2008 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program
2008 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program
2008 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program
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Figure 43<br />
Taken Oct. 4, 2007, 2-meter resolution MASTER imagery of Sevillita, NM.<br />
which supports a variety of <strong>NASA</strong> airborne<br />
sensors and radiometers. Additional tasks<br />
include data processing services and sensor<br />
flight planning for approved remote sensing<br />
flight requests. The ASTL is managed by the<br />
University of California, Santa Cruz, and is<br />
part of the <strong>NASA</strong> Ames University Affiliated<br />
ResResearch Center (UARC).<br />
Global Hawk Payload Systems Project<br />
Working in conjunction with the Global<br />
Hawk team at Dryden Flight Research<br />
Center, the design and implementation of<br />
the payload power and communications<br />
infrastructure for this major new science<br />
platform began in <strong>2008</strong>. The airborne<br />
hardware elements under development at<br />
the ASTL include the new NASDAT system<br />
(<strong>NASA</strong> <strong>Airborne</strong> <strong>Science</strong> Data and Telemetry<br />
unit;) new Experimenter Interface Panels<br />
providing power, communications, and state<br />
data feeds; and a Master Payload Control<br />
System/Power Distribution Unit (MPCS/PDU)<br />
that allows the mission pilot to monitor and<br />
control the power and basic functionality of<br />
each instrument. A separate telemetry Link<br />
Module is also being built to interface with<br />
the high-speed Ku-band sat-com system<br />
slated for the Global Hawk. (See the New<br />
Technology section for related information.)<br />
A video tracking camera system is also being<br />
developed for the new Global Hawk UAS.<br />
This will be a wide field-of-view, time-lapse<br />
device that will be used by the science teams<br />
to evaluate conditions in real-time around the<br />
aircraft<br />
101