Pathfinder, NASA's solar-powered, remotely-piloted aircraft is shown while it was conducting a series of science flights to highlight the aircraft's science capabilities while collecting imagery of forest and coastal zone ecosystems on Kauai, Hawaii. The flights also tested two new scientific instruments, a high spectral resolution Digital Array Scanned Interferometer (DASI) and a high spatial resolution Airborne Real-Time Imaging System (ARTIS). The remote sensor payloads were designed by NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, to support NASA's Mission to Planet Earth science programs.
Pathfindersolar-poweredERASTEnvironmental Research Aircraft and Sensor TechnologyAeroVironmenthigh-altitudeworld recordGossamer CondorAlbatrossSolar ChallengerHALSOLHigh Altitude SolarHawaiiKauaiscience flightsDigital Array Scanned InterferometerDASIAirborne Real-Time Imaging SystemARTISAmesMission to Planet Earth