What happens when you drop a coyote into a hurricane?

We don’t mean the furry kind of coyote that howls and prowls. We mean the Coyote drone.

God has blessed us with technology to predict and collect data about hurricanes. Sometimes, we use planes for this. Piloted planes can collect information about wind, temperature, and pressure. But piloted planes have limits. They can’t fly near the bottom of a hurricane. Down there, winds might be blowing 100 miles per hour and waves might be crashing 50 feet in the air! But the bottom of the hurricane is exactly what researchers need to know about. They need to know what happens where a hurricane touches the ocean.

That’s where Coyote comes in. These days, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is using the Coyote to do what planes can’t. The Coyote is a small aircraft with no pilot inside. It has been built strong. It can be launched into the bottom of a hurricane without breaking. These launches put no human lives in danger.

Coyote got its first test drive during Hurricane Edouard in 2014. It dove into the hurricane—just 400 feet from the bottom. A piloted plane can only safely go down to 3,000 feet! After that test, Coyote’s designers thought it needed some upgrades—a new antenna, radio, and a longer battery life. Practice makes perfect, Coyote!