EDWARDS, Calif., April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Can unmanned aircraft be used
effectively for Earth Science experiments? The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in cooperation with NASA and General
Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI), are seeking to answer that
question during a series of atmospheric and oceanic research flights off the
California coastline this spring.

    The UAV Flight Demonstration Project, using GA-ASI's Altair remotely
operated unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), is the first time NOAA has funded a
UAV Earth science demonstration mission. The experiment is aimed at
introducing a new era of science by using a UAV in an operational environment
to fill research gaps in critical areas, such as weather and water, climate
and ecosystem monitoring and management.

    The Altair, whose development was funded in part by NASA, is carrying a
payload of instruments for measuring ocean color, atmospheric composition and
temperature and surface imaging during six flights totaling about 53 hours
flight time. The flights, during late April and early May, will be flown at
altitudes of up to 45,000 feet and as long as 20 hours in duration. Three missions will be focused on the 
Channel Islands area off southern California; the others will extend further out over the Pacific Ocean.

    Objectives of the experiment include evaluating UAVs for future scientific
and operational requirements related to NOAA's oceanic and atmospheric
research, climate research, marine sanctuary mapping and enforcement, nautical
charting, and fisheries assessment and enforcement.

    "NASA is glad to see that UAVs are being used for more and more diverse
and important operations," said Terrence Hertz, Deputy Associate Administrator
for Technology, NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. "We're looking
forward to more breakthrough research in areas such as regenerative fuel
cells, multi-UAV operations through networking, and routine access to the
National Airspace System that will allow UAVs to play an expanding role in
Earth Science and other types of missions."

    "UAVs will allow us to see weather before it happens, detect toxins before
we breathe them, and discover harmful and costly algal blooms before the fish
do -- and there is an urgency to more effectively address these issues," said
Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr., Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and
Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator.

    "This mission is truly historic in that it marks the first time that
scientific payloads of this quality and complexity have been flown in a
remotely operated aircraft system," noted Thomas J. Cassidy Jr., president and
chief executive officer of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems.

    "Altair has proven its ability to perform long-endurance, high-altitude
scientific missions in controlled airspace for NASA, and we look forward to
continuing to demonstrate the strength of government agency-industry
collaborations by adding NOAA as our new partner," Cassidy added.

    The Altair, a high-altitude civil derivative of GA-ASI's Predator B
military UAV, was designed for scientific and commercial research missions. It
has an 86-foot wingspan, can reach altitudes up to 52,000 feet and remain
airborne for more than 30 hours.

    For more information on the NOAA/NASA UAV Flight Demonstration Project,
log on to:  http://uav.noaa.gov

SOURCE NASA
Web Site: http://www.nasa.gov http://uav.noaa.gov