Wallops crews prepare the NASA C-130 aircraft for its 6-week flight in support of the Atmospheric Carbon and Transport – America or ACT-America campaign. Beginning in late January, the NASA ACT-America will base in Louisiana, Nebraska and Virginia to study the transport and fluxes of atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane. The campaign will measure how weather systems transport these greenhouse gases. The objective of the study is to enable more accurate and precise estimates of the sources and sinks of these gases. Better estimates of greenhouse gas sources and sinks are needed for climate management and for prediction of future climate. This is the second of five flight missions planned for ACT-America. The first was in 2016 and two missions are planned for 2017. Photo: NASA/Patrick Black