AIRCRAFT OVERVIEW
Proteus
- Measurement Versatility
- Flexible range in data-taking altitudes, from a few hundred feet
to over 55 kft (depends upon fuel load and payload mass)
- Flexible flight profiles: including constant altitude, level lines
or patterns; and slow < 1000 fpm vertical ascents/descents over
desired ground spatial patterns
- 8+ hours on station between 50,000 and 56,000 ft
- Variable cruise speed; nominally ~280 kts (true air speed) at 55
kft (depends upon fuel load and payload mass)
- Mission Optimization; can optimize flight plan, as needed, for
changes in weather, measurement objectives, or instrument performance
- SATCOM and air-to-ground base station used for real-time
communication with scientists on the ground
- Real-time science instrument performance verification with cockpit
display of payload status
- Safety
- Sky-watch Traffic Advisory System
- Weather radar
- VHF communication for interaction with other aircraft
- Water survival gear carried for over-ocean operations
See
www.scaled.com for more information on
Proteus and Scaled Composites, Inc.
NASA ER-2
