News media representatives are invited to attend a behind-the-scenes tour of the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s hangar in Palmdale, Calif., and the center’s main campus at Edwards Air Force Base on Tuesday, May 20, 2014. A morning briefing will focus on the Alternative Fuel Effects on Contrails and Cruise Emissions (ACCESS-II) flight experiment in Palmdale, followed by a tour of the NASA Armstrong main campus at Edwards in the afternoon.
Participants should plan to meet at the center’s Palmdale Visitor Control Center at 7:15 a.m. PDT. The event will give journalists and social media users an opportunity to learn more about scientific research being conducted on the effects of alternate fuels, including synthetic and biofuel formulations, on engine performance, emissions and aircraft-generated contrails at altitudes typically flown by commercial airliners. In addition to a full briefing of the experiment, participants will also have a chance to ask questions of aircraft crew, pilots and scientists involved in the research process. The ACCESS-II experiment will include aircraft and scientific contributions from multiple NASA centers including Glenn and Langley research centers, as well as international partner agencies the German Aerospace Center and the National Research Council of Canada.
At 11:30 a.m., participants will depart Palmdale for NASA Armstrong’s Edwards campus. Activities will resume at 1 p.m. with a tour that will include:
– Hangars housing various science, test, and unmanned aircraft
– A look at current aeronautics technology research and testing
– A tour of the model shop where scale concepts are developed
– A tour of the Experimental Fabrication Machine Shop
– Q&A with NASA research pilots – An interactive flight suit demonstration
Media representatives interested in participating in the ACCESS II project update and AFRC tour should confirm their plans to attend by contacting Peter Merlin at the NASA Armstrong Public Affairs office no later than 3 p.m. Thursday, April 24, at 661-276-2679, or email peter.w.merlin@nasa.gov. For more information about the ACCESS II project, visit:
