NASA astronaut Don Pettit, who BB readers might remember conducted some kooky-fun experiments aboard the International Space Station, is now in Antarctica where he'll be doing more of his "Saturday Morning Science" experiments for the public. He's a guest on a six-week expedition searching for meteorites. From Science@NASA, the excellent newsletter that will document Pettit's experiments:
"There will be some spare time during our search," (Pettit says.) "We'll have tent days, days where the weather is so bad we have to stay in our Scott tents. From past history, this will probably happen one day a week. So what do you do when bad weather confines you to an 8 foot square tent whose basic design has not changed since 1920?”
"I plan to continue my Saturday Morning Science that I started on the space station four years ago. I have a microscope, a centrifuge, cameras and other gear for all kinds of scientific investigations.”
A selected list: Don plans to make a census of microbes in the upper layers of Antarctic ice. He's going to capture and photograph south-polar snowflakes and study their structure. He'll use his centrifuge to separate space dust from melted ice–and so on.
Link (Thanks, Paul Saffo!)
