The massive Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica is seen out the window of NASA's DC-8 research aircraft as it flies at an altitude of 1,500 feet, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009. This was the seventh science flight of NASA?s Operation Ice Bridge airborne Earth science mission to study Antarctic ice sheets, sea ice, and ice shelves. The glacier is one of the primary targets of the mission because of the rapid rate at which it is losing ice to the sea. Photo Credit: (NASA/Jane Peterson)
