Pictures from the Desert

As the title suggests, I'm going to keep the words at a minimum this time around. The trip to Arizona to drop in on the Desert RATS 2007 activities was cool; they are working on some awesome stuff for us to use when we go back to the moon. Everybody on the team was wonderful, the scenery was beautiful, and they even let me drive one of the moon cars. It was also a great place to break in my new camera a little more. Myca spent the day in the safety of the tent. Unfortunately I did not have a good chance for a photo op with her, but she enjoyed the trip as well. These are the kinds of things we got to see:
















There were a number of photographers out there during our visit. NASA TV and the NASA Digital Learning Network both had tents set up, and later in the afternoon the team was paid a visit by the guys with NASA Edge. So, it was busy around the test site, but it was fun. We also went out for a look at where they did similar testing for the Apollo program. There may not be trees or blue skies, but outings like this are what will make sure our next visit to the Moon is successful. My role may be small, but I am privileged to have it.

Leaving for the Desert

Tomorrow morning I will be visiting the Desert Research and Technology Studies (Desert RATS) field activity taking place in Cinder Lake, Arizona. This NASA team goes into the desert for two weeks every September to test robots, space suits, communication technologies and other equipment somewhere that's more like space. Our visit is on media day this year, so there will be some neat tests going on for the reporters that come out to visit.

The Desert RATS team is also doing a webcast tomorrow on the NASA Digital Learning Network for students across the country. I won't be on camera since I'm just there to watch too, but if you can tune in definitely check it out.

Here are some pictures from when I got to visit in 2005. The dirt everywhere is orange because we were pretending to be on Mars that year. It's the closest I think I'll ever get to that planet.


I am very excited to see the things this group is working on for our return to the Moon and to spend a day bouncing around in the grey dirt with them. It's going to be awesome!