NASA Photographer Uses Schlieren Photography System

NASA Photographer Carla Thomas holds the Airborne Schlieren Photography System (ASPS), aiming it out the window in flight. The ASPS uses a photographic method called schlieren imaging, capable of visualizing changes in air density and revealing shock waves and air flow patterns around moving objects. The system is one of several tools validated during recent dual F-15 flights at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, in support of NASA’s Quesst mission, ahead of the X-59’s first flight.