Aircraft List
The NASA Airborne Science Program provides a unique set of NASA supported aircraft that benefit the earth science community. These manned and unmanned aircraft carry the sensors that provide data to support and augment NASA spaceborne missions.
Reminder: All investigators with approved or pending proposals from the Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) announcements that have a requirement for a NASA Airborne Science platform/instrument, must submit a Flight Request. The Flight Request is also the method to acquire an estimate if your proposal requires a cost estimate for Airborne Science support. However, for investigators proposing to participate on large, multi-aircraft experiments, a single Flight Request will be submitted for each mission by the Project Manager or Project Scientist. The Science Operations Flight Request System (SOFRS) can be reached directly at https://airbornescience.nasa.gov/sofrs.
Non-NASA Aircraft
NASA instrumentation may fly on non-NASA Federal aircraft as well as academic and commercial platforms for which agreements for access by SMD investigators are in place, in process, or have recently been approved by NASA Aviation Management as airworthy and safe to operate. For more information, please review the current ASP Call Letter for further requirements and guidance. Please note that in addition to filing the required Flight Request, investigators are responsible for contacting vendors to determine if the platform meets the requirements of the proposed scientific investigation. It is also the responsibility of the investigator to ensure that before any preliminary test flights or actual data collection flights utilizing NASA personnel, instruments or funds occur, all vendors successfully complete a NASA airworthiness/flight safety review in accordance with NASA Aviation Safety Policy for Non-NASA Aircraft.
B-200 King Air - WFF
The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s (GSFC) Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) Aircraft Office operates a NASA B-200 King Air aircraft primarily used for mission management flight operations. The B-200 is well suited to perform aerial photography missions, chase aircraft support, logistical and range surveillance needs, recovery operations and technology demonstration missions. The aircraft is available to support airborne research needs however due to its FAA certification only internal cabin type activities can be supported. The aircraft has been modified to provide 28VDC power along with UHF and Iridium communication antennas for experimenter use. The B-200 is a two-engine turboprop aircraft and is one of the world’s most widely used business type aircraft capable of operating from a wide variety of civilian and military airports worldwide. The ten fuselage windows provide an excellent field of view to the exterior of aircraft. Floor and side wall seat tracks allow instrumentation and seats to be mounted in a variety of locations and configurations.
The Aircraft Office is committed to providing safe, reliable, and cost effective platforms for airborne research and other flight activities.
Owner/Operator:
NASA GSFC Wallops Flight Facility
Type:
Conventional Aircraft
Duration:
6.0 hours (payload and weather dependent)
Useful Payload:
1,800 lbs
Gross Take-off Weight:
12,500 lbs
Onboard Operators:
8
Max Altitude:
32,000 feet
Air Speed:
275 knots
Range:
1,800 Nmi
Power:
28VDC
Point(s) of Contact: