Marshall Support for NAMMA-2006

Scientists from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL are providing key support for the NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses mission, scheduled to run from August 15 to September 15, 2006. MSFC researchers are serving several roles as a NAMMA mission scientist, instrument scientist, and data and information system managers. The role of mission scientist is to provide daily scientific direction and guidance towards meeting the experiments goals and objectives. The MSFC team will coordinate collection and delivery of data acquired by sophisticated remote-sensing instruments aboard the DC-8 research aircraft, ground radar, surface stations and balloon-borne instruments. The science team is also leading the Real-Time Mission Monitoring task, a crucial NAMMA effort that collates observations by Earth-orbiting satellites, ground-based radar, weather balloons, forecast models and instruments on the DC-8 aircraft into a visualization display. The effort is designed to track the DC-8 aircraft’s in-flight position, simultaneously integrating aircraft, satellite and surface observations. The Real-Time Mission Monitor will be invaluable to the NAMMA science team for pre-flight planning, in-flight mission updates and better communication of mission progress among all the participants.

MSFC Public Affairs Contact:
Steve Roy
256-544-0034
steven.e.roy@nasa.gov
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/