👀 What do you see in the image? A mini NASAWebb telescope, or perhaps two starfighters from a galaxy far, far away? These are a few of the many snowflake images collected by NASA’s IMPACTS mission, which studies the snowstorms common to the Northeastern U.S. And just how does the mission collect these particle samples? By flying directly into snowstorms of course! The instruments and probes attached to the P-3 aircraft are able to collect samples to measure snow particles and atmospheric properties within the storm clouds. Each of the aircraft's instruments has a special use: taking high-definition photos of ice particles, measuring the total amount of water (both in liquid and ice form), measuring the size of full and partial snow particles, and sampling shattered particles. These data-collecting tools can sample over 30 million particles in a single eight-hour flight alone. But it’s not just being “stormtroopers” flying into snowstorms—the campaign combines satellite d...