California ? NASA is known for putting men on the moon, a high-powered telescope up in space and a rover on Mars. But fighting wildfires? Not so much.

Yet the space agency is currently working with the U.S. Forest Service to send an unmanned drone above several major blazes, providing fire officials with real-time infrared images of hotspots and flare-ups. On Wednesday afternoon, the aircraft, called Ikhana, took off on a 17-hour flight over six wildfires in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Fire officials hope the mission – its second trial run – will pave the way for better mapping, imaging and responses to fires in the future, and ultimately allow firefighters to save more lives.

The $6 million aircraft is being used to give fire officials a birds-eye view of the wildfires. The images can help fire experts differentiate between the fire front and individual hot spots that may be burning outside their perimeters, helping them to decide where to deploy their fire crews.