Current Aeronautics Image Gallery

Browse this aeronautics image gallery representing some of NASA's current aviation research and science investigations.

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft lifts off for its first flight Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, from U.S. Air Force...

👁 The X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft flies above California. The plane has a distinctive shape with a long, sharply pointed nose. The nose is silver, while the rest of the body looks white. The words "NASA" and "X-59" are on the body of the aircraft. In the background, we can see brown earth below the plane as well as hazy mountains in the distance.

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft lifts off for its first flight Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, from U.S. Air Force...

👁 NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft lifts off from the runway at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. Its wheels are just slightly off the runway. Heat waves are visible off the back of the aircraft as it ascends under a clear sky. Rows of Joshua trees stretch toward the mountains in the background.

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft flies above Palmdale and Edwards, California, on its first flight Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025,...

👁 NASA’s X-59 flies above the Mojave Desert with a NASA F-15 off its left wing. The X-59’s landing gear is down and below it the desert landscape stretches toward rows of windmills in front of mountains.

The X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft arrives at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, following its first flight...

👁 The X-59 pulls onto the ramp at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center. In front of the aircraft, the crew chief stands with arms raised to guide it in, while another flight crew member stands beside the aircraft. An audience is visible in the background near a large hangar.

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft moves under its own power for the first time at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works...

👁 ASA’s X-59 aircraft exits a large white hangar labeled “STALL 5” at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California. The aircraft is positioned nose-first, with a crew chief in the foreground raising both hands to guide its movement. Five other ground crew members stand nearby, monitoring clearance. Sunlight hits the aircraft’s nose and canopy. In the foreground, the gray concrete surface has a yellow stripe starting at the bottom left corner and running toward the aircraft’s front tire.

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft taxis across the runway during a low-speed taxi test at U.S. Air Force Plant...

👁 NASA’s X-59 aircraft taxis on the runway at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. The aircraft is shown in profile moving from right to left, with the control tower and desert mountains in the background. In the foreground, the gray concrete runway features a solid yellow line with evenly spaced parallel black stripes inside it, all under a clear blue sky.

A NASA F-15 aircraft and the experimental X-59 quiet supersonic sit close together during electromagnetic interference testing at Palmdale, California.

👁 A NASA F-15 aircraft sits 20 feet off the left side of the X-59 aircraft, with a white hangar and hills in the background.

Thomas Ozoroski, a researcher at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, takes icing accretion measurements in October 2024 as part...

👁 A man looks at white ice built up on a section of scale-model transonic truss-braced wing. The model wing stands vertically in NASA Glenn’s Icing Research Tunnel.

This artist concept shows a NASA-developed small-core jet engine installed in General Electric Aerospace's CFM RISE jet engine design. The...

👁 Graphic shows a possible future General Electric jet engine with exposed fan blades in front of a cut-away-interior view of its core mechanisms -- all part of NASA's Subsonic Vehicle Technologies and Tools (SVTT) research project.

An Alta-8 small Unmanned Aircraft System testbed vehicle flies above NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Flying beyond visual...

👁 A small, black drone with multiple helicopter-like blades hovers over some trees during a bright, partly cloudy day in Virginia.

A model of the X-66 aircraft with a wingspan of almost 6 feet was placed in the 12-Foot Low-Speed Wind...

👁 A white model of an airplane mounted on top of a “L” shaped silver pole with a background of shiny grey walls, there are bright white lights on top of the photo.

The DGEN380 Aero-Propulsion Research Turbofan (DART) is a small-scale jet engine NASA uses to test new aviation technology. DART is...

👁 A person stands next to a small jet engine inside a soundproofed room.

The NASA 5.2% scale, semi-span version of the High Lift Common Research Model installed in the German-Dutch Wind Tunnels -...

👁 A silver-colored airplane research model sits in a wind tunnel facility. The model consists of a section of a scaled-down fuselage on the floor, with a single wing mounted vertically on it. The metallic wall of the wind tunnel is visible in the background.

NASA’s X-59 complements the glow of the sky at dusk with its unique Mach diamonds, also known as shock diamonds,...

👁 NASA’s X-59 sits partially in a white hangar and emits bright flames with visible shock diamonds from its engine at sunset during maximum afterburner testing outside Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works Facility in Palmdale, California.

Michael Presby, a research materials engineer at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, adjusts an infrared thermal imaging camera used...

👁 A man working in an industrial laboratory wearing sunglasses points a camera at a silver exhaust port emitting a superhot blue flame that is striking a material causing it to glow bright orange.

Bathed in dramatic lighting, NASA's X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft is seen fully assembled and painted at Lockheed Martin's Skunk...

👁 NASA's X-59 airplane sits in its hangar with lights shining on it.

NASA's X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft is dramatically lit for a "glamour shot," captured before its Jan. 12, 2024, rollout...

👁 NASA's X-59 airplane sits on the ground with lights shining on it.

Before NASA’s quiet supersonic X-59 aircraft takes to the skies, plenty of testing happens to ensure a safe first flight....

👁 A technician works on the X-59 model during testing in the low-speed wind tunnel.

Take a moment and just stare at this beautiful airplane. Whether or not you have an interest in aeronautics or...

👁 NASA's F/A-18 taking off from Ellington Field.

A team of experts wrap up science flights on the ER-2 aircraft at Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California...

👁 A plane begins to ascend from the runway on dim desert morning, heading toward the left of the frame. The wheels of the plane are still dropped and the nose of the plane is pointed upward toward higher skies, its tail featuring the NASA insignia. The helmeted pilot inside is barely visible through the cockpit window. Below a desert landscape with indiscernible buildings are flanked by a hazy mountain range in the distance.

Equipped with state-of-the-art technology to test and evaluate communication, navigation, and surveillance systems NASA’s Pilatus PC-12 performs touch-and-go maneuvers over...

👁 NASA’s Pilatus PC-12 flies over the runway at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center. The white plane shines bright against the Mojave Desert landscape. The red NASA worm figures prominently on the tail of the plane and a blue stripe lining the fuselage with the NASA meatball logo under the pilot's window. The plane’s call sign, also in blue, N606NA is brightly painted above the blue stripe.

In this image, a concept for a six-passenger quadcopter is run through a computer simulation to visualize the interaction of...

👁 Concept of 6-passenger quadcopter is run through a computer simulation to visualize the interaction of airflow and the 4 rotors.

URL: https://www.nasa.gov/gallery/current-aeronautics-image-gallery/

⇱ Current Aeronautics Image Gallery - NASA

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Current Aeronautics Image Gallery