraft to study thunderstorms in the Atlantic Ocean off Key West and the west of the Everglades. Data obtained through sensors mounted to the aircraft will allow researchers in ACES to gauge elements such as lightning activity and the electrical environment in and around storms. By learning more about individual storms, scientists hope to better understand the global water and energy cycle, as well as climate variability. Contained in one portion of the aircraft is a three-axis magnetic search coil, which measures the AC magnetic field; a three-axis electric field change sensor; an accelerometer; and a three-axis magnetometer, which measures the DC magnetic field. With dual goals of gathering weather data safely and testing the adaptability of the uninhabited aircraft, the ACES study is a collaboration among the Marshall Space Flight Center, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Pernsylvania State University in University Park, and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.

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.

NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory lifts off the runway at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., on its first flight in the ARCTAS atmospheric science mission.

Climate researchers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and several universities install and perform functional checkouts of a variety of sensitive atmospheric instruments on NASA's DC-8 airborne laboratory prior to beginning the ARCTAS mission.

Climate researchers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and several universities install and perform functional checkouts of a variety of sensitive atmospheric instruments on NASA's DC-8 airborne laboratory prior to beginning the ARCTAS mission.

Climate researchers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and several universities install and perform functional checkouts of a variety of sensitive atmospheric instruments on NASA's DC-8 airborne laboratory prior to beginning the ARCTAS mission.

Climate researchers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and several universities install and perform functional checkouts of a variety of sensitive atmospheric instruments on NASA's DC-8 airborne laboratory prior to beginning the ARCTAS mission.

Climate researchers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and several universities install and perform functional checkouts of a variety of sensitive atmospheric instruments on NASA's DC-8 airborne laboratory prior to beginning the ARCTAS mission.

Climate researchers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and several universities install and perform functional checkouts of a variety of sensitive atmospheric instruments on NASA's DC-8 airborne laboratory prior to beginning the ARCTAS mission.