Aerial photograph of Johnson Space Center

2019 Aerial Photographs

2019 Aerial Photographs

2019 Aerial Photographs

Aerial photograph of the MSFC 4600 complex

2019 Aerial Photographs

2019 Aerial Photographs

NASA Aerial Photographer Completes 1,000th Flight

Troy Asher, acting center director, presents NASA aerial photographer Carla Thomas with an award commemorating her 1,000th flight at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Monday, April 20, 2026. For 38 years, Thomas has captured aerial photographs of research and science flights. The milestone flight was completed in the backseat of a NASA F-15 aircraft piloted by NASA Armstrong chief pilot Wayne Ringelberg.

NASA aerial photographer Carla Thomas waves from the backseat of a NASA F-15 aircraft as chief pilot Wayne Ringelberg taxis following Thomas’ 1,000th flight at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Monday, April 20, 2026. For 38 years, Thomas has captured aerial photographs of research and science flights.

NASA Aerial Photographer Completes 1,000th Flight

Aerial photograph of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center (USSRC)

2019 Aerial Photographs

Aerial photograph of MSFC with the 4200 complex in the foreground

2019 Aerial Photographs

Aerial photograph of the 4700 complex with the 4600 complex in the background

2019 Aerial Photographs

Aerial photograph of the 4700 complex with buildings 4707and 4711

2019 Aerial Photographs

Aerial photograph of various MSFC buildings and the Rocket Park

2019 Aerial Photographs

Aerial photograph of MSFC buildings with the 4200 complex in the foreground

2019 Aerial Photographs

Aerial photograph of MSFC buildings 4718 and 4708

2019 Aerial Photographs

Aerial photograph of MSFC buildings 4808 and 4718

2019 Aerial Photographs

Aerial photograph of MSFC building 4718 and 4755, 4708

2019 Aerial Photographs

Aerial photograph of the MSFC 4200 complex with 4205 in the background

2019 Aerial Photographs

Aerial photograph of the MSFC West Test Area with building 4666 on the right

2019 Aerial Photographs

Aerial photograph of MSFC buildings 4200, 4201, 4203, 4220, and 4221

2019 Aerial Photographs

Aerial photograph of the MSFC West Test area with the T-Stand in the foreground

2019 Aerial Photographs

Aerial photograph of MSFC buildings with the 4200 complex in the foreground and 4205 to the left

2019 Aerial Photographs

Aerial photograph of MSFC building 4719 with the SLS Intertank visible in the open doors

2019 Aerial Photographs

While NASA Dryden's Jim Ross outlined his job as an aerial photographer, sixth-grade student Leo Banuelos learned first-hand about the gear Ross wears in the cockpit.

While NASA Dryden's Jim Ross outlined his job as an aerial photographer, student Leo Banuelos learned first-hand about the gear Ross wears in the cockpit.

NASA Aerial Photographer Completes 1,000th Flight

F-15 aircraft crew chief Zack Burke, left, and X-59 mechanic Jamie Trescott, center back, splash buckets of ice water on NASA aerial photographer Carla Thomas in celebration of her 1,000th flight at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Monday, April 20, 2026. Tim Krall, NASA Armstrong support aircraft fleet manager, watches. Thomas completed her flight in the backseat of a NASA F-15 aircraft flown by NASA Armstrong chief pilot Wayne Ringelberg. For 38 years, Thomas has captured aerial photographs of research and science flights.

Aerial photograph of MSFC test stand 4697 with the Liquid Oxygen (LOX) test article in the stand

2019 Aerial Photographs

Aerial photograph of MSFC test stand 4693 with the Liquid Hydrogen test article (LH2) in the stand

2019 Aerial Photographs

NASA Aerial Photographer Completes 1,000th Flight

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

NASA Aerial Photographer Completes 1,000th Flight

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

NASA Aerial Photographer Completes 1,000th Flight

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

NASA Aerial Photographer Completes 1,000th Flight

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

Aerial Photograph of Glenn Research Center With Downtown Cleveland in the Distance

Aerial Photograph of Glenn Research Center With Downtown Cleveland in the Distance taken from the PC-12 on June 13, 2024. A team at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland streamed 4K video footage from an aircraft to the International Space Station and back for the first time using optical, or laser, communications. The feat was part of a series of tests on new technology that could provide live video coverage of astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis missions. Working with the Air Force Research Laboratory and NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program, Glenn engineers temporarily installed a portable laser terminal on the belly of a Pilatus PC-12 aircraft. They then flew over Lake Erie sending data from the aircraft to an optical ground station in Cleveland. From there, it was sent over an Earth-based network to NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where scientists used infrared light signals to send the data. Photo Credit: (NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna)