Part 3 of our series from the JPL Open House.

The "Airborn Science Program" at JPL uses different aircraft to test instruments that are destin for use in space satellites. By running the instruments while in a plane, the team has the chance to see how they perform in an aproximate environment and adjust the design or performace as needed, before adding the instrument design to satellites.  http://airbornescience.jpl.nasa.gov/