NASA and the U.S. Air Force will send unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Southern California Wednesday to help firefighters combat raging wildfires that have devastated the region.
A NASA spokesman said the Ikhana UAV, a version of the Pentagon's Predator B built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, is ready for a nine-hour mission from the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base near Lancaster, California.
Images from the Ikhana sensor will be transmitted to a ground station to help guide firefighters to hot spots obscured by smoke.
The Air Force plans to fly its Global Hawk reconnaissance aircraft on daily 16-hour missions over the coming seven days from Beale Air Force Base near Sacramento, California.
Since Sunday, over a dozen wildfires have burned across 1,600 sq. km, killing six people, destroying more than 1,600 homes and prompting the evacuation of over 500,000 people in southern California.
Source: Xinhua
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