Merlin P.W. Ikhana Unmanned Aircraft System: Western States Fire Missions

National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA History Office Washington, D.C., 2009. X, 112 p.Illustrated in black & white and color photographs. The story of the Ikhana, a remotely piloted vehicle used by NASA researchers to conduct Earth science research and which became an unexpected flying and imaging helper to emergency workers battling California wildfires. In 2006, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., obtained a civil version of the General Atomics MQ-9 unmanned aircraft system and modified it for research purposes. Proposed missions included support of Earth science research, development of advanced aeronautical technology, and improving the utility of unmanned aerial systems in general. The project team named the aircraft Ikhana-a Native American Choctaw word meaning intelligent, conscious, or aware.