NASA ER-2 Night Take Off From Dobbins Air Reserve Base

The NASA ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft, which is derivative of the Cold War-era Lockheed U-2, will be stationed at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, near Atlant for the next few months. The aircraft launched for the first mission on Thursday night just in time to study the dynamic system forecasted to move through Georgia. Its mission is simple: track severe weather to measure properties such as wind, temperature, precipitation, humidity and aerosol profiles. The flights are part of the Earth Science Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.