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NASA Ikhana Assists SoCal Firefighters
ackthpt writes "Ikhana (a NASA drone) is primarily designed for suborbital earth sciences missions, but may be fitted out with a variety of sensors. Wednesday, Ikhana took off from Edwards Air Force Base for a 10 hour mission to observe forest fires in California, scanning the terrain from 23-25,000 feet using a variety of sensors for visible and IR light. Able to remain aloft for up to 30 continuous hours Ikhana serves up information in minutes, a process that takes hours when done by manned aircraft observation. 'The data is processed on the aircraft, up-linked to a satellite and then downloaded to a ground station. From there it's delivered to a computer server at NASA Ames. The imagery is then combined with Google Earth maps. Command center personnel can view the images on their computer screens and then delegate local firefighters accordingly.'"
Cut out the middle man (NASA) and you've got basically what they can do in Battlefield 2 from the Commander's view. Another five years and it'll stream straight to the google maps server for this specific function. We've already given google a nasa air strip, it's not long before we'll be giving them our tax dollars to leverage google maps/earth for more purposes beyond recovering crashed aircraft and scouting wildfires.
moox. for a new generation.
Can it Google map the hotspots where the really hot sorority girls congregate?
Every mans' island needs an ocean; choose your ocean carefully.
Wednesday, Ikhana (a NASA drone) took off from Edwards Air Force Base for a 10 hour mission to observe forest fires in California
So, when do we get a NASA drone that will terminate forest fires in California?
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
"Manned airplanes have to land and download the data. You may not get the data for three or four or five hours" Or you could just use a standard Sierra Wireless AirCard. Thats what the company I work for does on our airplanes up here in Canada.
It's a little late to get maximum benefit from something like this. If the craft could have been put up Sunday, or even Monday, it would have been much more useful. I hope the delay is due to this being its first use, and that in future events it can be launched quickly.
a,e,i,o,u and sometimes w and y (at be if of up cwm by)
Maybe not, but it certainly isn't cheap to.
Demented But Determined.
Because it IS a Predator-B. From the first link: "A Predator B unmanned aerial system has been acquired by NASA's Dryden Flight Re-search Center to support Earth science missions and advanced aeronautical technology development. The aircraft, named Ikhana..." I know, reading the articles, I must be new here.
And how many people take everyday orbital flights? NASA does.
Can we please de-fund NASA and start spending that money on something with real immediate benefits to the folks here on Earth?
Oh, wait...
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
The article is clearly someone trying to justify their living off the public dole.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
I'd argue that in the context of "NASA vehicles" to do "earth science missions", suborbital is indeed a relevant categorization.
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/NASA870
I got a TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) for Beal AFB, along with a message that they are using their bird to help with the fires. Global Hawks are the only aircraft at Beal that need a TFR to launch.
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
yet again a military system gets turned into something that can be used in times of peace.
i wonder, can this thing deal with bad weather? as in ocean storms and massive icing?
if so it could potentially be used for search and rescue out at sea, and i would guess that 5-6 of these are cheaper then 5-6 rescue helicopters.
comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
The average individual likely cannot explain what the two 'A' characters in NASA stand for unless it's "another" and "astronauts". To them, NASA is the Moon Landing and the Shuttles and the Space Station. It therefore does not seem entirely unreasonable for a project involving "NASA's Suborbital Science Program within the Science Mission Directorate..." to be called, well, sub-orbital.
-theGreater.
Predator at Edwards It's sitting next to a B-1. If you scroll around you can find three V-22s, 2 747 Shuttle Carriers, 2 more B-1s, an SR-71, 3 B-52s, a Flying Boxcar, several warbirds, lots of jets and helicopters and three mechas, mostly disassembled and buried in the sand.
I've started at image for two days, but where's Waldo (pepper)?
"In the same way a drone is made for "suborbital missions", many people everyday take planes to go places "suborbitably". Stupid buzzwords."
NASA is known for sending shit into space. Of course they're going to be that specific about this drone.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
I assume a Black Hawk is very much at the expensive end of SAR choppers. They cost $6M each, in the standard US Army configuration (which is assault rather than SAR). A MQ-9 Reaper such as the Ikhana costs $8M, and can't actually pick people up.
# cat
Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
quote "... for a 10 hour mission to observe forest fires in California, scanning the terrain from 23-25,000 feet using a variety of sensors for visible and IR light. Able to remain aloft for up to 30 continuous hours
So what did it do for the remaining 20 hours? A beer run?
Displaced SoCal citizens could have used that data, we could still use it today (Saturday).
The good news is that the data wasn't entirely restricted to emergency personnel- you and I can see some of the GISified fire data here (pdf):
http://www.sdcountyemergency.com/newsreleases/10262007_1900hrs_Evac_FirePerem.pdf
and here (Google Earth application required):
http://mw1.google.com/mw-earth-vectordb/socalfires/eoc1/root.kml
...omphaloskepsis often...
"Suborbital" to me defines a particular mode of flight - powered launch, ballistic trajectory of some sort, landing.
Toodling about a few miles up for a half-day doesn't really seem to fit it.
You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
There is a lot of hype here.
try going outside for a change.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
Predators are known for not doing so well during bad weather. A large number of them have crashed actually. That is a big reason why using unmanned airplanes in US airspace has been getting a lot of bad press lately. One crashed in southern Arizona last year during a border search. I think it was just a few miles from some homes.
No need, http://www.ga-asi.com/products/mariner.php
The same company has something specifically for maritime surveillance.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
interesting. but it seems to be aimed at replacing the P-3 orion or JSTARS, not SAR helicopters.
can it find a single person in heavy seas?
comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
By speaking out with a de-facto RTFA comment, you have now acquired the level "Old_Noiseus" :)
The Koori's (australian native aboriginal's), who used the characteristic's of the trees to hunt, used to burn these trees off on purpose. In Australia the Bushfire brigade also burn the bush off to reduce the intensity of the fires when they come. Californian's should do the same thing while you have ecalyptus trees, it's the only way to manage these trees. I've been evacuated from my house for exactly the same type of fire, even if the fire doesn't turn into a storm it is a truely awe inspiring and frightening experience.
Burn them just before winter, that's when the Koori's do it, and they know eucalypt best.
My ism, it's full of beliefs.