UAS training in Pendleton before mission in Arctic

What looks like a very large remote control plane is actually a highly sophisticated tool, which will soon help scientist in one of the coldest places on earth, but for now it is flying around Pendleton.

The gray drone or preferred title, unmanned aerial system, might be hard to spot in a cloudy backdrop, but the sound certainly carries for miles. The UAS dubbed "ArcticShark," has been testing at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport in Pendleton since Feb. 27th. The device built by Navmar Applied Science Corp., was just officially bought by the Department of Energy on Sunday to fly missions in the Arctic.

ArcticShark is 625 pounds, with a 22 foot wingspan and can carry up to 100 pounds of scientific equipment. The UAS will be helping collect atmospheric data such as measuring cloud droplets and trace gases.

But until May of 2018 it will continue to train at the airport with a crew of researchers from PNNL.

"Safety is a number one priority no matter what we do with any of our aviation, especially with our unmanned aviation platforms," says Peter Carroll, with PNNL's UAS Flight Operations.

The Economic Development Director and Airport Manager, Steve Chrisman, says he hopes this is the first of many flight tests at the airport. The Eastern Oregon Regional Airport was recently named one of six official FAA UAS test sites, which he says is already making an impact on the community.

"We've had nine people here for a week and a half staying in hotels and eating at restaurants and buying parts for the vehicle at hardware stores, so that is all in addition to direct revenue to the airport," says Chrisman.

ArcticShark also made a mark in the history of the airport, being the first unmanned aircraft to fly in the airspace while other manned aircraft, like FedEx and private jets take off and land.

The drone will officially start its mission in Alaska in 2019 and will be managed by the DOE's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility.

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