The inventory of research aircraft at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center has grown by one with the acquisition of a Predator B unmanned aircraft system adapted for civilian missions. Built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) of San Diego, NASA took possession of the new aircraft last November, and it is due to arrive at the NASA center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., this spring.

The aircraft has been named “Ikhana” (ee-kah-nah), a Native American word from the Choctaw Nation meaning intelligent, conscious or aware.

“The name perfectly matches the goals we have for the aircraft,” said Brent Cobleigh, NASA Dryden’s project manager for Ikhana. “They include collecting data that allow scientists to better understand and model our environmental conditions and climate, increasing the intelligence of unmanned aircraft to perform advanced missions, and demonstrating technologies that enable new manned and unmanned aircraft capabilities.”

The aircraft, designed for long-endurance and high-altitude flight, will be used for multiple roles. NASA’s Suborbital Science Program within the Science Mission Directorate will be Ikhana’s primary customer, using the vehicle for Earth science studies. A variety of atmospheric and remote sensing instruments, including duplicates of those sensors on orbiting satellites, can be installed to collect data for up to 30 hours. The Suborbital Science Program uses manned and unmanned aircraft to collect data within the Earth’s atmosphere, complimenting measurements of the same phenomenon taken from space and those taken on the Earth’s surface.

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