By Dan McGrath and Randall Bonnell, Colorado State University /CAMERON PASS, COLORADO/ The word lightspeed conjures different images for different people. Star Wars fans may connect lightspeed to the Millennium Falcon, while radar scientists may think of the velocity of electromagnetic energy. Radio waves, a form of electromagnetic energy, travel at "lightspeed" through a vacuum, …
By Katy Mersmann, NASA We're so saddened by the loss of our teammate Dr. Gemma Teresa Narisma. She was a passionate climate researcher and the Philippine lead for the Cloud, Aerosol, and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment (CAMP2Ex). As the director of the Manila Observatory and a professor at Ateneo de Manila University, she not only …
By Gabrielle Antonioli, Montana State University /BOISE, IDAHO/ Being a snow scientist is an interesting career. Growing up in a small town in Montana, I was immersed in snow. But I saw it as one set thing—a blanket, unmoving, a cold, white mass. Only far later in life did I learn what a changing and …
By Joe Atkinson / NASA'S LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER, HAMPTON, VIRGINIA/ A NASA airborne study has returned to the field for a second year of science flights to advance the accuracy of short- and long-term climate models. The Aerosol Cloud meTeorology Interactions oVer the western ATlantic Experiment (ACTIVATE) began the third of six planned flight campaigns …
By Lara Streiff Despite racing against impending harsh weather conditions, a red and white World War II aircraft flew slowly and steadily over the icy waters surrounding Greenland in August and September. Three weeks delayed by pandemic restrictions, scientists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory inside this retrofitted DC-3 plane started dropping hundreds of probes as …
By Joe Atkinson / NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia/ Four months ago, with COVID-19 disrupting life across the globe, it seemed virtually unthinkable that a major NASA airborne science campaign would fly again anytime soon. But today, that's exactly what's happening. In August, NASA's Aerosol Cloud Meteorology Interactions Over the Western Atlantic Experiment (ACTIVATE) eased …
By Emily Fischer, Goddard Space Flight Center In the early 1900s, Ernest Shackleton attempted to travel across Antarctica, but as they neared the continent his ship became stuck in an pack of sea ice and was slowly crushed before it reached the landmass. Over 100 years later and on the opposite side of the globe …
By Laura Rocchio, Goddard Space Flight Center Leaving from Nassau on a Tuesday night in August 1975, Jacques Cousteau and his team set out on the Calypso for a three-week expedition designed to help NASA determine if the young Landsat satellite mission could measure the depth of shallow ocean waters. For days, the Calypso played …
by Emily Fischer Flying a plane over Alaska's vast landscape provides a birds-eye view of some incredible sights. Bears run across frigid streams, moose trample through mounds of snow, and golden eagles own the air above ice-capped mountains. Glaciers cut paths through these mountains, leaving lakes and rivers in their wake. These glaciers are especially …
