Browse All : ALTAIR and Earth of Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC)

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Photo Description The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA joined forces to conduct a series of environmental science demonstration flights with the Altair unmanned aerial vehicle in mid-November 2005. During a flight over the Channel Islands off the Southern California coast, sensors on the aircraft gathered ocean color and atmospheric chemistry measurements and observed marine mammals and their environment. The flight also conducted low-tide coastal mapping and NOAA law enforcement surveillance of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. An earlier mission the same week saw the Altair collect similar data during an 18.5-hour flight off the coast of northern and central California and several hundred miles out to sea. NASA coordinated use of Altair with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and provided mission management expertise to NOAA.
Project Description NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center has partnered with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., (GA-ASI) to demonstrate technologies that will expand the capabilities of remotely operated, uninhabited aircraft to perform high-altitude earth science missions. To accomplish the task, GA-ASI is developing an enlarged version of its Predator reconnaissance aircraft, the Predator B?, including an extended-wingspan Altair version for NASA, to meet these requirements.
Photo Date November 16, 2005
Photo Description The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA joined forces to conduct a series of environmental science demonstration flights with the Altair unmanned aerial vehicle in mid-November 2005. During a flight over the Channel Islands off the Southern California coast, sensors on the aircraft gathered ocean color and atmospheric chemistry measurements and observed marine mammals and their environment. The flight also conducted low-tide coastal mapping and NOAA law enforcement surveillance of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. An earlier mission the same week saw the Altair collect similar data during an 18.5-hour flight off the coast of northern and central California and several hundred miles out to sea. NASA coordinated use of Altair with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and provided mission management expertise to NOAA.
Project Description NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center has partnered with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., (GA-ASI) to demonstrate technologies that will expand the capabilities of remotely operated, uninhabited aircraft to perform high-altitude earth science missions. To accomplish the task, GA-ASI is developing an enlarged version of its Predator reconnaissance aircraft, the Predator B?, including an extended-wingspan Altair version for NASA, to meet these requirements.
Photo Date November 16, 2005
Photo Description The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA joined forces to conduct a series of environmental science demonstration flights with the Altair unmanned aerial vehicle in mid-November 2005. During a flight over the Channel Islands off the Southern California coast, sensors on the aircraft gathered ocean color and atmospheric chemistry measurements and observed marine mammals and their environment. The flight also conducted low-tide coastal mapping and NOAA law enforcement surveillance of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. An earlier mission the same week saw the Altair collect similar data during an 18.5-hour flight off the coast of northern and central California and several hundred miles out to sea. NASA coordinated use of Altair with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and provided mission management expertise to NOAA.
Project Description NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center has partnered with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., (GA-ASI) to demonstrate technologies that will expand the capabilities of remotely operated, uninhabited aircraft to perform high-altitude earth science missions. To accomplish the task, GA-ASI is developing an enlarged version of its Predator reconnaissance aircraft, the Predator B?, including an extended-wingspan Altair version for NASA, to meet these requirements.
Photo Date November 16, 2005
Photo Description The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA joined forces to conduct a series of environmental science demonstration flights with the Altair unmanned aerial vehicle in mid-November 2005. During a flight over the Channel Islands off the Southern California coast, sensors on the aircraft gathered ocean color and atmospheric chemistry measurements and observed marine mammals and their environment. The flight also conducted low-tide coastal mapping and NOAA law enforcement surveillance of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. An earlier mission the same week saw the Altair collect similar data during an 18.5-hour flight off the coast of northern and central California and several hundred miles out to sea. NASA coordinated use of Altair with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and provided mission management expertise to NOAA.
Project Description NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center has partnered with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., (GA-ASI) to demonstrate technologies that will expand the capabilities of remotely operated, uninhabited aircraft to perform high-altitude earth science missions. To accomplish the task, GA-ASI is developing an enlarged version of its Predator reconnaissance aircraft, the Predator B?, including an extended-wingspan Altair version for NASA, to meet these requirements.
Photo Date November 16, 2005
NOAA researchers install and …
Altair UAV lifting off on ma …
Altair UAV lifting off on ma …
Remotely-operated Altair dep …
Altair unmanned aerial vehic …
On a NASA/NOAA Altair scienc …
Technician Dave Brown instal …
Title Technician Dave Brown installs a drilling template during construction of the all-composite left win
Description Technician Dave Brown installs a drilling template during construction of the all-composite left wing of NASA's Altair aircraft at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., (GA-ASI) facility at Adelanto, Calif. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., is developing the Altair version of its Predator B unmanned reconnaissance aircraft under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) project. NASA plans to use the Altair as a technology demonstrator to validate a variety of command and control technologies for UAVs, as well as demonstrate the capability to perform a variety of Earth science missions. The Altair is designed to carry an 700-lb. payload of scientific instruments and imaging equipment for as long as 32 hours at up to 52,000 feet altitude. Eleven-foot extensions have been added to each wing, giving the Altair an overall wingspan of 86 feet with an aspect ratio of 23. It is powered by a 700-hp. rear-mounted TPE-331-10 turboprop engine, driving a three-blade propeller. Altair is scheduled to begin flight tests in the fourth quarter of 2002, and be acquired by NASA following successful completion of basic airworthiness tests in early 2003 for evaluation of over-the-horizon control, detect, see and avoid and other technologies required to allow UAVs to operate safely with other aircraft in the national airspace.
Date 07.10.2002
Technician Shawn Warren care …
Title Technician Shawn Warren carefully smoothes out the composite skin of an instrument fairing atop the
Description Technician Shawn Warren carefully smoothes out the composite skin of an instrument fairing atop the upper fuselage of the Altair unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., facility at Adelanto, Calif. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., is developing the Altair version of its Predator B unmanned reconnaissance aircraft under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) project. NASA plans to use the Altair as a technology demonstrator to validate a variety of command and control technologies for UAVs, as well as demonstrate the capability to perform a variety of Earth science missions. The Altair is designed to carry an 700-lb. payload of scientific instruments and imaging equipment for as long as 32 hours at up to 52,000 feet altitude. Eleven-foot extensions have been added to each wing, giving the Altair an overall wingspan of 86 feet with an aspect ratio of 23. It is powered by a 700-hp. rear-mounted TPE-331-10 turboprop engine, driving a three-blade propeller. Altair is scheduled to begin flight tests in the fourth quarter of 2002, and be acquired by NASA following successful completion of basic airworthiness tests in early 2003 for evaluation of over-the-horizon control, detect, see and avoid and other technologies required to allow UAVs to operate safely with other aircraft in the national airspace.
Date 07.10.2002
Technicians at General Atomi …
Title Technicians at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., (GA-ASI) facility at Adelanto, Calif., ca
Description Technicians at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., (GA-ASI) facility at Adelanto, Calif., carefully install a turboprop engine to the rear fuselage of NASA's Altair aircraft during final assembly operations. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., is developing the Altair version of its Predator B unmanned reconnaissance aircraft under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) project. NASA plans to use the Altair as a technology demonstrator to validate a variety of command and control technologies for UAVs, as well as demonstrate the capability to perform a variety of Earth science missions. The Altair is designed to carry an 700-lb. payload of scientific instruments and imaging equipment for as long as 32 hours at up to 52,000 feet altitude. Eleven-foot extensions have been added to each wing, giving the Altair an overall wingspan of 86 feet with an aspect ratio of 23. It is powered by a 700-hp. rear-mounted TPE-331-10 turboprop engine, driving a three-blade propeller. Altair is scheduled to begin flight tests in the fourth quarter of 2002, and be acquired by NASA following successful completion of basic airworthiness tests in early 2003 for evaluation of over-the-horizon control, detect, see and avoid and other technologies required to allow UAVs to operate safely with other aircraft in the national airspace.
Date 07.10.2002
Technicians at General Atomi …
Title Technicians at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., (GA-ASI) facility at Adelanto, Calif., ca
Description Technicians at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., (GA-ASI) facility at Adelanto, Calif., carefully thread control lines through a bulkhead during engine installation on NASA's Altair aircraft. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., is developing the Altair version of its Predator B unmanned reconnaissance aircraft under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) project. NASA plans to use the Altair as a technology demonstrator to validate a variety of command and control technologies for UAVs, as well as demonstrate the capability to perform a variety of Earth science missions. The Altair is designed to carry an 700-lb. payload of scientific instruments and imaging equipment for as long as 32 hours at up to 52,000 feet altitude. Eleven-foot extensions have been added to each wing, giving the Altair an overall wingspan of 86 feet with an aspect ratio of 23. It is powered by a 700-hp. rear-mounted TPE-331-10 turboprop engine, driving a three-blade propeller. Altair is scheduled to begin flight tests in the fourth quarter of 2002, and be acquired by NASA following successful completion of basic airworthiness tests in early 2003 for evaluation of over-the-horizon control, detect, see and avoid and other technologies required to allow UAVs to operate safely with other aircraft in the national airspace.
Date 07.10.2002
The left wing of NASA's Alta …
Title The left wing of NASA's Altair unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) rests in a jig during construction at G
Description The left wing of NASA's Altair unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) rests in a jig during construction at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., (GA-ASI) facility at Adelanto, Calif. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., is developing the Altair version of its Predator B unmanned reconnaissance aircraft under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) project. NASA plans to use the Altair as a technology demonstrator to validate a variety of command and control technologies for UAVs, as well as demonstrate the capability to perform a variety of Earth science missions. The Altair is designed to carry an 700-lb. payload of scientific instruments and imaging equipment for as long as 32 hours at up to 52,000 feet altitude. Eleven-foot extensions have been added to each wing, giving the Altair an overall wingspan of 86 feet with an aspect ratio of 23. It is powered by a 700-hp. rear-mounted TPE-331-10 turboprop engine, driving a three-blade propeller. Altair is scheduled to begin flight tests in the fourth quarter of 2002, and be acquired by NASA following successful completion of basic airworthiness tests in early 2003 for evaluation of over-the-horizon control, detect, see and avoid and other technologies required to allow UAVs to operate safely with other aircraft in the national airspace.
Date 07.10.2002
The payload bay in the nose …
Title The payload bay in the nose of NASA's Altair unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will be able to carry up
Description The payload bay in the nose of NASA's Altair unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), shown here during final construction at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., (GA-ASI) facility at Adelanto, Calif., will be able to carry up to 700 lbs. of sensors, imaging equipment and other instruments for Earth science missions. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., is developing the Altair version of its Predator B unmanned reconnaissance aircraft under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) project. NASA plans to use the Altair as a technology demonstrator to validate a variety of command and control technologies for UAVs, as well as demonstrate the capability to perform a variety of Earth science missions. The Altair is designed to carry an 700-lb. payload of scientific instruments and imaging equipment for as long as 32 hours at up to 52,000 feet altitude. Eleven-foot extensions have been added to each wing, giving the Altair an overall wingspan of 86 feet with an aspect ratio of 23. It is powered by a 700-hp. rear-mounted TPE-331-10 turboprop engine, driving a three-blade propeller. Altair is scheduled to begin flight tests in the fourth quarter of 2002, and be acquired by NASA following successful completion of basic airworthiness tests in early 2003 for evaluation of over-the-horizon control, detect, see and avoid and other technologies required to allow UAVs to operate safely with other aircraft in the national airspace.
Date 07.10.2002
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