A group of university students and mentors flew aboard NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s DC-8 aircraft to study air quality as part of NASA’s Student Airborne Research Program (SARP).
Based at NASA’s Armstrong Building 703 in Palmdale, California, the DC-8 flew over the Central Valley to measure pollution and monitor air quality. Students flying onboard assisted in the operation of instruments that measure air pollution and greenhouse gases to better understand their sources and how they react in the atmosphere.
SARP provides students with hands-on research experience in all aspects of a major scientific campaign, from detailed planning on how to achieve mission objectives to formal presentation of results and conclusions to peers and others.
Students participating in this year’s program were competitively selected based on their academic performance, future career plans and interest in Earth science. SARP is managed by NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley through the National Suborbital Research Center at the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute with funding and support from NASA’s Earth Science Division. NASA’s DC-8 is managed and maintained by NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center.
For more information about NASA SARP, visit:
For more information about NASA’s Airborne Science Program, visit:
