DRYDEN FOCUSES ON RESEARCH.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - NASA Dryden Flight Research Center will see more work with unmanned aircraft and help develop technologies to improve the nation's access to space, according to the center's director.

Kevin Peterson said he sees aeronautics research as a growth area within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and that Dryden will continue in its role as the flight test center for that research.

``The things coming up are more work in high-speed (research), the X-43, X-37, and perhaps more involvement with access-to-space,'' Peterson said. ``We see our involvement with UAV (unmanned air vehicles) programs growing.''

One of the anticipated focus areas for research is unmanned air vehicles, or UAVs. Such aircraft are relatively new in terms of their development and their flights are limited to restricted test ranges for safety reasons.

``One of the problems we are trying to address is how do we get routine access with unpiloted vehicles into the national airspace with piloted airplanes,'' Peterson said. ``It'll open up the markets for these airplanes to be used for many other things, other than science applications.''

Some possible uses for such aircraft include tracking forest fires and helping homeland security with the surveillance of borders and ports.

NASA is in the planning stages of an effort to introduce unmanned aircraft into the national airspace in five years. The effort is expected to receive about $8 million in funding and will involve a multitude of partners, including the Defense Department, the Federal Aviation Administration, and several aerospace companies.

The center will continue to develop technologies to improve the capabilities of unmanned aircraft. Among those projects is to use the flying wing aircraft Helios to test a fuel cell system that would break down water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen gases to power nighttime flight.

Helios would use solar power during the day and the fuel cell at night. If the fuel cell is successful, the aircraft could stay aloft for weeks, perhaps even months at a time.

The center is planning to fly the fuel cell system in 2006.

Another major area for the future will be in the development of improved systems and software aimed at making aircraft ``smarter.''

One such project under way is the Intelligent Flight Control System, an effort to develop self-learning software that would optimize controls to get the most performance out of an aircraft and could also adjust controls to land an airplane safely.

Access to space

Dryden will be involved in two high-profile access-to-space projects in the coming years - the X-43 and the X-37.

Resuming hypersonic flight research that had ended with the X-15 program in the 1960s, Dryden will be flight-testing two X-43A aircraft, with the first mission tentatively scheduled for this fall. The flights will be handled by Dryden but will be flown off the central California coast.

The ultimate goal of the program is to create a scramjet-powered aircraft, one that would use air from the atmosphere, rather than carry oxygen as a rocket does. By not having to carry oxygen, a spacecraft could save fuel weight and carry more equipment.

The first X-43 is expected to hit speeds of more than Mach 5, about 3,500 mph. The second is expected to fly at speeds up to Mach 10, about 7,600 mph.

The X-37 program will test technologies needed for the nation's next manned spacecraft, the Orbital Space Plane. The X-37s will be used to test technologies for guidance and navigation systems and heat protection, among other features.

The X-37s will be 27.5 feet long with a wingspan of 15 feet. They will be unpiloted and will operate autonomously using onboard computers.

One X-37 will be used for high-altitude flight tests, starting in 2004. NASA plans to conduct five drop tests with the high-altitude X-37. The engineless craft will be carried aloft by a modified B-52 and dropped at altitudes of up to 40,000 feet.

Another X-37 craft is scheduled to be launched into space atop a booster rocket in 2006. Plans call for that vehicle to land at Edwards.

Community outreach

Dryden also will be part of a greater NASA effort to spur interest in math and science and to assist teachers with materials and resources for use in crafting its lesson plans.

``The agency is starting to focus on education outreach in a much more structured way,'' said Peterson, the center's director. ``We want not only to communicate what NASA's mission is, but foster excitement in science and engineering areas to get students to sign up for careers in science and engineering.''

That effort includes bringing in teachers for workshops at Dryden and to send NASA personnel into the schools. Recent activities included bringing a group of Los Angeles, inner-city teachers to Dryden and a March workshop in which teachers learned how to request loans of moon rock and meteorite samples and how to properly handle those materials.

The public outreach has been hampered somewhat by security concerns in the wake of the 9-11 terrorist attacks. In the past, individuals and families had been able to call to arrange to join one of the public tours of Dryden.

After dropping the tours altogether, the center resumed tours but focused on groups of 15 to 65 people, primarily school groups and ROTC programs.

It is easier to deal with groups arriving by buses. The days of people dropping in by car are over, Peterson said.

``We have limited tour capability right now,'' Peterson said. ``Our intent is to try to rebuild that. The Air Force has the same concerns - can we rebuild that within the constraints of security environment.''

In terms of funding and employment, Dryden will likely remain stable for the foreseeable future.

Peterson oversees a NASA center with a $218.2 million annual budget and a work force of approximately 1,200 people, making it one of the Antelope Valley's largest employers.

``There are no major threats out there on the horizon to our current stability,'' Peterson said. ``I'm pretty optimistic about where the center is at.''

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com

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