HAMPTON, Va. — A Boeing 777, or what NASA researchers call "The Triple 7," is normally flying passengers from one city to the next. However, one currently sits at NASA Langley Research Center under renovation.
“This was a commercial aircraft that is being retrofitted to support airborne science,” said Research Scientist Amin Nehrir.
Debbie Martínez, the deputy director of the Research Services Directorate at NASA Langley, said NASA purchased the former Japan Airlines jet in 2022.
"During COVID, Japan Airlines wasn't using all of its fleet," she said. "So, they sold it to a broker and we were able to purchase it."
Over the last two years, The Triple 7 sat inside a hanger as crews gutted out the inside, preparing it for the next phase of maintenance.
“We’ve been doing data electrical, comms, and installing antennas all throughout the aircraft,” Martínez said.
It will soon become NASA’s newest Airborne Laboratory for Earth Science and climate research. Martínez said the Airborne Science Program was using a DC-8 aircraft out of California as an airborne lab. Since the DC-8 recently retired, the Triple 7 will succeed it and continue those missions based in Hampton Roads.
Right now, the Triple 7 is a plane without seats and hanging wires. It’s to make way for research equipment.
“Whether it's remote sensing instrumentation that looks through ports down through the atmosphere and the surface," Nehrir said. "Or... they're pulling air into the aircraft and analyzing it in the rack."
As renovations continue on the aircraft, Research Physical Scientist Laura Judd is preparing for one of its first missions.
“So, we’re going to visit a couple of megacities in North America and measure air pollution,” she said.
Passenger jet transformed into NASA's new airborne science lab
Researchers are eagerly watching this project come to life in Hampton Roads.
“This is a really unique aircraft that gives us legs to sample different parts of the world that we haven’t been able to access before," Nehrir said.
"It's definitely going to be impactful because they will take that data and potentially can influence policymakers on changing the policies and regulations concerning the climate," Martínez said.