Field Trip to The Jet Propulsion Laboratory
We travel over to Catalina Island tomorrow to start the last phase of the course. We have finished the two rounds of rotations at California State University Fullerton. All of our samples have been analyzed and the data are coming in. We will have a lot of analysis to do once we get to the Wrigley Marine Science Center. Here is a video that includes footage from last year’s course and some of Catalina, just awesome.
BUT, before that, we headed to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory!
This is the plate/record (reproduction) on the side of the Voyager space craft.
Mars rover models, the evolution of size and mission.
This is mission control for all unmanned/robotic space operations. We were watching data come in from all over our solar system. So damn cool.
This is the spacecraft assembly room. They are putting together a satellite that will map soil moisture across the entire planet.
Deer stroll all over the facility. Proof.
This is the Mars yard, a playground for testing scenarios to predict performance of the mars rovers.
Kevin Hand is a Geobiology alumni, and now Deputy Chief Scientist, Solar System Exploration Directorate. He is showing us how the mars rover’s wheels are getting shredded on rocks of mars. Remarkably, they still provide sufficient thrust to stay functional.
Kevin Hand and I take a selfie with the Mars rover simulator. Eat your heart out Ellen!
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