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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA joined forces to conduct a series of environmental science demonstration flights with the Altair unmanned aerial vehicle in mid-November 2005. During a flight over the Channel Islands off the Southern California coast, sensors on the aircraft gathered ocean color and atmospheric chemistry measurements and observed marine mammals and their environment. The flight also conducted low-tide coastal mapping and NOAA law enforcement surveillance of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. An earlier mission the same week saw the Altair collect similar data during an 18.5-hour flight off the coast of northern and central California and several hundred miles out to sea. NASA coordinated use of Altair with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and provided mission management expertise to NOAA.