2008 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program

Figure 52
Early remote sensing payload on
NASA P-3 927.
sensors, became operational early in 1967. The
P-3A, affectionately known as “Baby”, was an
early prototype from the Lockheed Electra
program that had been modified for testing in
the P-3 ASW programs. It had about 9 feet (or
so) removed from amidships from its original
fuselage for this P-3 development program
and was aircraft #003, as I remember. There
were only two built before her. It came with
as-built red line drawings which presented
challenges when it came to recertification
after modifications, especially changes to
the electrical system necessary to integrate
program remote sensing systems. The
maximum altitude was 30,000 feet, with mission
duration of 7 hours and a range of about 2000
miles. It was sent off to Wallops when the
program phased out of JSC in July of 1982 and
was primarily used for their range program and
some small Wallops remote sensing projects.
Sensors included large format cameras, active
and passive microwave sensors, and an infrared
scanner.
Lockheed C-130B (NASA 929)
The C-130 was acquired on loan from the
Air Force in 1968 (I think) and underwent
significant modifications to accommodate
several new sensor systems, was recertified,
and commenced data acquisition in
September of 1969. It had an interesting
history. It had been utilized by the NASA
Langley Research Center (LaRC) as a
boundary layer test aircraft for some time
and had a beefed up wing (leading edge). It
was transferred to JSC after conclusion of
that program. The cost to return the wing
to the original configuration was prohibitive
so a worldwide search (we didn’t have
‘eBay’ then) found a set of C-130 wings in
Zambia. One of their military aircraft had
been attacked by rebels while on the apron;
some of the crew killed, and the plane was
pretty well shot up. The program purchased
the wing sections and transported them
by barge to the States and onto JSC. The
wing replacement was performed at LTV
in Greenville, Texas, where the extensive
airframe modifications required for sensor
integration were also performed. It came
out of modification and flight certification
test in August of 1969 and as mentioned
above, flew her first mission the next
month. The C-130 was sent off to NASA
Ames Research Center, along with its and
other sensor systems listed for the P-3A,
when the program phased out of JSC in
summer of 1982 (I’m pretty sure). The C-
130 sensor complements included several
cameras, active microwave scatterometers,
infrared and multi-spectral scanners, and
other instruments such as PRT-5 radiation
thermometers, inertial navigation system,
and closed-circuit TV.
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