NASA | Greenland Ice Flights

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Nearly every spring since 1991, researchers including William Krabill of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va., have flown on a NASA aircraft over Greenland, collecting measurements of ice thickness from an altitude of about 2,000 feet. Now, on March 30, Krabill and colleagures return to collect updated measurements. This time, however, the mission is set to be more extensive than ever before, and takes place with new urgency. Radars and lasers new to the Greenland flights will be tested and calibrated with meaturements currently made from the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat). Launched in January 2003, ICESat is already more than six years beyond its three-year design lifetime and should it come to an end, the NASA aircraft will be ready to bridge the gap until the launch of ICESat-II, planned for launch no earlier than 2014.

For more info: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/greenland_flights.html

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• nasa
• goddard
• space
• flight
• center
• tv
• greenland
• ice
• flights
• arctic
• sea
• glaciers
• glacier
• climate
• change

[Signordie]

true. actualy it wasnt ice on greenland at 1300s. But now the humans have effected this. Co-2 is not a gass that make the globe warmer. Its that it stops much of the reflecting of beams from the sun :) .

[johnayerger13]

not at all. how old are you.. like 13? an ignorant teenager? just because someone tells you that something is happening for THIS or THAT reason doesnt mean it is. try figuring things out for yourself instead of believing the idiots in office.

[spaser333]

heh.. how old are you? like 9?

[johnayerger13]

Global warming "climate change" is rediculous. It was global COOLING in the 70's. It's a cycle.....

[k0zka]

what about reducing power need? :-)

[starsoffyre]

If we develop controlled nuclear fusion technology, then we wouldn't need to worry about the radioactive waste from nuclear fission. The amount of energy released would be much more than from fossil fuels, and it might very well be the way of the future.

[therock27374]

They don't have the ability of producing the amount of energy with current technology  that nuclear can...Thats the problem :\ Right now the solar panels we have are very ineffecient, hopefully in a few years that should change. But when it comes to providing massive amounts of power to weight ratio nuclear beats it. But despite that advantage, the waste is always the problem.

[Pieterseboy]

what bout earth power, sun, wind, water:?

[hobbes71002]

Transporting it is really only a small part of the problem. What do we do with it after that? We surround it in giant chunks of concrete and bury it? There is no really good solution. That's why I want the alternative sources to be developed more.

[therock27374]

Well nuclear power can be great if the right safety precautions are in place, Britain has 55 reactors and I haven't heard of any accident yet. The major problem is transporting the waste (small amounts produced but can be very lethal).