NASA’s WB-57 Aircraft
Published on Jan 24, 2009 at 10:31 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under NASA, aeronautics.
The same hangar at Ellington Field that houses NASA’s C-9B also houses the agency’s two WB-57 aircraft. So, I got to see them when I was there for the microgravity flight.
Out of over 400 various variants B-57s built, only two still fly. NASA operates both of them to fly high altitude research missions. These missions include atmospheric studies, cosmic ray studies, astronomy, and anything else that requires the capabilities of these aircraft. They are even used to monitor the Space Shuttle during takeoff.
The B-57 dates back to the early 1950s. At the onset of the Korean War, the United States Air Force realized that there was an urgent need for a light jet bomber to replace the propeller driven aircraft then in use. Responding to the call for jet bombers, the British flew a twin engine contender, the Canberra, across the Atlantic Ocean, making the first time that a jet managed such a non-stop trans-Atlantic flight. The Air Force was impressed, and the Canberra was given the go-ahead. The aircraft maker Martin was granted the license to produce the bombers in the US. Over the years, more were produced. However, the Canberra turned out to have a high ceiling and was useful for reconnaissance. So, a special variant was developed for that purpose. Another variant, carrying scientific instruments rather than weapons or cameras, was the WB-57, designed for meteorological studies. The WB-57 could fly well into the stratosphere to study the Earth’s atmosphere. WB-57s were also used to monitor radiation from atmospheric nuclear tests. One of the later WB-57s was eventually transferred to NASA. Eventually, NASA acquired two additional WB-57 aircraft. NASA still has them, and the later two are still operational. They are currently the last two WB-57s flying.
NASA’s WB-57 aircraft have a range of about 2500 miles and can remain aloft for up to 6.5 hours. They have an operational ceiling of nearly 70,000 feet. At these altitudes, the air is exceedingly thin, with a pressure in the neighborhood of 1 psi. The crew is required to wear pressure suits. The suits are heavy, so NASA has what looks like a small motor home to transport them to the aircraft. These pressure suits are basically the same sort of thing that the Space Shuttle astronauts were during takeoff and landing. They are not space suits, but rather high altitude pressure suits.
NASA’s WB-57 aircraft can be used by NASA and other researchers as needs demand. They are very capable aircraft, with a number of options for attaching instruments and instrument packages. Some instruments can be mounted externally, on the wings, and some can be loaded in either pressurized or non-pressurized pallets into the belly of the aircraft.
One of the WB-57 was undergoing preparations for flight the entire time that we were at Ellington field for our mission. On my last day at Ellington, after the other team members had taken off for their microgravity flight (mine had been earlier in the week), I got to see the Super Guppy (I wrote about that a few days ago). But, if you look at the photograph that I took of the Super Guppy, you can see a bit of a tail sticking out past the front of the guppy’s nose. That is the tail of a NASA WB-57 Canberra. It was being prepared for a flight. Eventually, it taxied away and took off, and I got the following photos.
I had seen photos of NASA’s high altitude research aircraft before. I show a picture of one of them in my planetary astronomy class when I talk about some of NASA’s work in collecting micrometeorites from the upper atmosphere. But, I had not realized that they’d be kept at the same hangar that we’d be working out of during the microgravity flight. Actually, I will admit that I was so focussed on that flight that I didn’t really think about the other aircraft that NASA has at Ellington. I am very glad, though, that I got to see this historic aircraft in operation while I was there.
-Astroprof
(Photos taken by Astroprof)
Link list – 26th January 2009 | Astronomy Link List on April 6, 2009 at 9:57 am: 1
[…] the Earth. An artificial galaxy Supernova Condensate Amazing photo of London from the ISS. NASA’s WB-57 Aircraft Astroprof’s Page The Canberra aircraft was originally flown by the RAF starting back in the […]
DMarch on November 5, 2009 at 12:59 am: 2
Looking at Google Earth, for some reason it occurred to me to check the primary Venezuelan Air Force Base, El Libertador.
Saw what appeared to be four or five Martin B-57 Canberra types, but I’m no scholar. Some cursory research showed Peru had a complement of Canberra types, but not Venezuela…