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NASA Meatball Ikhana Photo Collection banner
 
Ikhana

Silhouetted by the morning sun, NASA's Ikhana, a civil version of the Predator B unmanned aircraft, is readied for flight By NASA Dryden crew chief Joe Kinn.

 
Photo Number: ED07-0038-008
Photo Date: March 5, 2007
 
Formats: 640x534 JPEG Image (175 KBytes)
1280x1068 JPEG Image (513 KBytes)
3000x2503 JPEG Image (2456 KBytes)
 
Photo
Description:
Silhouetted by the morning sun, NASA's Ikhana, a civil version of the Predator B unmanned aircraft, is readied for flight By NASA Dryden crew chief Joe Kinn.
 
Project
Description:
A Predator B unmanned aircraft system has joined the inventory of research aircraft at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif. Built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. of San Diego, NASA took possession of the aircraft during the fall of 2006. The aircraft has been given the Choctaw Nation name "Ikhana" (pronounced ee-kah-nah), which means intelligent.

Designed for long-endurance, high-altitude flight, Ikhana will be flown primarily on Earth science missions under the Earth Science Capability Demonstrations project at NASA Dryden. It will also be used for advanced aircraft systems research and technology development.

As part of the Ikhana/Predator B acquisition, NASA also purchased a ground control station and satellite communication system for control of the aircraft and transmittal of research data. The ground control station is in a mobile trailer and, in addition to the pilot's "cockpit," includes computer workstations for scientists and engineers. All of the aircraft systems are mobile, making Ikhana ideal for remote studies.

 
NASA Photo by: Tony Landis
 
Keywords: Ikhana, Predator B unmanned aircraft, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc, long-endurance, high-altitude, Earth Science Capability Demonstrations project, crew chief, Joe Kinn
 


Last Modified: October 25, 2007
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