December 24, 2003

Krista Laursen
Director, HIAPER Project Office

Unfortunately, another embarrassingly long period of time has elapsed since I sent out the last HIAPER status report. As 2003 comes to a close, I thought I'd touch bases with you all to briefly summarize the status of the HIAPER project as we head into the new year.

GV Modification Effort

Work by Lockheed Martin personnel to modify the GV airframe has now begun in earnest. Following the successful jacking and shoring of the aircraft in early August, Lockheed staff turned their attention to the removal of systems from the belly of the aircraft and the installation of temporary plywood floorboards. These tasks complete, personnel then began preparing the top of the GV fuselage for the installation of reinforcing sections (specifically, a doubler and tripler to be installed underneath some of the modifications). This latter effort has involved the removal of hundreds of rivets from the upper fuselage and the installation of reinforcing sections along numerous "ribs" of the aircraft. As of this writing, it is intended that the first cuts into the upper fuselage for the installation of the upper view port and several hard points and aperture plates will take place during the week of 26 January. Beginning in November, HPO and NCAR/ATD staff began conducting monthly site visits to Lockheed's modification facility in Greenville, SC to watch and document the work being done on the aircraft. Pictures of the GV as it undergoes its transformation into a research platform are being posted to the HIAPER web site in the "Photo Gallery" section as they become available, and I invite each of you to visit this section of the website (www.hiaper.ucar.edu/photo_gallery.html) in the coming months to watch as the work proceeds.

In early February, a small group of NCAR and UCAR staff members will travel to Greenville for the Phase B modifications critical design review (CDR). The Phase B modifications consist of the installation of a liquid cooling system (LCS) and a chemical exhaust system on the GV and the completion of the aircraft interior and exterior. During the February meetings, NCAR, UCAR, Gulfstream, Lockheed, and Garrett Aviation personnel will review the final design plans for all of the remaining systems and design components.

I am happy to be able to report that as of the end of 2003, Gulfstream, Lockheed, and Garrett are still on track to complete the modification effort and to deliver the GV to UCAR/NCAR in early October 2004.

Release of NSF HIAPER Aircraft Instrumentation Solicitation

As most of you know already, the NSF HIAPER Aircraft Instrumentation Solicitation (HAIS) was officially released on 20 November 2003. The deadline for submission of proposals to NSF (via the FastLane system) is 18 February 2004. Since the release of this announcement, HPO and ATD staff have been working with numerous NCAR staff members and representatives of the external community to answer questions about the Solicitation and the general capabilities and systems of the GV. In general, interest in the Solicitation has so far been high. NSF presently anticipates making and announcing final award decisions within a normal six-month period, or by approximately mid- to late August 2004.

For those of you who are interested and have not yet had a chance to access the NSF Solicitation, you can find a link to it at the NSF Geosciences web site:

www.nsf.gov/home/geo/

The HAIS is listed under "New Funding Opportunities in Geosciences."

Infrastructure Development Efforts

In the past few months, the pace of work to develop the various infrastructure systems for the GV has increased. A very successful CDR for the new data acquisition system was held on 20 November, and you can view the presentation given during the CDR by going to the following link:

www.hiaper.ucar.edu/specs/aircraft_infrastructure_systems.html
#data_acquisition

The data display and access development team has developed a number of prototype display programs, and these and other components of the new software packages will be presented and discussed during the data display and access CDR on 6 January 2004.

Construction of the power access (drop) boxes for the GV cabin equipment racks has now been started, and a preliminary request for proposals (RFP) for the GV intercommunication system (ICS) was released in late August. Responses to this preliminary RFP were reviewed this fall and technical discussions were held with the bidders in early December. It is presently planned that the final RFP for the ICS will be released in late January/early February, following the conduct of an ICS design review in early January.

Other infrastructure developments include plans to release the RFP for the GV satellite communications system (SATCOM) early in the new year. Additionally, design of the GV cabin equipment rack is almost complete, and plans call for the construction of the first prototype rack (to be used for FAA certification testing) to take place in early to mid 2004.

Personnel in ATD/Design and Fabrication Services (DFS) are working on a design for optical window mount structures for the GV view ports. HPO and ATD personnel have now also started reviewing a wing pod aerodynamics study performed by Gulfstream personnel in an effort to try and determine an initial candidate pod for the GV. It is hoped that some of the preliminary results and findings of the Gulfstream wing store study can be released to the broader community by mid-January after thorough review and discussion by HPO and ATD personnel.

So, as you can see, NCAR personnel are extremely busy as they forge ahead with developing and/or acquiring the various new systems that will be needed to complete the GV's configuration as an environmental research platform.

Development of the HIAPER Educational Program

As I mentioned in an earlier status report, funding was obtained from the NCAR Directorate earlier this fall to begin the filming of a documentary on the making of HIAPER. Geoff Haines-Stiles of Passport to Knowledge is overseeing this film production effort, and he and his crews have already begun filming footage of HIAPER meetings here at NCAR and of the modification effort at Lockheed Martin.

To further enhance this educational aspect of the HIAPER program, Roberta Johnson and Susan Foster of UCAR Education and Outreach (E&O) joined the HIAPER team this fall and dedicated a significant amount of time and energy (along with Geoff Haines-Stiles) to the preparation and submission of a proposal to the NSF Informal Science Education (ISE) program for a larger HIAPER educational program. This program will consist not only of the making of a series of PBS-style documentaries on the making of HIAPER and the science to be done with the platform but on the creation of additional Web-based and curricular materials for use in educating students and the general public on the engineering and science behind a project like HIAPER. We are all very excited about the proposal prepared and submitted by Roberta, Susan, and Geoff, and our fingers are crossed that favorable news will be received sometime in the new year following review at NSF.

GV Progressive Science Missions

On 1 December, the HPO and ATD issued an announcement for interested members of the community to submit letters of intent (LOI) to participate in the progressive science missions to be performed with the GV from late summer 2005 through mid-December 2005. In general terms, these initial science missions will serve as the "inaugural run" for the GV and will provide ATD staff charged with supporting the aircraft with an opportunity to become very familiar with the systems and capabilities of the aircraft and members of the community with the opportunity to perform initial science with this new platform.

Participation in the progressive science is open to all, both UCAR/NCAR staff and external members of the scientific community. To view the official announcement of opportunity for the progressive science missions, please go to the following link at the ATD web site:

www.atd.ucar.edu/hiaper_announc.htm

It should be noted that all LOIs for participation in the GV progressive science missions are due to Brigitte Baeuerle in ATD (baeuerle@ucar.edu) by no later than 15 January 2004.

Coming up in the New Year

As you might imagine, 2004 will be a very eventful year for the HIAPER project, with delivery of the modified GV scheduled to take place in October and NCAR staff moving into the home stretch of integrating and testing numerous infrastructure systems on the aircraft. In an effort to keep as many of you as possible informed about the status of the program, the HPO will continue to conduct tri-annual town hall meetings on HIAPER in 2004 in an effort to present new information and to answer any questions you may have.

And here's my New Year's resolution: to try and do a much better job of getting these status updates out to all of you on a more regular basis.

On behalf of all of us here in the HPO, I want to wish each of you and your families a very happy holiday season and all the best for the new year.

As always, should you have any questions about the HIAPER program, please do not hesitate to contact me here in the HPO.