Science Flights & DFRC

Bumpy ride was right! We were flying at 1000 ft for a few hours each morning flight Tuesday and Thursday, and the plane was definitely feeling the mixing layer turbulence.

Ready for takeoff! Dr. Don Blake waves from the back of the plane (bottom right)

In the morning, we first flew at an altitude of 13,000 feet, taking some baseline samples above the boundary layer and practicing filling canisters with the Whole Air Sampler (WAS). That was the smooth part; as soon as we hit the boundary layer at around 6,000 feet, it rocky until almost the end of the flight.

Filling canisters at 13,000 ft

We landed midday to refuel and eat lunch (in the plane), and then started up again to take afternoon measurements. While the air group was filling canisters, the MASTER instrument was chugging away, taking measurements for the land group, who are looking at evapotranspiration of crops, and the ocean group, who are looking at photosynthesis coastal kelp.

Flying over crops to ground-truth for the Land Group

The most exciting part of the flight was the missed approach into LAX. Basically, the plane received clearance, to mock land on a LAX runway, descending down until we were about 100 feet above the ground before pulling up again and ascending over the ocean to do our ocean transects at higher altitudes. During the first flight, I was a little woozy from the anti-motion sickness medication, but on the second flight, the Air Group worked as a well-oiled machine, with everyone taking part to make it a success.

Our own on-flight "Mission Operations Center"

Wednesday was our off day: we toured the Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base.

Besides all of the cool replica planes, we saw where the outside NASA shots of I Dream of Jeannie were filmed -- how many people can say they saw that? 

Touring the hangars, we were able to see the different airplane designs; a lot of them seemed as if some loopy aero-physicist was just experimenting rather than highly trained engineers with specific objectives in mind. 

My favorite part of the tour was exploring one of the two NASA shuttle aircraft carriers--modified 747s whose express purpose is transporting space shuttles to Kennedy Space Center for launch. 

Inside the shuttle aircraft carrier

We also saw one of the NASA Global Hawks, which are unmanned aircraft used for science flights, especially those requiring high altitudes and long durations. 

After our field trip, we headed back to Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility to take yet another tour -- of SOFIA this time.

An overview of how the telescope works

Explaining the mechanics of the telescope

Close-up of the telescope

By the time we got home, we were exhausted--every day for the last three days. Tomorrow we head back to Irvine, and I will be grateful for the long weekend to rest.