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One of NASA\u2019s three WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft made a gears-up landing in late January. The aircraft were developed during the Cold War to perform intelligence missions. (credit: KHOU)<\/p>\n
by Dwayne A. Day
Monday, March 9, 2026<\/p>\n
\nOn January 27, 2026, NASA 927, a big-winged WB-57F with an elegant white and blue paint scheme, performed a gear-up landing at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base<\/a>, trailing sparks and smoke as it slid down the runway, making a horrible sound until it slid to a stop. The WB-57F is not the easiest aircraft to land, because its wings generate so much lift that it wants to be in the air, not on the ground, but fortunately both crew members onboard survived with no injuries. The aircraft, N927NA, sustained significant damage and remains grounded. NASA operates three WB-57Fs, high-altitude scientific research aircraft that have long had many connections to the agency\u2019s space programs. The planes are the legacy of a mysterious Cold War era program that in some ways owed its existence to the U-2 spyplane.\n<\/p>\n The Martin RB-57F was developed in the early 1960s due to a requirement for a high-altitude intelligence aircraft with greater payload than the U-2. Twenty-one RB-57Fs were remanufactured from existing B-57B aircraft. By 1972, three aircraft had been transferred to NASA and the remaining aircraft were retired to long-term storage. (credit: USAF)<\/p>\n The Canberra<\/p>\n \nIn the late 1940s, the English Electric Corporation developed the jet-powered Canberra medium bomber. The Canberra proved to be a highly successful aircraft for the company, which produced dozens of variants and exported them to multiple countries, with some continuing in operation into the 2000s. English Electric manufactured 900 Canberras, with another 49 license-built in Australia. In 1950, the Martin Aircraft Corporation in the United States licensed the Canberra to produce a version for the US Air Force designated the B-57. Martin made several modifications to its early models, notably changing the awkward cockpit and the bomb bay, and eventually built 400 of them.\n<\/p>\n The planes are the legacy of a mysterious Cold War era program that in some ways owed its existence to the U-2 spyplane.<\/p>\n \nThroughout the 1950s and into the 1960s, Martin introduced numerous updated versions of the B-57. The B-57B, C, and E models all saw service in Vietnam. Another aircraft, the enigmatic B-57G, with an unusual sensor mounted under its nose and the designation Tropic Light III, also flew in Vietnam during Operation Shed Light<\/a>, and remained mysterious for years after the war. The sensor equipment consisted of low light level and infrared detection equipment for night bombing missions.\n<\/p>\n \nIn 1954, the Air Force was developing the twin-engine X-16 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft when the CIA was authorized to develop the U-2. The X-16 was canceled, and the CIA performed high-altitude reconnaissance missions for the remainder of the decade. The Air Force still sought its own high altitude reconnaissance aircraft and contracted Martin to develop a large-wing version of the B-57. The RB-57D<\/a> (\u201cR\u201d for \u201cReconnaissance\u201d) was able to fly higher than most existing aircraft, but not as high as the U-2. Only 20 were produced, and they were used for high-altitude photo-reconnaissance, high-altitude signals interception, and radar mapping. Some of them were employed by the US Air Force with Taiwanese pilots to conduct reconnaissance missions over mainland China, where one aircraft was shot down in 1959. RB-57Ds operated from 1956 until 1964, when they were retired due to fatigue problems with their large wings. The Air Force began flying its own U-2s by 1957, but the U-2 was a flimsy aircraft that could not do all the high-altitude missions the Air Force needed to do.\n<\/p>\n Cutaway of the RB-57F in Air Force service. (credit: Aerophile magazine)<\/p>\n \nIn 1963, due to a requirement for higher-altitude reconnaissance missions, the Air Force contracted Martin to produce a version with an even larger wing, this time designated the RB-57F. The aircraft was capable of sustained flight up to 80,000 feet (24,400 meters), although with a payload it generally operated at around 50,000 feet (15,200 meters). Twenty-one RB-57Fs were produced, remanufactured from B-57Bs. Because they were so heavily modified, the Air Force gave them entirely new serial numbers. The aircraft was capable of carrying signals intelligence sensors and cameras. A primary requirement was the ability to fly high-altitude air sampling missions, carrying equipment that contained filters that trapped radioactive particles blown high into the atmosphere during nuclear weapons tests. The aircraft were operated by the US Air Force\u2019s 9th Weather Reconnaissance Wing<\/a>, Air Weather Service<\/a>, Military Air Transport Service<\/a> (MATS), headquartered at McClellan Air Force Base<\/a>, California, with four squadrons deployed to California, Japan, Australia, and New Mexico. Aircraft designated Rivet Slice were used for reconnaissance missions, and two-word code names starting with \u201cRivet\u201d were used to designate specific modifications.\n<\/p>\n \nThe RB-57Fs flew many different missions with names like Cold Car, Cold Cone, Sold Sand, Cross Check, Paddlewheel, Rough Rider, Slurry, Spinnaker Bravo and Storm Fury. Some of these were in support of civilian missions, including NASA\u2019s Apollo spacecraft recoveries as well as NOAA cyclone monitoring operations. In 1968, the Air Force redesignated the aircraft as WB-57F.\n<\/p>\n From 1982 to 2012 NASA operated two WB-57s. A third aircraft was taken out of long-term storage and returned to flight due to increased demand. The aircraft have had many different paint schemes over the years. (credit: NASA)<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s WB-57Fs<\/p>\n \nStarting in the late 1950s, NASA\u2019s predecessor NACA operated an RB-57B with the standard wing for flight testing purposes. The plane then became a NASA aircraft when the agency was formed in 1958. The Air Force serial number was 52-1576 (indicating the aircraft was originally ordered in 1952) and initially designated NASA 237 when it was transferred to the agency. It was also designated N637N, N516NA, and finally NASA 809<\/a>. The aircraft was used for flight testing and as an atmospheric research aircraft. In the late 1950s it was used to test hydrogen fuel at high altitude with a special wing modification. In the mid-1970s it was used to validate the Viking Mars lander parachutes. It was also used for turbulence tests in the mid-1970s and again a decade later. It was retired in 1987 and put on display at Edwards Air Force Base.\n<\/p>\n \nIn 1968, the Air Force loaned NASA a WB-57F to support the agency\u2019s Earth Resources Satellite<\/a> Program. This mission consisted of carrying sensors to high altitude to correlate their data with data collected by a satellite. A modified WB-57F given the NASA tail number 925 and known as the Earth Survey Aircraft flew missions in 1968 and 1969.\n<\/p>\n During the 2000s, NASA was apparently considering retiring at least one of the WB-57Fs due to lack of users. However, several factors intervened to increase the demand for the aircrafts\u2019 capabilities.<\/p>\n \nBecause the aircraft was on loan to NASA, the Air Force required that no permanent modifications be made, and its sensor package had to be easily removed so that the aircraft could be returned to its national security mission. General Dynamics developed aerodynamically faired plug-in pallets that could carry both NASA and Air Force equipment. The pallets were mounted in the bomb bay and connected to existing cooling and electrical outlets. The back seat was fitted with removable operating consoles.\n<\/p>\n \nIn 1972, the Air Force decommissioned its weather reconnaissance squadron and its fleet of WB-57Fs. The Air Force sent most of them to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. It is better known as \u201cthe boneyard,\u201d a sprawling facility covered with hundreds of aircraft, most used for spare parts until they are scrapped, but some eventually returned to American or foreign service. It also permanently transferred the airplane on loan to NASA as well as two additional WB-57Fs, where they were part of the NASA High Altitude Research Project. The two new aircraft were given tail numbers NASA 926 and NASA 928.\n<\/p>\n The WB-57s were used to observe both the 2017 and 2024 eclipses. Here one of the aircraft is seen modified for observing the 2017 eclipse. (credit: NASA)<\/p>\n \nNASA 925 was retired in 1982, leaving the agency with two operational aircraft for the next several decades. Throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and into the 2000s, NASA\u2019s two WB-57s performed various Earth science missions. NASA operated a fleet of Earth sciences aircraft throughout this time. The fleet included two ER-2 aircraft\u2014essentially later versions of the U-2 developed in the mid-1950s\u2014a DC-8, which proved to be a major Earth science workhorse, and multiple other aircraft, including a P-3 Orion and several Gulfstream variants. The planes carried science sensors for atmospheric as well as ground observations. Collectively, this fleet of aircraft is part of NASA\u2019s Airborne Science Program. This diverse and capable Earth science aircraft fleet was, and remains, unmatched, and NASA is an attractive international partner in airborne science because of its range of capabilities.\n<\/p>\n NASA operates an extensive fleet of aircraft for research purposes. These are scientific aircraft, not flight test aircraft. NASA’s extensive capabilities make it an attractive international partner. (credit: NASA)<\/p>\n \nNASA sources about the planes\u2019 maximum altitude are inconsistent, but it appears that the WB-57Fs can fly up to 63,000 feet (19,200 meters), but with most payloads they fly lower than this. They can carry a 2,700-kilogram sensor pallet in the former bomb bay underneath the center fuselage. The pallet can carry various cameras and other instruments. They have multiple payload location options besides the pallet bay, including the nose, wing pods, wing hatches, aft fuselage, and tail cone. For some research projects, multiple instruments are carried at many payload locations, missions only include a few or only one instrument.\n<\/p>\n The WB-57 is a versatile aircraft capable of mounting many instruments in multiple locations. This illustration shows one configuration for a research mission. (credit: NASA)<\/p>\n \nAlthough NASA\u2019s ER-2s can fly higher than the WB-57Fs, up to 70,000 feet (21,300 meters), the WB-57Fs can carry a bigger payload. NASA even flew an Earth sciences campaign over Central America that involved multiple aircraft simultaneously flying the same path at different altitudes: an aircraft at lower altitude, the DC-8 at medium altitude, a WB-57 above it at approximately 50,000 feet, and a ER-2 above them all at 70,000 feet. Scientists could take readings at multiple altitudes, measuring a vertical slice of the atmosphere. The aircraft have flown many unique missions<\/a> over the decades.\n<\/p>\n WB-57s have been used to track spacecraft reentries, such as the returning sample canister from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. (credit: NASA)<\/p>\n \nIn 2005, a NASA WB-57 flew four missions out of Mildenhall in the United Kingdom as part of the Cosmic Dust Collector (CDC) mission. The aircraft was equipped with two small metallic rectangular boxes carried under each wing that collected interplanetary dust particles on an adhesive strip.\n<\/p>\n In the early 2000s, the WB-57s were not heavily utilized. Several new missions, including the need to track space shuttle launches using a nose-mounted camera seen here, increased demand for them. (credit: NASA)<\/p>\n The 21st century and a new lease on life<\/p>\n \nDuring the 2000s, NASA was apparently considering retiring at least one of the WB-57Fs due to lack of users. However, several factors intervened to increase the demand for the aircrafts\u2019 capabilities. The Columbia accident in early 2003 highlighted NASA\u2019s need for better tracking of space shuttle launches. The aircraft were equipped with a special high-definition tracking camera and other sensors in a specially adapted gimbal-mounted ball turret mounted in the nose. This was known as the WB-57F Ascent Video Experiment (WAVE). The turret was used throughout the remainder of the shuttle program and continues to be used for monitoring various launch and some reentry events. For example, it has been used to monitor Starship launches<\/a> from Texas, and also monitored the Artemis 1 launch in 2022. It is not unusual for a WB-57 to land at Kennedy Space Center during a launch monitoring period.\n<\/p>\n When WB-57s are assigned to track rocket launches from Florida, they occasionally land at Kennedy Space Center. (credit: adsbexchange.com)<\/p>\n \nThe 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan also led to a new demand for the aircraft. One problem experienced by US forces deployed into valleys was the inability to transmit or receive communications because they could be out of view of a satellite. Starting in 2006, NASA WB-57s were deployed to Afghanistan carrying BACN<\/a> (Battlefield Airborne Communications Node) payloads, which acted as communications relays. Both aircraft were separately deployed to Afghanistan<\/a>. During these deployments<\/a>, their NASA logos were removed and they were probably operated by military pilots. There was little information released<\/a> about these operations. Later, the Department of Defense acknowledged that the WB-57s were sometimes used as technology testbeds<\/a> so that military aircraft were free to be deployed operationally.\n<\/p>\n For many years it was common to put mission stickers on the side of the aircraft. The planes have had several different paint schemes over the decades. (Note the aircraft designation is misspelled in this 2006 photograph.) (credit: Dwayne Day)<\/p>\n \nThe NASA aircraft also performed geophysical and remote sensing surveys in 2007 as part of the US aid to the Afghan reconstruction effort. During 28 missions, the WB-57 collected data that was used for resource assessment purposes. From November 2010 to August 2011, a WB-57 was deployed to Afghanistan with the High-Altitude Lidar Operational Experiment (HALOE) payload. These missions ended in the early 2010s as the DoD acquired its own assets for performing them. Two WB-57s were used to observe the August 2017 and the April 2024 solar eclipses.\n<\/p>\n WB-57s have been used to track spacecraft reentries, such as the returning sample canister from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. (credit: NASA)<\/p>\n \nOperating an old aircraft presents many challenges. One of them was that the agency began running out of tires and no new tires were being made. Fortunately, the F-15 had the same size tire, but the WB-57 landing gear had to be modified to accommodate it. The aircraft cockpits are a mix of old \u201csteam gauges\u201d and modern electronics like navigation systems.\n<\/p>\n The aircraft are kept at a hangar facility only a short distance north of Johnson Space Center. Here the two aircraft in service in 2006 are seen being prepared for flight. (credit: Dwayne Day)<\/p>\n \nThe increased demand for the NASA aircraft in the 21st century resulted in an unusual development. In May 2011, WB-57F 63-13295, which had been retired in June 1972 and placed in long-term storage at AMARG at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, was removed from storage and trucked to Colorado. At Centennial Airport, Sierra Nevada Corporation refurbished the aircraft to flying condition<\/a>. On August 9, 2013, it was flown to Ellington Air Force Base north of Johnson Space Center in Texas and turned over to NASA. It was re-designated as NASA 927. The aircraft had spent 41 years in storage<\/a>, the longest that a military aircraft had been stored before returning to service. It was this aircraft\u2014the newest in NASA\u2019s fleet\u2014that suffered the mishap in January.\n<\/p>\n The WB-57 cockpit is a mix of 1960s and modern instruments. Keeping such old aircraft maintained is not easy. (credit: NASA)<\/p>\n \nNASA frequently does not include the \u201cF\u201d in the aircraft designation. As the only operational Canberras in the world, it is not necessary.\n<\/p>\n \nWhether NASA 927 is repaired and reenters service will depend upon the extent of the damage, the cost of repairing it, and the projected need for the aircraft. There are several WB-57F airframes still in storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base to support future NASA WB-57 requirements. The big-winged bird may still rejoin its flock.\n<\/p>\n Artwork produced for the 2024 eclipse, which used specialty instruments deployed on two WB-57s. (credit: NASA)<\/p>\n NASA WB-57F aircraft:<\/p>\n \tN925NA (NASA 925), AF s\/n 63-13501 (Rivet Slice 3 and Rivet Rap), retired September 15, 1982. Further reading:<\/p>\n \nPaul Bradley, Martin B-57 and English Electric Canberra, Volume 2, Phoenix Scale Publications, 2023.\n<\/p>\n \nAeroplane Illustrated: Canberra \u2013 Britain\u2019s First Jet Bomber.\n<\/p>\n \nAndrew Brookes, RAF Canberra Units of the Cold War, Combat Aircraft 105, Osprey, 2014.\n<\/p>\n \nT.E. Bell, B-57 Canberra Units of the Vietnam War, Combat Aircraft 85, Osprey, 2011.\n<\/p>\n \nGuy Warner, The Last Canberra \u2013 PR9XH131, December 2010.\n<\/p>\n \nGlenn Sands and Gary Madgwick, On Target, Profile 11, Canberra Part 2, The Aviation Workshop, 2005.\n<\/p>\n \nKev Darling, Martin B-57 Canberra, Warpaint Series No. 45, Guideline Publications, 2004.\n<\/p>\n \nRobert C. Mikesh, \u201cB-57 Canberra in Vietnam,\u201d Wings of Fame, Volume 19, 2000, pp. 14-31.\n<\/p>\n \nRobert C. Mikesh, Martin B-57 Canberra: The Complete Record, Schiffer Military History, 1997.\n<\/p>\n \nRoland Beamont and Arthur Reed, English Electric Canberra, Ian Allan Ltd., 1984.\n<\/p>\n \nJay Miller, \u201cMartin\/General Dynamics RB-57F,\u201d Aerophile, Volume 2, Number 3, April 1980, pp, 11-43.\n<\/p>\n![\"WB-57\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/5174e.jpg\")
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Twenty-one RB-57F aircraft were built and four flew for NASA. This list was compiled by aviation historian Jay Miller in 1980 for the now-defunct Aerophile magazine. (larger version<\/a>) (credit: Aerophile magazine)<\/p>\n![\"WB-57\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/5174c.jpg\")
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\n\tN926NA (NASA 926), AF s\/n 63-13503 (Rivet Slice 2).
\n\tN927NA (NASA 927), AF s\/n 63-13295 (Rivet Chip 8).
\n\tN928NA (NASA 928), AF s\/n 63-13298 (Rivet Chip 11). <\/p>\n