Today we celebrate NASA’s 60th anniversary of Earth observations from space. Something many people may not know is that our fleet of aircraft at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center support satellite programs on a regular basis. Many satellites in the development stage complete test flights on aircraft like our ER-2, and continue to be supported through satellite validation flights to verify the accuracy of sensor data coming down from space. Click here to see an example of how NASA uses aircraft to support Earth observing satellites: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/features/prototype_space_sensors….
For more information on Explorer 1 and America’s six decades of firsts from space, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/60-years-of-groundbreaking-us-…