2008 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program

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