What is this NASA UAV, and what is its function? For the question What's up with the “What's Up at Wallops” app? I was reviewing the What's up at Wallops website and drifted to the launch photos page where I saw this aircraft. I did not find a caption, and a quick reverse image search in google did not return any helpful results.


  


I am fairly confident that it is not a "spaceplane".

What is this NASA UAV, and what is its function?
This is a Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk. NASA has done some research on civilian applications for drones and this one appears to be for storm research. You can find more info on the project here.