Tri-agency Mission Science Summary – September 1, 2010

NASA/GRIP

The DC-8 took off today at 16 UTC to fly a ~8 hr mission into Hurricane Earl.  The Global Hawk was scheduled for a 21 UTC take-off from Dryden for a ~7 hr transit (and ~24 hr duration mission) to Hurricane Earl.  The WB-57 was scheduled to take-off at 20 UTC to fly a ~6 hr mission in Hurricane Earl.

Tomorrow (Thurs 02 Sep) the DC-8 is planning a follow-on mission into Earl.  Take-Off will be from FLL at 12 UTC for another 8 hr mission.  The Global Hawk is scheduled for an 04 UTC take-off from Dryden for a ~7 hr transit (and ~24 hr duration mission) to Hurricane Earl.  The GH is expected to be on station around Earl on Thurs (02 Sep) at ~12 UTC and will depart the Earl at ~21 UTC.  An 04 UTC landing (Fri 03 Sep) back at Dryden is planned.  The WB-57 will conduct a ~6 hr follow-on flight into Hurricane Earl with a departure time of 20 UTC

Friday-Sat: The DC-8 will have a no-fly day on Friday (03 Sept) and a possible hard down day on Saturday (04 Sept).  A possible low altitude dropsonde test flight is planned for the GH on Saturday (04 Sep).

NSF/PREDICT

PREDICT flew a combined ferry and mission in Tropical Storm Fiona this afternoon.  The G-V take-off time from Barbados was TBD, but was expected to be only 4 hr with a recovery back in St. Croix.

Tomorrow (Thurs 02 Sept) the G-V is planning to fly a mission in PGI38 (now TS Gaston).  A 9hr mission is planned, with a 12:30 UTC take-off.

Friday (03 Sept) the G-V is planning to continue missions in PGI38 (Gaston).  A hard down day is planned for both the “day” and “night” crews on Saturday (04 Sep).

AIR FORCE

The AF is currently tasked for fixes on:
Hurricane Earl:
01 Sep: 18 UTC
02 Sept: 06/12/15/18/21 UTC
03 Sept: 00/06/12/18 UTC
TS Fiona:
01 Sep: 18 UTC
02 Sep: 00 UTC
03 Sep : 18 UTC

Refer to http://grip.nsstc.nasa.gov/reporting/ for a spreadsheet showing these plans.