Touring the DC-8 (July 26th)

Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 72

Today is our last day in New Hampshire. It is a little more than an hour to the airport, so I din’t have much time for anything else but travel today. I did, however, get to stop at Pease Airport to tour the DC-8 that Jack is flying on.

From the outside, the plane looks pretty much like a normal plane, except for the big NASA emblem on the back of it. Upon closer inspection, however, you see the blocked out windows with sampling tubing sticking out of it. Since the plane flies much lower than a normal commercial plane when sampling, it is not surprising that sometimes the sight of a NASA plane flying overhead might cause some concern amongst citizens! Sometimes when they fly, people down below will call their local police departments to find out why NASA is flying by!!

The inside of the plane was quite impressive. Each research group has their own little space, and it is amazing how much equipment can be packed into such a small area. The biggest challenge for researchers seems to be keeping the insturments running well so that they can keep collecting their samples. Unfortunately, half-way through the flight yesterday, Jack’s research fell to instrument problems. A pump went out, so one of the samples he was trying to collect couldn’t be taken. Today he was working on replacing the pump. This would prove to be a difficult process, because the pump was bolted to the bottom of the entire set-up! He was still working on it when I left, but was confident he would be able to get it fixed. Hope it worked, Jack!

After visiting the DC-8, it was time for me to head out. I went back to the hotel, and we packed up, made one last visit to the beach, and headed for the airport. Once again, I have learned so much and have been blessed with an awesome opportunity. Thanks again to those people who were instrumental in making this a possibility. I continue to grow and develop from this experience.

Thanks again-

Nikki