Spaceward Bound Mojave 2008 NASA Expedition: Mars Astrobiology

May 26, 2008 | Mojave Desert 4/6/08-4/9/08, California | Vetting explained

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Through San Francisco State University's Center for Science and Mathematics Education (CSME), I was chosen to be the journalist for a new expeditionary learning program NASA and CSME collaborated to bring fourteen SFSU students, studying to be math or science teachers, on the Spaceward Bound Mojave 2008 expedition. From April 6th until the 9th, these pre-service teachers helped collect data for world-renowned planetary scientists (microbiologists, geologists,astrobiologists) working for NASA. Extreme environments was the theme, as NASA is looking to see how microbial life sustains and thrives under extreme environmental conditions. Though the Phoenix Lander's mission on Mars' arctic tundra is to collect soil and 'water ice,' in the future NASA hopes to use the data collected to uncover evidence of life (past or present). Data collected during the Spaceward Bound expeditions will be used to determine where and how to look for martian 'life' in the future. Read my full article about the expedition at: http://pulp.orangephotography.com/jennifer/?p=3 http://csme.sfsu.edu/index.html images by Jennifer Small

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