WHAT: Media pre-mission briefing on the NASA, NOAA, Aerosonde Hurricane Boundary Layer Mission.

Media may observe a demonstration flight of the Aerosonde unmanned aerial system. This small, remotely piloted aircraft will make observations in hurricanes where the atmosphere meets the sea. It will gather data unobtainable by crewed aircraft due to safety risks. The aircraft will be controlled by satellite from NOAA's National Hurricane Center, Miami.

WHO: Peter Turlington, NASA Wallops Flight Facility Range and Mission Management Office, Wallops Island, Va.; Joe Cione, NOAA hurricane researcher, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorology Laboratory, Miami; and Peter Bale of AAI Corporation, Hunt Valley, Md., who own and operate Aerosonde.

WHEN: 1 p.m., EDT Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006

WHERE: Naval Air Facility, Key West; Boca Chica Key, five miles north of Key West

TO ATTEND: Media must contact Erica Rule, NOAA, Miami, at 305-361-4541 no later than 4 p.m. EDT Tuesday, September 5. Media must report to the Naval Air Facility, Key West at the Main Gate, U.S. Highway 1. Vehicles are subject to a security search at the gate. Media will need photo identification. For information on NASA's hurricane research projects, visit: + NASA's Hurricane Resource page