ROVs/Submersibles/Diving Archives

Drone Footage Of Lake Untersee, Antarctica -- Dale Andersen

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Dale Andersen's Field Reports, Education and Outreach, Exploration Gear & Tech, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report, Video, Audio, Webcasts, Podcasts, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Video: Drone Footage Of Lake Untersee, Antarctica

by Keith CowingJanuary 14, 2021April 14, 2024

Dale Andersen: A quick video tour of Lake Untersee using drone footage I captured including views of our camp, a drive across the lake from our camp to the pressure […]

Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Icy Worlds, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Oceans Without Oxygen

by Keith CowingDecember 17, 2020December 4, 2022

With no dissolved oxygen to sustain animals or plants, ocean anoxic zones are areas where only microbes suited to the environment can live. “You don’t get big fish,” said UC […]

Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Discovery Transforms Understanding Of Hydrogen Depletion At The Seafloor

by Keith CowingAugust 11, 2020August 14, 2022

The discovery of hydrothermal vents – where volcanoes at the seafloor produce hot fluid exceeding 350 degrees Celsius, or 662 degrees Fahrenheit, fundamentally changed our understanding about Earth and life […]

Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Hundreds Of Hydrothermal Chimneys Discovered On The Seafloor Off The Pacific Northwest

by Keith CowingMay 8, 2020August 14, 2022

At the Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, about 350 kilometers (220 miles) northwest of Washington State, the seafloor is ripping apart. Magma beneath the seafloor heats water […]

A view of a hydrothermal vent at the Main Endeavour Field on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, snapped from the submersible Alvin. -- WHOI

Away Teams & Field Reports, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report

Draft Genomes of Two Unique Bacteria

by Keith CowingApril 7, 2020April 12, 2024

Two research teams supported in part by the NASA Astrobiology Program have published draft genome sequences of unique types of bacteria isolated from natural environments.

Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving

Autonomous Nereid Under Ice Robotic Explorer Operates In The Aegean Sea

by Keith CowingFebruary 6, 2020

Astrobiologists supported in part by the NASA Astrobiology Program have used autonomous technology to robotically explore the Kolumbo submarine volcano off the coast of Greece’s Santorini Island. Kolombo sits 500 […]

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Cryobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

BRUIE Aquatic Rover Goes for a Drive Under the Ice

by Keith CowingNovember 18, 2019May 11, 2024

A little robotic explorer will be rolling into Antarctica this month to perform a gymnastic feat — driving upside down under sea ice.

An illustration of an early concept of Shapeshifter imagines the robots on Saturn's moon Titan. In the picture, the Shapeshifter breaks into smaller pieces that can investigate a methane waterfall from the sky. Shapeshifter is a developing concept for a transformational vehicle to explore treacherous, distant worlds. The flying amphibious robot is part of the early-stage research program NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC), which offers several phases of funding to visionary concepts, helping turn ideas that sound like science fiction into science fact. JPL Principle Investigator Ali Agha envisions Shapeshifter as a mission to Saturn's moon Titan, the only other world in the solar system known to have liquid in the form of methane lakes, rivers and seas on its surface.

Exploration Gear & Tech, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Saturn, Titan

NASA Is Designing Shapeshifting Robots for Saturn’s Moons

by Keith CowingSeptember 25, 2019June 13, 2024

Mini robots that can roll, fly, float and swim, then morph into a single machine? Together they form Shapeshifter, a developing concept for a transformational vehicle to explore treacherous, distant […]

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

NASA Study Reproduces Origins Of Life On The Ocean Floor

by Keith CowingFebruary 25, 2019December 4, 2022

Scientists have reproduced in the lab how the ingredients for life could have formed deep in the ocean 4 billion years ago. The results of the new study offer clues […]

Mars, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving

Strategic Investments in Instrumentation and Facilities for Extraterrestrial Sample Curation and Analysis

by Keith CowingDecember 20, 2018August 16, 2022

NASA’s investment in new instruments to analyze extraterrestrial samples is insufficient to provide for replacement of existing instruments, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and […]