The ACES team is comprised of scientists at the NASA/MSFC/NSSTC and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) partnered with General Atomic–Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA–ASI) and IDEA, LLC. The ACES team, led by the Principal Investigator (PI) Dr. Richard Blakeslee, bring considerable experience to the proposed effort, including aircraft operations; sensor development; and thunderstorm and other science investigations using aircraft, spacecraft, and rocket platforms.

This combined investigator experience makes us a very unique team in terms of developing and successfully flying a payload that will meet even the near-term science and demonstration objectives of the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-based Science Demonstration Program (UAVSDP). Our combined experience means that the ACES team can deploy instruments that possess substantial heritage, are of low risk, and can be successfully delivered in the required time.

ACES, with its first campaign planned for the summer 2002 timeframe, will quickly demonstrate the usefulness of UAVs for Earth science and applications observations.