Aug 16 1985
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Continuing a project begun in 1984, some of the world's most prominent lightning experts gathered during the summer at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to study lightning strikes and their effects, the Spaceport News reported. KSC attracted scientists with a variety of research interests because it was one of the nation's areas of highest frequency of strikes and the presence of French experts who had mastered the technique of triggering lightning.
Taking part in the summer's project were representatives of NASA, the U.S. Air Force's Wright Aeronautical Lab, the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Naval Laboratory, France's Center for Nuclear Studies, three U.S. universities, and two industry organizations.
Since late May, the 36 lightning investigators had conducted studies at a specially equipped lightning research facility located on the shore of Mosquito Lagoon about nine miles north of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The facility included a launch site for the three-foot rockets used to trigger lightning and two nearby trailers that housed the research teams and their equipment.
From their control center, the French experts triggered lightning events by launching a small rocket that trailed a thin copper wire to an altitude of about 2000 feet. The wire acted as a trigger, attracting a stroke, which vaporized the wire while traveling down an electrical pathway to the ground. Special instruments and cameras near the launch site recorded the strike in detail.
The triggered lightning events allowed researchers to obtain ground measurements that they could use in atmospheric and lightning research. Researchers might eventually use information from the studies to design advanced lightning protection systems for KSC facilities and for greater protection for aircraft such as the Space Shuttle that contained electronic flight control systems.
Other research at the facilities included using a Convair C-580 to obtain measurements on a lightning strike; a study to determine how lightning strokes gained access to power lines; investigation of the Maxwell Current, which developed in a particular pattern before, during, and after thunderstorms; and attempts to obtain three-dimensional photos of lightning strikes.
In addition to hosting the project, KSC was contributing funding to some of the university research. Project managers hoped to attract more participants in the future with the promise of research leading to tangible benefits in lightning protection and prediction. (Spaceport News, Aug 16/85, 7)
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