(Fox 5/Kusi) – Look to the sky for next week – but don’t worry. Southern Californians may notice aircraft flying to unusually low flying aircraft between June 29th and July 2nd as part of a massive NASA atmospheric research, the agency announced Friday.
NASA Student Airborne Research Program (SARP), an eight-week summer internship for NASA Student STEM students, will run low-altitude flights in several regions of California. This includes areas such as the Los Angeles Basin, the Salton Sea and parts of the Central Valley. Aircraft use specialized equipment onboard to collect important air quality data.
Two aircraft will be used in the mission. NASA’s P-3 Orion, a four-engine turboprop that jumps out of the Wallops flight facility in Virginia, and a King Air B200 operated by Dynamic Air and contracted by NASA. Both fly cooperative yet independent missions at altitudes ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 feet.
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Residents may see planes running vertical spirals, turning power plants and landfills, creating low paths along the runway to collect air samples near the surface. As NASA officials have explained, flights may also include “overlooked approaches” at local airports. Air operations that sail as if an aircraft were to land will climb without landing.
“SARP Flights have become a mainstay of NASA’s aerial science program, as they expose highly competitive STEM students to real-world data collection within a dynamic flight environment.”
The mission is already underway on the East Coast, with flights being held from June 22 to June 26th through Virginia’s Philadelphia, Baltimore and cities, including Richmond and Hampton.
“Even though SARP is a learning experience for both students and mentors, our P-3s fly and operate in some of the most complex and restricted airspace in the country,” Bernth said. “Close coordination and crew resource management are required to ensure that these flights are not only carried out accurately but safely.”
This year’s flight is part of a broader effort to attract future scientists and engineers in the field of geoscience, whilst collecting important data for environmental research simultaneously.
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