The 2010 Operation IceBridge mission to the Arctic is nearing its halfway point and wrapping up flights with NASA's DC-8 research airplane.

In just over four weeks since leaving Palmdale, Calif., on March 21, scientists and crew have flown 14 successful missions over the Arctic Ocean and the Greenland Ice Sheet.

They have been in the air for more than 120 hours and have flown a distance greater than 1.5 times around the world.

IceBridge project scientist Michael Studinger, from the Goddard Earth Science and Technology Center at the University of Maryland - Baltimore County, wrote from Thule, Greenland, to discuss some of the mission's accomplishments and critical moments, including one important flight that was almost thwarted by the Arctic weather.