Posts by Ken Kostel
Alvin and the shipwreck (not that shipwreck)
Notes on the plan of Quest based on observations by the remotely operated vehicle help guide Alvin pilots over the wreck on the seafloor. (Photo by Ken Kostel, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) Alvin is perhaps best known to the public as the sub that first explored the wreck of Titanic. It might come as…
Read MoreHuman-occupied submersible Alvin certified to return to service
U.S. Navy certification permits the sub to resume operations to 6,500 meters after a routine overhaul. Read more >
Read MoreRobot Rescues!
ROV Jason assists in the recovery of three autonomous research platforms—two of which were unplanned—during the Visions 23 expedition to the Ocean Observatories Initiative Regional Cabled Array. Read more >
Read MoreMission accomplished!
The PROTATAX23 Science Team and members of the Jason Team on deck of R/V Thomas Thompson. (Photo by Thompson AB Elena Wisecarver, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) The numbers and teamwork that made PROTATAX23 a success The dives are over, samples are stowed in freezers, Jason is strapped to the deck, and R/V Thomas Thompson…
Read MoreVolcanos, vents, and creatures of the deep, oh my (Part 2)
Jason uses an isobaric gas-tight (IGT) sampler to collect fluids flowing from a hydrothermal vent in the Pacific that supplies chemicals supporting lush, vibrant ecosystems. (hoto courtesy of Stefan Sievert, WHOI/NSF/ROV Jason, 2014) The ROV Jason Teams’s most memorable dives The Jason Team knows regions of the ocean floor like other people might know…
Read MoreVolcanos, vents, and creatures of the deep, oh my (Part 1)
In 2015, Jason explored the inside of the Havre volcano on the seafloor near New Zealand. (Photo courtesy of Dan Fornari and S. Adam Soule, WHOI, and Rebecca Carey, Univ. of Tasmania/NSF/WHOI-MISO) The ROV Jason Teams’s most memorable dives The Jason Team knows regions of the ocean floor like other people might know paths…
Read MoreDeep-sea access is more important than ever
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Postdoctoral Fellow Bonnie Teece working with a major water sampler after a Jason dive. These samplers, invented after the discovery of hydrothermal vents, are capable of sampling vent fluid are places where water temperatures in exceed 400°C. (Photo by Hannah Piecuch, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) Q&A with NASA Jet Propulsion…
Read MoreOur eyes and hands on the seafloor
WHOI Associate Scientist Maria Pachiadaki with her instrument miniSID, which can perform experiments at hydrothermal vents while on the seafloor. (Photo by Hannah Piecuch ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) Q&A with WHOI marine microbiologist Maria Pachiadaki on sampling the deep ocean with Jason WHOI Associate Scientist Maria Pachiadaki studies the deep ocean, focusing on zones…
Read MoreThe team is everything
Jason Expedition Leader Chris Judge (left) acting as deck boss for a Jason deployment. Also pictured (left to right): R/V Thompson AB Kate Varberg and Jason Team members Hugh Poponoe, Akel Kevis-Sterling, and Antonella Wilby. (Photo by Hannah Piecuch, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) An interview with Jason Expedition Leader Chris Judge Chris Judge is…
Read MoreThe possibilities are endless
ROV Jason first impressions with early career scientists (Left to right): Texas A&M graduate student Kayla Nedd, WHOI Guest student and Scripps Institution of Oceanography postdoc Emilie Skoog, and Texas A&M graduate student Alexis Adams processing fluid samples just procured in the deep ocean. (Photo by Hannah Piecuch ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) Touching down When…
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