TURNER – On a snowy, makeshift runway stomped flat by volunteers, teacher Cindy Duguay held a NASA remote-controlled airplane above her head and ran.

She had to go fast enough to give the plane some lift, but slow enough not to trip in front of the 70 students and adults watching from the field above. Thousands of dollars in equipment rested in her hands. More than a year of work had come down to this moment.

She tossed the plane.

It dipped for a moment, faltered. Then, with a whir of its propeller, it caught the air.

Students cheered, running to a nearby tracking table. Duguay grabbed a fellow teacher and screamed, “We did it!”

For the next 10 minutes, the plane flew above the Nezinscot River, recording geological, topographical and infrared data so students could study how local farms have affected the environment.

It was a science project straight from NASA. On Thursday, Duguay and her students were among the first in the country to try it.

Getting ready

Last year, Duguay, a teacher in SAD 52’s gifted and talented program, attended a NASA/Goddard earth science program at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland during the summer. She was one of 17 teachers chosen to spend a week learning how to conduct science experiments using satellites and other remote sensors.

Since then, two remote-control planes, temperature sensors, hand-held weather stations and other pieces of equipment have circulated among the 17 teachers. Duguay and her students got their turn this week.

The teacher, 65 kids and a handful of adult volunteers took over the field next to the frozen river early Thursday morning. Tripp Middle School students would run the show. Younger students from Leeds Central School and older students from Leavitt Area High School would help.

The white airplane, with the NASA logo on its tail, was loaded with sensors, a video camera with infrared imaging and a still camera. Its wings were held on with big rubber bands. Its propeller was so fragile that NASA sent extra ones.

Then they were ready.

The flight

“We’ve got a good pilot. Everything looks fine,” said 13-year-old Nathan Theriault, a flying enthusiast who helped run through the preflight check.

The students would collect the data, Duguay would launch the plane and another adult would control it in the air.

The plane flew 100 feet. Then 200. Then 300.

Within minutes, it was little more than a white speck among gray clouds.

Students ran to the tracking table that was loaded with laptop computers, remote controls and a small monitor linked to the plane’s on-board video camera. The image on the monitor was sometimes broken by bursts of static, but it was sharp and in real time.

After 10 minutes, the pilot brought the plane back, landing it on the snowpacked runway without a problem.

Now, students will spend months analyzing the data they collected and comparing their information to a 1986 study of the river. They will also receive satellite photos of the area from NASA.

“I’m hoping we’ll be able to understand the river a lot better now and how the farms affect the vegetation,” said 13-year-old Kayanna Beeckel at the tracking table.

After their first successful flight Thursday, the group prepared for a second. They had information from the plane’s video camera and sensors, but they wanted more.

Plus, all of the preparation hadn’t prevented every glitch.

No one had turned on the plane’s still camera.