The VISIONS-2 team got an early gift this year. Like an overstuffed stocking, our cardboard box for “red tag” items (items that protect the payload during testing, but which must be removed for proper ...

We had another successful flight last night. Airborne science has taught me that a great flight is one that provides good data and a story, but a perfect flight offers a story from which we learn ...

I had the good fortune to join the crew of the NOAA P-3 “hurricane hunter” plane that flew into Harvey on 25 Aug 2017 shortly before it made landfall in Texas. We made six pairs of eyewall ...

Paro Taktsang, “The Tiger’s Nest,” outside Paro Bhutan. Credit: Tim Mayer. After five connecting flights—8,000+ miles and over 40 hours of traveling—our flight descended into the “Land of the Thunder ...

Update on September 16, 2025: This Landsat 8 image shows the Rokan River on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Congratulations to Tamer Kurtman for being the first reader to name the river and its ...

I’m writing this post on our last day in St. Mary’s, Alaska. This tiny village of about 560 inhabitants had its surroundings ravaged by two large tundra fires in the summer of 2022. The East Fork fire ...

While gymnasts leap, cyclists pedal, and divers twirl for Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro, sensors on several NASA Earth Observing satellites are catching glimpses of the city and its surroundings from ...

Update on August 19, 2025: This Landsat 8 image shows Múlajökull, a surge-type piedmont glacier in central Iceland bordered by colorful lakes. Congratulations to Kim Jack for being the first reader to ...

To call it a “bird’s eye view” is, in this case, not an exaggeration. The bumpy video above was captured by a camera mounted to the belly of a plane that was rising, falling, and pirouetting about ...

Update: This Landsat 9 image shows an island group and its surrounding waters off mainland Mozambique. Congratulations to Mark for being the first reader to identify the location and to Yaakov ...

Update on May 27, 2025: This springtime Landsat image shows snow-covered tundra streaked with wind-blown sediment near Utqiaġvik, Alaska, the northernmost city in the United States. Congratulations to ...

Update on May 27, 2025: This springtime Landsat image shows snow-covered tundra streaked with wind-blown sediment near Utqiaġvik, Alaska, the northernmost city in the United States. Congratulations to ...