As an award-winning scientist, Peter Dodge had made hundreds of flights into the eyes of hurricanes — almost 400. On Tuesday, a crew on a reconnaissance flight into Hurricane Milton helped him make one more, dropping his ashes into the storm as a lasting tribute to the longtime National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration radar specialist and researcher.

“It’s very touching,” Dodge’s sister, Shelley Dodge, said in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press. “We knew it was a goal of NOAA to make it happen.”

The ashes were released into the eye of the hurricane Tuesday night, less than 24 hours before Milton made landfall in Siesta Key near Sarasota, Florida. An in-flight observations log, which charts information such as position and wind speed, ended with a reference to Dodge’s 387th — and final — flight.

“He’s loved that aspect of his job,” Shelley Dodge said. “It’s bittersweet. On one hand, a hurricane’s coming and you don’t want that for people. But on the other hand, I really wanted this to happen.”

Dodge died in March 2023 at age 72 of complications from a fall and a stroke, his sister said.

The Miami resident spent 44 years in federal service. Among his awards were several for technology used to study Hurricane Katrina’s destructive winds in 2005.

He also was part of the crew aboard a reconnaissance flight into Hurricane Hugo in 1989 that experienced severe turbulence and saw one of its four engines catch fire.

“They almost didn’t get out of the eye,” Shelley Dodge said.

Items inside the plane were torn loose and tossed about the cabin. After dumping excess fuel and some heavy instruments to enable the flight to climb further, an inspection found no major damage to the plane and it continued on. The plane eventually exited the storm with no injuries to crew members, according to NOAA.

A degenerative eye disorder eventually prevented Dodge from going on further reconnaissance flights.

Shelley Dodge said NOAA had kept her informed on when her brother’s final mission would occur and she relayed the information to relatives.

“There were various times where they thought all the pieces were going to fall in place but it had to be the right combination, the research flight. All of that had to come together,” she said. “It finally did on the 8th. I didn’t know for sure until they sent me the official printout that showed exactly where it happened in the eye.”

Dodge had advanced expertise in radar technology with a keen interest in tropical cyclones, according to a March 2023 newsletter by NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory announcing his death.

The newsletter said colleagues were “saddened by the sudden and tragic loss of one of its longtime meteorologists,” who died peacefully on March 3. 

He collaborated with the National Hurricane Center and Aircraft Operations Center on airborne and land-based radar research. During hurricane aircraft missions, he served as the onboard radar scientist and conducted radar analyses. Later, he became an expert in radar data processing, the newsletter said. He received a Department of Commerce Bronze Medal, two NOAA Administrator Awards and the Army Corp of Engineers Patriotic Civilian Service Award.

Dodge’s ashes were contained in a package. Among the symbols draped on it was the flag of Nepal, where he spent time as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching math and science to high school students before becoming a meteorologist.

Hurricane specialist Michael Lowry shared a photo on social media of the NOAA log noting the ashes were dropped calling it a “beautiful tribute.”

An avid gardener, Dodge also had a fondness for bamboo and participated in the Japanese martial art Aikido, attending a session the weekend before he died.

“He just had an intellectual curiosity that was undaunted, even after he lost his sight,” Shelley Dodge said.

Mark Harmon, widely known for playing Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs on the hit CBS drama “NCIS,” is stepping behind the camera as the executive producer and narrator of a new spin-off prequel, “NCIS: Origins.”

After nearly two decades in the role, Harmon is now helping bring to life the early years of Gibbs, with actor Austin Stowell portraying a young version of the iconic character.

“You come in and audition here for years and years, and all of a sudden, you’re presented with a badge with your name on it,” Stowell said about now working on the Paramount lot.

The show’s set features scenes at Camp Pendleton, including locations like Daley’s Tavern, a bar just off-base. For Stowell, it is a role of a lifetime.

“I felt very confident in what I could bring to the character, and then the second you walk in the room, that all goes out the window,” Stowell said.

Casting the role of young Gibbs in “NCIS: Origins” was a significant decision for the team, as it meant finding someone to take on the character that Harmon made iconic. The prequel, set in 1991, explores Gibbs’ early days as a rookie agent.

Harmon saw the project as an opportunity to dive deeper into the character’s backstory, introducing a Giibbs that has never been seen before in the original series.

“This is a chance to really kind of dig into it,” said Harmon

The role also brings a more personal and emotional storyline for Gibbs, one that explores his grief after the loss of his wife and child.

“He’s in rough shape,” Harmon said.

Stowell has drawn on his personal experiences to portray Gibbs’ pain. His father died by suicide four years ago.

“Loss is something we all deal with and for Gibbs, this is something that has cracked him to his core, said Stowell.

Harmon has been a steady presence on set, offering guidance to Stowell and the rest of the cast.

“From day one, Mark has been available,” Stowell said. “He’s so good at allowing the people who are on this show to feel like they are supported.”

Harmon made it clear that this new chapter of “NCIS” belongs to the younger cast.

“I’m there to help and to talk to them or to tell them what I remember from being in this for a while. But this is their thing,” Harmon said.