NEWS BRIEFS
San Antonio, TEXAS — Analytical Graphics, Inc., (AGI), Malvern, PA, and Civil Air Patrol (CAP) unveiled a high-tech tool that could make the difference between life and death for hundreds of downed pilots. The CAP-Satellite Tool Kit (STK) Search Tool, an analysis and visualization software package specifically designed to help take the guesswork out of CAP’s search and rescue operations, is being introduced at the CAP National Board and Annual Conference.
Civil Air Patrol, the civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, flies more than 85% of all federal inland search and rescue missions. Using this new software, search teams will develop, coordinate and optimize 3-D search plans. Pilots review these computer simulations developed with actual terrain elevation data to see what they should view on the ground from the aircraft and refine the flight path for thorough coverage. After flying the mission with the aid of Global Positioning System navigation units that track the flight, the pilots can compare the real flight with the planned mission to show gaps in coverage and quickly pinpoint areas that need to be revisited.
“STK is space-age technology used by organizations such as NASA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the United States Air Force,” says Brigadier General James C. Bobick, national commander of Civil Air Patrol, headquartered at Maxwell Air Force Base, AL. “AGI and CAP have taken this widely accepted software and tailored it to support CAP’s emergency services.”
Paul Graziani, president and CEO of AGI, says, “Our goal in this collaboration is to help the Civil Air Patrol save lives. The CAP-STK Search Tool will make CAP more efficient. Efficiency will save time, and in emergency services, time can mean the difference between life and death.”
For more information on the CAP-STK Search Tool or the Civil Air Patrol, visit http://www.capnhq.gov .
Analytical Graphics, Inc., provides commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) analysis and visualization software solutions to more than 23,000 aerospace industry professionals through its core product Satellite Tool Kit and a series of specialized STK add-on modules. STK supports end-to-end aerospace systems from mission planning through operations and is available free of charge to all aerospace professionals. For more about Analytical Graphics, Inc., the STK software suite, or how to obtain a free copy of STK on CD-ROM, visit http://www.stk.com .
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