NASA has a fleet of just three of the high-flying WB-57F aircraft, which are used for a wide array of scientific and defense-related missions.

The two-person crew of a NASA plane is safe after the aircraft’s landing gear failed, leading to a fiery belly landing at a Houston airfield.

A NASA research plane made a belly landing at Houston's Ellington Airport on Tuesday morning after a mechanical issue, the space agency said. According to Bethany Stevens, NASA's press secretary, all crew members are safe after a WB-57 made a gear-up landing, meaning its landing gear was not fully deployed.

A NASA plane did a “gear-up landing” in Houston on Tuesday due to a “mechanical issue,” according to a NASA spokesperson. (Credit: Nevada Vazquez/@ IronHorseAviator via Storyful)

A NASA research plane landed on its belly at Ellington Airport in Houston after the landing gear failed, officials say.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman appeared to suggest that space shuttle Discovery may not be relocated to Houston's Johnson Space Center in Texas.

Space Center Houston reschedules Artemis II Launch Watch Party to Feb. 8. Don’t miss this historic crewed mission beyond Earth orbit.

A NASA WB-57 research jet made a fiery belly landing at Ellington Field in Houston after its landing gear failed to deploy. All crew members safely exited the aircraft, and NASA has launched an investigation into the mechanical issue.

A NASA research plane malfunctioned and had to touch down in Texas without landing gear on Tuesday, sliding across the runway on its belly and sending plumes of flame behind it, a video posted to social media showed.

New footage shows one of NASA's WB-57 research jets spewing out flames and smoke as it skids across a runway during an emergency landing near Houston. The veteran aircraft was due to play a small role in the Artemis II mission.