Nov 2 2007
From The Space Library
NASA and NOAA launched an Aerosonde Mk3, an unmanned aerial system (UAS), into Category 1 Hurricane Noel for the Aerosonde Hurricane Boundary Layer Mission, marking the first time they had successfully flown such an aircraft into the inner core of a hurricane. Launching from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility (WFF), the UAS flew into the eye wall of the hurricane at altitudes as low as 300 feet (91 meters). Winds reached 80 miles per hour (129 kilometers per hour) in the core of the storm. Flying for 7.5 hours inside the storm, the craft allowed scientists to make detailed real-time observations of areas known to be too dangerous for human-piloted aircraft. Combining mission data with data from recent NASA and NOAA field missions that had used conventional aircraft and satellites, scientists planned to develop a valuable new set of observations for air-sea interaction and tropical cyclone research.
Daily Times, “Wallops: Launch into Hurricane Friday Is Historic,” 6 November 2007.
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