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NASA Drone's Sensors Battle California Wildfires

Posted by samzenpus on from the not-just-blowing-smoke dept.

An anonymous reader writes "California is burning, but according to this article advanced sensors on NASA's Ikhana unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can detect exact temperatures (within half a degree) through the smoke, enabling the drone to spot for the firefighters battling the more than 300 wildfires. NASA's Ikhana is the same aircraft as the Predator, except it's being used here to save lives."

5 of 58 comments (clear)

  1. Same as Predator by Mononoke · · Score: 5, Insightful

    NASA's Ikhana is the same aircraft as the Predator, except it's being used here to save lives."

    The Predator's primary function is to save lives.

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    1. Re:Same as Predator by pete-classic · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I thought its primary function was to gather intelligence, which hopefully has the effect of saving American, allied, and non-combatant's lives. But it does that by letting us kill enemy combatants better, which seems different on its face from what this article talks about.

      -Peter

    2. Re:Same as Predator by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The Predator's primary function is to save lives.

      That may be the end result in both cases, but the primary function of Predator is intelligence gathering, and it can lob missiles too.

      And let's not kid ourselves. I think it was Norman Shwartzkopf that said the purpose of the military is to break things and kill people. Even if that is breaking things that would be used against others, and killing those that intend to do harm, it is still breaking & killing, and in the process, there is usually some "collateral damage" to those that had nothing to do with the conflict except to be on the receiving end of shrapnel.

  2. Re:not to be hatin but... by theheadlessrabbit · · Score: 5, Informative

    the problem is forests are supposed to burn down from time to time.

    50 years of 'only you can prevent forest fires', strict anti-fire laws, and fast acting fire departments have caused forest debris to build up, resulting in these super infernos.

    more frequent fires = less dangerous fires, more nutrients in the soil, young trees releasing more oxygen into the air, etc.

    an automatic system would seem to work for a little while, but it would only delay the problem. eventually an ueber-inferno will come through and the system will be useless.

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  3. Re:NASA, NASA, NASA by GradiusCVK · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Slashdot... News for nerds, stuff that matters.
    I'd say that news about almost anything NASA does fits the bill pretty nicely. Better than slashvertisements and the other junk that occasionally pops up on here, at least.