NEWS Release: 250 years after
Ben Franklin's key and kite experiment NASA and university scientists
seek key to lightning Read
the release ...
Based at the Naval Air Facility Key West in Florida,
researchers in August 2002 chased down thunderstorms using an uninhabited
aerial vehicle, or "UAV" - allowing them to achieve dual
goals of gathering weather data safely and testing new aircraft
technology. This marked the first time a UAV was used to conduct
lightning research.
Aimed
at better understanding the causes of an electrical storm's fury
and its effects on our home planet, this study was a collaboration
among the Marshall Center; the University of Alabama at Huntsville;
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.; Pennsylvania
State University, University Park; and General Atomics Aeronautical
Systems Inc., San Diego.
Dr. Richard Blakeslee is the project Principal
Investigator, and Mr. Tony Kim is the Mission Manager. They are
home based in Huntsville, Alabama at the National Space Science
and Technology Center (NSSTC), a partnership with the Marshall Center,
Alabama universities, industry and federal agencies. The NSSTC enables
scientists, engineers and educators to share research and facilities,
focusing on space science, Earth sciences, materials science, biotechnology,
propulsion, information technology and optics. (NASA/MSFC/Emmett
Given)
Click
here to view ACES movie clips, including
interviews with the investigators and the Altus in flight. (At left:
Richard Blakeslee with the Altus)
|