The first A in NASA was celebrated to the full in Wanaka, New Zealand, this Easter weekend with more than 50,000 turning out for the Warbirds Over Wanaka Airshow. The biennial homage to aeronautics past and present featured aircraft from World War II to the present, fixed wing and rotary aircraft, as well as modern …
by Patrick Lynch / KEFLAVIK, ICELAND / The Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) team is flying NASA's G-III at about 40,000 feet. On a clear day, this altitude also provides a stunning perspective of one of the world's two great ice sheets (the other is Antarctica). The flight Saturday, March 26, over the northeast coastline was …
by Patrick Lynch / KEFLAVIK, ICELAND / Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) will pave the way for improved estimates of sea level rise by investigating the extent to which the oceans are melting Greenland's ice. OMG will observe changing water temperatures and glaciers that reach the ocean around all of Greenland from 2015 to 2020. It's …
New and vintage planes zoomed over the skies in Wanaka, New Zealand, during the Warbirds Over Wanaka Airshow, a biennial homage to aviation history as well as an aerobatics spectacle. With history a focal point of the event, NASA's Balloon Program proved a perfect fit alongside the warbirds, serving as a gentle reminder that before …
by Patrick Lynch / KEFLAVIK, ICELAND / The seven-person Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) team arrived in Keflavik earlier this week to make its first round of research flights over Greenland's eastern coast. The team is flying NASA's GLISTIN-A radar to measure the thickness of glaciers that flow to the ocean. OMG will pave the way …
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center conducted its semiannual Robert H. Goddard Honor Awards ceremony at the center's Greenbelt campus on Tuesday, March 22. Among those honored was the Mid-Latitude Southern Hemisphere Long-Duration Balloon (LDB) Team for their work in establishing Wanaka, New Zealand, as a site for NASA's Scientific Balloon missions in 2015. Representatives from …
by Steve Cole / WASHINGTON / Over the next six months this blog will take you on a globe-circling journey of exploration. You'll travel alongside scientists who are pushing back the frontiers of what we know about how our planet works. With a collection of innovative instruments and intricately choreographed experiments adapted to the vagaries …
NASA's scientific balloon technicians marked another flight checklist item complete today after joining the base fitting of the Super Pressure Balloon (SPB) to the payload parachute. After making the connection, technicians worked to verify power and signal cables were aligned and properly connected. The team continues to work toward an April 1 launch date from …
Preparations continued throughout the weekend for NASA's upcoming super pressure balloon flight. Technicians worked on the top and bottom fittings of the balloon, installing electrical systems and the inflation ports that pass helium into the balloon. The team's next major milestone is the balloon payload hang test, essentially a full-up launch day rehearsal going through …
Just like a holiday gift, today was the day to open up the Super Pressure Balloon box. Yesterday, the balloon was placed on the trailer and the trailer was then parked inside the integration building. The box was inspected for any shipping damage – none was found. After reviewing the procedures and making sure all …