“Soaring to 20,000 meters: NASA’s “high-altitude science hunter” ER-2”
NASA operates two ER-2 high-altitude scientific aircraft, based at the Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, California. These aircraft are used for environmental science research, atmospheric sampling, and satellite data verification tasks. Manufactured by Lockheed, the ER-2 has completed over 4500 scientific data missions and test flights since its first deployment in 1981, setting a world record for flight altitude at 20940 meters. The ER-2 operates at altitudes ranging from 6096 meters to 21336 meters, with a typical cruise speed of 410 knots and a maximum payload of 2600 pounds (approximately 1179 kilograms). The aircraft is equipped with the “Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer” (AVIRIS) and the “Airborne Lunar Spectral Irradiance Measurement System” (Air-LUSI), which are used to monitor Earth’s surface and atmospheric composition, as well as to verify lunar spectral models for calibrating earth observation satellites. Additionally, the ER-2 participates in projects such as “Summer Stratospheric Dynamics and Chemistry” (DCOTSS) and “Atlantic Coast Threatful Snowstorm Microphysics and Precipitation Survey” (IMPACTS)…