2-860-672 - Heritage Space/Heritage Images

Access II emissions research, USA, 2014. In May 2014, National Aeronautics and Space Administration researchers began taking to the skies with a DC-8 and other aircraft to conduct a series of flight tests designed to study the effects on emissions and contrail formation of burning alternative fuels in jet engines. The Alternative Fuel Effects on Contrails and Cruise Emissions flight tests, known as ACCESS II for short, featured a number of new plot twists to keep the research story interesting and moving forward. Among them were new science instruments, new flight profiles, and a new international flavor to the effort thanks to the direct participation of research aircraft and scientists from Germany and Canada.