I think we've all had pinch-me moments on a regular basis
looking out the window of a plane.
It's really being in the plane
and seeing something you study
I could stare out that window forever, so I'm going to miss that a lot
IceBridge started with what seemed like a humble goal
to bridge a data gap that NASA could see coming between two satellites
It’s bittersweet in the sense that we're
wrapping up what is undoubtedly going to be viewed as one of the
most consequential airborne campaigns that NASA has ever done.
IceBridge is a fantastic mission.
They've collected so much data, I mean
Terabytes and terabytes and terabytes of data
Basically two campaigns a year, one in the Arctic, one in the Antarctic.
There's a lot of data there and there's still so much to do with it.
It's difficult to top Operation IceBridge.
It’s a huge undertaking, it involves hundreds of people
over the course of this decade
and it's a great example of teamwork.
We, as a project, have made
so many contributions to the field of cryospheric science
over the last ten years.
I think it's exceeded beyond, certainly beyond my wildest dreams
and I think beyond pretty much anyone’s wildest dreams.
As a none scientist, it’s really fun to be on a plane
with all these scientists that are directly studying the ice
that we’re flying over
and to see how none of them get used to just,
looking out the window.
Some of our guys that have been doing this for 25 years
are the first to be out the window with a camera.
NASA launched its new satellite, ICESat-2 in September of last year
and we're actually doing coordinated under-flights with the satellite and IceBridge
So we're going to be collecting cocincedent data
that will help basically tell us how good of a job ICESat-2 is doing
And help improve the science that can come out of it.
A whole lot of the things have to come together
as you can imagine to
coordinate a DC-8 and a spacecraft flying overhead.
To find out that it did work, was really exciting.
We had numerous flights when we exactly under flew the satellite
at the exact same time.
When we were there, we were feeling pretty good
and it turned out we were right.
With the launch of ICESat-2, I think a lot people
are looking forward to starting to use this data
and seeing what new things we can do combining ICESat-2
with sort of the legacy IceBridge data exists out there
because the one thing I do know is there's a lot of IceBridge data
and there's still so much to do with all of it.
We went with a relatively straight forward goal
to repeat a series of flights in fast-changing areas.
And what we uncovered is so much more than that.
We revealed the cryosphere to the world.
I would not be surprised if most people on the team
said this was a bittersweet moment.
For a lot of people, this is what defined their career.
Getting to get out there in the world and working with a diverse group of people
That's..that's hugely satisfying and I'm certainly never going to forget that.
I think it was easy for me to give it my all
because this team was just so amazing
and when you have a great team
it just makes my job easier as a project manager.
And I just think it's crazy how like,
we call come from different backgrounds, everyone on the IceBridge team
and we all have different life experiences
and we’re all good at different parts and different personalities
But for some reason, we all just come together and work
I don’t know how, it just seems so easy.
We're practically a family at this point.
Many of us have spent many months per year together
and have done so for many years.
And so we utterly depend on each other.
I call it IceBridge family, personally.
This team definitely is like family.
And it’s...it's just great.
How do you not be proud of something like that.
But, having said that
I think the way this team works together in the field
it genuinely warms the heart.
You know, it’s a great thing behold.