NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory tipped its wings in farewell as it departed the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., for its new home at Grand Forks, N.D., on Sept. 14.

NASA recently signed a cooperative agreement with the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, and will pay the university $25 million over a five-year period to maintain and operate the agency's DC-8 science research aircraft. The plan is for the DC-8 to be the centerpiece of a new National Suborbital Education and Research Center at the university. The agreement is intended to expand science research capabilities using the DC-8 and enhance hands-on educational opportunities for students.

Built as an extended-range jetliner in 1966, the DC-8 was acquired by NASA from Alitalia Airlines in 1985 and modified to convert it to a flying science laboratory. It was first operated by NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. from 1986 to 1997, and transferred to Dryden late that year.

The DC-8 has supported satellite validation, Earth science studies, and the development of remote sensing techniques for space-based observing systems. It has deployed worldwide to support research including measuring ozone and other gases with two winter deployments to Kiruna, Sweden, for the SAGE III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiments I and II. The aircraft has also carried scientists and their instruments into the eyes of several hurricanes with the goal of improving predictions of the storms' movements and increasing warning time to the affected areas.

Although based in North Dakota, the aircraft will continue to be owned by NASA, and will be flown by NASA flight crews for the foreseeable future. Operational management will be transferred from NASA Dryden to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

FMI: www.dfrc.nasa.gov