ARIA - NASA’S Apollo Airborne Fire Brigade

As the Non-Commissioned Officer-In-Charge of ARIA Control, 1968–71, MSgt Anderson relates his experience of the little-known history of the United States Air Forces’ fleet of eight Apollo Range Instrumentation Aircraft (ARIA – a-RYE-a) that supported Project Apollo 4 through Apollo 17 and more than 50 other military, commercial and scientific space projects for some 33 years. At the conclusion, readers should be able to articulate the history, purpose, function, operations and control of the ARIA fleet. •NASA modified eight USAF Boeing 707s as Apollo Range Instrumentation Aircraft (ARIA).•Flying 500 mph, ARIA recorded spacecraft data and relayed astronaut voice to Houston. ARIA at 35,000 ft tracked spacecraft for 10 min; ground/ship stations tracked for only 6:00 min.•The eight ARIA comprised 30% of NASA's global Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN).•ARIA were the only MSFN stations to have first contact after Apollo reentry blackout.•ARIA supported Apollo, military, scientific and commercial programs for 33 years.