The flight request management system is the online interface between scientists and the flight program. This system allows scientists to schedule flights and provide information needed to support earth science missions.
The Airborne Science Program maintains the aircraft and sensor
assets to support the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and
science objectives, so funded SMD investigators have priority
access to the facilities FORMS is the primary means for requesting
and scheduling airborne measurements and flight services through
the NASA Suborbital Catalogue. This system was designed to allow
researchers that are funded by NASA or other agencies to have
access to unique NASA aircraft, as well as commercial aircraft
with which NASA has made contracting arrangement
ESE maintains the aircraft and sensor assets to support ESE programs, so funded ESE investigators have priority access to the facilities. Excess capacity is available to approved investigators of our sister Enterprises within NASA and our interagency partners, and - on a full-cost reimbursable basis - to others seeking the unique capabilities of the ESE facilities.
All the facilities are available on a fee-for-service basis, although because ESE maintains the basic capability, only the marginal cost of the actual missions is charged to approved ESE investigators. User fees are based on the flight hour cost (e.g. pilots, inflight engineer, fuel) and mission-specific engineering and deployment costs. User fees are paid by the investigator's funding sponsor's Research Program or directly from the investigator's grant funds.
A funding sponsor is the manager of the Research Program under which the grant or contract is issued. Current NASA ESE program managers who are also funding sponsors are listed here.
An approved ESE investigator is one with a NASA/ESE grant or contract, normally awarded competitively in response to an ESE research announcement. Other approved investigators may include those sponsored by other Enterprises within NASA or by our interagency partners whose research is shown to be aligned with ESE's own research objectives. Missions for non-ESE investigators will be approved on a case-by-case basis. Missions that do not benefit NASA or ESE research objectives will not be funded by the ESE program, and must pay for the facilities under a full-cost reimbursable basis, and in addition, must demonstrate that the NASA ESE facilities provide a unique capability that is not available through the commercial remote sensing industry.
The only way to be formally approved and scheduled on an ESE suborbital facility is to submit a Flight Request. The Flight Request form is available from the ARC Earth Science Project Office. Flight Requests may be filed at any time, however, NASA ESE issues an annual call for Flight Requests approximately 6 months before the beginning of the fiscal year, usually between March and April of the year, with submittals due in June. Requests are reviewed and the facilities scheduled for the year, usually within the 1st quarter of the fiscal year. Therefore, flight requests submitted outside of thecall letter process are filled only if time is available.
For advanced planning, we also maintain a 5-Year Plan for each platform. The 5-Year Plan is used for longterm asset planning and to resolve schedule conflicts. Although a time slot on a particular platform may be 'reserved' for time-critical missions, such a reservation does not actually allocate the platform to a particular user or mission. Reservations are placed on the 5-Year Plan only with the approval of the Suborbital Science Manager. Guidelines for those who want to reserve future time slots:
Reservations may be made by calling the Airborne Science Program Manager or the Airborne Science Offices at DFRC or WFF.
The reservation must be requested or endorsed by the funding sponsor;
Reservations should indicate the desired platform, geographic location of the mission, instruments to be supported if known, and an estimate both of weeks and flight hours.
The first to reserve the resource usually has the priority in the event of a schedule conflict. Other requirements such as unique seasonal or platform capabilities will be considered.
The reservation MUST be followed up with an actual Flight
Request after the call letter for the appropriate fiscal
year is issued.
and Accessibility Certification
