Remember me? The adorable little teddy bear that sent you e-mails from Antarctica back in December? Well I've been invited by a friend of Allan Miller's (Dan Wray from Indiana) from the NASA Network of Educator Astronaut Teachers to join the Spacebound Mojave expedition that will be taking place beginning next week in Zzyyxx, California. We'll be teaming up with NASA astrobiology scientists looking at understanding similar questions to some of those that we explored in Antarctica - specifically how life can survive in extreme environments. If you'd like to follow along with us, I will be maintaining another website which is: http://mojavechippy.squarespace.com/journal/
Besides the desert I will be traveling with Dan's family for a bit - check out my blog for a little latitude / longitude challenge to see if you can figure out all the awesome places I'm going to be able to visit. The entire expedition also has an overall website which is http://quest.nasa.gov/projects/spacewardbound/mojave2007/info.html
There are also some pretty cool polar expeditions happening right now and over the next month that might also be of interest - of course I won't be going along (I have had plenty of opportunity to explore the Arctic) but thought you might be interested in these as well.
(1) Snowstar 2007 - Barrenlands traverse: http://www.barrenlands.org/MainPage.html
This is a 3500 mile snowmachine adventure crossing the Arctic from Fairbanks to the Hudson Bay - this is underway right now and has a pretty cool website tracking their expedition.
(2) PolarTREC SEDNA Arctic Expedition: http://www.polartrec.com/expeditions/sedna-beaufort-sea-ice
Teacher Robert Harris and researcher Cathleen Geiger will join an international team of scientists on the SEDNA project, working north of Alaska on the drifting pack ice of the Beaufort Sea.
(3) Live from the Poles Expedition 1 to Ice Camp Borneo very near the North Pole: http://polardiscovery.whoi.edu/expedition1/index.html
The Polar Discovery team will document scientists working at an ice camp at the North Pole beginning April 18. Through daily stories, photos, and videos, Polar Discovery will give you an inside look as researchers battle temperatures plunging to 30 below zero to take the pulse of the climate at the top of the world.
It was great working with all of you during the Oden expedition - and I hope that you will follow along with me on my next trip and these other opportunities!
On behalf of Mrs. Chippy II Allan Miller, NSF Office of International Science and Engineering Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow Room 935, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22230 (703) 292-4722 office (703) 292- 9067 fax