HAMPTON, Va., April 17, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An HU-25C jet from NASA's Langley Research Center will be in California next month as part of a flight test to assess biofuel and other jet fuel alternatives. News media representatives are invited to attend a behind-the-scenes tour of that test on Tuesday, May 20, at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center's hangar in Palmdale and visit the center's main campus at Edwards Air Force Base.

A morning briefing will focus on the Alternative Fuel Effects on Contrails and Cruise Emissions (ACCESS II) flight experiment in Palmdale, followed by a tour of the NASA Armstrong at Edwards in the afternoon. Participants should plan to meet at the center's Palmdale Visitor Control Center at 7:15 a.m. PDT.

The event will give journalists and social media users an opportunity to learn more about scientific research being conducted on the effects of alternate fuels, including synthetic and biofuel formulations, on engine performance, emissions and aircraft-generated contrails at altitudes typically flown by commercial airliners. In addition to a full briefing of the experiment, participants will also have a chance to ask questions of aircraft crew, pilots and scientists involved in the research process.

The ACCESS II experiment will include aircraft and scientific contributions from Armstrong and NASA's Glenn and Langley research centers, as well as international partner agencies, including the German Aerospace Center and the National Research Council of Canada.

At 11:30 a.m., participants will depart Palmdale for NASA Armstrong's Edwards campus. Activities will resume at 1 p.m. with a tour that will include:

• Hangars housing various science, test, and unmanned aircraft
• A look at current aeronautics technology research and testing
• A tour of the model shop where scale concepts are developed
• A tour of the Experimental Fabrication Machine Shop
• Q&A with NASA research pilots
• An interactive flight suit demonstration

For more information about the ACCESS II project, visit:

http://1.usa.gov/1gRxQfz

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SOURCE NASA