With a name like Starfighter, F-104s were destined to serve NASA in the extreme regime of high-speed flight research.

NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center flew Lockheed F-104 Starfighter aircraft in a wide variety of missions beginning in August 1956. Over the next 38 years, 11 were operated by NASA Dryden, at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., with the last Starfighter flight taking place in February 1994.