Space History Photo: Northrop T-38A Talon

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The Talon flew as a mission support aircraft at Langley from 1972 to 1980. (Image credit: NASA.)

In this historical photo from the U.S. space agency, this Northrop T-38A flew at Langley from 1972 until 1980, when it was returned to the Johnson Space Center's flight operations at Ellington AFB, Texas.

While at Langley, the Talon flew as a mission support aircraft and participated in aircraft noise studies. It was also used as an adversary against the XV-6A Kestrel "jump jet" in one-on-one combat to test Vectoring in Forward Flight (VIFF).

Each weekday, SPACE.com looks back at the history of spaceflight through photos (archive).

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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the U.S. government agency in charge of the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Founded in 1958, NASA is a civilian space agency aimed at exploring the universe with space telescopes,  satellites, robotic spacecraft, astronauts and more. The space agency has 10 major centers based across the U.S. and launches robotic and crewed missions from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral Florida. It's astronaut corps is based at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. To follow NASA's latest mission, follow the space agency on Twitter or any other social channel, of visit: nasa.gov.