Jan. 15, 2009

Stephen Cole
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0918
stephen.e.cole{at}nasa.gov

Beth Hagenauer
Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif.
661-276-7960
beth.hagenauer-1{at}nasa.gov

RELEASE: 09-008

NASA DEBUTS GLOBAL HAWK AUTONOMOUS AIRCRAFT FOR EARTH SCIENCE

WASHINGTON -- NASA and the Northrop Grumman Corp. of Los Angeles have
unveiled the first Global Hawk aircraft system to be used for
environmental science research, heralding a new application for the
world's first fully autonomous high-altitude, long-endurance
aircraft. The debut took place Thursday at NASA's Dryden Flight
Research Center in Edwards, Calif.

NASA and Northrop Grumman are returning NASA's two Global Hawk
aircraft to flight this year under a Space Act Agreement signed in
May 2008. NASA plans to use the aircraft for missions to support its
Science Mission Directorate and the Earth science community that
require high-altitude, long-distance airborne capability.

"Today marks the debut of NASA's newest airborne science capability,"
said Kevin L. Petersen, director of Dryden. "These Global Hawks
represent the first non-military use of this remarkable robotic
aircraft system. NASA's partnership with Northrop Grumman has made
this possible."

The U.S. Air Force transferred the Global Hawks to NASA in December
2007. They are among the first seven built in the original Advanced
Concept Technology Demonstration program, which the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency sponsored. Northrop Grumman will share in
the use of the aircraft to conduct its own flight demonstrations for
expanded markets, missions and airborne capabilities, including
integration of autonomous aircraft systems into the national
airspace.

Global Hawk can fly at altitudes up to 65,000 feet for more than 31
hours at a time. To date, the aircraft have flown more than 28,000
hours.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, also is
partnering with NASA to develop this new airborne research tool. NOAA
is participating in the project management and piloting of the NASA
Global Hawks and the development of scientific instruments and future
Earth science research campaigns.

"The Global Hawks will provide superb new measurement possibilities
for our climate science and applications programs," said Michael
Freilich, director of NASA's Earth Science Division in Washington.
"This collaboration is a model for NASA's wide-ranging
Earth-observation activities to advance our understanding of Earth as
an integrated system, which are critical to developing responses to
environmental change here and around the world."

NASA's initial use of the aircraft to support Earth science will be
the Global Hawk Pacific 2009 program. 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 scientific instruments
integrated into one of the NASA Global Hawk aircraft will collect
atmospheric data while flying high through Earth's atmosphere in the
upper troposphere and lower stratosphere.

Global Hawk has many potential applications for the advancement of
science, improvement of hurricane monitoring techniques, development
of disaster support capabilities, and development of advanced
autonomous aircraft system technologies. For example, Global Hawks
were used to help monitor wildfires in Southern California in 2007
and 2008.

NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, located on Edwards Air Force
Base in the Mojave Desert of Southern California, is NASA's primary
installation for atmospheric flight research. It has supported NASA's
technology development efforts in aeronautics, environmental science,
space exploration and space operations for more than 60 years.

For more information about NASA programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

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