Last week , resident of the Houston area had a rare chance to watch a historical aviation event : the shaping flying of threeWB-57research aircraft . Why historical ? Well , November 19th was the first metre that all three of NASA ’s WB-57s have been aloft at the same time since the former seventies .
The WB-57 was developed from the Martin B-57 Canberra USAF jet bomber for fly research missions . NASA explain :
These fully functional WB-57 aircraft are based near NASA ’s Johnson Space Center at Ellington Field , home of the NASA WB-57 High Altitude Research Program , which provides unique , mellow - altitude airborne chopine to support scientific enquiry and advanced engineering science development and testing . Mission lesson include atmospheric and ground skill , ground map , cosmic dust solicitation , rocket launch support , and testbed operation for future airborne or spaceborne systems .
The B-57 bombers were retired in 1983 , only three flightworthy WB-57Fs remained . Below are a few more photos of the event .
exposure : NASA JSC/ photographers : James Blair , Robert Markowitz
NASA
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