Dwayne Brown

Headquarters, Washington, DC June 3, 1997

(Phone: 202/358-1726)

Michael Finneran
Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA
(Phone: 757/864-6124)

David Morse
Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA
(Phone: 415/604-4724)

RELEASE: 97-118

NASA STUDIES HIGH ALTITUDE RADIATION WITH UPGRADED ER-2

Using an upgraded NASA ERR2 aircraft, researchers at NASA's

Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, have begun a month-long
campaign to measure radiation at high altitudes.

This campaign, funded by NASA's High-Speed Research program,

is the first of several that will measure naturally occurring
radiation from cosmic and solar rays at altitudes between 52,000
and 70,000 feet.

The data will be used to characterize the radiation

environment for the aircrew and frequent-flying public on a
future High-Speed Civil Transport. The High-Speed Civil
Transport, a conceptual supersonic airliner, would carry 300
passengers at 2.4 times the speed of sound, at altitudes of up to
68,000 feet.

"The broad aim of the Atmospheric Ionizing Radiation ER-2

flight-measurements campaign is to understand the composition,
distribution and intensities of cosmic and solar radiation at
commercial supersonic transport-cruise altitudes," said Allen
Whitehead, the High-Speed Research environmental impact manager.

"Our primary concern is the level of uncertainties in the

knowledge of the upper atmosphere's radiation environment and the
human body's response to that type of environment," said Dr. John
Wilson, the Atmospheric Ionizing Radiation chief scientist.

"Radiation measurements will be obtained by an array of

instruments from the United States, Canada, Germany, United
Kingdom and Italy in a collaborative effort devised by Dr.
Wilson," said Donald Maiden, the Atmospheric Ionizing Radiation
project manager. "The instrument types which make up the array
were recommended by the National Council on Radiation Protection
in a study sponsored by the High-Speed research program."

"The primary thrust is to characterize the atmospheric

radiation and to define dose levels at high altitude flight. A
secondary thrust is to develop and validate dosimetric techniques
and monitoring devices for protection of the aircrew who work
many hours at cruise altitudes," Maiden added.

According to Maiden, "Even though the exposure levels are

higher at the higher cruise altitude, the typical flying public
will actually receive less radiation exposure than on today's
subsonic transports because of the higher speed of the High-Speed
Civil Transport. This is another advantage for speed."

The flight program is a collaborative effort with the

Department of Energy's Environmental Measurements Laboratory;
NASA's Johnson Space Center; the Canadian Defense Research
Establishment and Royal Military College; the German Aerospace
Research Establishment; the United Kingdom's National Radiation
Protection Board; the Boeing Company; and several domestic and
foreign university guest investigators.

Recent modifications to the NASA ER-2, sponsored by NASA's

Mission to Planet Earth program, increased its altitude
capabilities, allowing it to reach easily those altitudes where
the High-Speed Civil Transport will fly. The NASA ER-2 is based
at NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA.

-end-