Scaled Composites which was later cancelled). The aircraft was intended to carry a antenna, which was flight tested in the autumn of 1999 and the summer of 2000, including the relay of a video conference while the aircraft orbited over Los Angeles. The project failed to move forward, however, and the subsequent series of aircraft were not built. ARTIS camera A small Airborne Real-Time Imaging System (ARTIS) camera, developed by HyperSpectral Sciences, Inc., under NASA's ERAST project, was demonstrated during the summer of 1999 when it took visual and near-infrared photos from Proteus while it was flying high over the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture 99 Airshow at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The images were displayed on a computer monitor at the show only moments after they were taken. NAST validation Proteus' first science mission was to carry the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Airborne Sounder Testbed – Interferometer (NAST-I) instrument in March 2000 during the Cloud-Intensive Operating Period over the Department of Energy Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site. The flights, based out of Stilwell, Oklahoma, encompassed 30 flight hours over a week and a half, characterizing cloud properties and validating the instrument. Then, in September and October 2000, during the Water-Vapor Intensive Operating Period, Proteus and NAST flew validation flights studying upper tropospheric water vapor and performing underflights of the Terra satellite. ARM-FIRE AFWEX project In November–December 2000, Proteus flew as part of the DOE's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program and their water vapor experiments. Flights were essentially the same as was flown for the NAST Water-Vapor Intensive Operating Period validation flights. NASA TRACE-P As part of the TRACE-P (Transport and Chemical Evolution over the Pacific) mission, Proteus once again carried the NAST pod during March 2001. The aircraft logged 126 flight hours, and was variously based out of Alaska, Hawaii and Japan, gathering data in coordination with ground, balloon and satellite sensor packages over the North Pole in March 2001. NASA CLAMS Proteus took part in the NASA Chesapeake Lighthouse & Aircraft Measurements for Satellites (CLAMS) program in July and August 2001, flying out of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. The project used a number of different aircraft to develop methods of measuring ocean characteristics, and estimates of aerosols. Airborne laser target In February 2002, Proteus carried a pod which served as a target for development of the Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser system. The pod housed an array of over