GRIP Experiment 2010. Public domain image of NASA aircraft.

Cloud formations are seen through the window of NASA DC-8 aircraft during a flight, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010, over the Gulf of Mexico where researchers were studying weather patterns as part of trhe Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) experiment, a NASA Earth science field experiment in 2010 that is being conducted to better understand how tropical storms form and develop into major hurricanes. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)