NASA ER-2 FLIES OVER RUSSIA ON OZONE RESEARCH MISSION January 27, 2000 Release: 00-14 Printer Friendly Version
00-14
KIRUNA, SWEDEN: One of NASA's high-flying ER-2 Airborne Science aircraft, a civilian variant of Lockheed's U-2, completed its first science flight through Russian airspace today in support of the largest international ozone field experiment to date over the Arctic.
The six-hour flight that passed southwest of Moscow was closely coordinated with Russian observers. The single-seat aircraft, based at NASA Dryden's Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., carried instruments to collect data for NASA's SAGE III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE). SOLVE is managed by the Upper Atmosphere Research Program of NASA's Office of Earth Science. The ER-2 was flown by Dee Porter, a Lockheed-Martin pilot under contract to NASA Dryden's Airborne Science Program.
Scientists are hoping the ER-2's stratospheric measurements will help them better understand the complicated chemistry involved with ozone loss. NASA is working with the European Commission-sponsored Third European Stratospheric Experiment on Ozone (THESEO) 2000. Research teams include scientists from NASA, Europe, Russia, Japan and Canada.
Another NASA flying laboratory, NASA Dryden's DC-8, also flew through Russian airspace in conjunction with the ER-2. The DC-8 flew its first mission over Russia's Franz Josef Land during SOLVE's first phase last December.
The NASA planes and the field experiments are based north of the Arctic Circle in Kiruna, Sweden. A large hangar built especially for research, "Arena Arctica" houses the instrumented aircraft and the scientists.
Scientists have observed unusually low levels of ozone over the Arctic during recent winters, raising concerns that ozone depletion there could become more widespread as in the Antarctic ozone hole. Scientists also hope to forecast when the Arctic ozone may return to normal.
"Handling all the hardware and coordinating the personnel, aircraft, balloons, and ground observations involved in the campaign is an immense challenge," said project manager Michael Craig of NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. More than 350 scientists, technicians and support workers are involved in the experiment.
The third phase of the SOLVE field campaign ends in March.
--nasa-- Note to Editors: More information on the SOLVE ozone-mapping project (including a list of participating institutions) can be found at: (SOLVE) -- http://cloud1.arc.nasa.gov/solve/index.html (THESEO 2000) -- http://www.ozone-sec.ch.cam.ac.uk http://george.arc.nasa.gov/dx/basket/factsheets/FS991103.html http://hyperion.gsfc.nasa.gov/Personnel/people/Newman,_Paul_A./solve_write.html
Some images taken by SOLVE mission members are on the Internet at: ftp://code916.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/solve/images/ http://cloud1.arc.nasa.gov/solve/pao
Still photos and video footage of the ER-2 aircraft are available from the Dryden Public Affairs Office to support this release. For photo prints or video dubs, please call Beth Hagenauer, (661) 258-7960, or (661) 258-3449.
Photos of the ER-2 are also available on the Internet under NASA Dryden Research Aircraft Photo Archive, Dryden News and Feature Photos, URL: /centers/dfrc/Gallery/Photo/index.html NASA Dryden news releases are also available on the Internet at: /centers/dryden/news/NewsReleases/index.html | |
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