GI Press Releases
The Geophysical Institute has a professor and graduate student participating in the NASA hypervelocity re-entry campaign for the Stardust sample return capsule. The Stardust vehicle will release the capsule into Earth's atmosphere at 12:56 a.m. on Sunday, January 15. The capsule,
containing interstellar dust from the Wild 2 comet, will re-enter at a whopping 28,600 miles per hour. This re-entry is the fastest in NASA history. 
In Alaska, finding your way into bear country is easy. All three North American species of bears are present and there is about one bear to every five human residents in our state. This close proximity spurs many bear stories, myths, and misconceptions.
A MODIS satellite image, captured by the Geographic Information Network of Alaska, confirms pilots' sightings of a steam plume emerging from Augustine Volcano. The plume appears to be primarily steam, but reports of a sulfurous smell have been reported by surrounding communities to the Alaska Volcano Observatory. The plume extends an estimated 50 miles from the volcano.
The Geophysical Institute, the Alaska Geological Society and ConocoPhillips welcome Kathryn Moran, an associate professor of ocean engineering and oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, to discuss findings from the 2004 Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX) in a free public lecture
on October 14. Cores collected from the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program's ACEX mission are surprising many who believed the Arctic Ocean lacked sufficient remains to record evidence of ancient climate. Now scientists are able to analyze Earth's previous conditions through ribbons of ocean floor sediment taken from depths as deep as 1,300-feet below the sea floor.
The Geophysical Institute welcomes Kathryn Moran, an associate professor of ocean engineering and oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, to discuss findings from the 2004 Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX) in a free public lecture on October 13. Cores collected from the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program's ACEX mission are surprising many who believed the Arctic Ocean lacked sufficient remains to record evidence of ancient climate. Now scientists are able to analyze Earth's previous conditions through ribbons of ocean floor sediment taken from depths as deep as 1,300-feet below the sea floor.
A comet's make-up is still a mystery. Scientists believe they're filled with ice, dust, and perhaps the building blocks for life, but they've never been able to get an up close and personal look. On July 3, 2005 all of this will change with a mission dubbed "Deep Impact."
Images showing smoke from Interior wildfires suitable for publication in newspapers and for still images for television are available from the Geographic Information Network of Alaska Web site, located at http://www.gina.alaska.edu/media/. These images have been reduced in size to allow for easy media use. The new images demonstrate how the smoke situation in Alaska's Interior has evolved over the last three days (July 27 through July 29, 2005). More images will be available as they are received and processed, so check the Web site often for updates.
The Geographic Information Network of Alaska (GINA) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has supplied the summer's first Landsat 5 image to the Alaska Fire Service for mapping of the Sheenjek River Fire. The image was captured June 21, 2005, and portrays active burning as bright orange spots in the scene. Armed with this satellite image, fire personnel can better map the Sheenjek River Fire and formulate the proper response to fight the blaze northeast of Fairbanks.
The Geographic Information Network of Alaska (GINA) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute is collaborating with other agencies to provide near-real-time satellite data to the Bureau of Land Management's Alaska Fire Service. Armed with images taken from space, fire personnel will be able to track hot spots and fire movement, even under heavy smoke that may ground mapping aircraft. Data from Landsat 5 and MODIS satellites will be available to fire crews and other users in less than 24 hours through the GINA network.
South-central Alaska's Mount Wrangell rumbled for 11 minutes following the Sumatra earthquake in December 2004. A swarm of 14 earthquakes were triggered at Mount Wrangell about one hour after the initial rupture in Indonesia, more than 6,800 miles away.
