Media Invited to NASA Airborne Hurricane Mission Media Day

Steve Cole

Headquarters, Washington     

202-358-0918

stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov

 

Rob Gutro

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

301-286-4044

robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov

WASHINGTON -- NASA is preparing to send unmanned scientific aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean to study tropical cyclones and the processes that underlie hurricane formation and intensification. Reporters are invited to view NASA's Global Hawks and tour the mission control center at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va., beginning at 9:30 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, Sept. 19.

The Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) is a five-year mission that will use two NASA Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with instruments to survey the overall environment of the storms and peer into the inner core of hurricanes to study their structure and processes. HS3 flights are scheduled to begin in early September and continue into October.

Reporters will meet HS3 scientists and pilots and learn about NASA's efforts to better understand these powerful storms. Reporters also will meet with scientists working on another NASA Earth science flight mission using a laser to map forests and see Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Antares rocket under development at Wallops.

To participate in the media day activities, reporters should contact Keith Koehler at keith.a.koehler@nasa.gov. Registration deadline for reporters who are non-U.S. citizens is Aug. 24 at 4 p.m. EDT; U.S. citizens must register before Sept. 14.

For more information on the HS3 mission, visit http://www.nasa.gov/hs3.

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