Developing the mission flight plan

Overall problem: Where are the active lava flows on the Kilauea volcano?

Relationship of problem in this lesson to overall problem: In the previous lesson students developed and categorized a list of questions that need to be answered to select the best aircraft for their mission. Students will now find the answers to their questions and use the answers to 1) select the best aircraft for the mission and 2) create a flight plan given the mission parameters. Students begin by identifying the characteristics of the available NASA research aircraft. Then, they participate in a series of activities to gather information that will help them select the optimal NASA aircraft and prepare to create a flight plan. Students are split into three groups and assigned to investigate one of three mission planning parameters: 1) selecting aircraft based on remote sensing instrument parameters, 2) selecting aircraft based on mission planning factors, and 3) selecting aircraft based on flight planning parameters. Each group will decide which aircraft are best based on what they have learned, share their findings, and together as a class identify the optimal aircraft for the mission given all of the identified information. Students then use their new knowledge of mission planning parameters to create a flight plan. Finally, the students will compare their flight plan to the actual NASA mission flown over Kilauea.

Estimated time required:  8 to 9 class periods

Student outcomes/objectives:

• The students will choose the best aircraft for the remote sensing mission by analyzing aircraft characteristics, remote sensing instrument characteristics, mission planning factors, and flight planning.
  • The students will identify the characteristics of available NASA research aircraft.  
  • The students will identify the characteristics of the remote sensing instrument.
  • The students will describe factors to be considered when planning an airborne remote sensing mission.
  • The students will describe factors to be considered when developing a flight plan.
• The students will create a flight plan for their mission. 
• The students will compare their flight plan to the actual NASA mission flight plan.

Prerequisite skills or knowledge:

• Ability to work in teams.
• Basic internet skills.
• Basic reading and writing skills.
• Basic understanding of problem solving.
• Basic presentation preparation skills.

Teacher preparation: 

• Print Student Journal / Activity sheets for these activities.
• Print Actual flight path
• Bookmark appropriate websites for students.

Student reflection and assessment: Student reflection activities   |  Assessment

Education standards supported by  this lesson:

National Science Education Standards | Project 2061 Benchmarks

National Standards for School Mathematics | National Technology Standards | National Geography Standards

Cross-curricular connections to National Education Standards for this lesson:

math | technology | geography

Teacher activities

Student activities

Sample student responses:

• Identifying active lava flows on Kilauea

Student activity:

• Students refer to the list of questions they created in the previous lesson (if that lesson was not conducted, use this time to have students brainstorm a list of questions and rationalize why they are important to the selecting aircraft for a mission - See "Airborne remote sensing mission: What do we need to know?" lesson plan.

Student activity:

• Students work in groups to search given aircraft websites and record information in answer to their questions. They will use the data they collect in their table for comparison and decision making throughout the remainder of the unit.

• Students build a table using Activity sheet: Aircraft characteristics (DMFP-1) and begin to enter data based on their review of the different aircraft websites. 

Note: You may want to assign groups of students to investigate one of the aircraft and enter the information for their assigned aircraft on their table. Then, bring the class together to share each groups'  findings on their specific aircraft and have the class generate a table with all of the data for each aircraft.

Sample student responses:

• All of the aircraft are possible at this point, unless the students understand that the SR-71 is not used for these types of missions, rather is primarily used on aerodynamics research. 

• Characteristics of the remote sensing instrument (AVIRIS)
• Outside factors such as weather
• Factors that affect flight planning

INFORM students that they will be assigned to one of three groups and participate in an activity to help find their answers. Together, their answers should help the class select the best aircraft and prepare to develop a flight plan for the mission.

Break students into small groups and assign each group to the title of one of the following activities to select the optimal aircraft for their group's mission.

• Group 1: Selecting aircraft based on remote sensing instrument parameters (To develop an understanding of AVIRIS and prompt students to think about the relationship between aircraft and remote sensing instrument.)
  See Activity sheet: Selecting aircraft based on remote sensing instrument parameters (DMFP-2) and accompanying table (DMFP-2A)
  
• Group 2: Selecting aircraft based on mission planning factors (To develop an understanding of factors, such as weather, that affect mission planning and prompt students to think about why identifying such factors is critical to the aeronautics.)
  See Activity sheet: Selecting aircraft based
  on mission planning factors (DMFP-3) and
  accompanying table (DMFP-3A)
  
• Group 3: Selecting aircraft based on flight planning parameters (To develop an understanding of factors that affect fight planning and prompt students to think about their flight plan.) 
  See Activity sheet: Selecting aircraft based on flight planning parameters and accompanying table (DMFP-4A)

Circulate around to the groups and ask the following questions:

• Which aircraft are appropriate for your mission?
• Why do you think that your chosen aircraft are appropriate for your group's mission?
• Why do you think that other aircraft are not appropriate for your group's mission?

Optional activities: Include a in-depth series of activities and explorations on  meteorology and weather related to flight. Some engaging activities include:

• Weather experiments:
  • Experiment 9 (Temperature) 
  • Experiment 10 (Wind speed) 
  • Experiment 13 (Wind direction)
  • Experiment 15 (Moisture in the air)
  • Experiment 16 (Dew and frost)
    

  Weather exploration websites:

  • Weather map 
  • Interactive Weather Information

Student activity:

• Group 1: Complete Activity sheet: Selecting aircraft based on remote sensing instrument parameters (DMFP-2) and accompanying table (DMFP-2A) while exploring the characteristics of the AVIRIS and select the optimal aircraft based on information provided.
  
  

• Group 2: Complete Activity sheet: Selecting aircraft based on mission planning factors (DMFP-3) and accompanying table (DMFP-3A) while exploring factors that affect mission planning such as preparation and weather and select the optimal aircraft based on the information provided.
  
  
• Group 3:  Complete Activity sheet: Selecting aircraft based on flight planning parameters and accompanying table (DMFP-4A) while exploring the following websites: Map of NASA Dryden , Hawaii airports, Airport information, and Airport data (runaway, map, and etc.), and select the optimal aircraft based on the information provided. 

EXPLORE each groups' answers to their questions and as a class select the best aircraft or determine which information is still missing to select the best aircraft. Provide rationale for the optimal aircraft selection based on analysis all of the collected data.

Prompt each group, one at a time, to present their selected aircraft and their rationale as to why their choice of aircraft is/are best given their specific information.

• Three groups present their selected aircraft to the class.

Discuss each groups' selection and determine the best aircraft for the groups' given mission parameters. 

• Each group provides feedback about other groups' selection (s).

• Be sure to point out the given parameters for each group and how the introduction of additional parameters from different perspectives helps to make the ultimate selection possible.

• During these presentations the students construct an overall table with all key information necessary to select the best aircraft.
  Note: Students may record notes on the provided worksheets that they did not complete during the group work or perhaps the class should create a combined table on the chalk board or poster paper.

Ask which aircraft is best aircraft for this mission? Why?  

Ask how does this choice compare to your initial selection after identifying the characteristics of each of the aircraft?

Discuss next step---- develop flight plan for the mission.

Sample student responses:

• Group 1: ER-2, DC-8, King Air (based on information about the remote sensing instruments)

• Group 2: ER-2, DC-8, Pathfinder (based on information about mission planning factors, i.e. maximum cruise duration and weather requirements)

• Group 3: SR-71, ER-2, Pathfinder (based on information about important questions to be considered while planning flight mission)

Note: Students may have already removed the SR-71 from the list of viable choices based on fact that the research purpose of the SR-71 is not remote sensing missions. However, students may find references to historical uses of the SR-71 for aerial reconnaissance - taking pictures.

Sample student responses:

• ER-2 - purpose, altitude, crew, airport runways lengths available, flight distance and time, AVIRIS requirements.

• Students reflect back on their original choice and how their original selection was supported with the new information and needed to change based on what they learned.

TRY using new knowledge about the aircraft and mission planning to develop a flight plan for the mission.

Refer students to the Activity sheet: NASA Airborne science flight request form (DMFP-5) in their journal. Remind them that they completed one like this in a previous lesson "What are airborne mission scientists?"

Ask What else do we need to develop to plan this flight? We know the following information:

• Type of aircraft and remote sensing instrument.
• Purpose for the flight.
• Location and time for data collection.
• How does the pilot know where to fly?

Prompt students to think about the mission:

• Where are the takeoff and landing locations?
• How far is it between these locations?
• What are the capabilities of the aircraft?
• What other conditions need to be accounted for in the mission plan?

Project examples of flight paths for other types of missions. This will give students an idea of how mission planners create different patterns to collect different types of data. 

Prompt student to think about: 

• Why are there different types of path ways to fly?

State these are complex flight plans and should give you an idea about specific plans the mission planner provides to a pilot who flies a mission. Our flight path will be much simpler, basically we will fly from NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force (home of the ER-2) to the mission target (Kilauea) and eventually back to Dryden. Your job is to think about the important questions about the mission and develop a flight plan to go with the Activity sheet: NASA Airborne science flight request form (DMFP-5). 

Remind students to consider the information they gathered on their worksheet, e.g., aircraft characteristics, remote sensing instrument requirements, weather, etc.

Direct students to work in groups to complete the Activity sheet: NASA Airborne science flight request form (DMFP-5).

Ask students to work in groups to complete Activity sheet: Flight planning table (DMFP-6) and consider the elements of flight planning while they plan the flight over Kilauea. 

Teacher Note:

• Explain that the map builder for great circle flight path display does not recognize military airports and, thus, they have to use Honolulu Airport as a landing site (the closest civilian airport) for this exercise instead of Hickam airport.

Ask students to draw a flight path from NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base to Kilauea.

• Ask students to what is an overall flight path. 
  
  

• Have students imagine their flight path by exploring the map of North America and the map of islands of Hawaii.
  
  

• Ask students to draw a flight path from NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base to Honolulu Airport on the Activity sheet: Map of airborne remote sensing mission flight path (DMFP-7) based on the information collected from the great circle flight path display on the map of North America.
  
  

• Ask students draw a flight path from Honolulu Airport to Kilauea on the Activity sheet: Map of airborne remote sensing mission flight path (DMFP-7) on the map of the islands of Hawaii. 

Debrief activity by having students share their flight plans.

• Students present their flight plans to the class.
• Students provide feedback on each other's plans.
• Teacher should distribute Actual flight path.

Prompt students to discuss the differences and similarities between their flight plans and the actual NASA mission: (1)actual flight path from Dryden to Honolulu,  (2)actual flight path from Honolulu to Kilauea, and  (3) narratives of actual flight plan.

• What are the differences between your plans and the actual NASA mission plan?

• Why?

Prompt students to complete the reflection page in their journals. See Activity sheet: Reflection page(DMFP-9)

Summarize lesson and introduce next steps: collecting and analyzing the data!

Teacher resources:

• ER-2 Typical Flight Operations 

• ER-2 operating bases

Other sample flight paths for remote sensing missions:

• Atmospheric circulation research and flight paths

• Pacific mapping research flight paths

Student activity:

• Review Activity sheet: NASA Airborne science flight request form (DMFP-5).

Sample student responses:

• Where will the mission start?
• Where will the mission end?
• What is the best flight path for the mission?
• Develop map of flight.

• NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California.
• 2600 Miles (from NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force base to Kilauea)
• ER-2: maximum equipment weight=2600 lbs.
• Weather

• Flight path depends on various factors such as the mission, aircraft, takeoff and landing location, etc. 

Student activity:

• Students write answers to questions of flight planning table in the Activity sheet: Flight planning table (DMFP-6).

• Students to identify what mission they have, why they need to request NASA research aircraft, what objectives they have, and what aircraft they will use. 
• Students gather the information about airports such as departure airport, destination airport, weather conditions,  and the characteristics of Hickam airport.
• Students find the airport code of NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base and Honolulu airport by using the landing public sites. 
• Students estimate a flight plan by writing overall flight path and calculating the flight distance and flight time for collecting data. 

• Students draw the flight path on the Activity sheet: Map of airborne remote sensing mission flight path (DMFP-7).

• Students draw a flight path from NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base to Honolulu Airport the by using the great circle flight path display  on the map of  North America.
  
  
• Students draw a flight path from Honolulu Airport to Kilauea on the Activity sheet: Map of airborne remote sensing mission flight path (DMFP-7) on the map of Hawaii.  

Student activity:

• Students write a description of their flight plan on Activity sheet: My flight plan for the KaAMS mission (DMFP-8).
  
  
• Students should review Actual flight path.
  
  
• Students discuss the differences and similarities between their flight plans and the actual NASA mission: (1)actual flight path from Dryden to Honolulu,  (2)actual flight path from Honolulu to Kilauea, and  (3) narratives of actual flight plan.

Student reflection activities:

Prompt students to think about the following:

• Why do you need to consider aircraft characteristics, remote sensing instruments, outside factors, and the flight planning parameters when planning a mission?
• What was their original thought on the best aircraft for the mission given only the aircraft characteristics and how did it change after considering other factors and mission parameters?
• What role does questioning play in scientific inquiry?
• Why does understanding the principles of flight help you develop a mission plan? 

Assessment:

• Check the information collected by the students on their worksheets for accuracy.
• Check students rationale for selecting aircraft given the information they gathered.
• Review flight plans for accuracy. 

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Ideas for math lesson connections:

• Given the flight duration and distance to be traveled, fuel efficiency of aircraft, and fuel cost, students estimate the fuel costs for the mission.
• Students create a scale map of the flight path, using units appropriate for NASA missions. Students can also practice metric to British and British to metric system conversions.
• Students examine flight path from Dryden Flight Research Center in California to Hickam AFB in Honolulu, Hawaii and identify the relationship between arc length and radius around a circle. This could be a convenient time to introduce different angle measures.

Related National Education Math Standards:

• number and operations

• geometry

• measurement

• representation 

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Ideas for geography lesson connections:

• Students study the weather conditions for each location, Southern California and Hawaii for different times of the year and use this information to determine when the best time of year is for conducting this mission based upon mission requirements.
• Students develop relief maps of the target location and plot the old and new lava flows on their map/model using latitude and longitude measures.

Related National Education Geography Standards:

• Places and Regions (#4)
• The World in Spatial Terms (#1)
• The Uses of Geography (#18)

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Ideas for technology lesson connections:

• Students use the Internet to locate information regarding the development of various methods for navigation including inventors and inventions. Emphasis could be placed on air navigation to reduce the scope.
• Students use email to contact air traffic controllers and/or aircraft navigators to learn about the systems and methods employed to make sure aircraft safely reach their destinations.

Related National Education Science Technology Standard:

• The Designed World (#17) Information and Communication
• Technology and society (#7) The influence of technology on history
• The Designed World (#18) ñ Transportation technologies

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Activity sheet: Aircraft characteristics (DMFP-1) - answer key

The blue bolded text represents the information that students identify from the given websites

• Can you select the best aircraft for KaAMS mission based on what you know?
• Which aircraft is the best aircraft? Why?

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Group activity reference sites

Activity Sheet: Selecting aircraft based on remote sensing instrument parameters (DMFP-2) - answer key

 Activity sheet: Aircraft selection table based on remote sensing instrument (DMFP-2A) - answer key

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Activity Sheet: Selecting aircraft based on mission planning factors (DMFP-3) - answer key

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MAP–1

Draw the flight path from NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base to Honolulu Airport. 

MAP–2

Draw the flight path to and from Honolulu Airport and Kilauea.

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Actual flight path 

                   1)   To and from Dryden and Honolulu

                2)To and from Honolulu and Kilauea

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Activity sheet: My flight plan for the KaAMS mission (DMFP-8)

Based on the flight planning table, flight path maps, and all information about flight planning, briefly write an essay about your own flight plan for KaAMS  mission.

Description of flight plan 

The ER-2 aircraft is located at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California.  This is where the airplane will take off to begin the flight.  Takeoff will be at 8:00 AM western standard time under clear skies with less than 15% cloud coverage, and less than 15 knot (17.3 mph) cross winds.  The ER-2 will then fly to a cruise altitude of approximately 65,000 feet for about 5.5 hours on its way to Hawaii.  The landing destination is Honolulu airport located on the island of Oahu.  Hickam Air Force Base is located near the Honolulu airport.  The aircraft will land at approximately 11:30 AM Hawaii time.  After landing in Honolulu, the ER-2 will be refueled, and the pilot will rest before beginning the data collection.  From Honolulu, the aircraft will fly for approximately three hours to and from the volcano site at the Kilauea Crater for data collection. The remote sensing equipment will be turned on for data collection over the Kilauea volcano, then turned off to return to Honolulu Airport. The total duration of the data collection leg of the flight will occupy approximately three hours including the climb and decent to/from an altitude of 65,000 feet.  Again refueling and rest for the pilot is needed before flying back to California. The final portion of the trip is returning the ER-2 to its home base at NASA Dryden. The aircraft will take off from Honolulu airport, fly for 5.5 hours, and land at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California. 

rev 8-aug-01