NASA's New Vomit Comet and the Secret Air Force Life of a Boeing Seven Thirty-Seven
NASA's new 'Vomit Comet,' a Boeing 737-700 registered N837NA, once flew as a secretive U.S. Air Force testbed before joining the Artemis program.
On August 13, 2026, NASA unveiled its newest reduced-gravity research aircraft: a Boeing 737-700 now registered N837NA. Before it became NASA’s latest “Vomit Comet,” this same airframe flew as N712JM, a secretive U.S. Air Force flying testbed. It will now fly parabolic profiles to help validate lunar spacesuits for the Artemis Moon program.
What NASA Announced
NASA’s new reduced-gravity aircraft is a Boeing 737-700 wearing the registration N837NA. A reduced-gravity aircraft - long nicknamed the Vomit Comet - flies a specific repeated maneuver that gives everyone inside a taste of weightlessness without ever leaving the atmosphere.
According to reporting from The Aviationist, with registration and program details confirmed through NASA’s own announcement on August 13, 2026, the headline is only half the story. This airframe had a very different first career.
The Aircraft’s Secret Air Force Life
Before it belonged to NASA, this jet flew as N712JM - a United States Air Force flying testbed. It wasn’t hauling passengers or freight.
A testbed is an aircraft modified to carry and evaluate systems that aren’t ready for the operational fleet: sensors, avionics, communications gear, and sometimes classified payloads that never appear in any public document. The airframe becomes a flying laboratory.
The 737 has always been a favorite for this kind of work because it’s reliable, roomy, and plentiful. This particular jet spent years doing that job quietly, behind a registration that pointed nowhere interesting and a mission profile nobody was going to explain at the fence line. In the flight-test world, that low profile is the entire point.
Why This Matters for the Artemis Program
This aircraft now supports Artemis, NASA’s program to return astronauts to the Moon and eventually build a sustained presence there.
One of the many problems you have to solve before sending people to the lunar surface is the spacesuit. A lunar suit has to function in reduced gravity. The Moon pulls at about one-sixth of Earth’s gravity, and you cannot fully validate how a suit moves - how an astronaut kneels, reaches, picks up a tool, or gets back up after a fall - by testing it on the ground at one full gravity.
The answer is to fly parabolas.
How a Parabolic Flight Creates Weightlessness
The maneuver is straightforward in concept and demanding in execution. The aircraft climbs at a steep angle, then pushes over the top and follows a ballistic arc - a parabola.
During the pushover and the fall, everything inside the cabin is in free fall together. The airplane, the people, and the equipment all fall at the same rate, producing roughly 20 to 30 seconds of weightlessness. Then the pilots pull out of the dive, the load factor climbs, and everyone inside briefly weighs nearly twice their normal weight before the aircraft sets up to do it again.
Climb. Push. Float. Pull. Repeat - dozens of times in a single flight.
This is some of the most demanding profile flying in the business. The quality of the weightlessness depends entirely on how cleanly the crew flies each arc. Any sloppiness in the pushover means the researchers in back don’t get usable data, and the teams testing that lunar suit don’t get a real answer.
By adjusting the shape of the arc, the same aircraft can simulate lunar gravity (one-sixth) or Martian gravity (about one-third). That tunable, partial-gravity capability is exactly why a dedicated aircraft matters so much to a program aiming at the Moon and beyond.
One Airframe, Three Missions
Consider the arc of this machine’s career. It began as a variant of the most-produced jetliner family in history. It was pulled into military flight test, wearing a plain tail number and evaluating systems most of us will never hear about. Now it has been converted again - into a research platform that will help ensure the next people to walk on the Moon have a suit that works when they get there.
Same aluminum, three completely different missions. An airplane isn’t defined by the logbook it started with; it’s defined by the work it’s still capable of doing.
What Pilots Operating Nearby Should Know
If you’re operating near NASA’s flight-test areas - particularly around facilities where parabolic work is flown - check your Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs) and any Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) in the area.
Reduced-gravity profiles use large blocks of airspace, often over water, with steep climbs and descents that need room. That airspace gets reserved for a reason. Give it the respect you’d give any active flight-test operation.
Key Takeaways
- On August 13, 2026, NASA unveiled a Boeing 737-700 registered N837NA as its newest reduced-gravity “Vomit Comet.”
- The same airframe previously flew as N712JM, a secretive U.S. Air Force flying testbed.
- The aircraft supports the Artemis program, primarily by validating lunar spacesuits in reduced gravity.
- Parabolic flights produce 20–30 seconds of weightlessness per arc and can simulate lunar (1/6) or Martian (1/3) gravity by adjusting the arc.
- Pilots near NASA flight-test areas should monitor NOTAMs and TFRs, as these profiles reserve large blocks of airspace.
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