Scaled Composites' Proteus aircraft trailed one of NASA's Global Hawks during a test mission to prepare for a demonstration of autonomous refueling capabilities by two unmanned Global Hawks.
ED11-0018-01
Scaled Composites’ Proteus aircraft trailed one of NASA’s Global Hawks during a test mission to prepare for a demonstration of autonomous refueling capabilities by two unmanned Global Hawks. During portions of the test flight, the Proteus, now owned by Northrop Grumman, flew closely behind the NASA aircraft to collect data on the effect of wake vortices from the Global Hawk on the following aircraft. A similar test mission was flown previously with a NASA B-200 King Air flying behind the Global Hawk.January 21, 2011
NASA Photo / Jim Ross