Sat, Sep 17, 2005
NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory tipped its wings in farewell as it
departed the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force
Base, Calif., for its new home at Grand Forks, N.D., on Sept.
14.
NASA recently signed a cooperative agreement with the University
of North Dakota, Grand Forks, and will pay the university $25
million over a five-year period to maintain and operate the
agency's DC-8 science research aircraft. The plan is for the DC-8
to be the centerpiece of a new National Suborbital Education and
Research Center at the university. The agreement is intended to
expand science research capabilities using the DC-8 and enhance
hands-on educational opportunities for students.
Built as an extended-range jetliner in 1966, the DC-8 was
acquired by NASA from Alitalia Airlines in 1985 and modified to
convert it to a flying science laboratory. It was first operated by
NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. from 1986 to
1997, and transferred to Dryden late that year.
The DC-8 has supported satellite validation, Earth science
studies, and the development of remote sensing techniques for
space-based observing systems. It has deployed worldwide to support
research including measuring ozone and other gases with two winter
deployments to Kiruna, Sweden, for the SAGE III Ozone Loss and
Validation Experiments I and II. The aircraft has also carried
scientists and their instruments into the eyes of several
hurricanes with the goal of improving predictions of the storms'
movements and increasing warning time to the affected areas.
Although based in North Dakota, the aircraft will continue to be
owned by NASA, and will be flown by NASA flight crews for the
foreseeable future. Operational management will be transferred from
NASA Dryden to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops
Flight Facility in Virginia.
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