NASA Announces Media Day For Hurricane Research Flights

WASHINGTON — NASA will host media in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Houston on Tuesday, Aug. 31, for a behind-the-scenes look at the agency’s major airborne campaign studying Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico hurricanes. The campaign, called the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes mission, or GRIP, starts next week.

Scientists will spend six weeks flying NASA research aircraft in and around storms and the areas where they may be forming. Instruments onboard NASA’s aircraft will collect data to help enhance understanding of how tropical storms form and become hurricanes.

NASA’s DC-8 aircraft, which will carry seven science instruments, is based in Fort Lauderdale. NASA’s WB-57 aircraft, which will carry two instruments, is based in Houston. Media day events will feature a briefing with mission scientists and flight crews, followed by tours of the aircraft and interviews.

The Florida event will be at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport from 8 to 10 a.m. EDT. The Texas media day will be at the Johnson Space Center’s Ellington Field in Houston from 1 to 3 p.m. CDT. The date of the media day is subject to change depending on the schedule of research flights.

Reporters planning to attend must pre-register by Tuesday, Aug. 24. For the Ft. Lauderdale event, contact Rob Gutro at 301-286-4044 or robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov. For the Houston event, contact Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters at 281-483-5111 or nicole.cloutier-1@nasa.gov.

For more information about the GRIP mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/grip