ER-2 Starlink Thermal Imagery: Fork Fire, Lake County, CA (Clear Lake) Annotated

ER-2 Starlink Thermal Imagery: Fork Fire, Lake County, CA (Clear Lake)

Moffett Federal Air Field, NASA Ames Research Center and Silicon Valley image from ER-2, 04387 FR#9904 (March 11, 1992) IR (Infrered) image.

Moffett Federal Air Field, NASA Ames Research Center and Silicon Valley image from ER-2, 04387 FR#9904 (March 11, 1992) IR (Infrered) image.

ER-2 tail number 806, is one of two Airborne Science ER-2s used as science platforms by Dryden. The aircraft are platforms for a variety of high-altitude science missions flown over various parts of the world. They are also used for earth science and atmospheric sensor research and development, satellite calibration and data validation. The ER-2s are capable of carrying a maximum payload of 2,600 pounds of experiments in a nose bay, the main equipment bay behind the cockpit, two wing-mounted superpods and small underbody and trailing edges. Most ER-2 missions last about six hours with ranges of about 2,200 nautical miles. The aircraft typically fly at altitudes above 65,000 feet. On November 19, 1998, the ER-2 set a world record for medium weight aircraft reaching an altitude of 68,700 feet. The aircraft is 63 feet long, with a wingspan of 104 feet. The top of the vertical tail is 16 feet above ground when the aircraft is on the bicycle-type landing gear. Cruising speeds are 410 knots, or 467 miles per hour, at altitude. A single General Electric F-118 turbofan engine rated at 17,000 pounds thrust powers the ER-2.

ER-2 tail number 806, is one of two Airborne Science ER-2s used as science platforms by Dryden. The aircraft are platforms for a variety of high-altitude science missions flown over various parts of the world. They are also used for earth science and atmospheric sensor research and development, satellite calibration and data validation. The ER-2s are capable of carrying a maximum payload of 2,600 pounds of experiments in a nose bay, the main equipment bay behind the cockpit, two wing-mounted superpods and small underbody and trailing edges. Most ER-2 missions last about six hours with ranges of about 2,200 nautical miles. The aircraft typically fly at altitudes above 65,000 feet. On November 19, 1998, the ER-2 set a world record for medium weight aircraft reaching an altitude of 68,700 feet. The aircraft is 63 feet long, with a wingspan of 104 feet. The top of the vertical tail is 16 feet above ground when the aircraft is on the bicycle-type landing gear. Cruising speeds are 410 knots, or 467 miles per hour, at altitude. A single General Electric F-118 turbofan engine rated at 17,000 pounds thrust powers the ER-2.

ER-2 tail number 806, is one of two Airborne Science ER-2s used as science platforms by Dryden. The aircraft are platforms for a variety of high-altitude science missions flown over various parts of the world. They are also used for earth science and atmospheric sensor research and development, satellite calibration and data validation. The ER-2s are capable of carrying a maximum payload of 2,600 pounds of experiments in a nose bay, the main equipment bay behind the cockpit, two wing-mounted superpods and small underbody and trailing edges. Most ER-2 missions last about six hours with ranges of about 2,200 nautical miles. The aircraft typically fly at altitudes above 65,000 feet. On November 19, 1998, the ER-2 set a world record for medium weight aircraft reaching an altitude of 68,700 feet. The aircraft is 63 feet long, with a wingspan of 104 feet. The top of the vertical tail is 16 feet above ground when the aircraft is on the bicycle-type landing gear. Cruising speeds are 410 knots, or 467 miles per hour, at altitude. A single General Electric F-118 turbofan engine rated at 17,000 pounds thrust powers the ER-2.

ER-2 tail number 706, was one of two Airborne Science ER-2s used as science platforms by Dryden. The aircraft were platforms for a variety of high-altitude science missions flown over various parts of the world. They were also used for earth science and atmospheric sensor research and development, satellite calibration and data validation.

James Barrilleaux is the assistant chief pilot for ER-2s in the Flight Crew Branch of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The ER-2s--civilian variants of the military U-2S reconnaissance aircraft--are part of NASA's Airborne Science program. The ER-2s can carry airborne scientific payloads of up to 2,600 pounds to altitudes of about 70,000 feet to investigate such matters as earth resources, celestial phenomena, atmospheric chemistry and dynamics, and oceanic processes. Barrilleaux has held his current position since February 1998. Barrilleaux joined NASA in 1986 as a U-2/ER-2 pilot with NASA's Airborne Science program at Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California. He flew both the U-2C (until 1989) and the ER-2 on a wide variety of missions both domestic and international. Barrilleaux flew high-altitude operations over Antarctica in which scientific instruments aboard the ER-2 defined the cause of ozone depletion over the continent, known as the ozone hole. He has also flown the ER-2 over the North Pole. Barrilleaux served for 20 years in the U.S. Air Force before he joined NASA. He completed pilot training at Reese Air Force Base, Lubbock, Texas, in 1966. He flew 120 combat missions as a F-4 fighter pilot over Laos and North Vietnam in 1970 and 1971. He joined the U-2 program in 1974, becoming the commander of an overseas U-2 operation in 1982. In 1983, he became commander of the squadron responsible for training all U-2 pilots and SR-71 crews located at Beale Air Force Base, Marysville, California. He retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel in 1986. On active duty, he flew the U-2, F-4 Phantom, the T-38, T-37, and the T-33. His decorations included two Distinguished Flying Crosses, 12 Air Medals, two Meritorious Service Medals, and other Air Force and South Vietnamese awards. Barrilleaux earned a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, in 1964 and a master of science

Lockheed ER-2 #809 cockpit

ER-2 tail number 706, was one of two Airborne Science ER-2s used as science platforms by Dryden. The aircraft were platforms for a variety of high-altitude science missions flown over various parts of the world. They were also used for earth science and atmospheric sensor research and development, satellite calibration and data validation.

ER-2 tail number 709, was one of two Airborne Science ER-2s used as science platforms by Dryden. The aircraft were platforms for a variety of high-altitude science missions flown over various parts of the world. They were also used for earth science and atmospheric sensor research and development, satellite calibration and data validation.

NASA's ER-2 and SOFIA at Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California.

NASA’s ER-2 No. 806 returns to flying high-altitude on April 7, 2022, after three years of heavy maintenance. NASA Armstrong operates two ER-2 aircraft to collect information about Earth resources, celestial observations, atmospheric chemistry and dynamics, and oceanic processes.

NASA’s ER-2 No. 806 returns to flying high-altitude on April 7, 2022, after three years of heavy maintenance. NASA Armstrong operates two ER-2 aircraft to collect information about Earth resources, celestial observations, atmospheric chemistry and dynamics, and oceanic processes.

NASA's ER-2 No. 806 returns to flying high-altitude on April 7, 2022, after three years of heavy maintenance. NASA Armstrong operates two ER-2 aircraft to collect information about Earth resources, celestial observations, atmospheric chemistry and dynamics, and oceanic processes.

Hector Rosas works on fabricating a part for the ER-2 instrumentation panel.

Eric Nisbet works on a part for the ER-2 instrument panel.

Herman Escobar works on a part for the ER-2 instrument panel.

ER-2 tail number 709, was one of two Airborne Science ER-2s used as science platforms by Dryden. The aircraft were platforms for a variety of high-altitude science missions flown over various parts of the world. They were also used for earth science and atmospheric sensor research and development, satellite calibration and data validation.

ER-2 tail number 709, was one of two Airborne Science ER-2s used as science platforms by Dryden. The aircraft were platforms for a variety of high-altitude science missions flown over various parts of the world. They were also used for earth science and atmospheric sensor research and development, satellite calibration and data validation.

ER-2 tail number 709, was one of two Airborne Science ER-2s used as science platforms by Dryden. The aircraft were platforms for a variety of high-altitude science missions flown over various parts of the world. They were also used for earth science and atmospheric sensor research and development, satellite calibration and data validation.

ER-2 tail number 709, was one of two Airborne Science ER-2s used as science platforms by Dryden. The aircraft were platforms for a variety of high-altitude science missions flown over various parts of the world. They were also used for earth science and atmospheric sensor research and development, satellite calibration and data validation.

ER-2 tail number 706, was one of two Airborne Science ER-2s used as science platforms by Dryden. The aircraft were platforms for a variety of high-altitude science missions flown over various parts of the world. They were also used for earth science and atmospheric sensor research and development, satellite calibration and data validation.

From the window of the ER-2 chase car, a crew member gives a thumbs up to the pilot as NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s ER-2 aircraft taxis at Edwards, California, on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. The gesture signals a final check before takeoff for the high-altitude mission supporting the Geological Earth Mapping Experiment (GEMx).

Technician David Johnson works on rewiring the high-altitude ER-2 aircraft's fixed nose and cockpit.Â

NASA ER-2 pilot Tim Williams prepares for a check flight with life support on May 13, 2022.

Andrew Shaw works on a component for the high-altitude ER-2 aircraft's instrument panel.

NASA pilot Greg “Coach” Nelson preparing for ER-2 No. 806 return to flight on April 7, 2022.

One of two NASA ER-2s (civilian U2-Rs) being backed out of the hangar at Building 703 in Palmdale. Capable of long duration flights at very high altitudes, the ER-2s have wing pods to accommodate science experiments and sensors, as well as a large volume bay behind the pilot. NASA first flew a U-2 for science—a first generation aircraft—in 1972.

NASA pilot Greg "Coach" Nelson prepared for flight on the ER-2 by air crew life support at Armstrong Flight Research Center on April 7, 2022.

NASA’s ER-2 aircraft performs a check flight for the Dynamics and Chemistry of the Summer Stratosphere, or DCOTSS, 2022 campaign on May 13, 2022.

Ground crew members make final preparations on NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s ER-2 aircraft at Edwards, California, on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, ahead of a high-altitude mission for the Geological Earth Mapping Experiment (GEMx). The pilot will soon board the aircraft, which can fly at altitudes up to 70,000 feet.

Ground crew members make final preparations on NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s ER-2 aircraft at Edwards, California, on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, ahead of a high-altitude mission for the Geological Earth Mapping Experiment (GEMx). The pilot will soon board the aircraft, which can fly at altitudes up to 70,000 feet.

NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s ER-2 aircraft taxis at Edwards, California, on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, ahead of a high-altitude mission supporting the Geological Earth Mapping Experiment (GEMx), which requires flights of up to eight hours at approximately 65,000 feet altitude.

Suited up and ready, ER-2 pilot Kirt Stallings waits inside the transport vehicle at Edwards, California, on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, moments before boarding NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center’s ER-2 aircraft for a high-altitude mission supporting the Geological Earth Mapping Experiment (GEMx). Through the vehicle window, the aircraft can be seen being readied for flight.

ER-2 tail number 809, is one of two Airborne Science ER-2s used as science platforms by Dryden. The aircraft are platforms for a variety of high-altitude science missions flown over various parts of the world. They are also used for earth science and atmospheric sensor research and development, satellite calibration and data validation. The ER-2s are capable of carrying a maximum payload of 2,600 pounds of experiments in a nose bay, the main equipment bay behind the cockpit, two wing-mounted superpods and small underbody and trailing edges. Most ER-2 missions last about six hours with ranges of about 2,200 nautical miles. The aircraft typically fly at altitudes above 65,000 feet. On November 19, 1998, the ER-2 set a world record for medium weight aircraft reaching an altitude of 68,700 feet. The aircraft is 63 feet long, with a wingspan of 104 feet. The top of the vertical tail is 16 feet above ground when the aircraft is on the bicycle-type landing gear. Cruising speeds are 410 knots, or 467 miles per hour, at altitude. A single General Electric F118 turbofan engine rated at 17,000 pounds thrust powers the ER-2.

NASA's ER-2 aircraft receives a liquid oxygen refill (LOX) by engineer technician Octavio Provincia-Salazar. Liquid oxygen is used to supply the pilot with substantial oxygen for flight without additional weight.

The Harvard Halogen Instrument (HAL) is prepared for integration on NASA's ER-2 by electrical engineer Marco Rivero and mechanical engineer Michael Greenberg for the Dynamics and Chemistry of the Summer Stratosphere, or DCOTSS, 2022 campaign.

ER-2 on Ames Ramp with Pilot James Barrillearx entering cockpit

ER-2 on Ames Ramp with Pilot James Barrillearx entering cockpit

Crew members reattach the nose cone of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center’s ER-2 aircraft at Edwards, California, on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, ahead of a mission for the Geological Earth Mapping Experiment (GEMx). The aircraft’s nose houses key science instruments used to collect data during flight.

NASA Armstrong’s ER-2 aircraft deploys for its ALOFT mission.  The ER-2 will fly at high altitudes above the Floridian coastline to collect data about the energetic characteristics and behavior of lightning and thunderclouds.  A NASA pilot will operate the aircraft while scientists from the University of Bergen, Norway will interpret the data from the ground.

NASA Armstrong’s ER-2 aircraft deploys for its ALOFT mission.  The ER-2 will fly at high altitudes above the Floridian coastline to collect data about the energetic characteristics and behavior of lightning and thunderclouds.  A NASA pilot will operate the aircraft while scientists from the University of Bergen, Norway will interpret the data from the ground.

NASA Armstrong’s ER-2 aircraft deploys for its ALOFT mission.  The ER-2 will fly at high altitudes above the Floridian coastline to collect data about the energetic characteristics and behavior of lightning and thunderclouds.  A NASA pilot will operate the aircraft while scientists from the University of Bergen, Norway will interpret the data from the ground.

NASA Armstrong’s ER-2 aircraft deploys for its ALOFT mission.  The ER-2 will fly at high altitudes above the Floridian coastline to collect data about the energetic characteristics and behavior of lightning and thunderclouds.  A NASA pilot will operate the aircraft while scientists from the University of Bergen, Norway will interpret the data from the ground.

NASA Armstrong’s ER-2 aircraft deploys for its ALOFT mission.  The ER-2 will fly at high altitudes above the Floridian coastline to collect data about the energetic characteristics and behavior of lightning and thunderclouds.  A NASA pilot will operate the aircraft while scientists from the University of Bergen, Norway will interpret the data from the ground.

NASA Armstrong’s ER-2 aircraft deploys for its ALOFT mission.  The ER-2 will fly at high altitudes above the Floridian coastline to collect data about the energetic characteristics and behavior of lightning and thunderclouds.  A NASA pilot will operate the aircraft while scientists from the University of Bergen, Norway will interpret the data from the ground.

NASA Armstrong’s ER-2 aircraft deploys for its ALOFT mission.  The ER-2 will fly at high altitudes above the Floridian coastline to collect data about the energetic characteristics and behavior of lightning and thunderclouds.  A NASA pilot will operate the aircraft while scientists from the University of Bergen, Norway will interpret the data from the ground.

NASA Armstrong’s ER-2 aircraft deploys for its ALOFT mission.  The ER-2 will fly at high altitudes above the Floridian coastline to collect data about the energetic characteristics and behavior of lightning and thunderclouds.  A NASA pilot will operate the aircraft while scientists from the University of Bergen, Norway will interpret the data from the ground.

NASA Armstrong’s ER-2 aircraft deploys for its ALOFT mission.  The ER-2 will fly at high altitudes above the Floridian coastline to collect data about the energetic characteristics and behavior of lightning and thunderclouds.  A NASA pilot will operate the aircraft while scientists from the University of Bergen, Norway will interpret the data from the ground.

NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s ER-2 aircraft lifts off from Edwards, California, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, in support of the Geological Earth Mapping Experiment (GEMx). The high-altitude science aircraft operates between 20,000 and 70,000 feet. For this mission, pilots flew at approximately 65,000 feet, requiring them to wear specially designed pressure suits.

A crew member handles liquid nitrogen servicing for NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center’s ER-2 aircraft at Edwards, California, on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. Liquid nitrogen is used to support key science instruments for extended flight durations in critical research missions, such as the Geological Earth Mapping Experiment (GEMx), which requires flights of up to eight hours at approximately 65,000 feet altitude.

Crew members prepare NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s ER-2 aircraft for flight at Edwards, California, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, in support of the Geological Earth Mapping Experiment (GEMx). The high-altitude science aircraft operates between 20,000 and 70,000 feet. For this mission, pilots flew at approximately 65,000 feet, requiring them to wear specially designed pressure suits.

ER-2 Pilot De Lewis Porter first flight landing - pilot egress with ground crew

ER-2 Pilot De Lewis Porter first flight landing - pilot egress with ground crew

Lockheed ER-2 (NASA-706) in flight

Francisco Rodriguez (aircraft mechanic) services liquid oxygen or LOX on the ER-2 during the Geological Earth Mapping Experiment (GEMx) research project. Experts like Rodriguez sustain a high standard of safety on airborne science aircraft like the ER-2 and science missions like GEMx. The ER-2 is based out of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

ER-2 flyover at L.A. County Airshow, March 25, 2017. NASA will be working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) on their newest weather satellite, Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R-series, or GOES-R, that launched into orbit Nov. 19. Now that it has reached its final designated orbit, GOES-R will be known operationally as GOES-16. The ER-2 will help NOAA calibrate sensors and validate data transmitted down from the satellite. The formal ER-2 science flights will take place between March and Mary of 2017 in two phases; during phase one, flights will be operated from the aircraft's normal base of operations at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s Building 703. Phase two flights will be based out of Warner Robbins Air Force Base in Georgia, where thunderstorm conditions can be more easily found and observed.

ER-2 (NASA-706) in flight. (Lockheed C81-1197-13)

ER-2 (NASA-706) in flight. (Lockheed C81-1197-13)

ER-2 (NASA-706) in flight. (Lockheed C81-1197-13)

An ER-2 high-altitude Earth science aircraft banks away during a flight over the southern Sierra Nevada. NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center operates two of the Lockheed-built aircraft on a wide variety of environmental science, atmospheric sampling, and satellite data verification missions.

The ER-2 conducted over 80 flight hours in service of the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment (PACE-PAX) mission. The ER-2 is uniquely qualified to conduct the high-altitude scientific flights that this project required, and is based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

Crew members prepare NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s ER-2 aircraft for flight at Edwards, California, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, in support of the Geological Earth Mapping Experiment (GEMx). The high-altitude science aircraft operates between 20,000 and 70,000 feet. For this mission, pilots flew at approximately 65,000 feet, requiring them to wear specially designed pressure suits.

The equipment bays and wing pods of NASA's high-altitude ER-2 will carry 15 specialized instruments to study how the vertical convection of air pollution and natural emissions affect climate change.

Three ER-2 Aircraft in formation over Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA on their final flight out of NASA Ames Research Center before redeployment to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, CA

Three ER-2 Aircraft in formation over Ames Research Center, Moffett Federal Airfield , CA on their final flight before redeployment to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, CA

Three ER-2 Aircraft in formation over Ames Research Center, Moffett Federal Airfield , CA on their final flight before redeployment to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, CA

ER-2: ASHOE/MAESA Expidition art (P.I. S Hipskind) Airborne Southern Hemisphere Ozone Experiment; Measurements for Assessing the Effects of Stratospheric Aircraft - Aircraft Flight Path March 16, - November 1, 1994

Three ER-2 Aircraft in formation over Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA on their final flight out of NASA Ames Research Center before redeployment to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, CA

ER-2: ASHOE/MAESA Expidition art (P.I. S Hipskind) Airborne Southern Hemisphere Ozone Experiment; Measurements for Assessing the Effects of Stratospheric Aircraft - Payload package

ER-2 (NASA 706) landing, image show wing wheels being placed by landing crew.

ER-2 (NASA 706) IN FLIGHT over California's Central Valley (Artwork by Robert Bausch)

Lockheed ER-2 (NASA-706) in flight Lockheed ref: C81-1197-13

NASA's ER-2 high altitude aircraft takes off from Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California to perform a check flight for the the Dynamics and Chemistry of the Summer Stratosphere, or DCOTSS, 2022 campaign on May 13, 2022.

ER-2s bearing tail numbers 806 and 809 are used as airborne science platforms by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. The aircraft are platforms for a variety of high-altitude science missions flown over various parts of the world. They are also used for earth science and atmospheric sensor research and development, satellite calibration and data validation. The ER-2s are capable of carrying a maximum payload of 2,600 pounds of experiments in a nose bay, the main equipment bay behind the cockpit, two wing-mounted superpods and small underbody and trailing edges. Most ER-2 missions last about six hours with ranges of about 2,200 nautical miles. The aircraft typically fly at altitudes above 65,000 feet. On November 19, 1998, an ER-2 set a world record for medium weight aircraft reaching an altitude of 68,700 feet. The aircraft is 63 feet long, with a wingspan of 104 feet. The top of the vertical tail is 16 feet above ground when the aircraft is on the bicycle-type landing gear. Cruising speeds are 410 knots, or 467 miles per hour, at altitude. A single General Electric F-118 turbofan engine rated at 17,000 pounds thrust powers the ER-2.

The ER-2 ground crew Wissam Habbal, left, and Dr. Kevin Turpie, airborne Lunar Spectral Irradiance (air-LUSI) principal investigator, guide delicate fiber optic and electric cabling into place while uploading the air-LUSI instrument onto the ER-2 aircraft in March 2025 at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

ER-2: ASHOE/MAESA Expidition art (P.I. S Hipskind) Airborne Southern Hemisphere Ozone Experiment; Measurements for Assessing the Effects of Stratospheric Aircraft - Growth of Antarctic Ozone hole September - October 1993 (false color data from TOMS staellite, Goddard Space Flight Center)

NASA's ER-2 aircraft is prepared for a check flight by Eric Hintsa, scientist of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Chromatograph for Atmospheric Trace Species (UCATS) instrument, on May 13, 2022.

NASA's ER-2 aircraft is prepared for a check flight by Principal Investigator, Bruce Daube and co-principal investigator, Jasna Pitman, of the Harvard Picarro Cavity Ring Down Spectrometer (HUPCRS) instrument on May 13, 2022.

A team of experts prepares the ER-2 aircraft at Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California for the GSFC Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE) in February 2025. Researcher Jackson Begolka from the University of Iowa examines the instrument connectors in the ER-2 onboard the ER-2, which flies at high altitudes to validate satellite-borne data. As a collaboration between engineers, scientists, and aircraft professionals, GLOVE aims to improve satellite data products for Earth Science applications.

The NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft was prepared to support the Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Storms (IMPACTS) mission. For this mission, the IMPACTS team tracked storms across the Eastern United States to help understand how winter storms form and develop. The aircraft, which is based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California, was temporarily based at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia. The three-year IMPACTS campaign concluded on Feb. 28, 2023. 

The NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft supported the Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Storms (IMPACTS) mission. For this mission, the IMPACTS team tracked storms across the Eastern United States to help understand how winter storms form and develop. The aircraft, which is based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California, was temporarily based at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia. The three-year IMPACTS campaign concluded on Feb. 28, 2023. 

The NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft supported the Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Storms (IMPACTS) mission. For this mission, the IMPACTS team tracked storms across the Eastern United States to help understand how winter storms form and develop. The aircraft, which is based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California, was temporarily based at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia. The three-year IMPACTS campaign concluded on Feb. 28, 2023. 

The NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft supported the Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Storms (IMPACTS) mission. For this mission, the IMPACTS team tracked storms across the Eastern United States to help understand how winter storms form and develop. The aircraft, which is based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California, was temporarily based at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia. The three-year IMPACTS campaign concluded on Feb. 28, 2023. 

The NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft was prepared to support the Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Storms (IMPACTS) mission. For this mission, the IMPACTS team tracked storms across the Eastern United States to help understand how winter storms form and develop. The aircraft, which is based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California, was temporarily based at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia. The three-year IMPACTS campaign concluded on Feb. 28, 2023. 

The NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft supported the Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Storms (IMPACTS) mission. For this mission, the IMPACTS team tracked storms across the Eastern United States to help understand how winter storms form and develop. The aircraft, which is based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California, was temporarily based at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia. The three-year IMPACTS campaign concluded on Feb. 28, 2023. 

The NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft was prepared to support the Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Storms (IMPACTS) mission. For this mission, the IMPACTS team tracked storms across the Eastern United States to help understand how winter storms form and develop. The aircraft, which is based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California, was temporarily based at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia. The three-year IMPACTS campaign concluded on Feb. 28, 2023. 

The NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft supported the Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Storms (IMPACTS) mission. For this mission, the IMPACTS team tracked storms across the Eastern United States to help understand how winter storms form and develop. The aircraft, which is based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California, was temporarily based at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia. The three-year IMPACTS campaign concluded on Feb. 28, 2023. 

ER-2s bearing tail numbers 806 and 809 are used as airborne science platforms by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. The aircraft are platforms for a variety of high-altitude science missions flown over various parts of the world. They are also used for earth science and atmospheric sensor research and development, satellite calibration and data validation. The ER-2s are capable of carrying a maximum payload of 2,600 pounds of experiments in a nose bay, the main equipment bay behind the cockpit, two wing-mounted superpods and small underbody and trailing edges. Most ER-2 missions last about six hours with ranges of about 2,200 nautical miles. The aircraft typically fly at altitudes above 65,000 feet. On November 19, 1998, an ER-2 set a world record for medium weight aircraft reaching an altitude of 68,700 feet. The aircraft is 63 feet long, with a wingspan of 104 feet. The top of the vertical tail is 16 feet above ground when the aircraft is on the bicycle-type landing gear. Cruising speeds are 410 knots, or 467 miles per hour, at altitude. A single General Electric F-118 turbofan engine rated at 17,000 pounds thrust powers the ER-2.

ER-2s bearing tail numbers 806 and 809 are used as airborne science platforms by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. The aircraft are platforms for a variety of high-altitude science missions flown over various parts of the world. They are also used for earth science and atmospheric sensor research and development, satellite calibration and data validation. The ER-2s are capable of carrying a maximum payload of 2,600 pounds of experiments in a nose bay, the main equipment bay behind the cockpit, two wing-mounted superpods and small underbody and trailing edges. Most ER-2 missions last about six hours with ranges of about 2,200 nautical miles. The aircraft typically fly at altitudes above 65,000 feet. On November 19, 1998, an ER-2 set a world record for medium weight aircraft reaching an altitude of 68,700 feet. The aircraft is 63 feet long, with a wingspan of 104 feet. The top of the vertical tail is 16 feet above ground when the aircraft is on the bicycle-type landing gear. Cruising speeds are 410 knots, or 467 miles per hour, at altitude. A single General Electric F-118 turbofan engine rated at 17,000 pounds thrust powers the ER-2.

ER-2s bearing tail numbers 806 and 809 are used as airborne science platforms by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. The aircraft are platforms for a variety of high-altitude science missions flown over various parts of the world. They are also used for earth science and atmospheric sensor research and development, satellite calibration and data validation. The ER-2s are capable of carrying a maximum payload of 2,600 pounds of experiments in a nose bay, the main equipment bay behind the cockpit, two wing-mounted superpods and small underbody and trailing edges. Most ER-2 missions last about six hours with ranges of about 2,200 nautical miles. The aircraft typically fly at altitudes above 65,000 feet. On November 19, 1998, an ER-2 set a world record for medium weight aircraft reaching an altitude of 68,700 feet. The aircraft is 63 feet long, with a wingspan of 104 feet. The top of the vertical tail is 16 feet above ground when the aircraft is on the bicycle-type landing gear. Cruising speeds are 410 knots, or 467 miles per hour, at altitude. A single General Electric F-118 turbofan engine rated at 17,000 pounds thrust powers the ER-2.

ER-2s bearing tail numbers 806 and 809 are used as airborne science platforms by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. The aircraft are platforms for a variety of high-altitude science missions flown over various parts of the world. They are also used for earth science and atmospheric sensor research and development, satellite calibration and data validation. The ER-2s are capable of carrying a maximum payload of 2,600 pounds of experiments in a nose bay, the main equipment bay behind the cockpit, two wing-mounted superpods and small underbody and trailing edges. Most ER-2 missions last about six hours with ranges of about 2,200 nautical miles. The aircraft typically fly at altitudes above 65,000 feet. On November 19, 1998, an ER-2 set a world record for medium weight aircraft reaching an altitude of 68,700 feet. The aircraft is 63 feet long, with a wingspan of 104 feet. The top of the vertical tail is 16 feet above ground when the aircraft is on the bicycle-type landing gear. Cruising speeds are 410 knots, or 467 miles per hour, at altitude. A single General Electric F-118 turbofan engine rated at 17,000 pounds thrust powers the ER-2.

NASA'S ER-2 #806 lifts off from Edwards Air Force Base on a CALIPS/CloudSat validation instrument checkout flight.

The ER-2 aircraft is parked in a hangar at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, in March 2025. The plane is prepared for takeoff to support the airborne Lunar Spectral Irradiance, or air-LUSI, mission.

Sam Habbal (quality inspector), Darick Alvarez (aircraft mechanic), and Juan Alvarez (crew chief) work on the network “canoe” on top of the ER-2 aircraft, which provides network communication with the pilot onboard. Experts like these sustain a high standard of safety while outfitting instruments onboard science aircraft like the ER-2 and science missions like the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment (PACE-PAX) mission. The ER-2 is based out of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

NASA’s ER-2 high-altitude aircraft prepares for a night flight with the Airborne Lunar Spectral Irradiance (air-LUSI) instrument on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. The instrument measures Moonlight to improve accuracy of space-based sensors that forecast the weather, monitor agriculture, and study Earth’s ecosystem.

One of NASA's two ER-2 Earth resources aircraft shows off its lines during a flyover at the Edwards Air Force Base open house Oct. 28-29, 2006.

ER-2 #809 awaiting pilot entry for the third flight of the SAGE III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE). The ER-2, a civilian variant of Lockheed's U-2, and another NASA flying laboratory, Dryden's DC-8, were based north of the Arctic Circle in Kiruna, Sweden during the winter of 2000 to study ozone depletion as part of SOLVE. A large hangar built especially for research, "Arena Arctica" housed the instrumented aircraft and the scientists. Scientists have observed unusually low levels of ozone over the Arctic during recent winters, raising concerns that ozone depletion there could become more widespread as in the Antarctic ozone hole. The NASA-sponsored international mission took place between November 1999 and March 2000 and was divided into three phases. The DC-8 was involved in all three phases returning to Dryden between each phase. The ER-2 flew sample collection flights between January and March, remaining in Sweden from Jan. 9 through March 16. "The collaborative campaign will provide an immense new body of information about the Arctic stratosphere," said program scientist Dr. Michael Kurylo, NASA Headquarters. "Our understanding of the Earth's ozone will be greatly enhanced by this research."