Aircraft is useful tool to respond to natural disasters

By Kirsten Williams
Public Affairs Specialist

A NASA ER-2 based at Dryden recently collected numerous photographic and digital images during a demonstration of its emergency response capability to natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and fires.

As part of the Federal Response Plan, NASA can provide aerial reconnaissance support to federal and local agencies in the event of a national emergency. Firefighters, disaster relief personnel and insurance agencies could use the information the ER-2 gathers in several ways, like determining how to fight fires, deciding what areas to evacuate and assessing the extent of the damage.

"From its high altitude, the ER-2 offers wide-range coverage of a large area in a short time," said Gary Shelton, deputy director of Dryden's Airborne Science Branch. "This type of coverage is important for emergencies like floods when several counties can be affected."

In January 1997, the California Office of Emergency Services called on a NASA ER-2 to take images over northern California regions that were ravaged by flooding because of severe rainstorms. In August 1996, NASA and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection used an ER-2 with a Satellite Telemetry and Return Link (STARLink) system to provide real-time images of the Fork fire region near Clear Lake, Calif., where an active wildfire had consumed almost 80,000 acres.

Meyer is new Research Engineering director

By Jay Levine X-Press Editor Robert (Bob) R. Meyer, Jr. is the new Dryden Research Engineering director. Meyer said he is beginning to map out new strategies to meet the engineering challenges that Dryden will face in its future flight research. His directorate is responsible for new flight test techniques and instrumentation and consists of about 120 civil service employees and 40 contractors. Meyer who is a 26-year NASA employee, also manages UCLA's Center for Flight Research and funds grants with universities across the nation to investigate flight research.

Some of the biggest engineering challenges lie in new experimental aircraft. For example, exploration into hypersonic flight will require new engineering methods and equipment for measuring high temperature, determining stresses on the aircraft due to heat, testing thermal protection systems and tracking these high speed aircraft, Meyer said.

Hypersonic research is expected to answer many access-to-space questions, which is one of NASA's goals. Hypersonic aircraft - those that travel above Mach 5, or 3,300 mph - at Dryden are expected to reach speeds exceeding Mach 13, or 9,900 mph. Lockheed Martin leads a team, including NASA, that intends to surpass Mach 13 with its prototype reusable launch vehicle X-33 during tests at Dryden next year.

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