Drucella Andersen
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                        September 15, 1992
(Phone:  202/453-8613)

Michael Mewhinney
Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif.
(Phone:  415/604-3937)


RELEASE:  92-147

NASA-DEVELOPED "TELEPRESENCE" KEY TO ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION

	NASA scientists will use "telepresence" technology in the
Antarctic this fall to see if life that existed millions of years ago
on Earth can provide clues about organisms that once may have lived on
Mars.

	A 5-member research team will travel to Antarctica in October to study
sediment on the bottom of ice-covered Lake Hoare on Ross Island.  They will
examine the physical and biological nature of the lake, including its
temperature, chemical composition and the gas content of the water. The key
research tool will be a mini-submarine mounting a camera that researchers
will control with a video headset.

	"Antarctica is the most Mars-like environment on Earth," said Dr. Carol
Stoker, a scientist and expedition member from NASA's Ames Research
Center, Mountain View, Calif.  "We're taking this technology to a hostile
environment to conduct research that has direct applications to NASA's goal
of exploring Mars."

	The team also plans to continue studies of ice-covered lakes started
earlier this year during a joint NASA-Russian expedition in the Bunger Hills
Oasis of Eastern Antarctica.  That study was part of Ames' research into
microbes living in extreme environments.

	The telepresence technology relies on a video headset that lets
researchers use head movements to point the camera on the underwater
vehicle.  Team members will steer the vehicle by remote control with
joysticks or body motion.

	"There are lots of work going on in the Silicon Valley using
telepresence in various engineering applications," Stoker said. "But we are
the only ones using this technology for field science."

	The 2-month expedition is a joint NASA-National Science Foundation
project.  Team leader is Dr. Robert Wharton, a scientist from the Desert
Research Institute at the University of Nevada.  Other team members are Dr.
Scott Tyler of the Desert Research Institute and Ames researchers Stoker,
Dale Andersen and Don Barch.

	The Telepresence-Controlled Remotely Operated Vehicle was built by
Deep Ocean Engineering Inc., San Leandro, Calif.

-end-

NOTE TO EDITORS:  A video clip is available to media by calling 202/453-8594.
Still photos to illustrate this release are available by calling 202/453-8373.

		  Color:                            B&W:
		  92-HC-598                         92-H-653