GE Aerospace and NASA are partnering on a series of unique flight tests to help further the aviation industry’s understanding of contrails, using new test methods and technologies.
Contrails are clouds made of ice particles, which can be created when airplanes fly through cold, humid air. Persistent contrails are estimated to have a warming climate impact. Flight tests will support industry research efforts to better understand contrail science and enable new technology development that can reduce non-CO2 emissions.
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Flights for the Contrail Optical Depth Experiment (CODEX) will be conducted the week of November 18 from Virginia. NASA Langley Research Center’s G-III aircraft will follow GE Aerospace’s Flying Test Bed 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 GE Aerospace, this represents new operating methods for its 747 Flying Test Bed, expanding capabilities ahead of flight tests planned this decade to evaluate performance of new commercial engine technologies. Open Fan, advanced combustion designs, and other propulsion systems are being developed through CFM International’s Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines (RISE) program.
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