Glory on the Brunt Ice Shelf

Most people think of satellites, space stations or shuttles when they think of NASA, but airplanes play a vital role. One of NASA’s workhorse planes, the DC-8, is being used this month to provide insight on the health of the ice sheets and shelves at the southern tip of the world.

Scientists enjoyed this view of the Brunt Ice Shelf, south and east from the Antarctica Peninsula, on October 26, 2010, during the first flight of the Operation IceBridge fall 2010 campaign. The mission is called IceBridge because it is designed to span the gap in observations between the IceSat I mission, which recently ended, and IceSat II, slated for launch later this decade.
Articolo di Nasa Earth Observatory del 16 novembre 2010