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Video: NASA 747s On Formation Photo Flight

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NASA's two modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft briefly flew in formation for the first time ever over the Edwards Air Force Base test range on Aug. 2, 2011. NASA 911 was on a pilot proficiency flight while NASA 905 was on a functional check flight following maintenance operations. NASA photographer Carla Thomas captured video imagery of the formation flight from a NASA Dryden F/A-18. (youtu.be) More...

John Hartman
News junkiePromoter

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hcf
Harrison Arouny 3
wonder where their future is headed. This crazy to see two 741s flying together these days
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franksimon
Frank Simon 3
Very pretty; all dressed up and no place to go.
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FBI
FBI 1
wow, isn't that just glorious.

what a privilege it is to be a part of this U.S. industry.
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bentwing60
bentwing60 1
Never been in one and it's on my bucket list. One was at EFD the last time I was in there and it looked pretty sad. Parked and all alone!
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FBI
FBI 1
ouch!

yes....shame.
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biorider
John Jones 1
N905A is (was?) in piece parts on Ellington Field, near Johnson Space Center. Check Google Earth for 4/2014.
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Arcticame1
Gerald Cashen 1
Great shot made my day to see that
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oowmmr
oowmmr 1
Those are neat and the tiny NASA F15 squeezed in around :20
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tf51d
Thomas Cain 1
I think you mean F/A18
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tf51d
Thomas Cain 1
I think you mean F/A18
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jimcander
Jim Anderson 1
Both have been retired. N911NA is in Palmdale and will be used for spares on SOFIA and N905NA is going on display in Houston.
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preacher1
preacher1 1
Well, the video is 3 years old so it is probably much ado about nothing. Bentwing, you may can do your bucketlist next time you are in Houston.
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preacher1
preacher1 1
Oh Wow; be still my heart.
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bboaze
Bruce Boaze -7
So, is this how NASA spends the $18 billion we give them every year? In my opinion these aircraft should be parked somewhere burning no fuel at all. I'd rather see video of something landing on the moon, or the launch of a rocket that can attract commercial customers to help pay for itself.

Sorry for the rant.
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preacher1
preacher1 -7
Well said. No rant, just truth. Why are they in the air. 2 planes maintained and 2 crews on ready status. They should be parked or better, sold/ scrapped.
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fotomakr
Bryan Nylander 5
Why? According to the text with the footage, it was an opportune catch:
NASA's two modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft briefly flew in formation for the first time ever over the Edwards Air Force Base test range on Aug. 2, 2011. NASA 911 was on a pilot proficiency flight while NASA 905 was on a functional check flight following maintenance operations. NASA photographer Carla Thomas captured video imagery of the formation flight from a NASA Dryden F/A-18.
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preacher1
preacher1 -6
Why are they flying or Pilots still on staff. Their primary purpose in life was shuttle transport. How long has it been since we had a space shuttle. Why do we even still have them. Reminds me of 3 guys working foe the city planting trees. One dug a whole, one set in the tree, and 1 filled the hole. The city laid off the guy that set in the tree, but one guy kept digging the hole and one kept filling it up.
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mariofer
mariofer 14
Has anybody bothered to look at the dates of the flight? Last space shuttle (STS-135) landed on July 21st, 2011. On August 2, 2011, when the video was taken, NASA still had to move the orbiters to their facilities in order to decommission them. They also had to over the span of the nest year, move them to their final locations therefore they needed to have these airplanes operational and the pilots current. After all, you just don't stuff a space shuttle in the back of an U-Haul truck. I am sure that if there had been an accident, there would also be people complaining why the pilots where not trained enough and the airplanes up kept better/
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SmokedChops
SmokedChops 5
exactly!! this was 3 years ago, people. THREE YEARS. they are now parked.
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NF2G
David Stark 6
Can't let those inconvenient facts get in the way of a good anti-NASA agenda rant.
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WhiteKnight77
WhiteKnight77 4
I would rather give NASA $1 trillion over some other programs we have, but that is not a topic for this forum. Sadly, most people do not understand that stuff from the space program has benefited them over the years and in many ways. That is the way NASA was set up.
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