BROCK VERGAKIS
Associated Press
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — NASA says it plans to fly small drones to spot fires in a wildlife refuge along the Virginia and North Carolina border.
NASA officials say their plan to fly drones above the Great Dismal Swamp would be the first time the agency has integrated drones into the National Airspace System for wildfire spotting on the East Coast.
NASA has previously used retrofitted Predator drones to map and gather data on wildfires in the West.
Researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton plan to use former Army target drones to fly over the Great Dismal Swamp at low altitudes following lightning storms next year. They say the drones can be flown at a lower price per hour than renting a manned aircraft to check for fires.
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