Fighter Jet Refueling
The view from inside the cockpit of a F-15D Eagle fighter jet during a refueling mission. NASA/Jim Ross

You're out cruising around and enjoying the scenery when you realize the gas tank is running on fumes. For a car, it's as easy as finding a gas station and filling up the tank. When you're in the sky in the F-15D Eagle fighter jet, a pilot has to turn to another aircraft, the KC-135 refueling tanker. NASA released a new video that takes us inside the cockpit of a fighter jet during this unique and cool fueling process.

The refueling procedure was an educational one, meant to provide support for pilot training, research and safety. "Chase aircraft also are used as camera platforms for research missions that must be photographed or videotaped. Aeronautical engineers use this pictorial coverage (photos, motion pictures and videotape) extensively to monitor and verify various aspects of research projects. The F-15D is also used by Armstrong research pilots for routine flight training required by all NASA pilots," the space agency explains in the video's description.

The refueling research mission was a collaboration between NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center and Edwards Air Force Base. The F-15D Eagle fighters flown by NASA are equipped with video and photo equipment that provide live video to Armstrong during the mission.

"People often refer to the KC-135 as 'The Flying Gas Station,' and that term is not to far from the truth. During boom refueling we can offload 6,000 pounds of fuel a minute. A gallon of fuel weighs around 6.7 pounds so you can do the math on just how fast the gas is spraying out of the tip of that telescoping boom," a retired KC-135 pilot said in an interview with Jalopnik's Foxtrot Alpha.