December 20, 2011

Gray Creech
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
661-276-2662
gray.creech@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 11-39

NASA DRYDEN CONTRIBUTED TO SCIENCE, AEROSPACE RESEARCH IN 2011

EDWARDS, Calif. -- NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air 
Force Base, Calif., continued its support of NASA's four mission 
areas during 2011, helping to advance the agency's overall mission of 
Earth and space science and aerospace technology research. <div 
align="center">Science
</div> SOFIA Observatory
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), an 
international collaboration between NASA and the German Aerospace 
Center, had a busy year, starting with the flight of the GREAT 
Spectrometer in April. GREAT, for German Receiver for Astronomy at 
Terahertz frequencies, is a high-resolution far-infrared spectrometer 
that finely divides and sorts light into component colors for 
detailed analysis.

On June 23, the SOFIA observed the dwarf planet Pluto as it passed in 
front of a distant star. This event, known as an occultation, allowed 
scientific analysis of Pluto and its atmosphere by flying SOFIA to an 
exact location where Pluto's shadow fell on Earth at the right 
moment. This was the first demonstration in practice of one of 
SOFIA's major design capabilities.

NASA selected the first six teachers to work with scientists aboard 
SOFIA during research flights in May and June as part of the SOFIA's 
Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program.

Operation IceBridge
NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory and a team of scientists completed their 
third year of Operation Ice Bridge flights in October and November, 
surveying and mapping glaciers and the thickness of sea ice and ice 
sheets on Antarctica. The aircraft flew more than 307 flight hours on 
31 data collection and transit flights from a staging base at Punta 
Arena, Chile, during the six-week Ice Bridge campaign, most of more 
than 11 hours duration.

WISPAR science campaign
A NASA Global Hawk aircraft was the centerpiece of the Winter Storms 
and Pacific Atmospheric Rivers, or WISPAR, field campaign last 
winter. Three long-duration flights over the Pacific Ocean explored 
atmospheric rivers, arctic weather, and collected targeted 
observations designed to improve operational weather forecasts. The 
NOAA-led WISPAR airborne campaign focused on improving scientists’ 
understanding of how atmospheric rivers form and behave and 
evaluating the operational use of unmanned, high-altitude aircraft 
for investigating these phenomena, which could aid NOAA in future 
weather predictions.

In early November, one of NASA Dryden’s Global Hawk airborne science 
aircraft flew the 50th flight of a NASA Global Hawk, a 16-hour 
mission in preparation for the Airborne Tropical Tropopause 
Experiment, or ATTREX, campaign slated for 2013-2014.

ER-2 Midwestern Wind, Rainfall Study
One of NASA Dryden’s high-altitude ER-2 aircraft deployed to Offutt 
Air Force Base, Neb., last spring for a six-week study in support of 
the future Global Precipitation Measurement, or GPM, satellite 
mission planned for 2013. Acting as a satellite simulator, the ER-2 
carried instruments that sampled the entire column of atmosphere 
below the aircraft to verify that the data collected produced a 
consistent summary of precipitation physics and improved the accuracy 
of future satellite instruments.

G-III Hawaii / Alaska Volcanic Imaging Missions
NASA Dryden’s Gulfstream-III science aircraft conducted two volcano 
imaging missions during the year, one to Hawaii in the spring and a 
second to Alaska in early August. Using the Uninhabited Aerial 
Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar, or UAVSAR, developed by NASA’s Jet 
Propulsion Laboratory, the first mission imaged volcanoes on Hawaii's 
Big Island and mapped surface deformations on the islands of Oahu, 
Molokai and Maui during seven flights.

On the G-III's second volcano mission, the UAVSAR imaged volcanoes in 
the Aleutian Island chain to detect and measure small changes in the 
Earth's surface of geophysical interest. It also imaged volcanoes in 
the Cascade Range over Washington, Oregon and California while en 
route to its home base in Palmdale, Calif.

<div align="center">Aeronautics 
</div> Sonic Boom Research
NASA Dryden used supersonic aircraft to produce super-loud sonic booms 
over a remote part of the Mojave Desert in an effort to understand 
how to minimize their startling impact. The project, called SCAMP for 
Superboom Caustic Analysis and Measurement Program, collected data to 
validate computer prediction tools that can be used in the design of 
future quieter supersonic aircraft.

The Waveforms and Sonic boom Perception and Response, or WSPR, project 
gathered data from a select group of volunteer Edwards Air Force Base 
residents on their individual perceptions of sonic booms produced by 
aircraft in supersonic flight over Edwards. WSPR's primary purpose 
was to develop data collection methods and test protocols for future 
public perception studies in communities that do not usually 
experience sonic booms. Their reactions to low-noise booms will be a 
valuable guide for future work in sonic boom perception and response.

In January, NASA Dryden and Seismic Warning Systems, Inc., began 
evaluating the company’s QuakeGuard™ earthquake warning system to 
determine if sonic booms caused the devices to register false alarms. 
Under a NASA Space Act agreement, the company installed two of their 
QuakeGuard™ warning seismometers at NASA Dryden, and the center 
tested the system during three flights with F/A-18 aircraft diving to 
place sonic boom shockwaves directly on the building.

Channeled Center-body Inlet Experiment
A primary research objective of this experiment was to define the 
airflow through an experimental jet engine inlet, then compare it to 
the airflow through a standard inlet. Six flights at speeds of to 
Mach 1.74 were flown with two interchangeable center bodies installed 
in an air inlet tube to measure airflow around them. Both structures 
are designed to direct and compress airflow internally through the 
engine. Flight data from the standard smooth center body will be used 
to benchmark performance data for the channeled center body.

DROID
A large hobby-type radio-controlled model aircraft was transformed 
into a high-tech flight research aircraft and is being used to 
develop a ground collision avoidance application for smart phones 
that can be used by general aviation aircraft. The Dryden Remotely 
Operated Integrated Drone, or DROID, is the newest – and smallest – 
member of NASA Dryden's flight research aircraft stable. The 
Automatic Collision Avoidance Technology Ground Collision Avoidance 
System software is being adapted to demonstrate that even the 
simplest flight systems may benefit from Auto-GCAS technology.

Biofuel Fuel Emissions Test
Renewable biofuel made from chicken and beef tallow was tested in one 
of the four engines of NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory during ground 
tests last spring. The Alternative Aviation Fuels Experiment, or 
AAFEX, enabled aeronautics researchers to measure the fuel's 
performance in the engine and examined the engine exhaust for 
chemicals and contamination that could contribute to air pollution. 
It was the first time that biofuel emissions had been measured for 
nitrogen oxides, commonly known as NOx, and tiny particles of soot or 
unburned hydrocarbons - both of which can degrade air quality.

<div align="center">Spaceflight
</div> Space Shuttle Support
Dryden celebrated almost 40 years of support of NASA's space shuttle 
development and operations when shuttle flights concluded in July. 
The office provided management and coordination of facilities, 
systems, and ground servicing equipment in support of space shuttle 
launch, on-orbit, landing, recovery, and turnaround operations. 
During the more than 30-year program, 54 shuttle landings occurred at 
Edwards, beginning with STS-1 on April 14, 1981, and ending with 
STS-128 on September 11, 2009. Dryden's Shuttle and Flight Operations 
Support Office began shut down activities in 2011 following the last 
shuttle mission, and is now engaged in disposition of specialized 
shuttle support equipment, a process expected to take at least two 
years.

Flight Opportunities Program
NASA’s Flight Opportunities program, managed by NASA Dryden, selected 
seven companies in August to integrate and fly a variety of 
technology payloads on commercial suborbital reusable vehicles near 
the boundary of space to help meet the agency's research and 
technology needs. These two-year contracts, worth a combined total of 
$10 million, will allow NASA to draw from a pool of commercial space 
companies to deliver payload integration and flight services.

Mars Rover Landing Radar Tests
NASA Dryden and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory flight-tested the Mars 
Science Laboratory's landing radar, using an F/A-18 aircraft. The 
aircraft carried a Quick Test Experimental Pod underneath its left 
wing that housed the MSL test radar.

The F/A-18 made a series of subsonic, stair-step dives over Rogers Dry 
Lake at angles of 40 to 90 degrees in order to simulate what the 
MSL’s radar will see during entry into the Martian atmosphere. Data 
collected by these flights were used to finesse the MSL’s landing 
radar software to help ensure that it was calibrated as accurately as 
possible.

In other highlights of the year, 

Retired NASA astronaut Fred Haise returned to NASA Dryden Aug. 11 to 
share recollections of his time as a research pilot at the center in 
the 1960s and to participate in ceremonies honoring him at the 
Lancaster Jethawks baseball team's annual Aerospace Appreciation 
Night in nearby Lancaster, Calif., Aug. 13.


Members of the National Research Council's Aeronautics and Space 
Engineering Board, including first man to walk on the moon, Neil 
Armstrong, toured NASA Dryden on April 20. The study team reviewed a 
number of aeronautics research projects, specialized aircraft and 
research facilities at NASA Dryden as part of their three-day visit.


In November, NASA Dryden awarded a $11.2 million contract to Comfort & 
Hays Electric, Inc. of Long Beach, Calif., for construction of a 
38,000-square-foot Facilities Support Center at its main Edwards 
campus. The single-story building will provide office and technical 
spaces for Dryden's Facilities Engineering and the Asset Management 
department as well as the Safety, Health and Environmental Office, 
combining in one structure functions that are currently performed in 
several obsolete and inefficient facilities on the Dryden campus.


The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's Automatic Collision Avoidance 
Technology Fighter Risk Reduction Program team, which includes NASA 
Dryden, won an Aviation Week & Space Technology Laureate Award for 
its successful development and flight test of an Automatic Ground 
Collision Avoidance System. NASA Dryden led the project's integrated 
test team that was responsible for the technical content of the 
project's test and evaluation, maintenance of the Air Force's F-16D 
test aircraft, project management and engineering services, and 
provision of the project's chief pilot.


Boeing’s Phantom Ray, a fighter-size Unmanned Aircraft System, made a 
successful first flight on April 27 at Edwards Air Force Base. NASA 
Dryden hosted Phantom Ray flight test operations, providing hangar 
facilities, engineering and ground test support, as well as flight 
test range support for the project under a Boeing-funded commercial 
Space Act agreement with NASA.


Boeing’s Phantom Eye, a hydrogen-powered, high-altitude, 
long-endurance demonstrator aircraft, arrived at Dryden in March. The 
unmanned aircraft underwent assembly and continues preparations for 
flight tests, expected to begin in 2012. As with the Phantom Ray, 
NASA Dryden is hosting the Boeing flight test operation, providing 
hangar facilities, engineering, ground test and test range support 
for the project.

For more about NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, visit:
<div align="center">http://www.nasa.gov/dryden</div>
Still and video imagery to support this release is available on-line 
at:
<div 
align="center">http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/multimedia/</div>

	
-end-