By Dragana Perkovic-Martin, Principal Investigator for DopplerScatt at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory // SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA // 11/02/21 Yesterday was a hard down day for the team – everyone needed a rest after a very active week before. The hard down days are in NASA airborne rules and ensure that fatigue does not set in and …
By Alison Gold // NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER, MARYLAND // NASA's Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics Experiment (S-MODE) relies on two aircraft, 17 remote-controlled vehicles, a ship and dozens of drifting instruments to make its detailed study of ocean eddies, currents and whirlpools. The researchers aim to assess how these small, high-energy ocean events contribute to …
By Nick Pizzo // OFF THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA // The October deployment of NASA's Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics Experiment (S-MODE) mission is underway and a current of excitement has filled the halls of our virtual meetings. Over the past two years, more than 50 members of the S-MODE project have been meeting virtually to prepare …
By Dragana Perkovic-Martin, Principal Investigator for DopplerScatt at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory // SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA // 10/25/2021 The first message I read this morning is that Ernesto, one of the deputy Principal Investigators on the S-MODE project and our project scientist for DopplerScatt, has succumbed to food poisoning. So, I am going to be making …
By Dragana Perkovic-Martin, Principal Investigator for DopplerScatt at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory // SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA // The first of three aircraft participating in the S-MODE campaign has arrived at Moffett Field in California. The NASA King Air B200 aircraft, carrying two science instruments – DopplerScatt and MOSES – landed on October 18th and is preparing …
by Roberto Molar Candanosa Far up in northern Alaska, Logan Berner's legs are burning with pain from trekking over tussocks in grassy valley bottoms and rugged, cloud-choked mountain passes. He's spending a couple of weeks of 2021's summer traversing the mountainous Brook Range, carrying just the essentials to sustain him in the expanse of the …
By Jessica Merzdorf Evans //LOMPOC, CALIFORNIA// In early 2021, local artist (and Lompoc Mural Society curator) Ann Thompson competed in and won the call for artists to commemorate Landsat 9's launch and the Landsat program's 50th anniversary. Along with representatives from NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, United Launch Alliance, and the city of Lompoc, Thompson …
By Jessica Merzdorf Evans //LOMPOC, CALIFORNIA// 11AM, Lompoc Airport Launch day dawned gray and cool, with low-hanging cloud cover and a light drizzle. While the launch crew ran through their final procedures and checks before launch, I went to the public viewing site at Lompoc Airport, where several tents' worth of activities and a "not-quite-life-sized" …
By Jessica Merzdorf Evans //LOMPOC, CALIFORNIA// It's a smoky Saturday evening in the small town of Lompoc, California, and most of the streets are quiet — except for the warmly lit tables and flickering tiki torches in the outdoor dining area at Hangar 7. It's Landsat Trivia Night, and the small restaurant is bustling with …
