jsc2025e060543 (June 24, 2025) --- NASA astronaut Chris Williams prepares for takeoff in the backseat of a T-38 jet, departing out of Ellington Field in Houston, Texas.

NASA astronaut Chris Williams in the backseat of a T-38 jet

jsc2025e060539 (June 24, 2025) --- NASA astronaut Chris Williams (left) speaks with pilot John Gustine ahead of their flight on a T-38 jet out of Ellington Field in Houston, Texas.

NASA astronaut Chris Williams and T-38 pilot John Gustine

NASA Astronaut Frank Rubio trains for his upcoming International Space Station mission in a T-38 jet at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas.

NASA Astronaut Frank Rubio in T-38

NASA commercial crew astronauts Josh Cassada and Suni Williams prepare for T-38 training flights at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston. Cassada and Williams are assigned to the Boeing Starliner’s second crewed flight.

CCP Astronauts - NASA T-38 Aircraft Operations

NASA commercial crew astronaut Suni Williams prepares for T-38 training flights at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston. Williams is assigned to the Boeing Starliner’s second crewed flight.

CCP Astronauts - NASA T-38 Aircraft Operations

NASA commercial crew astronaut Josh Cassada prepares for T-38 training flights at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston. Cassada is assigned to the Boeing Starliner’s second crewed flight.

CCP Astronauts - NASA T-38 Aircraft Operations

S94-36123 (June 1994) --- Astronaut Gregory J. Harbaugh, STS-71 mission specialist, sits in the rear station of a NASA T-38 jet trainer at Ellington Field. Harbaugh is in training for the STS-71 mission scheduled aboard the space shuttle Atlantis next year.

Astronaut Gregory J. Harbaugh in NASA T-38

Seated in the rear station of a NASA T-38 jet trainer aircraft, Russian Cosmonaut Vladimir Titov prepares to take a familiarization flight.

Cosmonaut Vladimir Titov in rear station of NASA T-38 for training flight

Seated in the rear station of a NASA T-38 jet trainer aircraft, Russian Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev prepares to take a familiarization flight.

Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev in rear station of NASA T-38 for training flight

NASA Dryden's T-38 Talon trainer aircraft in flight near Edwards Air Force Base

NASA astronaut Chris Williams

STS-38 Pilot Frank L. Culberston, smiling and wearing his helmet with breathing apparatus attached, sits in T-38A NASA 955 forward cockpit at Ellington Field and prepares for departure.

STS-38 Pilot Culberston in T-38A NASA 955 forward cockpit at Ellington Field

NASA and Canadian Snowbirds Aircrafts

Several types of aircraft are on the tarmac at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at NASA's Kennedy Space in Florida. From left, are two Canadian Forces Snowbird CF-18 jets, a NASA Huey helicopter, and two NASA T-38 trainer aircraft. The Canadian Forces Snowbirds performed aerial maneuvers over Kennedy and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station during a practice flight on May 9, 2018, between their scheduled air shows.

Formerly at NASA's Langley Research Center, this Northrop T-38 Talon is now used for mission support and pilot proficiency at the Dryden Flight Research Center

NASA Dryden Flight Research Center's chief pilot Gordon Fullerton in the cockpit of the center's T-38 Talon mission support aircraft.

Marta Bohn-Meyer flew as a back-seat flight test engineer in this NASA T-38 mission support aircraft when this 1993 photo was taken.

Puffy white clouds and a flooded lakebed form a backdrop as a T-38 support aircraft taxies across the ramp in front of NASA's Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.

White clouds and a flooded lakebed form a backdrop as a T-38 support aircraft taxies across the ramp in front of NASA's Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft

Pilot Gordon Fullerton taxies NASA Dryden's "newest" mission support aircraft, a T-38 Talon, into position on the ramp upon its arrival on February 24, 2005

NASA astronauts arrive aboard T-38 jet aircraft at the Launch and Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 17, 2020. The astronauts are at Kennedy to prepare for their flights to the International Space Station on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. From left are Josh Cassada and Jeanette Epps.

Crew for Boeing Missions Visit KSC

NASA 747 Carrier Aircraft - Five (5) T-38 Aircraft - Shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" - Edwards AFB (EAFB), CA

S77-28200 (13 Sept 1977) --- This impressive scene was photographed when the NASA 747 carrier aircraft and five T-38 aircraft flew over the shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" while it was parked on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. The Orbiter 101 had just completed a five-minute, 28-second unpowered mission during the second free flight of the Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) conducted September 13, 1977, at the Dryden Flight Research Center.

NASA astronaut Josh Cassada, a crew member for Boeing’s Starliner-1 mission, arrives aboard a T-38 jet aircraft at the Launch and Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 17, 2020. He is at Kennedy to prepare for his flight to the International Space Station on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

Crew for Boeing Missions Visit KSC

NASA astronauts arrive aboard T-38 jet aircraft at the Launch and Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 17, 2020. The astronauts are at Kennedy to prepare for their flights to the International Space Station on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. At right is Sunita “Suni” Williams. At left is Barry “Butch” Wilmore. Wilmore and Williams will command the company’s Crew Flight Test and the Starliner-1 mission, respectively.

Crew for Boeing Missions Visit KSC

NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams arrive aboard T-38 jet aircraft at the Launch and Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 17, 2020. The astronauts are at Kennedy to prepare for their flights on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner. Wilmore and Williams will command the Crew Flight Test and the Starliner-1 mission, respectively. The crew members will fly to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps, a crew member for Boeing’s Starliner-1 mission, arrives aboard a T-38 jet aircraft at the Launch and Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 17, 2020. She is at Kennedy to prepare for her flight to the International Space Station on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

Crew for Boeing Missions Visit KSC

NASA astronaut Sunita “Suni” Williams, commander of Boeing’s Starliner-1 mission, arrives aboard a T-38 jet aircraft at the Launch and Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 17, 2020. She is at Kennedy to prepare for her flight to the International Space Station on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

Crew for Boeing Missions Visit KSC

NASA astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore, commander of Boeing’s Crew Flight Test, arrives aboard a T-38 jet aircraft at the Launch and Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 17, 2020. He is at Kennedy to prepare for his flight to the International Space Station on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

Crew for Boeing Missions Visit KSC

T-38- AIRCRAFT (NASA 909)

S85-26933 (27 Jan 1985) --- An unusual almost-straight-on view of the Space Shuttle Discovery as its main landing gear touches down on the Shuttle landing facility runway at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Aboard the spacecraft for the STS-51C mission were astronauts Thomas K. (Ken) Mattingly II, Loren J. Shriver, James F. Buchli and Ellison S. Onizuka of NASA; and payload specialist Gary E. Payton of the USAF.

T-38 A- AIRCRAFT (NASA 924)

S82-28952 (1 April 1982) --- Crew members from STS-2 and STS-4 meet with the recently returned STS-3 astronauts for a debriefing session at the Johnson Space Center. Taking notes at bottom left foreground is astronaut John W. Young, STS-1 commander and chief of the Astronaut Office at JSC. Clockwise around the table, beginning with Young, are George W. S. Abbey, JSC Director of Flight Operations; and astronauts Joe E. Engle, STS-2 commander; Henry W. Hartsfield Jr., STS-4 pilot; C. Gordon Fullerton, STS-3 pilot; Jack R. Lousma, STS-3 commander; Thomas K. (Ken) Mattingly, STS-4 commander; and Richard H. Truly, STS-2 pilot. Photo credit: NASA

T-38 A- AIRCRAFT (NASA 924)

S82-28951 (1 April 1982) --- A light moment takes charge of a debriefing session for STS-3 and brings a smile to the face of its commander, astronaut Jack R. Lousma, right. Astronaut C. Gordon Fullerton, STS-3 pilot, left was one of eight other participants in the debriefing session. The two spent eight full days orbiting the Earth and conducting experiments for NASA?s third space transportation system mission aboard the Columbia. Photo credit: NASA

T-38 A- AIRCRAFT (NASA 924)

S82-33032 (30 June 1982) --- This scene shows activity at the spacecraft communicator and flight activities officer consoles in the mission operations control room (MOCR) in the Johnson Space Center?s mission control center (MCC). Astronaut Brewster H. Shaw Jr., right, Astronaut Roy D. Bridges Jr. and Marianne J. Dyson are pictured during STS-4?s Day 4 activity. Shaw and Bridges are spacecraft communicators and Dyson is a flight activities officer on the entry team.

Close up documentation of the Left Side Rudder Leading Edge becoming delaminated on T-38A, NASA 962, on Dec. 6, 1983.

T-38 A- AIRCRAFT (NASA 924)

Aerial view of the NASA hangar and a line-up of the NASA T-38 trainer aircraft used by the astronauts at Ellington Field.

Aerial view of NASA hangar at Ellington Field

Nicole Mann sits in a T-38 in preparation for Commercial Crew Program astronaut training at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

Commercial Crew Program Astronaut Training - Nicole Mann

ASTRONAUT WALTER M. SCHIRRA, JR.

T-38 Aircraft Fly Over Washington

Two NASA T-38 training jets are seen as they fly over Washington, DC, Thursday, April 5, 2012. NASA, in cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration, conducted training and photographic flights over the DC metropolitan area. T-38 aircraft have been used for astronaut training for more than 30 years as they allow pilots and mission specialists to think quickly in changing situations, mental experiences the astronauts say are critical to practicing for the rigors of spaceflight. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

T-38 Aircraft Fly Over Washington

A NASA T-38 training jet is seen as it flies at 1500 feet over Washington, DC, Thursday, April 5, 2012. NASA, in cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration, conducted training and photographic flights over the DC metropolitan area. T-38 aircraft have been used for astronaut training for more than 30 years as they allow pilots and mission specialists to think quickly in changing situations, mental experiences the astronauts say are critical to practicing for the rigors of spaceflight. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

T-38 Aircraft Fly Over Washington

Two NASA T-38 training jets are seen as they fly over Reagan National Airport, Thursday, April 5, 2012 in Arlington, VA. NASA, in cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration, conducted training and photographic flights over the DC metropolitan area. T-38 aircraft have been used for astronaut training for more than 30 years as they allow pilots and mission specialists to think quickly in changing situations, mental experiences the astronauts say are critical to practicing for the rigors of spaceflight. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

T-38 Aircraft Fly Over Washington

Two NASA T-38 training jets are seen as they fly over the U.S. Capitol, Thursday, April 5, 2012, in Washington. NASA, in cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration, conducted training and photographic flights over the DC metropolitan area. T-38 aircraft have been used for astronaut training for more than 30 years as they allow pilots and mission specialists to think quickly in changing situations, mental experiences the astronauts say are critical to practicing for the rigors of spaceflight. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)