Media are invited to learn about a unique series of flight tests happening in Virginia in partnership between NASA and GE Aerospace that aim to help the aviation industry better understand contrails and their impact on the Earthâ€s climate. Contrails are the lines of clouds that can be created by high-flying aircraft, but they may have an unseen effect on the planet – trapping heat in the atmosphere.
The media event will occur from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 25 at NASAâ€s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. NASA Langleyâ€s G-III aircraft and mobile laboratory, as well as GE Aerospaceâ€s 747 Flying Test Bed (FTB) will be on site. NASA project researchers and GE Aerospaceâ€s flight crew will be available to discuss the Contrail Optical Depth Experiment (CODEX), new test methods and technologies used, and the real-world impacts of understanding and managing contrails. Media interested in attending must contact Brittny McGraw at brittny.v.mcgraw@nasa.gov no later than 12 p.m. EST, Friday, Nov. 22.
Flights for CODEX are being conducted this week. NASA Langleyâ€s G-III will follow GE Aerospaceâ€s FTB in the sky and scan the aircraft wake with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology. This will advance the use of LiDAR by NASA to generate three-dimensional imaging of contrails to better characterize how contrails form and how they behave over time.
For more information about NASAâ€s work in green aviation tech, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics/green-aero-tech
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David Meade 
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia 
757-751-2034  davidlee.t.meade@nasa.gov
