BIOTHREAT PLANE TESTS JSF FIRST TO UNDERGO STUDIES TO DETERMINE CRAFT SURVIVABILITY.Byline: Daily News EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - Personnel of the joint strike fighter integrated test force are testing possible methods for decontaminating an aircraft exposed to chemical or biological weapons. The joint strike fighter is the first U.S. fighter aircraft to have a requirement for both chemical and biological survivability sur·viv·a·ble adj. 1. Capable of surviving: survivable organisms in a hostile environment. 2. That can be survived: a survivable, but very serious, illness. . Being done on a recently retired Edwards Air Force Base F-16 jet, the test uses a simulated chemical agent and a simulated biological agent. The biological tests use a harmless spore that has the same hardiness characteristics as biological agents such as anthrax. The spore was injected into the jet's running engine to contaminate con·tam·i·nate v. 1. To make impure or unclean by contact or mixture. 2. To expose to or permeate with radioactivity. con·tam·i·nant n. the plane's environmental control systems, said Mark Chace, program manager of the JSF (JavaServerFaces) A standard framework of components for building rich user interfaces for Java applications. JavaServer Faces run on the server, but are displayed on the client. JSF - JavaServer Faces Integrated Test Force. The aircraft was pulled inside a portable, inflatable rubber hangar and exposed to vaporized va·por·ize tr. & intr.v. va·por·ized, va·por·iz·ing, va·por·iz·es To convert or be converted into vapor. va hydrogen peroxide hydrogen peroxide, chemical compound, H2O2, a colorless, syrupy liquid that is a strong oxidizing agent and, in water solution, a weak acid. It is miscible with cold water and is soluble in alcohol and ether. for two or three days. The vaporized hydrogen peroxide breaks down into water and oxygen. The team has completed one of three biological trials, and is in the third of four chemical trials. The final biological trial will be this week, and the remaining chemical trial will follow, Chace said. For the chemical tests, the aircraft is sprayed with a vaporized simulated chemical agent, then put inside a hangar for decontamination decontamination /de·con·tam·i·na·tion/ (de?kon-tam-i-na´shun) the freeing of a person or object of some contaminating substance, e.g., war gas, radioactive material, etc. de·con·tam·i·na·tion n. using heat at about 180 degrees Fahrenheit or six days, a process called ``accelerated weathering.'' The heat brings the chemical agent down to acceptable levels so the maintenance and air crew don't have to wear chemical warfare protective gear, Chace said. The aircraft is closely monitored by air samples, video surveillance and temperature sensors during the entire process. The testing began in October and is scheduled to be complete by Dec. 20. Future tests are expected on the F-35 environmental support system, support equipment, pilot flight equipment, and a complete F-35. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) Tina Slade, left, and Jennifer Tanyatanaboon prepare an F-16 for a simulated biological contamination test at Edwards. (2) Master Sgt. John Gutierrez prepares to start the engine of an F-16 engine for a trial. |
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