The pilot of this high-altitude research plane settles into the cockpit before taking off into a hurricane.

The pilot of this high-altitude research plane, a specially equipped Dryden Flight Research Center ER-2 (a modified U-2), settles into the cockpit at Patrick Air Force Base before taking off into a hurricane. The plane is part of the NASA-led Atmospheric Dynamics and Remote Sensing program that includes other government weather researchers and the university community in a study of Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms. Soaring above 65,000 feet, the ER-2 will measure the structure of hurricanes and the surrounding atmosphere that steers the storm’s movement. The hurricane study, which lasts through September 1998, is part of NASA’s Earth Science enterprise to better understand the total Earth system and the effects of natural and human-induced changes on the global environment