DRYDEN FLIGHT RESEARCH CENTER - NEWS ROOM: NEWS RELEASES: DRYDEN STORY OPPORTUNITIES -- JULY
Dryden Story Opportunities -- July July 1, 1997
Release:
97-25
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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
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