I’m Alive!
Posted on July 30, 2008
Today we made the hike to the internet–a few miles over tundra and glaciers–so I thought I’d write something just to say I’m alive. Okay so “alive” would be an understatement.
More when there’s internet,
Zena
The Arctic: Ice Ice, Baby
Posted on July 26, 2008
Looking out the window of the plane yesterday, I was ecstatic when I realized that no, that’s not a very lost sailboat on the water down there. No, indeed, ladies and gentlemen…
IT’S A HUGE HONKIN’ CHUNK OF FLOATING ICE
And it is not alone.
Yes, folks, welcome to the Arctic. Resolute Bay, specifically. We arrived here yesterday after roughly seven hours of flights up from Ottawa. This will be our last stop before hopping a twin-otter plane to Axel Heiberg Island, two hours even further north of here.
The word barren, while accurate, does not do justice to the Arctic. It is starkly beautiful.
Sleeping in the tent last night was less than cozy (note to self: wear a hat to bed), but I am still excited out of my mind to be here. We are hopefully flying to Axel in half an hour, but the fog may postpone our departure. Visibility is maybe 200 meters at most. Not prime flying weather.
It’s quite a hike from our camp at Axel to the nearest internet access, so this may be the last you hear from me for a while. Stay tuned…
Santa Claus
Posted on July 22, 2008
I’m leaving Thursday for the Arctic. Let me know if you have a special request for Mr. Claus and I will try to pass it along, since I’ll be in the neighborhood.
Happy Lunarversary
Posted on July 20, 2008
July 20, 2008: today marks 39 years since we first landed on the moon. We have not been back since 1972, and will not go again until at least 2018.
As a high school senior in 2006, I remember watching Mireya Mayor’s speech at the Intel ISEF. Mayor is an ex-Miami Dolphins cheerleader, now a primatologist and National Geographic correspondent. Her speech was geared towards young scientists, telling them that if you want to go somewhere, it takes a little persistence but you’ll find a way to make it happen.
Listening to her tales of discovery in the jungles of Madagascar was perhaps the first time I felt compelled to someday head into the wilderness, to go places where not many others can go. Since then, I’ve found the world of astrobiology. I’ve become obsessed with studying life where we once thought there could be none. I want to go to the ends of the Earth. These are my frontiers.
We as humans are still young scientists, but we are good at going places where not many others can go. We have talked about new frontiers in space, but have yet to get there.
You’ve probably heard the phrase “imagination is more important than knowledge.” Albert Einstein said that. Good news: it’s true. There’s a big universe out there, humans, so dream big. But imagination won’t always get us where we want to go without the guts and global support to act on it. Let’s go somewhere.
Apollo 2.0
Posted on July 15, 2008
The lovely Masha, whom I met at Pavilion Lake, recently pointed out in an email that the Apollo lunar missions totally could’ve used a better name. Why would you name the lunar program after the god of light and archery? Why not at least name it Artemis?
The Apollo Program was named by Abe Silverstein. According to a New York Times article, there was “No specific reason for it … It was just an attractive name.”
And according to the book Apollo, Silverstein also stated, “I was naming the spacecraft like I’d name my baby.”
Whatever that means.
Anyway, I’ve done some cursory research on the names of lunar deities from a number of cultures. I think it would be sweet if we named our next moon mission after one of these gods:
- Ta’lab (Arabian)
- Sin (Babylonian)
- Lair báln (Celtic)
- Thoth (Egyptian)
- Phoebe (Greek)
- Mama Quilla (Incan … though probably nobody would take a spacecraft named “Mama Quilla” seriously)
- Igaluk (Inuit)
- Kalfu (Vodou)
…and my personal favorite, from Aztec mythology:
- Coyolxauhqui
Yeah. NASA will definitely go for that.
Snow, Dolphins, and the Arctic
Posted on July 14, 2008
Go figure my last day at Pavilion Lake was gloomy. For a while, the rain actually turned to snow, making this two years in a row that I’ve seen snow in July.
Next up: Axel Heiberg Island in the High Arctic. In the meantime, here is a grab-bag of images and stories from Pavilion Lake…
* * *
Astronaut Goes Down Instead of Up
Here’s Mike Gernhardt, from NASA’s Johnson Space Center, about to pilot the DeepWorker sub. Mike is involved in the rover design for our next moon mission. Yes folks, we are going back. Keep your pants on until 2018. On another note: you can get an idea from this picture of just how small these subs are. When Nuytco was designing them, they got a business class airplane seat, and literally built the sub around that. What’s so amazing about Nuytco is that they make subs which can go down to 2000 feet or deeper, but keep them small enough to fit in a pickup. Another cool thing: you actually drive these suckers with your feet. No steering wheel.
* * *
The Barge
It looks less impressive than it really was. This thing had to be assembled right on the lake, and it was designed especially for our project. Nuytco typically launch their subs from enormous vessels, which can support cranes or mechanical pulley systems. We needed something big enough to launch two submersibles, but small enough that it could be transported to the lake on the back of a truck … which meant that the subs had to be lowered on a chain into the water on by hand!
* * *
Alien Autopsy?
(No, there are not aliens in Pavilion Lake.) Pictured here is one of the “artichokes” … a microbialite from pretty deep in the lake. Microbialites are carbonate structures. They’re surprisingly delicate. Up close, you can see tiny pores and individual, sand-like grains. Some of the structures crumble like dirt if you pinch them between your fingers. So beautiful and still totally mysterious.
* * *
Media
Here I am getting interviewed. Why anybody would possibly want to capture my thoughts on film is beyond me, but it nevertheless happened. The white sail-looking thing is supposed to diffuse light, which apparently makes your face look better. We nicknamed the light diffusing device “The CHUMP,” which stands for Can’t Hold Up Myself Properly.
* * *
McKay Has Better Things to Say
Chris McKay’s interview was undoubtedly more valuable than my own. McKay is kind of the granddaddy champion of astrobiology. He’s hugely involved in Mars exploration (including being a co-investigator for the Phoenix Lander).
* * *
Family Portrait
Here’s a photo of some of the barge crew, Nuytco guys, divers, sub pilots, and a few of the ladies who tried their hand at hauling chain. Front and center is Jeff “the Human Crane” Heaton. Check out those arms. One day, he lifted a sub out of the water with one hand. Rumor has it, he can do it with a single pinkie finger.
* * *
My New Best Friend
Here’s me with astronaut Mike, wearing his flight suit. I got a personalized tour of all the pockets. His chapstick goes in a pocket on his thigh, and pens go on the upper arm. “And this is where I keep my cash,” he said, pulling a fold of one-dollar bills out of a pocket near his shin. Why you would need cash in outer space beats me.
* * *
Dale and Drysuit
At Pavilion Lake, most folks SCUBA dive using a drysuit. In a drysuit, you can wear layers of warm clothing underneath and remain quite dry and toasty. Pavilion Lake is around 4 degrees Celsius at the bottom, so staying warm is key. (I tried diving wearing a wetsuit. I do not recommend it.) Interestingly, you can’t pee in the water when you’re wearing a drysuit, because you’d just wind up wetting your pants. Some people have specialized pee valves put into their drysuits. Sporting the drysuit in this photo is Dale Andersen, who has been diving below 20 feet of ice in Antarctic lakes for 30 years, and once survived an Antarctic blizzard in nothing but a sleeping bag … a severely cool dude. His drysuit does not have a pee valve. I asked.
* * *
The Other Sub
In addition to the piloted subs, we also have an autonomous sub called Gavia, which looks a lot like a golden torpedo. When programmed, Gavia can fly missions on her own, taking pictures and collecting data as she goes. Sometimes Gavia gets stuck in the mud, and Alex (pictured above) has to go diving to rescue her. The proper verb is “Gaviating.”
* * *
The End
Back in Vancouver, I was treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of the Vancouver Aquarium, thanks to a couple Pavilion Lake folks who work there as SCUBA divers. I never expected that getting to pet dolphins could be the low point of a month, but it certainly was. I miss Pavilion Lake terribly, and I’m already looking forward to going back next summer. I’ve never been so changed by one experience or group of people.
* * *
I’m trying now to shift my thoughts towards what’s next, but to say it’s surreal would be an understatement. In ten days, I’ll head up to the Arctic on a twin-otter plane. I’m dreaming of glaciers, musk ox, icebergs, and long underwear.
Goodbye Subs
Posted on July 6, 2008
It’s weirdly calm now. The submersibles left on July 3rd (and along with them, the whole crew from Nuytco). Some new folks arrived last night, ushering in “Science Week” here at Pavilion Lake. The focus has shifted from subs to SCUBA diving and water sampling.
I miss the DeepWorkers. They were the heart and soul of this place for the first two weeks, and everyone’s energy was completely dedicated to them. It almost feels like a completely different project. And now that it’s over: I realize that I haven’t actually divulged much about what was going on, so here’s a quick rundown:
Our days started around 7am—the sub pilots finishing the details of their upcoming dives, the Nuytco guys testing the hydraulics on the subs, me frantically labeling tapes, etc. There were four dives each day—two in the morning, two in the afternoon.
The subs had to be lowered into the water by hand, using pulleys and chains. Thank heavens for Jeff from Nuytco, proud owner of a pair of Incredible Hulk arms. The subs would stay underwater for around two hours, flying contours of the lake and getting high-definition video of different microbialite morphologies.
I’ve been in charge of the data and video footage that came off the subs. Each hour of video is worth more than I want to think about, so I feel like a mother bird sitting on about 90 cassette-shaped eggs. My little babies. I will bite if you come near them.
So I guess the subs aren’t quite gone from my life. We’ve got tapes backed up for miles, waiting to be copied and stored, which means I get to sit and watch the footage from all the dives. Even on a tiny screen, it looks unbelievable.
Some of the microbialites are pretty small and ugly. But others have the most incredible intricate and varied shapes. We’ve adopted a vegetable system of nomenclature: some are artichoke-shaped, some cauliflower-shaped, etc. Others look like collections of chimneys, and a few are perfectly cone-shaped. Mike Gernhardt found microbialites that look almost like fire coral. Here’s a video:
Mutant Monster Dandelions
Posted on July 3, 2008
I am long overdue for a real blog post, but instead I’m going to procrastinate more. Meanwhile, to distract you, here is a picture of the giant dandelions that are around Pavilion Lake. Seriously, these things are larger than my hand. I tried to make a wish on one, but couldn’t make the little fluffles float away, no matter how hard I blew.
