NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  1. Content with the tag: “pavilion lake

  2. Software on the Fly


    Software on the Fly

    Much of the activity that enables the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) to explore remote lakes in British Columbia relies on a software system known as xGDS (Exploration Ground Data System). From collecting terabytes of video footage to tracking the movements of the submarines, this software is essential to the science team as they explore unique structures on the floor of Canada’s Kelly Lake.

    The Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) is funded by the CSA CARN program and NASA MMAMA program. Additional funding provided by NASA ESMD Analogs, NASA

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    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  3. Diving in the Rain


    Microbialite sampling. Credit: Henry Bortman
    Members of the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) have been studying unique structures on the floor of Canada’s Kelly Lake as part of their 2011 field season. Scientist-pilots used submersible vehicles to study the ‘microbialite’ structures in situ. Scientist-scuba divers collected samples that were brought out of the water and into the laboratory for up-close experiments.

    The Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) is funded by the CSA CARN program and NASA MMAMA program. Additional funding provided by NASA ESMD Analogs, NASA ASTEP and Nuytco Research. Previous support for the...

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    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  4. Go Jump in a Lake


    Pavilion Lake microbialite. Credit: Henry Bortman
    The main work of the Pavilion Lake Research Project involves the exploration of Kelly Lake with piloted submersible vehicles. But team members are also performing scientific experiments using methods that are a bit more ‘low-tech.’ In this field report, scientists test how microbes living in microbialite structures respond when they are moved to new locations in Pavilion lake.

    During the 2011 PLRP field season, Astrobiology Magazine will be providing an Ask a Scientist feature. Readers can pose questions directly to the scientists in the field while they explore the depths of Kelly Lake.

    The Pavilion Lake Research Project...

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    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  5. Deliberate Delay


    PLRP command center. Credit: Henry Bortman

    Researchers at Kelly Lake in British Columbia have been testing mission scenarios to simulate communication with explorers during travel to a near-Earth asteroid. The team introduced a delay of one minute and 40 seconds to communications with the DeepWorker submersibles as they explored the depths of the lake. Mike Gernhardt, an astronaut and PLRP sub pilot, explained, “We are targeting the asteroids or possibly the moons of Mars as possibly the next big step in human space exploration. And one of the things that’s very different about that, compared to what we’ve done all throughout NASA’s history,...

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    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  6. Off to a Rocky Start


    Sub and barge in Kelly Lake, BC. Credit: Henry Bortman
    Engineers and technicians have placed a barge in British Columbia’s Kelly Lake, from which submersibles will be launched to explore the depths of the lake. A recent report from the field describes the difficulties and snags faced in the early stages of a field expedition – when critical mission equipment must be thoroughly checked to ensure success and safety.

    During the 2011 PLRP field season, Astrobiology Magazine will be providing an Ask a Scientist feature. Readers can pose questions directly to the scientists in the field while they explore the depths of Kelly Lake.

    The Pavilion Lake Research...




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    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  7. Mapping Microbialites


    Kelly Lake diver. Credit: Henry Bortman
    Microbialites, strange carbonate structures that line the bottom of Pavilion Lake in British Columbia, Canada, come in many shapes and sizes. No-one knows why. But scientists in the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) hope to learn more by studying nearby Kelly Lake and making some comparisons.

    During the 2011 PLRP field season, Astrobiology Magazine will be providing an Ask a Scientist feature. Readers can pose questions directly to the scientists in the field while they explore the depths of Kelly Lake.

    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  8. Scheduling the Unknown


    Darlene LimDarlene Lim, the principal investigator for PLRP, and one of the project’s pilots, prepares for a DeepWorker flight in Pavilion Lake. Credit: Henry Bortman
    How can the exploration of a Canadian lake, using deep-water submersibles, help NASA plan for the human exploration of Mars? What’s the most effective way to explore an unknown world? These are questions that members of the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) hope to address this summer when they conduct their first comprehensive underwater study of Kelly Lake in British Columbia, Canada. PLRP will be using planning software developed by the Human-Computer Interaction Group at NASA Ames Research Center initially as a task-planning tool for NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers.

    “Pavilion is particularly interesting because...

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    Source: [www.astrobio.net]

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  9. Sampling Microbial Muck


    Credit: Henry BortmanForgoing the use of the Mat Sampler 3000, Eric Collins gets down and dirty with a handful of lakeshore mud, performing a sniff test before deciding to add it to his collecting jar. Credit: Henry Bortman
    Astrobiology Magazine’s field research editor Henry Bortman spent a week alongside members of the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) in British Columbia, Canada. In Bortman’s sixth and final report, he describes a day trip to collect nasty-smelling microbial slime at nearby lakes. Visit Astrobiology Magazine now to ask questions of researchers in the field and watch their video responses.

    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  10. Outer Space, Under Water


    Chris Hadfield
    Astrobiology Magazine’s field research editor Henry Bortman is spending a week alongside scientists and astronauts in the field at Pavilion Lake. In Bortman’s fifth report, he talks with astronauts participating in the Pavilion Lake Research Project. The astronauts are aiding scientists in exploring the unique lake by piloting the DeepWorker submarines that are used to examine microbialites lining the lakebed. Visit Astrobiology Magazine now to ask questions of researchers in the field and watch their video responses.

    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  11. The Big Question: Biology or Chemistry?


    Pavilion Lake, BC, Canada
    Astrobiology Magazine’s Henry Bortman is in the field alongside scientists and astronauts who are working on the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP). In his fourth field report, Bortman discusses work being done to determine the role biology plays in forming the Pavilion Lake microbialites. The work could help develop techniques and technology to aid in the search for life on other worlds. With Astrobiology Magazine, ask questions of researchers in the field, and watch their video responses.

    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  12. What Do You Call a Microbialite?


    Scientists and astronauts are currently exploring a unique lake in British Columbia, Canada. Pavilion Lake is unique because of strange structures known as microbialites that are found deep below its waters. The lake contains a greater morphological diversity of microbialites than any other modern environment known on Earth. Astrobiology Magazine’s field research editor Henry Bortman reports on the ongoing effort to classify these bizarre structures.

    Visit Astrobiology Magazine to pose questions directly to the scientist and astronauts working in the field at Pavilion Lake.

    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  13. On the Beach with the Gaviators


    Astrobiology Magazine’s Henry Bortman is spending a week alongside members of the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP). This second field report describes the glitches and problems researchers have had to overcome so that their “Gavia” robotic vehicles can explore the lake as planned.

    Visit Astrobiology Magazine to pose questions directly to the scientist and astronauts working in the field at Pavilion Lake.

    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  14. Flying the North Basin


    Credit: Henry BortmanPhoto Credit: Henry Bortman
    Astrobiology Magazine’s Henry Bortman is in the field this week alongside scientists and astronauts who are working on the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP). The team is studying microbialites, carbonate structures that line the lakebed and are usually not found in freshwater lakes. This field report looks at the complex process of communicating with scientists as they explore underwater. With Astrobiology Magazine, ask questions of researchers in the field, and watch their video responses.

    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  15. Probing Pavilion Lake


    Pavilion Lake, BC, Canada
    A team of scientists and astronauts have returned to Pavilion Lake in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The scientists will be continuing their effort to understand what role biology plays in forming the strange structures that line the lakebed, while the astronauts will be learning how to do field science. With Astrobiology Magazine, ask questions of researchers now in the field at Pavilion Lake, and watch their video responses.

    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  16. Discoveries in the Deep


    Michael GernhardtNASA astronaut Michael Gernhardt at Pavilion Lake. Credit: Darlene Lim
    Scientists from NASA and the Canadian Space Agency have been using Pavilion Lake as a testing ground for the future human exploration of other worlds. Pavilion Lake, in British Columbia, Canada, is home to a biological mystery. Microbialites, coral-like structures built by bacteria, in a variety of sizes and shapes, carpet the lakebed. That’s unusual for a freshwater lake like Pavilion. Exploration of Pavilion Lake is helping biologists understand this unique environment – and it’s also helping astronauts prepare for future human exploration of other worlds.

    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  17. Astrobiologists Study Microbial Life in Canadian Lake


    Pavilion Lake

    This week a multinational and multidisciplinary team of researchers begin 2008 field operations in British Columbia for the Pavilion Lake Research Project. The Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring Planets program is one of several contributors to the project.

    The Pavilion Lake research team is studying limestone structures called microbialites, located on the floor of the lake. These microbialites are believed to have been formed by communities of microbes. The research team includes a number of astrobiologists who are interested in learning more...

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  18. Looking for life, Astrobiologists Dive Deep


    Coral-like mounds on the floor of a Canadian lake may make it easier someday to identify life on other planets.

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