Note: The NASA DC-8 aircraft will be retired after the ASIA-AQ, April 2024 deployment.

Based at NASA Armstrong's Building 703 in Palmdale, CA, this unique flying laboratory collects data for experiments in support of scientific projects serving the world's scientific community, including investigators from NASA and other federal, state, academic, and foreign institutions. The DC-8 flies three primary missions - sensor development, satellite sensor verification, and basic research studies of the Earth's surface and atmosphere. Data gathered by the DC-8 at flight altitude and by remote sensing have been used for scientific studies in archeology, ecology, geography, hydrology, meteorology, oceanography, volcanology, atmospheric chemistry, soil science, and biology.