Low-flying airplanes over Hopewell and two other Virginia cities conducting research
Don't be alarmed if you see two propellor planes flying unusual over the skies of Hopewell over the next few days. They are supposed to be doing that.
It's part of research training conducted by NASA from June 22-26, the agency announced June 20. The two aircraft will take off from NASA's facility at Wallops Island on Virginia's Eastern Shore and conduct various maneuvers such as vertical spirals and flybys at altitudes between 1,000-10,000 feet, lower than most commercial airlines fly.
The planes will fly over such areas as power plants, landfills and urban centers. They will simulate missed approaches at airports and do flybys near runways to collect data on air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.
In Virginia, the planes — a P-3 Orion and a King Air B200 — will fly over Hopewell, Richmond and Hampton. Similar flights will take place in Baltimore and Philadelphia.
The following week, June 29-July 2, NASA will do the same flights over selected spots on the West Coast.
The flights are part of NASA's Student Airborne Research Program, an eight-week summer internship program where undergraduate students get hands-on experience in every aspect of a scientific campaign. According to the NASA announcement, students 'will assist in the operation of the science instruments on the aircraft to collect atmospheric data.'
'The SARP flights have become mainstays of NASA's Airborne Science Program, as they expose highly competitive STEM students to real-world data gathering within a dynamic flight environment,' Brian Bernth, chief of flight operations at NASA Wallops, said in a statement accompanying the announcement. 'Despite SARP being a learning experience for both the students and mentors alike, our P-3 is being flown and performing maneuvers in some of most complex and restricted airspace in the country. Tight coordination and crew resource management are needed to ensure that these flights are executed with precision but also safely.'
For more information about the SARP, visit the NASA website.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Planes will fly low over Hopewell as part of a student research program
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