Antarctica
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NASA
A Sea of Spinning Clouds
Over the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica, winds can whip around the globe relatively unimpeded by land. Intrepid sailors termed these southern latitudes the Roaring Forties, Furious Fifties, and Screaming Sixties on account of the strong prevailing winds. When those winds encounter a barrier like an island, the disruption in airflow can be beautiful. One impediment, shown here, is remote Peter I Island.…
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NASA
Scientific Balloon Begins Antarctic Ascent
A scientific balloon starts its ascent into the air as it prepares to launch carrying NASA’s Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO) mission. The mission lifted off from Antarctica at 5:56 a.m. NZST, Saturday, Dec. 20 (11:56 a.m., Friday, Dec. 19 in U.S. Eastern Time). The PUEO mission is designed to detect radio signals created when highly energetic particles called…
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NASA
Students Become FjordPhyto Volunteers and Discover that Antarctica Is Much Colder Than Texas
Texas A&M sent 31 students to the Antarctic this year—and they did some vital NASA science while they were there. Meteorology students, oceanography students and education psychology students worked with Dr. Chrissy Wiederwohl to collect data for NASA’s FjordPhyto project. The data reveal how meltwater from glaciers affects phytoplankton, the base of the Antarctic food chain. “We were actually collecting samples for them…
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NASA
NASA Scientific Balloons Ready for Flights Over Antarctica
NASA kicks off its annual Antarctic Long Duration Balloon Campaign around Dec. 1, which includes three scientific balloon flights planned for launch from the long-duration balloon (LDB) Camp near McMurdo Station, Antarctica. NASA’s stadium-sized, zero-pressure balloons will support a total of five missions on the long-duration flights with one mission vying to break NASA’s heavy-lift, long-duration balloon flight record, which stands…
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