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[drum beats]

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[drum beats slower]

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[music]

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It was a bold plan.

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NASA’s Operation IceBridge

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would bring its P-3 aircraft down to Antarctica,

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land at the sea ice runway at McMurdo Station, and use that

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that temporary, 8-foot-thick sheet of ice as a base station

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to travel to remote areas of the continent, including some that had never

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before been surveyed from the air in such detail.

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A lot of pieces had to be put in place for this to happen.

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It took 18 months to plan the mission, including mapping and prioritizing

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each potential science flight, providing specialized training

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for the flight crew, and getting the P-3 ready to operate far from home

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and without the luxury of a dedicated hangar. It also took careful

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coordination with the National Science Foundation, which operates McMurdo,

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to ensure the mission would have adequate support on the ice and

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would adhere to strict Antarctic environmental and wildlife protections.

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After installing IceBridge’s nine science instruments, the team then flew

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to the U.S. Antarctic Program’s hub in Christchurch, New Zealand,

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where they were issued NSF polar gear and got safety training.

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After a one day weather delay – always a possibility when traveling south –

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– the team boarded a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft

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for their flight to Antarctica.After landing on the ice,

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the team then had to unload cargo, set up GPS

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ground stations, go through more training, scout the runway,

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and make sure their instruments were ready to fly.

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Meanwhile, the P-3 and its flight crew made their five-day

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journey from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, across the United States,

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and then over the South Pacific toward McMurdo.

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On November 16th, 2013, a clear sunny day,

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the NASA P-3 made its first

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approach to the sea ice runway, and executed a beautiful landing