A Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle is poised to begin performing environmental science research for NASA, Northrop Grumman Corp. [NOC] announced.
NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center and Northrop Grumman are returning NASA’s two Global Hawk aircraft to flight this year under a Space Act Agreement signed last May.
Northrop will share in use of the aircraft to conduct its own flight demonstrations for expanded markets, missions and airborne capabilities, including UAS integration into national airspace.
“Today marks the debut of NASA’s newest airborne science capability,” said Kevin L. Petersen, director of NASA Dryden. “This Global Hawk vehicle represents the first non- military use of this remarkable unmanned aircraft system, and NASA’s partnership with Northrop Grumman has made it possible.”
The two NASA Global Hawk aircraft, among the first seven built in the original Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration program sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, were transferred to NASA Dryden by the Air Force in 2007. NASA announced plans to use them for missions supporting its Science Mission Directorate and the Earth science community that require high-altitude, long-endurance, long-distance airborne capability.
The NASA Global Hawk’s initial Earth science mission will be Global Hawk Pacific 2009, or GLOPAC. This campaign will consist of six long-duration missions over the Pacific and Arctic regions in the late spring and early summer of 2009. Twelve NASA and NOAA scientific instruments integrated into one of the NASA Global Hawk aircraft will collect atmospheric data while flying through the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere.
Global Hawk can fly at altitudes up to 65,000 feet for more than 31 hours at a time. It is supporting the Air Force in the global war on terrorism, providing persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to warfighters. To date, Global Hawks have flown more than 28,000 hours.