NDX-1 Testing in Antarctica

Equipment Testing

Testing of drills and related equipment. In this photo, Jon Rask, NASA Ames (left), Margarita Marinova, NASA Ames (center) and me.

Video of the landing at Marambio Base

This is a short video of the landing and downloading of cargo and personnel at Marambio Base, Antarctica.

Arrival to Marambio

The C-130 of the Argentine Air Force right after landing in Marambio, Antarctic Peninsula.

Arrival to Marambio

The C-130 of the Argentine Air Force right after landing in Marambio, Antarctic Peninsula.

Logo in Spanish

And the same logo in Spanish

From Rio Gallegos to Antarctica

In this photo, from right to left, Comodoro Perez, Argentine Air Force, Magarita Marinova, NASA Ames, Jon Rask, NASA Ames and Pablo de Leon, UND.

We left yesterday from Rio Gallegos to Antarctica on a C-130 Hercules. The same one that departed from Buenos Aires the day before. While the accomodations cannot be considered first class, the crew made the flight very enjoyable. It was smooth and without turbulence, and in four hours we were in Rio Gallegos. Spent the night there and the next day we departed for the Marambio Base, in the Antarctic Peninsula.

From Rio Gallegos to Antarctica

We left yesterday from Rio Gallegos to Antarctica on a C-130 Hercules. The same one that departed from Buenos Aires the day before. While the accomodations cannot be considered first class, the crew made the flight very enjoyable.

Logos for the Antarctic Project

Our testing in Antarctica was named "Mars in Marambio", being Marambio the name of the Antarctic base owned by Argentina, where the space suit testing will take place.
The logo of the project depicts the Southern Cross, the planet Mars, one of the Marambio base hangars and the NDX-1 space suit, along with the participating institutions, NASA, the University of North Dakota and the Argentine Air Force.

From Antarctica

We arrived yesterday to the Argentine's Marambio Base in the Antarctic Peninsula, and are waiting to start operations as soon as the weather improves. Winds of more than 70 miles per hour are not permitting operations outside, but we are confident that tomorrow we can start testing. Meanwhile we are preparing the gear, charging the batteries and enjoying life at the base.

NDX-1 Goes to Antarctica

Under a new research project in cooperation with NASA Ames Research Center we are getting ready to test sample collection techniques using the NDX-1 space suit, this time in Antarctica.
We will be publishing on this blog details of our trip.

NDX-2 Assembly at the UND Spacesuit Lab

Here are some preliminary photos of the NDX-2 during initial testing. In the pictures, Gary Harris, designer of the NDX-2 working with graduate student Lynn van Broock (Space Studies)and undergraduate student (Mechanical Engineering) Tyler Jacobson.