![](https://res.cloudinary.com/momentum-media-group-pty-ltd/images/w_1200,h_632,c_fill,g_auto/c_fill,w_1200,h_675,ar_16:9/f_auto,q_auto:best/v1718249929/Australian%20Aviation/The_Gulfstream_G550_is_modified_with_tubes_and_instruments_to_take_accurate_samples_of_the_atmosphere_vticwh/The_Gulfstream_G550_is_modified_with_tubes_and_instruments_to_take_accurate_samples_of_the_atmosphere_vticwh-1-1200x632.jpg?_i=AA)
The highly modified Gulfstream G550 that flew over the tropics from Cairns.
Science in the stratosphere – the mission to measure our atmosphere
Earlier this year, Cairns played host to a remarkable aircraft on an important mission. Dubbed HALO (high altitude long range), the plane, a highly modified Gulfstream G550, flew for up to nine hours at a time over the tropics from Cairns and reached heights of up to 15km above the Pacific Ocean.
HALO, a joint initiative by German environment and climate research bodies for the German Aerospace Centre (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, or DLR), was in Australia as part of the Chemistry of the Atmosphere: Field Experiment (CAFE) team’s CAFE-Pacific research project. Its goal: to collect detailed measurements of the atmosphere to better understand the chemistry of climate.
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