By George Hale, IceBridge Science Outreach Coordinator, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Over the next few weeks the IceBridge team will prepare NASA's DC-8 airborne laboratory for the 2012 Antarctic campaign. Long hours in the hangar at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Facility mean that the MCoRDS antenna and Airborne Topographic Mapper have been installed and all ground tests for ATM are complete. Next week, the radar and gravimeter teams will begin their preparation work.

MCoRDS antenna installed on the DC-8. Credit: 

NASA / Tom Tschida

ATM instrument installed inside the DC-8. Credit: 

NASA / Tom Tschida

ATM team member Jim Yungel (front) and Matt Linkswiler finish installing the ATM instrument assembly. Credit: 

NASA / Tom Tschida

ATM team members (left to right) Matt Linkswiler, Robert Harpold and Brad Grantham carry out ATM functional tests. Credit: 

NASA / Tom Tschida

ATM laser trace on hangar floor. Credit: 

NASA / Tom Tschida

The end of a successful ATM ground test. Pictured left to right: 

Kevin Mount, Robert Harpold, Jim Yungel, 

Lorenzo Sanchez, Joe Niquette and Matt Linkswiler. 

Credit: 

NASA / Tom Tschida