NASA Student Airborne Research Program Takes Flight

July 23, 2009

Sonja Alexander
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1761


Beth Hagenauer
Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif.
661-276-7960


RELEASE: 09-174

NASA STUDENT AIRBORNE RESEARCH PROGRAM TAKES FLIGHT

EDWARDS, Calif. -- Twenty-nine undergraduate and graduate students
are
participating in a six-week NASA Airborne Science field experience
designed to immerse them in NASA's Earth Science research. The
students represent 26 colleges and universities across the U.S. and
nine foreign countries.

NASA's Student Airborne Research program runs from July 6 to Aug. 14
in California. The program began with lectures from university
faculty members, research institutions and NASA scientists at the
University of California, Irvine. One of the speakers is Sherwood
Rowland of the University of California, Irvine, a Nobel Laureate in
chemistry, who is a long-time user of NASA's DC-8 airborne
capabilities for his research on atmospheric chemistry.

Using the DC-8 flying laboratory based at NASA's Dryden Aircraft
Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., the students will get a rare
behind-the-scenes look at instrument integration, flight planning and
payload testing that is the basis of every successful Earth Science
airborne campaign carried out by NASA. These airborne research
campaigns play a pivotal role in the calibration and validation of
NASA's space-borne Earth observations, remote sensing measurements
and the high-resolution imagery for Earth system science.

Divided into the investigative groups of atmospheric science, algal
blooms and crop classification, students will have the opportunity to
fly aboard one of two six-hour DC-8 flights departing from NASA's
Palmdale facility. The aircraft will travel north over the San
Joaquin Valley for an air-quality investigation, over the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to observe vegetation, and south
over Monterey Bay to research algae blooms.

The student program is one of NASA's tools for training future
scientists for Earth Science missions that can assist with studies
and the development and testing of new instruments and future
satellite mission concepts. The program's goal is to stimulate
interest in NASA's Earth Science research and aid in recruitment of
the next generation of engineers and scientists. Through this and the
agency's other college and university programs, NASA is developing
critical skills and capabilities needed for the agency's engineering,
scientific and technical missions.

The Student Airborne Research Program is managed through the National
Suborbital Education and Research Center at the University of North
Dakota, with funding and support from NASA's Airborne Science
Program. The center was established through a cooperative agreement
between the University of North Dakota and NASA.

For additional information about NASA's DC-8, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/a...C-8/index.html

For more information about NASA's Education programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education

For additional information about the National Suborbital Education
and
Research Center at the University of North Dakota, visit:

http://www.nserc.und.edu

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