NASA's Boeing 777 flying laboratory prepares for first research mission

NASA's Boeing 777 research aircraft is nearly through its conversion from a commercial passenger jet into a flying laboratory. Its first scientific mission is planned for January.

The agency acquired the former Japan Airlines aircraft, registration N577NA, in 2022. It replaces NASA's Douglas DC-8, retired in 2024 after 37 years as a research aircraft.

The 777 is based at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, and is the largest aircraft in the agency's airborne research fleet. It can carry 50 to 100 researchers and operators and up to 34t of scientific equipment, and can stay airborne for as long as 18h.

NASA staff and outside contractors shared the modification work. Among the contractors were US aerospace and defence technology company L3Harris Technologies and aerospace engineering firm Yulista. The changes include openings and adapted windows that let instruments collect data from outside the aircraft, along with upgrades to electrical and communications systems.

NASA research scientist Amin Nehrir said the 777 was chosen for its capacity to carry more instruments and researchers and for its much longer endurance than the DC-8. The aircraft allows a more comprehensive payload for science work, he said.

The extra endurance also changes how airborne research is run. Flights can reach more distant study areas without temporary operating bases nearby. Nehrir said the agency no longer needs to deploy from the location where the science is being examined. That capability will be used on the 777's first mission.