NASA flight photographers capture history from a perspective few experience, getting a rare bird’s-eye view of the agency’s missions in action. His photographs document key NASA research and give the public a front-row seat to the work being done behind the scenes.

Jim Ross, a photographer at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, flew over Washington during the Fourth of July celebration to document a NASA flyover commemorating America’s 250th birthday. It has captured some of the agency’s most exciting milestones, including the first flights of the SR-71, the delivery flight of the space shuttle Endeavor to Los Angeles, and the first flights of NASA’s quiet X-59 supersonic research aircraft.

“I grew up in Bozeman, Montana, when it was still considered a small town, so if someone had told that kid he would fly in an F-18 over the National Mall, he would never have believed it,” Ross said. “I love documenting history and having the opportunity to capture flights and launches has kept me doing it for almost 37 years.”

Ross began his career in aviation photography in 1989 when he joined the staff of NASA Armstrong (then Dryden). He became a protagonist of photography in 1997, a title he retains.

See their images of the overpass here: https://www.nasa.gov/gallery/freedom-250/