NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

With the sun on the horizon, NASA's DC-8 flies over Antarctica's Weddell Sea on Oct. 28 during a Fall 2010 Operation IceBridge mission to map sea ice and underfly ESA's CryoSat-2 satellite. (NASA/Jim Yungel) NASA DC-8 and the National Suborbital Education and Research Center

NASA and the University of North Dakota have teamed to create the National Suborbital Education and Research Center (NSERC) located at the University of North Dakota. The NSERC’s purpose is to promote and support science operations of the Agency’s DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory aircraft, making it available to Earth Science research organizations and providing the interface for this community. Included in this community are NASA, federal, state, academic, and foreign investigators.

Data gathered by the DC-8 at flight altitude and by remote sensing have been used for scientific studies in archeology, ecology, geography, hydrology, meteorology, oceanography, volcanology, atmospheric chemistry, soil science, and biology.

Those interested in the DC-8’s capability to accommodate instruments are encouraged to consult the ‘DC-8 Experimenter’s Handbook (see below). The DC-8 is one of several aircraft based at the NASA Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility that support NASA’s Airborne Science Program.

Points of Contact:

Frank Cutler
(661)276-3998
Frank.W.Cutler@nasa.gov

National Suborbital Education and Research Center (NSERC)
http://www.nserc.und.edu

Click here for more information on NASA’s Airborne Science Program.

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