Dryden Story Opportunities -- July July 1, 1997 Release: 97-25 Printer Friendly Version
STUDENTS WITNESS "MARS MANIA" AT PLANETFEST: Five students from Dryden's NASA Academy program will witness "Mars mania" at Planetfest '97 July 4-6 at the Pasadena Center. Planetfest, sponsored by The Planetary Society, will feature book signings, symposia, exhibits and children's workshops, as well as extensive coverage of the Mars Pathfinder mission. The Mars Pathfinder is scheduled to touch down on Mars July 4 at 10 a.m. PDT. The Academy students will sponsor an exhibit about their program and will help children launch Japanese water rockets. NASA Administrator Dan Goldin also is scheduled to attend the Planetfest activities. Four NASA centers -- Goddard Space Flight Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, Ames Research Center and Dryden -- have NASA Academy programs. Dryden is the first to offer a NASA Academy in aeronautics. The 10-week Academy program is open to upper-level college and early graduate students pursuing degrees in engineering, science, math, computer science and other disciplines of interest to the aerospace program. Public Affairs contact: Kirsten Williams, (805) 258-2662
NASA SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENT ON DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT BRIEF: NASA recently issued its Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the development and flight research of the X-33 Advanced Technology Demonstrator and has announced plans to hold public meetings to present the study's findings and solicit comments. Major issues addressed in the environmental study -- which began Oct. 7, 1996 -- include noise and sonic booms, flight safety and effects on airspace and air traffic patterns. Public meetings will be held July 21, 7 p.m., Lancaster High School, Lancaster, Calif.; July 22, 7 p.m., Boron High School, Boron, Calif.; July 23, 7 p.m., Burroughs High School, Ridgecrest, Calif.; and July 24, 7 p.m., Baker Senior Center, Baker, Calif. As many as 15 flight-research missions of the X-33 are planned to originate from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and land at sites in Southern California, Utah and Montana or Washington in 1999. Full text of the Environmental Impact Statement will be available in many public libraries and other public sites as well as on the World Wide Web: http://eemo.msfc.nasa.gov/eemo/X-33_eis NASA Public Affairs contact: Jim Cast, (202) 358-1779
ALADIN EXPERIMENT MAY PRODUCE INFORMATIONAL "MAGIC": It's no genie from a bottle, but the Advanced L-Probe Air Data Integration (ALADIN) experiment being flown on Dryden's F-18 Systems Research Aircraft could result in some informational "magic" for pilots of high-performance tactical aircraft. ALADIN combines a new pitot-static air-data probe with an advanced research computer to give the pilot real-time angle-of-attack and sideslip data as well as the usual speed and altitude information. The system has potential applications for commercial and general aviation aircraft as well as high-performance military aircraft. Data collection flights in the program began in April. As many as 14 flights are planned for the program. Rosemount Aerospace, a division of B.F. Goodrich, and McDonnell Douglas Aerospace developed the experiment in conjunction with Dryden. Public Affairs contact: Fred Brown, (805) 258-2663
"NEWEST" EXPERIMENT IN EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS: Dryden will host 25 teachers from the western United States for a unique NASA educator workshop July 7-18. This workshop will combine for the first time the NASA Educational Workshop for Elementary School Teachers (NEWEST) and NASA Educational Workshop for Mathematics, Science and Technology Teachers (NEWMAST), which typically are separate programs. They will be combined in an effort encourage the exchange of ideas among teachers of all grade levels -- elementary, middle and high school. At the workshop, teachers will learn how to develop NASA aeronautics activities for the classroom, making science, math and NASA technology more interesting to students. Teachers also will learn about other NASA Enterprises, such as Mission to Planet Earth. Activities include a field trip to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and familiarization with the Telescopes in Education project, in which students remotely control a telescope at Mount Wilson via the Internet. Public Affairs contact: Kirsten Williams, (805) 258-2662
HISTEC TO KICK INTO HIGH GEAR: Dryden's Advanced Control Technology for Integrated Vehicles (ACTIVE) F-15 begins a short series of flight-research missions in the High Stability Engine Control (HISTEC) project this month. The HISTEC experiment, sponsored by the NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, is seeking to enhance aircraft safety and increase engine stability of the F-15. To accommodate adverse or turbulent airflow, engines often must operate at less than their peak efficiency to keep a safety margin and prevent stalling. HISTEC includes a software program that will help "sense" changes in airflow and allow the aircraft automatically to increase the safety margin. This will allow the engines to operate with more stability under adverse or turbulent airflow conditions. Up to 12 flights are expected in the program over the next two months. Public Affairs contact: Fred Brown, (805) 258-2663
DRYDEN PARTNERS WITH AMERICAN INDIAN COLLEGES: Thirty teachers from Salish Kootenai College and other American Indian colleges will visit Dryden July 28-Aug. 6 for an educators' workshop as part of a 1997 NASA Partnership Award. The Montana college recently received NASA funding for its project, titled "NASA Aeronautical Ambassador Program for American Indians." This program involves tribes from the Great Lakes, Great Plains, mountain, woodlands and ocean regions. It will examine the navigational practices of American Indians. The goal is to develop a navigational curriculum. Public Affairs contact: Kirsten Williams, (805) 258-2662
--nasa-- Note to Editors: FEATURE PHOTOS -- Apex, X-38, X-36, APO experiment: Recent Dryden photos include images of the following: the Apex High Altitude Flight Experiment (part of the Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology program), the X-38 technology demonstrator arrival at Dryden, the X-36 first flight and the Advanced Performance Optimization (APO) experiment aboard an L-1011. These photos also are available electronically via the World Wide Web at: http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/index.html For additional photos, call (805) 258-3449
NASA DRYDEN MEDIA INFORMATION ON THE WWW: NASA Dryden news releases and fact sheets are available via the World Wide Web at URL: Dryden News Room | |
