Ikhana: A NASA UAS Supporting Long Duration Earth Science Missions
Cobleigh, Brent R. (2007) Ikhana: A NASA UAS Supporting Long Duration Earth Science Missions. Technical Report NASA/TM-2007-214614, Research and Engineering, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.
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Abstract
The NASA Ikhana unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is a General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (San Diego, California) MQ-9 Predator-B modified to support the conduct of Earth science missions for the NASA Science Mission Directorate and, through partnerships, other government agencies and universities. It can carry over 2000 lb of experiment payloads in the avionics bay and external pods and is capable of mission durations in excess of 24 hours at altitudes above 40,000 ft. The aircraft is remotely piloted from a mobile ground control station (GCS) that is designed to be deployable by air, land, or sea. On-board support capabilities include an instrumentation system and an Airborne Research Test System (ARTS). The Ikhana project will complete GCS development, science support systems investigation, external pod integration and flight clearance, and operations crew training in early 2007. A large-area remote sensing mission is currently scheduled for Summer 2007.
| EPrint Type: | NASA Technical Memorandum |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Earth Science platform, High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE), Ikhana, Predator-B, UAS, UAV |
| Subjects: | Aircraft/Project: UAV (43 - 48) Geoscience: (43) Earth Resources and Remote Sensing |
| ID Code: | 1552 |
| Deposited On: | 28 March 2007 |
| Additional Information: | 14 pages. Cobleigh, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. |
