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Edwards To Ferry NASA Scientists Around World In 8 Days To Study Leonids

Air Force News Service

Released: 9 Nov 1999

Edwards to ferry NASA scientists around world in 8 days to study Leonid
By Ray Johnson, Air Force Flight Test Center Public Affairs

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- After a weak celestial show in
1998, NASA's Peter Jenniskens dreamed of chasing Leonid meteor storms once
again in 1999.

"This will be our last shot at it for a century," he said after last year's
effort. "The mission we have in mind would circle the world, and do that in
just a few days."

He's getting his wish with two Edwards airplanes: a modified KC-135 tanker
called the Flying Infrared Signature Technology Aircraft, or FISTA, and an
EC-18 that normally serves as an Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft,
or ARIA.

Both aircraft, which belong to the 452nd Flight Test Squadron, and 25
airmen will ferry 50 scientists on an eight-day, 18,000-mile journey that
will take them from the Mojave Desert to Europe to the Middle East and back.
The researchers' intent: to gather data during a natural fireworks show
called Leonid.

A Leonid meteor shower occurs every November when Earth passes close to
the orbit of comet Tempel-Tuttle. Usually not much happens, according to
NASA officials. Earth plows through a diffuse cloud of old comet dust
that shares Tempel-Tuttle's orbit, and debris burns up harmlessly in the
atmosphere.

Typical Leonid meteor events consist of only 10 to 20 shooting stars per
hour. But every 33 years, that meek shower surges into a full-fledged
storm, when thousands of shooting stars rain down from the sky hourly.

That's what Jenniskens and his crew hope to witness on this trip.

The two-ship formation leaves here Nov. 13 with the first stop being a
"gas and go" at McGuire Air Force Base, N.J., said Capt. Jeff Lampe,
aircraft commander for FISTA. From there it's on to Royal Air Force
Mildenhall, England, where they'll launch late Nov. 16 for a seven-hour
mission to Tel Aviv, Israel, hoping to capture a streaking light display
in clear, dark skies.

The next night they will leave on their main flight, an eight-hour mission
to Lajes Field, the Azores, a small island several hundred miles off the
coast of Portugal. It's there scientists believe they will follow a trail
of thousands to tens of thousands of meteors per hour.

On this route, the two Edwards planes will fly 100 miles parallel to each
other, giving researchers "an almost stereoscopic (three-dimensional)
viewing," said Maj. Tracy Phelps, commander of the EC-18.

Finally, the team will fly another seven-hour mission from Lajes to Patrick
AFB, Fla., Nov 18-19, and then return home Nov. 20.

With powerful telescopes scattered throughout the world, some people might
wonder why take such a time-consuming trip. The answer: Only an airborne
mission can bring scientists to the right place at the right time to view
Leonid, and guarantee clear weather. Moreover, using both the FISTA and
C-18 allows scientists to measure meteor trajectories and orbits in space
along with triangulating data.

Indeed, this mission centers on two Edwards aircraft serving as observation
platforms for cameras and investigative instruments. Therefore, both planes
have undergone modifications for the journey, including installation of
optical windows, special camera gear and antenna mounts.

And besides helping collect data for NASA, the C-18 also will downlink
real-time video for Air Force Space Command.

Capt. Jon Haser participated in last year's Leonid event and will be going
again this year. He said the crews didn't get the expected meteor storm.

"It was sporadic, but they were some persistent trails that lasted five
seconds or so. Hopefully, the sky's alive this time."

Maybe he will get to witness what James Young of the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory's California Table Mountain Observatory did in 1966, when the
last great Leonid storm occurred. He remembers a heaven "absolutely full"
of meteors. Young called it a "sight never imagined ... and never seen
since."

IMAGE CAPTIONS: [http://www.af.mil:80/news/Nov1999/n19991109_992056.html]

[Image 1]
An EC-18 aircraft from the 452nd Flight Test Squadron, Edwards Air Force
Base, Calif., will transport NASA scientists overseas to study the Leonid
meteor storm. The EC-18, which normally serves as an Advanced Range
Instrumentation Aircraft, or ARIA, also will downlink real-time information
to Air Force Space Command during the storm. (Courtesy photo)

[Image 2]

Capt. Jamie McKeon, left, Capt. Jon Hasser, Capt. Jeff Lampe and Maj. Tracy
Phelps plan the 452nd Flight Test Squadron's eight-day mission for the
Leonid meteor shower. The Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., unit is flying
NASA scientists overseas to study the Leonid meteor storm in modified EC-18
and KC-135 aircraft. (Photo by Dennis Taylor)

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