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Aircraft on Runway

Various aircraft, including NASA's, taxiing on runways. The mood is dynamic, featuring clear skies and an emphasis on aviation machinery.

An airplane prepares for takeoff on a clear day, with the runway extending into the horizon and scattered clouds dotting the sky.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - A NASA F-18 and an Orbital Sciences L-1011 carrier aircraft taxi to the runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., before taking off on a mission to launch NASA's IRIS spacecraft into low-Earth orbit. IRIS, short for Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, was launched aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket released from the L-1011.

Northrop Grumman's L-1011 Stargazer aircraft descends toward the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Oct. 1, 2019. The company's Pegasus XL rocket, containing NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON), is attached beneath the aircraft. ICON will study the frontier of space - the dynamic zone high in Earth's atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above.

Lockheed F-104G Starfighter of 322 Squadron in the landing on Leeuwarden airbase.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft transporting space shuttle Discovery to its new home taxis to the runway at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida preparing to take off at about 7 a.m. EDT.The aircraft, known as an SCA, is a Boeing 747 jet, originally manufactured for commercial use, which was modified by NASA to transport the shuttles between destinations on Earth. This SCA, designated NASA 905, is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. NASA 905 is scheduled to ferry Discovery to the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia on April 17, after which the shuttle will be placed on display in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A convoy of safing and emergency vehicles meet space shuttle Atlantis on Runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Landing was at 8 48 a.m. EDT, completing the 12-day STS-132 mission to the International Space Station. The six-member STS-132 crew carried the Russian-built Mini Research Module-1 to the space station. STS-132 is the 34th shuttle mission to the station, the 132nd shuttle mission overall and the last planned flight for Atlantis.

The L-1011 aircraft carrying a Pegasus XL rocket with NASA's Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) attached takes off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The L-1011 will release the rocket over the Atlantic Ocean at 39,000 feet. After separation from the rocket, initial contact with the satellite will be made and the mission team will insure that the spacecraft is functioning properly. The SORCE science instruments will then be turned on and their health verified. Approximately 21 days after launch, if all is going well, the instruments will start initial science data collection and calibration will begin. The spacecraft will study the Sun's influence on our Earth and will measure from space how the Sun affects the Earth's ozone layer, atmospheric circulation, clouds, and oceans. This mission is a joint partnership between NASA and the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colorado.

A United Kingdom Royal Navy Nimrod recon and patrol aircraft sits on the tarmac. The 120th CSX Squadron, RAF Kinloss, England maintains a four plane detachment at Jacksonville. The wing tips of two other Nimrods can be seen to the left and right. In the background, a P-3AC Orion aircraft is taking off in the background. Base: Naval Air Station, Jacksonville State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

NASAs F/A-18 research aircraft takes off from Ellington Field in Houston, Texas for a quiet supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The F/A-18 will climb to 50,000 feet over the Gulf of Mexico, where it will perform the quiet supersonic dive maneuver.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- One of the shuttle training aircraft, or STA, takes off from the runway at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. Handling the controls is the commander of the STS-124 mission, Mark Kelly, who will practice landing the shuttle. The STA is a Grumman American Aviation-built Gulf Stream II jet that was modified to simulate an orbiter's cockpit, motion and visual cues, and handling qualities. In flight, the aircraft duplicates the orbiter's atmospheric descent trajectory from approximately 35,000 feet altitude to landing on a runway. Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to lift off on the STS-124 mission at 5:02 p.m. May 31.

Air Canada Airbus Landing at Toronto Pearson Airport, Canada

Passenger airplane in approach for landing with beautiful blue sky

Cessna 150 In Flight At Merrill Field, Anchorage, Southcentral Alaska, USA

Airplane leaving runway in cloudy weather

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Space Shuttle orbiter Endeavour touches down on Runway 15 of the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) to complete the nearly nine-day STS-89 mission. Main gear touchdown was at 5:35:09 p.m. EST on Jan. 31, 1998. The wheels stopped at 5:36:19 EST, completing a total mission time of eight days, 19 hours, 48 minutes and four seconds. The 89th Space Shuttle mission was the 42nd (and 13th consecutive) landing of the orbiter at KSC, and STS-89 was the eighth of nine planned dockings of the Space Shuttle with the Russian Space Station Mir. STS-89 Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas, Ph.D., succeeded NASA astronaut and Mir 24 crew member David Wolf, M.D., who was on the Russian space station since late September 1997. Dr. Wolf returned to Earth on Endeavour with the remainder of the STS-89 crew, including Commander Terrence Wilcutt; Pilot Joe Edwards Jr.; and Mission Specialists James Reilly, Ph.D.; Michael Anderson; Bonnie Dunbar, Ph.D.; and Salizhan Sharipov with

Airplane on tarmac at an airport

A side view of the extended refueling boom of a parked KC-10A Extender aircraft during the tests on the support equipment of the aircraft. Base: Wright-Patterson Air Force Base State: Ohio (OH) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Airplane taking off at an airport runway, Miami, Florida, USA

Helo Air Station - 26-HK-147-124. Hurricane Katrina

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Project Morpheus prototype lander is transported to a launch pad at the north end of the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The prototype lander is being prepared for its fourth free flight test at Kennedy. Morpheus will launch from the ground over a flame trench and then descend and land on a dedicated pad inside the autonomous landing and hazard avoidance technology, or ALHAT, hazard field. Project Morpheus tests NASAs ALHAT and an engine that runs on liquid oxygen and methane, or green propellants, into a fully-operational lander that could deliver cargo to other planetary surfaces. The landing facility provides the lander with the kind of field necessary for realistic testing, complete with rocks, craters and hazards to avoid. Morpheus ALHAT payload allows it to navigate to clear landing sites amidst rocks, craters and other hazards during its descent. Project Morpheus is being managed under the Advanced Exploration Syst

Weekend in Newport, Rhode Island: Arrival at Quonset Naval Air Station (Air Force 1, Tail # 86971). Air Force One, carrying President John F. Kennedy, arrives at Quonset Point Naval Air Station in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft glides down the runway of the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida.The aircraft, known as an SCA, arrived at 5:35 p.m. EDT to prepare for shuttle Discoverys ferry flight to the Washington Dulles International Airport in Sterling, Va., on April 17. This SCA, designated NASA 905, is a modified Boeing 747 jet airliner, originally manufactured for commercial use. One of two SCAs employed over the course of the Space Shuttle Program, NASA 905 is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. NASA 911 was decommissioned at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in California in February. Discovery will be placed on permanent public display in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

Germany, Bavaria, Munich, View of airbus a 340-600 departing at sunset

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - NASAs Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, mated to Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket, approaches Orbitals L-1011 carrier aircraft awaiting its arrival at the “hot pad,” located on the ramp adjacent to the runway on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The rocket will be attached beneath the L-1011 aircraft.The duo will be flown from Vandenberg to the U.S. Army's Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll, part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pegasus and its NuSTAR payload will be launched June 13 from the carrier aircraft 117 nautical miles south of Kwajalein at latitude 6.75 degrees north of the equator. The high-energy X-ray telescope will conduct a census of black holes, map radioactive material in young supernovae remnants, and study the origins of cosmic rays and the extreme physics around collapsed stars.

041016-F-9429S-032. Base: Alpena State: Michigan (MI) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Airplanes at Boarding Gates, Toronto Pearson International Airport, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Special flight to mark Lufthansa's 100th anniversary, on Easter Monday 2026, Airbus A350-900, christened Rostock, with special livery on takeoff from Cologne-Bonn airport, CGN

The e-Genius aircraft is pulled out to the runway for the miles per gallon (MPG) flight during the 2011 Green Flight Challenge, sponsored by Google, at the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, Calif. on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2011. NASA and the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency (CAFE) Foundation are having the challenge with the goal to advance technologies in fuel efficiency and reduced emissions with cleaner renewable fuels and electric aircraft.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, parks at the ramp area at NASA Kennedy Space Centers Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida. The SCA touched down at 5:05 p.m. EDT to prepare for shuttle Endeavours ferry flight to the Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 17.

Qatar, Doha on 2021-11-14. Hamad International Airport in Doha, the capital of Qatar, during the end of the Covid-19 crisis, where travel is slowly resuming. Photograph by Martin Bertrand.Qatar, Doha le 2021-11-14. L aeroport international Hamad de Doha, capitale du Qatar, durant la fin de la crise de la Covid-19 ou les voyages reprennent petit a petit. Photographie de Martin Bertrand.

United States President, Joseph Biden arrives aboard Air Force One at Portland Air National Guard base, Oregon on Oct. 14, 2022. This is the first time a sitting president has visited Oregon twice in one year since 2015.

Jets Fixed Wing Commercial Aviat Airplanes Airlines United Express commuter runway head on

view from airplane window of wing and grass during takeoff. vertical photo, soft focus

Congressional Delegation Oversight Visit - 26-HK-7-138. USA aircraft on ATC ramp2. Hurricane Katrina

Tail assembly

NASA's newest bird, the space shuttle orgiter Discovery, makes a triumphant fly-by of the Space Coast and the Kennedy Space Center runway before landing at 1:46 P.M.

Cloud seeding equipment on wing of plane viewed through window flying over North Dakota

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The shuttle carrier aircraft, or SCA, and its piggyback passenger Atlantis approach the runway at the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility after a three-day trip from California. Touchdown was at 8:27 a.m. EDT. The SCA is a modified Boeing 747 jetliner. Atlantis landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California to end mission STS-117. The return to KSC began July 1 and took three days after stops across the country for fuel. The last stop was at Ft. Campbell in Kentucky. Weather conditions over the last leg postponed the return trip until July 3. Atlantis will be removed from the back of the SCA via the mate/demate device at the SLF. It will then be towed to the Orbiter Processing Facility to begin processing for its next launch, mission STS-122 in December.

Plane parked at night at mumbai airport Copyright: xChouxChiang/DinodiaxPhotox

Ken Piestch, piloting his Interstate Cadet, performs aerobatics during the 2022 Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Air Show at MCAS Miramar, San Diego, California, Sept. 23, 2022. Since 1973, Piestch has been performing for millions of people at more than 400 shows that have taken him to quality venues throughout the United States. The theme for 2022 MCAS Miramar Air Show, Marines Fight, Evolve and Win,” reflects the Marine Corps’ ongoing modernization efforts to prepare for future conflicts.

Total Force - The Super Guppy made a VERY rare stop at Tinker Air Force Base today for some gas on its way to Florida. The NASA aircraft was delivering an Orion Heatshield for a mission expected a few years from now.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, with the space shuttle Endeavour mounted atop, takes off for its ferry flight to California.The SCA, a modified 747 jetliner, will fly Endeavour to Los Angeles where it will be placed on public display at the California Science Center. This is the final ferry flight scheduled in the Space Shuttle Program era.

A medium shot as departure is made from runway 027. There is also a turn around at both ends of the runway. The runway and parking ramp appear to be in good condition. Subject Operation/Series: UPHOLD DEMOCRACY Base: Port Au Prince Country: Haiti (HTI)

Manoeuvering area with airplane and tower at torrid heat, Frankfurt Airport, Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany, Europe

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Endeavour, mounted atop NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft or SCA, takes off from the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The SCA, a modified 747 jetliner, will fly Endeavour to Los Angeles where it will be placed on public display at the California Science Center. This is the final ferry flight scheduled in the Space Shuttle Program era.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - This panoramic view at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, shows the space shuttle Endeavour, mounted atop NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, as it is being prepared for its ferry flight to California.The SCA, a modified 747 jetliner, will fly Endeavour to Los Angeles where it will be placed on public display at the California Science Center. This is the final ferry flight scheduled in the Space Shuttle Program era.

Photos from Aviation Training Center, Mobile - 26-HK-422-17. Hurricane Katrina

Aircrafts - HU-25 Guardian - 26-HK-55-40. Nose of HU-25 on ramp2. Hurricane Katrina

Commercial jets taking off and landing.

NASAs Super Guppy aircraft touches down at the Shuttle Landing Facility, managed and operated by Space Florida, at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the heat shield for Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1). The heat shield will be offloaded and transported to the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay for processing. The heat shield arrived from manufacturer Lockheed Martin in Denver. The Orion spacecraft will launch atop NASAs Space Launch System rocket on EM-1, an uncrewed test flight, in 2018.

Entry lane

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - An Orbital Sciences L-1011 carrier aircraft takes off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on a mission to launch NASA's IRIS spacecraft into low-Earth orbit. IRIS, short for Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, was launched aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket released from the L-1011.

Germany, Berlin, ILA 2012, air display, air liner, airbus A320,

Helo Air Station - 26-HK-147-30. Hurricane Katrina

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft carrying space shuttle Discovery is on the ramp of the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Earlier, the duo backed out of the mate-demate device. Known as the MDD, the device is a large gantry-like steel structure used to hoist a shuttle off the ground and position it onto the back of the aircraft, or SCA. The SCA is a Boeing 747 jet that was originally manufactured for commercial use and modified by NASA to transport the shuttles between destinations on Earth. This SCA, designated NASA 905, is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. NASA 905 is scheduled to ferry Discovery to the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia on April 17, after which the shuttle will be placed on display in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

A Heron TP (IAF designation Eitan) unmanned aerial vehicle, the newest UAV in the Israeli Air Force inventory.

A Hill Air Force Base F-35A Lightning II aircraft comes in to land April 22, 2022, at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The 33rd Fighter Wing received jets from Air Combat Command throughout the standup of the 60th Fighter Squadron.

Airplane landing

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - An F-18 aircraft flies by a launch pad as it departs from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The plane will serve as the "chase plane" accompanying the Orbital Sciences L-1011 aircraft as it transports the Pegasus XL rocket carrying NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, solar observatory over the Pacific Ocean. Release of the rocket from under the wing of the L-1011 is scheduled for 10:27 p.m. EDT.IRIS will open a new window of discovery using spectrometry and imaging to trace the flow of energy and plasma through the chromospheres and transition region into the suns corona. The spacecraft will observe how solar material moves, gathers energy and heats up as it travels through a largely unexplored region of the solar atmosphere. This interface region, located between the sun's visible surface and its upper atmosphere, is where most of its ultraviolet emission is generated. These emissions impact the near-Earth space environm

View from above airplane parked on sunny airport tarmac

Empty runway at Changi airport in Singapore, departuring plane in the background

Air Force One touches down at Melsbroek Air Base outside of Brussels, Belgium, on June 4, 2014.

The Breguet BR1150 Atlantic (SP-13A) maritime patrol slope 252 (1969-1984) on the platform of Marineliegkamp Valkenburg.

Critical Incident Stress Management - Flights - 26-HK-142-27. Hurricane Katrina

Toronto Pearson airport

Harrisburg International Airport; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Rear view of jet airliner resting on tarmac

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Orbital Sciences L-1011 aircraft takes off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for the Kwajalein Atoll, a part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Under its wing is NASAs Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft and Pegasus XL rocket. Departing from Kwajalein, the Pegasus rocket will be dropped from under the wing of the L-1011 over the Pacific Ocean to carry the spacecraft approximately 130 miles above Earth and place it in orbit. Then, the spacecrafts own engine will boost it to its final high-altitude orbit (about 200,000 miles high) — most of the way to the Moon. The IBEX satellite will make the first map of the boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space. IBEX science will be led by the Southwest Research Institute of San Antonio, Texas. IBEX is targeted for launch over the Pacific Oct. 19.

Aircrafts - HH-65 Dolphin - 26-HK-54-2. HH-65 above flight line-- 050902. Hurricane Katrina

Helo Air Station - 26-HK-147-94. Hurricane Katrina

Turboprop Raytheon Prop Fixed Wing Aviat Airplanes Beech King Air C90B charter runway takeoff

Aerial view of the runway. Base: Tengeh Royal Singapore Afb Country: Singapore (SGP)

President George W. Bush Visit - 26-HK-6-5. aerial view of ATC ramp with Air Force One and helicopter escorts. Hurricane Katrina

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - With its drag chute unfurled, space shuttle Atlantis rolls down Runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Landing was at 8 48 a.m. EDT, completing the 12-day STS-132 mission to the International Space Station. The six-member STS-132 crew carried the Russian-built Mini Research Module-1 to the space station. STS-132 is the 34th shuttle mission to the station, the 132nd shuttle mission overall and the last planned flight for Atlantis.

Aerial view of airplane and vans

010513-F-1644L-019. Complete Scene Caption: Northrop Grumman contractors and members of the 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron, Edwards Air Force Base, California, perform final maintenance on the RQ-4A Global Hawk before it's flight from RAAF Base Edinburgh, Adelaide, Australia, in support of Exercise TANDEM THRUST 01. Able to cover more than 40,000 square miles, the jet powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) RQ-4A Global Hawk has a wing span of 116 feet, equal to a Boeing 737, able to fly up to 65,000 feet and loiter for more than 24 hours. The Global Hawk deployed to Australia from April to June 2001, flying more than a dozen missions. This Global Hawk completed its biggest challenge to date the non-stop Trans-Pacific flight from Edwards to Edinburgh. TANDEM THRUST 2001 a combined US, Australian, and Canadian military exercise for crisis action planning and execution of contingency response operations. The biannual exercise is held in the vicinity of Shoalwater Bay training area in

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- With the aid of a drag chute, space shuttle Atlantis slows down after landing on Runway 15 of the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center after a nearly 5.3 million mile round trip to the International Space Station. The shuttle landed on orbit 202 to complete the 13-day STS-122 mission. Main gear touchdown was 9:07:10 a.m. Nose gear touchdown was 9:07:20 a.m. Wheel stop was at 9:08:08 a.m. Mission elapsed time was 12 days, 18 hours, 21 minutes and 44 seconds. During the mission, Atlantis' crew installed the new Columbus laboratory, leaving a larger space station and one with increased science capabilities. The Columbus Research Module adds nearly 1,000 cubic feet of habitable volume and affords room for 10 experiment racks, each an independent science lab. Photo courtesy of Scott Andrews

View looking south near Ceilometer is the ditch that runs into the culvert on the northeast perimeter road. This area could pose a potential security threat for United States military personnel working at the airport. To the right is the Eastern Apron with a contract Boeing 747 on the ramp.SCREEN RESOLUTION ONLY. View looking south near Ceilometer is the ditch that runs into the culvert on the northeast perimeter road. This area could pose a potential security threat for United States military personnel working at the airport. To the right is the Eastern Apron with a contract Boeing 747 on the ramp.SCREEN RESOLUTION ONLY

The Lockheed P-3C (Update II) Orion long distance maritime patrol flour 301 (1981-2006) at Marineliegkamp Valkenburg.

A white airplane is parked on the runway with people walking around it

istanbul airport apron view of boarding gate 209-212

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Project Morpheus prototype lander is positioned at the midfield of the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida to prepare it for a dress rehearsal of a tethered flight test. The lander will be transported to a launch platform at the north end of the landing facility. Testing of the prototype lander was performed at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston in preparation for tethered and free flight testing at Kennedy.The landing facility will provide the lander with the kind of field necessary for realistic testing, complete with rocks, craters and hazards to avoid. Morpheus utilizes an autonomous landing and hazard avoidance technology, or ALHAT, payload that will allow it to navigate to clear landing sites amidst rocks, craters and other hazards during its descent. Project Morpheus is being managed under the Advanced Exploration Systems, or AES, Division in NASAs Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The efforts i

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Hitching a ride on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, a modified Boeing 747, space shuttle Atlantis has arrived in Lackland Air Force Base's Kelly Field Annex in Texas for a fuel stop on its journey back to Florida. Atlantis' next assignment is the STS-129 mission, targeted to launch in November 2009.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The MAVEN spacecraft arrives at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a C-17 aircraft. The aircraft is delivering MAVEN for processing ahead of a launch later this year on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.MAVEN, short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, will orbit Mars to study the Red Planet's upper atmosphere in unprecedented detail.

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