Suit Up and Fly High in NASA's Science Spy Plane

(high pitched jet engine whine)

[Narrator] This beauty is

the ER-2 High Altitude Research plane.

It's NASA's science variant of the U-2 Spy Plane.

[News broadcaster] Secret reconnaissance

of Russia by high flying American U-2 jets.

[Narrator] NASA's using it to keep

an eye on the Earth, the oceans and the atmosphere

from as high as 70,000 feet.

The view is beautiful.

There's no weather.

You see the curvature of the Earth,

as you scan the horizon,

you can actually see the shape of the Earth.

[Narrator] Stu Broce is one of the NASA ER-2 pilots.

We'll join him for a behind the scenes,

all access look, as he prepares for a mission

flying at the edge of space.

That vantage makes the ER-2 the perfect tool

for capturing data with greater detail

than a satellite.

It's been used to study hurricanes,

cosmic dust, and methane leaks.

But flying this thing takes some very special gear,

and experience.

The atmospheric pressure up there

is about one half of a PSI, or less,

so the human body's not designed

to function in those kind of pressures.

That's what the suit is for.

[Narrator] Every time Broce flies,

he puts on a custom-made,

quarter of a million dollar flight suit.

(zipper zips)

Basically you're wearing the equivalent of a space suit.

This is the type of thing

it looks like an astronaut would wear.

From what I understand it's identical

to the suits they used on the space shuttle,

to and from orbit,

with a couple minor changes where the valves are placed,

and of course, theirs were orange, ours are yellow.

[Jack voiceover] Getting into the suit is no easy task.

I have to dive into the upper part of the suit,

once I get the legs on.

This is the part I dread.

[Jack voiceover] At ER-2 altitudes,

the incredibly low atmospheric pressure,

would boil an unprotected pilot's blood.

So the suit is a must.

In case I lose pressurization in the airplane,

it will capture me at the equivalent of 35,000 feet

of altitude and keep enough pressure on my body

where I'll stay alive.

[Jack voiceover] Broce also has to

pre-breathe pure oxygen for a full hour before a flight.

[Broce] Like a balloon here.

[Jack voiceover] Then a team of support specialists

drive him out to the airfield,

help him into the cockpit,

and ready him to fly.

[Broce] Everything about the plane is kind of hard to do.

I call it the circus.

Everything about the plane is unique.

It's it a bicycle aircraft,

it has wheels that fall off from underneath

the wings on take-off,

and then we're done with them for the rest of the flight.

[Jack voiceover] So, Broce gets some support

from a second pilot on the ground,

and that's where this comes in.

This is the ER-2's chase car.

Nice stabilizer fins.

So we're about to watch you leave on a mission.

We'll be chasing behind you in the official

chase car for your aircraft,

watching you take off.

What's that experience like?

(engine roars)

[Broce] Take off is wonderful.

Very over-powered airplane,

long wing, high aspect ratio wing.

[Jack voiceover] The car's quickly left behind

as the ER-2's jet engine and massive wings push it skyward.

Every pilot's dream is to get airborne quick,

and climb at about 50 degree angle of climb

initially, today.

[Jack voiceover] The ER-2 is made for long distance,

long duration hauls.

Broce has flown for as long as 13 hours,

while the scientific instruments installed

on the plane gather data.

Which means he basically has to eat and drink

through a straw.

It's uh, basically baby food

but with more flavor.

[Jack voiceover] And, of course, enjoy the views.

One time I actually saw the spherical shape

of the Earth, looking down at night,

at the layout of towns in the Sacramento Valley.

I actually saw the curved surface.

[Jack voiceover] Up there, Broce in his suit,

is about as close to being an astronaut

as anyone can come, without formally leaving the Earth

and heading to the International Space Station.