NASA plans low-altitude research flights over farmland near Transit, Texas, from Oct. 22 through Nov. 9, 2026. The agency says a Dynamic Aviation A200 aircraft will collect measurements of gaseous and particulate emissions from animal feeding operations.
The flights are part of FarmFlux, a mission studying agricultural emissions and their role in land and atmospheric systems. NASA describes agricultural emissions as an important area of research that has received comparatively limited study. The mission will use more than a dozen sensors to measure ozone, methane, ammonia, particulate matter and other pollutants released from cropland and livestock farms.
FarmFlux will also examine how those emissions interact with the atmosphere, according to NASA. The mission is jointly led by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Colorado State University; and Boston University.
The Texas flights are not the only aircraft work planned for the mission. NASA says additional low-altitude flights using a P-3 Orion aircraft are scheduled during the March-to-July 2027 growing season. Those flights are planned for the Midwest and California’s Central Valley, with a focus on cropland.
NASA’s announcement identifies the Texas flight area as farmland near Transit but does not provide a more specific route, flight schedule, or operating hours. It also does not give estimates of the emissions expected to be measured or report findings from the planned flights. The stated purpose is to collect research measurements, rather than to announce results.
The agency directs readers to its FarmFlux mission information page for further details. The announcement was issued by NASA and carries a byline for Sharon Teitelbaum, with NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley identified beneath the byline.
