Away Team Practice: Sample Collection On A Hawaiian Volcano
Scientists put on “bunny suits” before they collect samples at one of the selected sites. The suits protect the area and collected samples from contamination when investigating biological processes. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Lora Bleacher larger image
In June 2017, five student journalists from Stony Brook University packed their hiking boots and hydration packs and joined a NASA-funded science team for 10 days on the lava fields of Kilauea, an active Hawaiian volcano.
Kilauea’s lava fields are an ideal place to test equipment designed for use on Earth’s moon or Mars, because volcanic activity shaped so much of those terrains.
The trip was part of an interdisciplinary program called RIS4E – short for Remote, In Situ, and Synchrotron Studies for Science and Exploration – which is designed to prepare for future exploration of the moon, near-Earth asteroids and the moons of Mars.
Astrobiology, Astrogeology,
