2009 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program

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TM Relay HQ sponsor: NASA Launch Services Program NASA Airborne Science added yet another new role to its résumé in May when the DC-8, teamed with Ktech, successfully relayed and recorded telemetry transmitted by a Delta II rocket boosting a satellite into orbit. NASA Launch Services Program (LSP) asked the Airborne Science Program to show that the DC-8 could rendezvous over 1100 miles off the tip of Baja with a rocket launched from Vandenberg AFB and provide real-time data to the launch team back at Kennedy Space Center. The Delta II rocket provided by LSP contractor United Launch Alliance carried an experimental satellite for the Missile Defense Agency. Ktech provided the telemetry tracking and receiving equipment and technical support team on the DC-8. Figure 33: Launching of Delta II rocket from Vandenberg AFB. 36
Instrument Test Flights In FY 2009, the Airborne Science Program continued to support technology development, including projects funded by the Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) Instrument Incubator Program (IIP) and Airborne Instrument Technology Transfer (AITT) program. These flights include a variety of science instruments including RADARs, LIDARs, optical instruments and passive microwave experiments. By demonstrating these instruments can operate in an aircraft environment, increased technology readiness levels can be demonstrated, bringing the development one step closer to being mission ready. Since some airborne experiments must be compact, rugged and semi-autonomous, this forces the instrument teams to develop technologies also needed for the rigors of space operation. Airborne instruments also supply data that can be used to design the operating parameters of space instruments. They are a vital link in the development of space-based instruments by providing actual measurements of real-world phenomena. This understanding enables space instruments to be properly designed and to optimize data collection parameters. Some of the more significant demonstration flights conducted this past year include SIMPL, TWiLiTE, and CO 2 Laser Sounder. SIMPL The first science flights of the Slope Imaging Multipolarization Photon-Counting Lidar (SIMPL) were conducted in February, 2009. SIMPL’s development was sponsored by NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) Instrument Incubator Program (IIP). The SIMPL project was selected by the IIP in response to a call for instrumentation that enabled improved elevation mapping of ice sheets, glaciers and sea ice. David Harding (Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 698) is the SIMPL Principal Investigator. SIMPL is an advanced technology airborne laser altimeter. It incorporates beam splitting, micropulse single-photon ranging and polarimetry technologies at visible (green, 532 nm) and near-infrared (NIR, 1064 nm) wavelengths in order to achieve simultaneous sampling of surface elevation and the physical state of the surface along four parallel profiles. The deployment goals were to demonstrate the instruments measurement capabilities and document the system performance by collecting data over snow and ice targets. SIMPL was deployed on Glenn Research Center’s Lear 25 flown out of Cleveland, OH. During three flights totaling about 8 hours, data was collected over ice cover on Lake Erie and snow-covered landscapes in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Additional instrumentation included an Applanix POS-AV system provided by the NASA Airborne Science Office at Ames Research Center, collecting position and attitude data used to geolocate SIMPL’s profiles. Also deployed was nadir video to document the flight lines. 37
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Page 9 and 10: FROM THE DIRECTOR Welcome to NASA
Page 11 and 12: PROGRAM ELEMENTS and EXECUTION The
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Page 45 and 46: TWiLiTE In September, 2009 Bruce Ge
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Page 49: AESMIR The AESMIR 2009 test flights
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Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility
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COLLABORATIONS and PARTNERSHIPS
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on the UAS community and that it is
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among research programs with simila
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Media, Education and Outreach NSERC
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ISRSE NASA’s Airborne Science Pro
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for coverage of the Costa Rican por
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Recognition and Awards Spring 2009
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Genesis and Rapid Intensification P
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APPENDIX A In Memoriam Frank Caldei
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APPENDIX B Airborne Program History
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Figure 72: 1981 photo of Ames Aircr
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APPENDIX C Five-Year Plan Task Name
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24. NASA POLARIS 25. NASA SAGE III
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ATM AVIRIS AVOCET AXCTD Airborne To
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GLISTIN GloPac GOLD GPS GRIP GSFC G
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NAS NASA NASDAT NCAR NGC NIR NMEA N
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U UAPO UAS UAV UAVSAR UCSD UND URS
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2009 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program

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