The Steelers’ first game of the 2026 NFL season featured the first official NASA flyover at a football game.
A pair of T-38 Talons from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston buzzed over Acrisure Stadium at the game’s start Sunday.
Astronauts use those supersonic jets in their flight readiness training.
Today’s @NFL flyover in Pittsburgh is just the beginning.
This is how @NASA does game day. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/1o37rtfLr4
— NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) September 13, 2026
NASA Flight Director Anthony Vareha told Channel 11 that Pittsburgh is a great city to grow up in if you’re interested in space.
“This is a great place that inspires curiosity and inspires wonder,” said Vareha, himself a Pittsburgh native. “And you can take that launching pad, like I did, and it carried me all the way to Cape Canaveral and the Johnson Space Center where I’m one of the flight directors for all of our space missions.”
The flyover was part of NASA’s effort to build excitement for the next Artemis mission, slated for next year ahead of a planned moon landing in 2028.
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