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DelFrate, John

Publications and source records attributed to DelFrate, John.

5 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2008

Suborbital Science Program: Dryden Flight Research Center

This viewgraph presentation reviews the suborbital science program at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. The Program Objectives are given in various areas: (1) Satellite Calibration and Validation (Cal/val)--Provide methods to perform the cal/val requirements for Earth Observing System satellites; (2) New Sensor Development -- Provide methods to reduce risk for new sensor concepts and algorithm development prior to committing sensors to operations; (3) Process Studies -- Facilitate the acquisition of high spatial/temporal resolution focused measurements that are required to understand small atmospheric and surface structures which generate powerful Earth system effects; and (4) Airborne Networking -- Develop disruption-tolerant networking to enable integrated multiple scale measurements of critical environmental features. Dryden supports the NASA Airborne Science Program and the nation in several elements: ER-2, G-3, DC-8, Ikhana (Predator B) & Global Hawk and Reveal. These are reviewed in detail in the presentation.

DelFrate, John↗
NASA NTRS2008

NASA Global Hawk Project Overview

This viewgraph presentation reviews the Global Hawk project planning. Global Hawk is the only available system capable of simultaneously meeting the requirements for high altitude (65K ft), long endurance (>31 hours), power (10 KVA), and a large payload capacity (2000 lbs). There are important science data gathering and satellite validation requirements that can only be met with the combination of capabilities provided by the Global Hawk system. Global Hawk will give a unique range, shown in maps, at a high altitude. An overview of the design of the aircraft, and the ground station is given. The flights are scheduled to begin in 2009, and will carry instruments that will be used to validate the Aura satellite data and also be used in hurricane and severe storm research.

DelFrate, John↗
NASA NTRS2005

Old Journey, New Heights

If you could see the road ahead, you might pass up a fantastic opportunity because you're blinded by the potential pitfalls. In my case, I was testing the project management waters at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center after ten years of being a research engineer. I was an eager (but ignorant) rookie project manager (PM) and I was willing to engage in just about any project without knowing what it would entail. The assignment I accepted was to help NASA's Environment Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) Project, a partnership with a fledgling Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV) industry, to tackle stratospheric flight. I remember one of our industrial partners querying me about whether or not I understood what 1 was getting into. Like one of those bobble-head toys that have become quite popular, I nodded. But in reality, I didn't have a clue. His response was, "Hang on, it's going to be a wild ride." He was right. In retrospect, if I had clearly understood the ten years of pitfalls that were coming, I might not have "hung on." Now I can look back and say that I would not trade the experience for anything. The lows included the destruction of a number of UAVs on my watch. Later someone told me that we should not be surprised if we lost one UAV for every ten flights. We wrote many chapters in the book on what can go wrong with UAVs-and we are still writing. As you can imagine, each mishap was accompanied by an investigation. What an education!

DelFrate, John↗
NASA NTRS2002

Meteorological Support of the Helios World Record High Altitude Flight to 96,863 Feet

In characterizing and understanding atmospheric behavior when conducting high altitude solar powered flight research flight planning engineers and meteorologists are able to maximize the use of available airspace and coordinate aircraft maneuvers with pilots to make the best use of changing sun elevation angles. The result of this cooperative research produced a new world record for absolute altitude of a non-rocket powered aircraft of 96,863 ft (29,531.4 m). The Helios prototype solar powered aircraft, with a wingspan of 247 ft (75.0m), reached this altitude on August 13, 2001, off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii. The analyses of the weather characterization, the planning efforts, and the weather-of-the-day summary that led to at record flight are described in this paper.

Teets, Edward H., Jr.↗