NASA is proud to announce the successful completion of one of their newest research aircraft. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) named the Global Hawk soared the sky Tuesday, April 13, to accomplish a 24-hour long mission of studying the atmosphere of the Earth.

The aircraft is a robotic plane designed to fly way up in the air at very high altitudes for a long period of time.

While the Global Hawk soars the skies, its pilot remains seated in a chair inside a windowless room located in the Mojave Desert. Monitoring the UAV is done through numerous computer screens.

Originally, Global Hawks were used by the Air Force to perform surveillance procedures to gain information from thousands of feet from the ground. Three versions of this aircraft were turned over by the military to NASA.

The American space agency, for the first time, has put one of the three to use in line with their goal of testing the usefulness of these unmanned aircrafts.

David W. Fahey, one of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s research physicists, said, “It’s never been used by a civilian agency, and it’s never been used for Earth science.”

The Global Hawk has a wingspan of 116 feet – almost similar to that of the latest Boeing 737s. Measuring 44 feet in length, the aircraft is distinguished by its whale-shaped nose, V-tail and top-mounted engine.