ASTEP News and Status

SSL visits Woods Hole Oceangraphic Institute

22-23 January 2004

Members of the SSL ASTEP team traveled to Woods Hole, Massachusetts for two days of technical exchanges with the engineers and scientists from the Woods Hole Oceangraphic Institute. Below is a picture of the group on the ice (not Arctic ice) off the coast of Woods Hole, Massachusetts (click on the picture for a larger image).

(pictured from left to right: Dave Hart, Dr. Hanumant Singh, Walt Smith, Brian Roberts, Celeste Fowler, Dr. Dave Akin, Dr. Ella Atkins, Jean-Marc Henriette, Dr. Craig Carignan, Dr. Rob Reves-Sohn)

Space Systems Laboratory receives NASA Astrobiology Science and Technology Experiment Program (ASTEP) research grant

January 2004

The Space Systems Laboratory received an Astrobiology Science and Technology Experiment Program (ASTEP) award from NASA valued at $3,075,094 over three years. NASA will use the laboratory's space robotics technology to build a dexterous robot arm for deep submergence activities. This manipulator will be integrated onto the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institutes's SeaBed autonomous underwater vehicle, which will be sent under the Arctic ice cap to examine and sample marine life around hydrothermal vents at a depth of 4,000 meters. NASA is sponsoring this project as a terrestrial analogue to biological investigation of other bodies, such as Mars and Europa.

The University's School of Engineering noted the award on their web site:
Aerospace Engineering Department receives NASA Astrobiology Science and Technology Experiment Program (ASTEP) research grant