We Trained To Become A NASA Research Pilot And It Ain't Easy

WIRED gets a crash course in flying and rolling F-18 jets for science, of course.

WIRED
Mar 29, 2017
Latest in Aerospace
Security Breach Podcast
Sponsored
Security Breach Podcast
May 1, 2025
Commerce Director Joe Nguyen; Portal co-founder, CEO and CTO Jeff Thornburg; and Washington state representative Strom Pederson (21st Legislative District) at the 2025 Paris Air Show.
Portal Space Systems Announces Washington Expansion with Spacecraft Manufacturing Plans
June 23, 2025
Laser cutting as part of aerospace manufacturing processes.
217 New Jobs: Howmet Aerospace Expands Morristown Operations
June 23, 2025
During the test, the 156-foot-long BOLE solid rocket motor produced upwards of 4 million pounds of thrust.
Northrop Grumman Tests Most Powerful Segmented Solid Rocket Booster Ever Built
June 27, 2025
Related Stories
The debris of an airplane sticks out of a building after it crashed in India's northwestern city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, Thursday, June 12, 2025.
Aerospace
Investigators Begin Analyzing Data from Black Boxes of Air India Flight That Crashed
Rescue workers put out a fire of a building damaged by a Russian drone strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, June 10, 2025.
Aerospace
Drone Debris Found in Ukraine Indicates Russia is Using New Technology from Iran
This image taken Jan. 7, 2024, and released by the National Transportation Safety Board, shows the section of a a Boeing 737 Max where a door plug fell while Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was in flight.
Aerospace
NTSB Set to Meet on Door Plug Investigation of Terrifying Boeing Flight
Today in Manufacturing Podcast
Sponsor Content
Today in Manufacturing Podcast
More in Aerospace
Today in Manufacturing Podcast
Sponsored
Today in Manufacturing Podcast
Today in Manufacturing has a new podcast brought to you by the editors of Industrial Media. In each episode, we discuss the five biggest stories in manufacturing, and the implications they have on the industry moving forward.
May 1, 2025
Commerce Director Joe Nguyen; Portal co-founder, CEO and CTO Jeff Thornburg; and Washington state representative Strom Pederson (21st Legislative District) at the 2025 Paris Air Show.
Aerospace
Portal Space Systems Announces Washington Expansion with Spacecraft Manufacturing Plans
Expansion could allow for more than 75 new jobs in Bothell.
June 23, 2025
Laser cutting as part of aerospace manufacturing processes.
Aerospace
217 New Jobs: Howmet Aerospace Expands Morristown Operations
Cutting-edge manufacturing creates hundreds of new opportunities in East Tennessee.
June 23, 2025
During the test, the 156-foot-long BOLE solid rocket motor produced upwards of 4 million pounds of thrust.
Aerospace
Northrop Grumman Tests Most Powerful Segmented Solid Rocket Booster Ever Built
The 156-foot-long solid rocket motor fired for just over two minutes.
June 27, 2025
The debris of an airplane sticks out of a building after it crashed in India's northwestern city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, Thursday, June 12, 2025.
Aerospace
Investigators Begin Analyzing Data from Black Boxes of Air India Flight That Crashed
The black box is one of the most important pieces of forensic evidence following a plane crash.
June 26, 2025
This image provided by rocketfuture.org shows a SpaceX rocket explodes at Starbase, SpaceX’s launch site at the southern tip of Texas late Wednesday, June 18, 2025.
Aerospace
Mexico Probes Contamination from SpaceX Rocket Explosion That Landed in Its Territory
Rocket pieces were reportedly found in the northern state of Tamaulipas.
June 26, 2025
NASA and L3Harris tested RS-25 engine No. 20001 on June 20, 2025, at the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
Aerospace
NASA, L3Harris Hot-Fire Test New Rocket Engine for Artemis
The new RS-25 engine throttled up to 111% during the 500-second acceptance test.
June 25, 2025
Rescue workers put out a fire of a building damaged by a Russian drone strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, June 10, 2025.
Aerospace
Drone Debris Found in Ukraine Indicates Russia is Using New Technology from Iran
It had an advanced camera, a computing platform powered by AI and a radio link.
June 25, 2025
ESSM Block 2 Missile
Aerospace
RTX's Raytheon Awarded $250M Contract from MELCO for Licensed Guided Missile Production
The newest variant reduces dependence on shipboard illumination.
June 24, 2025
This image taken Jan. 7, 2024, and released by the National Transportation Safety Board, shows the section of a a Boeing 737 Max where a door plug fell while Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was in flight.
Aerospace
'Systemic Failures' at Boeing, FAA Led to Door Plug Flying Off 737 Max
Boeing factory workers were working too fast on jobs they weren't qualified to do.
June 24, 2025
The new Highfield Integration Facility, located in Englewood, Colorado.
Aerospace
Northrop Grumman Expands Colorado Footprint to Bolster Production of Space Ground Systems
The facility is meant to scale delivery of mission-critical data to allied warfighters.
June 24, 2025
This image provided by ispace, inc. shows the Resilience lander circling the moon, June 4, 2025.
Aerospace
Japanese Company Blames Laser Tool for 2nd Crash Landing On the Moon
The lander's laser range finder was slow to kick in to measure the spacecraft's distance to the surface.
June 24, 2025
This image taken Jan. 7, 2024, and released by the National Transportation Safety Board, shows the section of a a Boeing 737 Max where a door plug fell while Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was in flight.
Aerospace
NTSB Set to Meet on Door Plug Investigation of Terrifying Boeing Flight
The blow out created a roaring air vacuum that sucked objects out of the cabin.
June 24, 2025
This image provided by the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory shows 678 separate images taken by the observatory in just over seven hours of observing time. Combining many images in this way clearly reveals otherwise faint or invisible details, such as the clouds of gas and dust that comprise the Trifid nebula (top right) and the Lagoon nebula, which are several thousand light-years away from Earth.
Aerospace
Unveiling Cosmic Mysteries: World's Most Powerful Digital Camera Explores Universe
Breakthrough lens captures cosmic landscapes never seen before.
June 23, 2025
Anduril and Saab corporate logos side by side.
Aerospace
Saab Chooses Anduril to Design, Produce Solid Rocket Motors for Ground-Launched Weapon System
Anduril has already commenced work with plans to transition it to full rate production in 2026.
June 23, 2025