Oct 5, 2009

Steve Cole Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0918 stephen e cole@nasa gov MEDIA ADVISORY: M09-190

NASA MEDIA BRIEFING TO PREVIEW MAJOR ANTARCTIC RESEARCH CAMPAIGN

WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a media teleconference at 11:30 a m EDT on Thursday, Oct 8, to preview the agency's largest airborne research effort ever to study Antarctic ice sheets, ice shelves and sea ice

The flights are part of NASA's Operation Ice Bridge, a six-year airborne campaign to each of Earth's polar regions that will extend and expand NASA's multi-year record of space-based observations of ice conditions Advancing scientific understanding of the behavior of polar ice is needed to improve predictions of future sea-level rise brought on by global warming

The Antarctic flights are set to begin Oct 15 from Punta Arenas, Chile, and will map regions of the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica that are changing most rapidly NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory will carry a suite of instruments to measure the surface of the ice, probe beneath the surface to the bedrock below, and measure sea ice in the Weddell and Amundsen seas

The teleconference participants are: - Seelye Martin, Operation Ice Bridge chief scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle - William Krabill, physical scientist at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia - Thorsten Markus, cryospheric sciences branch head at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md - Robin Bell, geophysicist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University in Palisades, N Y

To participate in the teleconference, reporters must contact Sonja Alexander at sonja r alexander@nasa gov for dial-in instructions

Supporting material for the teleconference will be available online on Oct 8 at 11 a m at:

http://www nasa gov/topics/earth/features/ice_bridge/media html

Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live on NASA's Web site at:

http://www nasa gov/newsaudio

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