From Antarctica to Altadena: Jackson students do cross-continent science

A Jackson Elementary School student asks a question of planetary scientist Margarita Marinova (onscreen) at McMurdo Station in Antarctica Wednesday morning.

by Timothy Rutt

Science-minded fifith graders from Jackson Elementary School had a rare opportunity this morning to run a scientific test -- in Antarctica.

 

With a local computer, a Jackson student operates the drill in Antarctica via an internet connection.

Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, the students could talk to scientists at the McMurdo Station scientific outpost near the South Pole, and operate an experimental core sample drill set up at the base in real time.

 

Fifth grade teacher Linda Keavy said that the 37 students in her class had the opportunity thanks to connections they'd made with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  The drill, built by Honeybee Robotics, was operated by students in the classroom via an internet connection.

The core sample drill is being tested in Antarctica because, with the frigid temperatures and lack of liquid water, it most closely resembles the cold, dry conditions on Mars, said Margarita Marinova.  Marinova, a scientist specializing in Mars exploration, spoke to the students from Antarctica via a video Skype connection. 

The students could also ask questions of the team in Antarctica -- many of them about what it was like to live in such conditions.  

Marinova described McMurdo as "a little high-tech town in Antarctica," with 1,000 residents and commuting done by helicopter.

Gale Paulson of Honeybee Robotics was in Altadena, helping the students operate the drill remotely via a commercial GoToMyPC connection.  Paulson said that they hoped to send a version of the drill on a Mars mission in around 2020.

 

Jackson students -- surrounded by press -- listen to the Antarctica team explain how the drill will help them explore Mars.