Photo: NASA ER-2 pilot prepares for GEMx flight

NASA ER-2 pilot Kirt Stallings waits inside the transport vehicle moments before boarding the airborne science aircraft at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. Outside the window, the aircraft is being prepared for a high-altitude mission supporting the Geological Earth Mapping Experiment (GEMx), a multi-year NASA-US Geological campaign Survey to map critical mineral resources in the western United States.