ATom

Synonyms
Atmospheric Tomography Mission
Avión de la Nasa sale a escanear la atmósfera sobre la Antártica

"El vuelo está planeado para durar aproximadamente 10 horas, saliendo a las 8 y retornando a Punta Arenas cerca de las 18. Usualmente llevamos alimentos, ya sea almuerzos en cajas o comprados en una tienda. Tenemos un microondas a bordo", cuenta Rebecca Hornbrook, investigadora del Centro Nacional de Investigación Atmosférica (NCAR) de Boulder, Colorado.

NASA's ATom Mission is Flying Around the World in 26 Days

It's not a strict circumnavigation of the world, but NASA's Atmospheric Tomography, or ATom, mission to fly down the Pacific Ocean then up the Atlantic is about as close as it gets. Beginning July 28, 2016, NASA's flying laboratory aboard the DC-8 aircraft will journey with 42 scientists and operations crew on a 26-day journey from nearly pole to pole and back again.

Cloudy with a chance of chemistry

The most important question at the daily briefing for NASA’s Atmospheric Tomography, or ATom, mission is: What are we flying through next? For the 30 scientists plus aircraft crew loaded up on NASA’s DC-8 flying research laboratory on a 10-flight journey around the world to survey the gases and particles in the atmosphere, knowing what’s ahead isn’t just about avoiding turbulence. It’s also about collecting the best data they can as they travel from the Arctic to the tropics then to the Antarctic and back again.

NASA's flying laboratory going low over Lauder, Central Otago

A NASA research plane carrying 42 scientists will fly over Central Otago next week on a mission to survey the atmosphere and measure pollution. NIWA atmospheric scientist Dave Pollard said the Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom) was the first of its kind to survey the atmosphere over the oceans, measuring how much pollution survived and assessing how the environment had changed as a result.

NASA research flight around the world pauses in Anchorage

Air pollution can be obvious when it is concentrated around cities and industrial centers. But what about the big parts of the atmosphere that are far from freeways or factories? Finding the answer to that question is the purpose of a NASA project that is sending an equipment-laden and scientist-packed DC-8 passenger jet around the world, over the middle of the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans, with brief stops in Anchorage and other locations.