The Canberra bomber was designed way back in the 1940s. So why is Nasa still using three of them today? BBC Future investigates.

In 1944, with World War Two entering its final stages, the British Air Ministry set out requirements for a new bomber, one that would be able to fly at high speeds and high altitudes. The ministry planners couldn’t have guessed that the aircraft that would eventually win the tender, the English Electric Canberra, would still be soldiering on more than 70 years later – flying science labs conducting research for Nasa and other US government agencies. So why isthe US space agency – which has operated some of the most cutting-edge aircraft in aviation history – still using an aircraft that whose design comes from the dying days of World War Two?

Canberras were designed as bomber aircraft, but the design proved useful for other roles (Credit: Getty Images) The Canberras used by Nasa are an American version, designated WB-57, and based on the B-57 model built under licence by aircraft-maker Martin in the 1950s; they constructed some 400 between 1953 and 1957. Nasa’s examples are the very last still on active service – some 33 years after the US Air Force retired theirs. Recently, the three remaining Canberras were pictured flying in formation over Houston, where they are based. Nasa’s Canberras are a part of the agency’s Airborne Science Program (ASP), explains Charles Mallini, who is the program manager for Nasa’s Canberra fleet. “The ASP is responsible for providing aircraft systems that further science and advance the use of satellite data,” he says. Their ability to fly high makes them suitable for a variety of jobs, says Mallini, many of them in support of Nasa satellites. These include calibration tests to help fine-tune measurements from satellites, test new sensors before they are launched into space, and obtain high-altitude measurements which can then be crosschecked with readings taken from satellites in orbit. The Canberras have flown a range of science instruments, measuring atmospheric chemistry, cloud particles, cosmic dust, soil moisture, sea ice elevation and more, says Mallini. The Canberra proved to be a good design right from the very start – David Keen, RAF Museum That Canberras are still flying is a tribute to the aircraft’s design, which is all the more impressive given that the Canberra is from the very first generation of jet aircraft – a time when aircraft designers were struggling to deal with the enormous issues that came from travelling at such high speeds. And it’s even more exceptional because the Canberras are doing a job that was undreamed of when the aircraft first entered service.