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.

Cessna 206H - LaRC

NASA Langley Cessna 206H Stationair (NASA 504)

The NASA Langley Cessna 206H Stationair (NASA 504) is an all-metal, six-place, high-wing, single-engine general aviation airplane equipped with tricycle landing gear and is designed for general utility purposes.  The aircraft was acquired by NASA in 2001 to provide a low-cost research platform for advanced pilot displays and to serve as a platform for atmospheric science instruments.  The aircraft has been reconfigured to accommodate a crew of three:  a subject pilot, a safety pilot, and a researcher.  The subject pilot/researcher may sit in either of the two front seats, as required by the experiment.  The lead researcher sits in the right aft seat at a researcher workstation.

In addition to internal space in the aft section of the cabin for instrumentation, up to 300 lbs. can be carried in the Cessna production belly cargo pod and 100 lbs. in a custom-designed pod which attaches to the right wing strut.

The aircraft is equipped with NASA Langley’s General Aviation Baseline Research System, which includes GPS, Air Data, Attitudes and Heading Reference System (ADAHRS), out-the-window video, a Researcher Workstation, and control position transducers on the aileron, rudder, elevator, pitch trim, and throttle.  The research system provides 30A of 28 VDC power.

Owner/Operator: 
NASA Langley Research Center
Type: 
Conventional Aircraft
Duration: 
5.7 hours (payload and weather dependent)
Useful Payload: 
1,175 lbs
Gross Take-off Weight: 
3,600 lbs
Onboard Operators: 
2
Max Altitude: 
15700 ft
Air Speed: 
150 knots
Range: 
700 Nmi
Power: 
840W available
Point(s) of Contact: 

Bruce Fisher

Work: (757) 864-3862