Point of Contact

Lawrence C. Freudinger
(661) 276-3542
lawrence.c.freudinger@nasa.gov

Recent Missions

DC-8 on ground at sunrise
ARCTAS

NASA's DC-8 airborne science laboratory has arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile, to begin data collection flights over Antarctica as part of NASA's Operation Ice Bridge, the largest airborne survey of Earth’s polar ice ever conducted.

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The blue lines superimposed over the earth image of Iceland shows the tracks flown by NASA’s Gulfstream III during the ARCTAS mission.
UAVSAR

A team of NASA scientists conducted an airborne campaign in the Spring of 2009 to better understand how Arctic ice is changing and assess the impacts of climate change.

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Global Test Range and Over-the-Horizon Networks

    G-III taking off with UAVSAR pod attached Shimmering heat waves trail behind NASA's Gulfstream-III research aircraft as it departs the Edwards AFB runway on a UAVSAR pod checkout test flight. NASA Photo

    Welcome to the Global Test Range Development Center, a component of the Test Systems Directorate at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. For over a dozen years we have been developing network-oriented solutions to challenging distributed test, measurement, and remote observation problems. The Global Range is one of the places where NASA is pioneering airborne sensor web tools and intelligent observation capabilities for science, exploration, and aeronautics applications.

    From here you can browse our Tools and Technologies and Project Highlights pages and take a look at the projects we are working or have worked on. This site also has some background information on the technical challenges we address, our customers, and our partners.

About the Global Test Range

  • NASA's Ikhana remotely piloted aircraft soars over smoky terrain during a wildfire imaging demonstration mission in the late summer of 2007.

    Overview

    At the beginning of this century, NASA and other Government agencies were converging toward a vision for integrating Earth observation resources in order to make optimal and timely use of the knowledge being gained from the growing and diverse set of measurements being made.

  • A NASA scientist records data during the DC-8 NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis - NAMMA) Mission 2006.

    Tools and Technologies

    Terms like sensor webs, emNets, and telematics all refer to the marriage of sensors and instruments with network-distributed computing resources. Command, control, communications, and general management of networks and sensing systems are an immature but rapidly growing field.

  • REVEAL - Research Environment for Vehicle-Embedded Analysis on Linux system

    REVEAL

    The Research Environment for Vehicle-Embedded Analysis on Linux (REVEAL) system is a prototype next-generation tool for aerospace vehicle sensor webs and the future Earth Observation System.

  • altair in flight

    Global Test Range Project Highlights

    An archive and time line of previous projects and programs supported by the Global Test Range.

Mission Spotlight

  • glopac mission logo

    GloPac Mission 2010  →

    The Global Hawk Pacific Mission (GloPac) is scheduled to fly over the Pacific ocean this winter from the North Pole to the equator for its first Atmospheric Chemistry experiment.

  • DC-8 taking off

    Operation Ice Bridge

    NASA's DC-8 airborne science laboratory has arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile, to begin data collection flights over Antarctica as part of NASA's Operation Ice Bridge, the largest airborne survey of Earth’s polar ice ever conducted.

Related Sites

  • sofia in a banked turn over daof

    Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility

    NASA's Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., is a world-class airborne science mission staging facility that is the home base for several specialized NASA Earth and space science aircraft.

  • One of NASA's two Global Hawk high-altitude aircraft took to the skies Oct. 23 for its first flight under NASA operation.

    Airborne Science  →

    The Airborne Science Program within the Earth Science Division is responsible for providing aircraft systems that further science and advance the use of satellite data.

  • test systems directorate - mcc control room

    Test Systems

    Provides flight test support capabilities for Range Operations, Simulation, Flight Loads Laboratory, Radio Frequency Management, and Global Test Range.

  • Boeing's sub-scale X-48B Blended Wing Body technology demonstrator shows off its clean semi-triangular shape.

    Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate  →

    NASA conducts cutting-edge, fundamental research in traditional and emerging disciplines to help transform the nation's air transportation system, and to support future air and space vehicles.

  • artists concept of aeres rocket taking off and on launch pad.

    Constellation Program

    NASA’s Constellation Program is building the next generation spacecraft that will send humans back to the moon and beyond.