Washington, DC - NASA will host a media event Saturday, July 11 showcasing Plains Elevated Convection at Night (PECAN), a new multi-agency airborne research campaign currently studying summer storm systems in the U.S. Great Plains.

The event takes place from 3 to 5 p.m. CDT at the Salina Regional Airport in Salina, Kansas. Media will have an opportunity to learn about the PECAN mission from aircraft crew, scientists, pilots and engineers. Participants also will tour the NASA DC-8 and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s NOAA P-3 mission aircraft for a closer look at operations and science instruments. Scientists hope to determine through this mission why summer storms tend to form at night rather than during the heat of the day.

Media interested in participating in the event should contact the NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center public affairs office no later than 5 p.m. Friday, July 10, at 661-810-4978, or email Kate Squires at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . On the day of the event, media should meet in Hangar 600 of the Salina Regional Airport, located at 2720 Arnold Court.

PECAN is funded by the National Science Foundation, with support from NASA, NOAA, the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

For more information about the PECAN mission, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/1dHzoON