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Rare government plane spotted flying back to the US
SFGATE • • science
Key Points:
- A rare NASA WB-57 research plane was observed flying from Reykjavik, Iceland, to Bangor, Maine, trailing a Gulfstream V aircraft, according to Flightradar24 data.
- NASA used the WB-57 and 360-degree cameras on scientific balloons to capture images of the sun’s corona during the August 12 eclipse over Iceland, Greenland, and Spain, an event livestreamed to over 3.5 million viewers.
- The WB-57, originally developed in the 1950s, is a high-altitude research aircraft with a 6.5-hour range at over 63,000 feet, used for atmospheric research including cosmic dust collection and hurricane data gathering.
- The trailing Gulfstream V, procured by NASA in 2016, supports airborne research and medical care for astronauts and is currently involved in the international Eclipse Mission from August 8-14.
