NASA now has two of Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk high-altitude, long-distance robotic aircraft at its disposal to use as environmental science research platforms. The aircraft are part of a Space Act Agreement that it signed with Northrop Grumman in May of 2008. The first fully outfitted aircraft made its debut yesterday at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif.

NASA will operate the aircraft with the cooperation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is helping to develop the the scientific instruments that will be flown aboard this platform. The Global Hawk adds a great deal of flexibility to earth observation with the capability to fly at altitudes of 65,000 feet for more than 31 hours at a time.

The first assignment of the craft is the Global Hawk Pacific 2009 program in the spring and summer of this year. The program consists of six long-duration missions in the Pacific and Arctic regions with 12 scientific instruments to collect atmospheric data in the troposphere and lower stratosphere.

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