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Published on 06/30/1997 All articles from this issue

Onizuka plan moves ahead

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The Project Wildfire demonstration of technology at Onizuka Air Station and neighboring Moffett Airfield to combat natural disasters "went very well," said Rich Davies, director of the Silicon Valley Defense/Space Consortium's (DSC) Council on Civil and Commercial Space.

Use of NASA/Ames aircraft with remote sensing systems to monitor a controlled burn and relay information back to the firefighting command center "was accomplished with flying colors," Davies said.

"We made excellent programs with acceptance of the program, including with people at a national program level," Davies said. DSC planning calls for conversion of Onizuka into a Western Disaster Center and the national support facility for the evolving Global Disaster Information Network.

DSC is a contractor to the City of Sunnyvale working to establish the disaster center and save the nearly 2,000 unique high-technology jobs that would otherwise be lost under current Air Force plans to realign the air station.

The cities of Sunnyvale and Mountain View are forming a joint powers agreement to serves as the Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) for the air station.

- Carol Tiegs