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| - According to NASA, "ERAST is a multiyear effort to develop the aeronautical and sensor technologies for a new family of remotely piloted aircraft intended for upper atmospheric science missions. Designed to cruise at slow speeds for long durations at altitudes of 60,000 to 100,000 ft, such aircraft could be used to collect, identify, and monitor environmental data to assess global climate change and assist in weather monitoring and forecasting. They also could serve as airborne telecommunications platforms, performing functions similar to communications satellites at a fraction of the cost of lofting a satellite into space."
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| abstract
| - According to NASA, "ERAST is a multiyear effort to develop the aeronautical and sensor technologies for a new family of remotely piloted aircraft intended for upper atmospheric science missions. Designed to cruise at slow speeds for long durations at altitudes of 60,000 to 100,000 ft, such aircraft could be used to collect, identify, and monitor environmental data to assess global climate change and assist in weather monitoring and forecasting. They also could serve as airborne telecommunications platforms, performing functions similar to communications satellites at a fraction of the cost of lofting a satellite into space." "The ERAST program is sponsored by the Office of Aeronautics and Space Transportation Technology at NASA Headquarters, and is managed by NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. The NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, heads the sensor technology development. The NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, and NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, are contributing expertise in the areas of propulsion, structures, and systems analysis. Several small high-technology aeronautical development firms, including ALTUS developer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., are teamed with NASA in the ERAST Alliance to work towards common goals of the program." Industry partners in the ERAST Alliance included Aurora Flight Sciences, AeroVironment, General Atomics, Scaled Composites, Thermo-Mechanical Systems, Hyperspectral Sciences, and Longitude 122 West. The types of science mission which ERAST prepares for can include remote sensing for Earth sciences studies, hyperspectral imaging for agriculture monitoring, tracking of severe storms, and serving as telecommunications relay platforms. A parallel effort headed by Ames developed lightweight, microminiaturized sensors that can be carried by these aircraft for environmental research and Earth monitoring. Additional technologies considered by the ERAST Alliance include lightweight materials, avionics, aerodynamics, and other forms of propulsion suitable for extreme altitudes and duration. Although ERAST Alliance members were responsible for aircraft development and operation, NASA had primary responsibility for overall program leadership, major funding, individual project management, development and coordination of payloads. NASA also worked on long-term issues with the Federal Aviation Administration and developed technology to make operation of these remotely operated aircraft in national airspace practical.
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