Operation IceBridge: What (and who) it takes to keep a mission flying
In 2016, Operation IceBridge was joined by Dr. Piers Sellers,
a NASA earth scientist, astronaut, and manager,
who came north to connect with the mission and its partners in the high Arctic.
As we return in 2018, we remain grateful to the late Dr. Sellers,
the NOAA crew who provided us a safe and successful field season,
and the men and women of the U.S. Air Force in Thule who maintain
an invaluable base of operations for our science missions
NASA's Operation IceBridge operates out of one of the world's harshest climates
Northwest Greenland (750 miles north of the Arctic Circle)
So here we are at Thule Air Base, and this was put here originally in the fifties
as a Cold War, you know, forward outpost - bombers and all that stuff
And since then, it's come back to being a scientific base, for us anyway, for NASA at least
and a few other military applications as well.
The United States works closesly with its Danish counterparts to support missions like Operation IceBridge
It's a huge collaborative effort. We do very little without the work with each other.
Because we have an airfield and we have a port and we have a lot of facilities here
We have a lot of infrastucture and it's fairly unique this far north
anywhere in the world, and so as a result of that, we allow
NASA, the National Science Foundation, as well as reserachers from around the world
get access to the high Arctic.
The United States Air Force provides critial support to NASA's efforts in the Arctic.
So on the aircraft operations side, having a hangar is really important
and the Air Force has been able to provide us with that hangar space
It's important for both the aircraft, that it stays warm
and doesn't have to start up from a cold state
and also for the scientific instraments - we don't want them to get cold
to possible cause any damage to them.
We love the different missions that come through here
be it the NASA missions or a lot of the National Science Foundation missions
When IceBridge comes up here probably one of the biggest things that I do
is we make sure you guys get the fuel you need for the aircraft
and then any kind of passenger or cargo movement that you guys need to
send up here to conduct your operations.
For air traffic control, there's significant, some challenges, some new experiences
we get when we get different type of aircraft outside of our typical C-17, C-130 military aircraft.
The simiple part of it is pretty much making sure the targets on our scope don't touch
We seperate you guys, we have quite a few rules that we have to abide by
Once you get into the habit of it, it gets fairly simple
My job here is to keep the NASA mission going, keep you guys safe
by providing air traffic control services
We're here to be flexible with you all and help you complete your mission.
Thule Air Base continues to be an instramental partner in NASA's ongoing work studying our changing planet