3 December 2004
High Altitude
Brian K. Barnett
NASA flies two high-altitude WB-57's from Ellington Field
in Houston. On 5 November 2004, Colonel Andrew Roberts
piloted one of the WB-57's on a 5.5-hour flight to rendezvous
with the recently launched Aura satellite. The WB-57 carried
ten experiments that made various measurements to validate
the sensors on the Aura while the aircraft was cruising
at the bottom of the stratosphere at an altitude of about
18 km (about 60,000 feet).
During the flight, Brian K. Barnett, the back-seat special
equipment operator, was kept busy cycling instruments,
resetting circuit breakers, and keeping a detailed log
of the flight. Somehow he found time to use his personal
digital camera to photograph the horizon, clouds and various
land and atmospheric features far below the aircraft.
After the flight, NASA scientists were eager to see Brian's
photographs. The Citizen Scientist is grateful to Brian
Barnett for allowing us to share some of his high altitude
photographs with our readers. 
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| Figure 1. Brian and the horizon
over his shoulder. Note the interface between Brian's
helmet and the orange pressure suit. Click on image
to enlarge. |
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| Figure 2. Numerous sun glints
are visible in this spectacular photograph. Sun
glints are sunlight reflected from farm ponds and
other bodies of water. (A blemish on the horizon
caused by the WB-57 canopy was removed using Photoshop.)
Click on image to enlarge. |
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| Figure 3. This enormous plume
of smoke over the Gulf of Mexico originated from
fires in southern Louisiana. NASA MODIS imagery
from the Terra satellite showed fires in this area.
The fires were most likely from the burning of sugarcane,
the largest cash crop in Louisiana. Click on image
to enlarge. |
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