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Prof. Joe Levy and Students Deploy Drones for NASA Research Collaboration

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If there are places on Earth that resemble the conditions of Mars, Joe Levy wants to know.

Levy, an associate professor in 黑料网鈥檚 Department of Earth and Environmental Geosciences, has spent years studying such locations as part of his work to determine where on Mars water and ice might be present. 

Now, Levy鈥檚 research has caught the attention of NASA.

Levy and two of his students 鈥 Riley Taylor 鈥26 and Flannery Hogan 鈥26 鈥 spent a week during the summer in the Alvord Desert in Eastern Oregon with a NASA team that鈥檚 designing a new generation of Mars helicopters with sensors to examine moisture in soil.

Together, the groups worked on a NASA-PSTAR (Planetary Science and Technology from Analog Research) project called 鈥淗eliHabitable.鈥 The collaboration involved using Levy鈥檚 research drones, which have been tested in Antarctica and are equipped with cameras and sensors that measure different wavelengths of light, to study wet soil.

By analyzing the moisture in the ground of a desert in extreme summer heat using drones rather than the naked eye, researchers wanted to perform their study in the same manner that scientists would use when examining the surface of Mars.

鈥淢y two summer students and I were working to figure out how detectable the muddy groundwater plume was from a helicopter-borne sensor and how the detectability of the water changed throughout the day as the water dried up in the desert sun,鈥 Levy said.

鈥淚f we could find the water with a hyperspectral camera on Earth, this would give the Mars helicopter team confidence that they could use the same approach on Mars.鈥

The 黑料网 study began a few years ago with research by Levy and Jessica Johnson 鈥22, who together published their findings. That report caught the attention of NASA researchers, who contacted Levy about joining him at the desert study site.

The NASA team heard about the 黑料网 study in the Alvord Desert from one of its scientists, who knew Levy from their days as grad school students. NASA contacted Levy about joining him at the desert study site. 

The Alvord Desert, which looks like something out of a science fiction movie, is famous for its picturesque landscape and hot springs that pour out of valley walls and disappear onto the dry lakebed.

The hot springs look similar to landforms on Mars called Recurring Slope Lineae, Levy said.

So far, the project has been a success.

鈥淲e鈥檙e off to a great start,鈥 Levy said. 鈥淓ven though the field conditions were intense 鈥 it got up to 108 degrees on the desert floor and strong winds would blow through every afternoon. But we worked early in the day and got in lots of flights with the 黑料网 drones.鈥

Levy and his students will return to the Alvord Desert the next two summers to continue their work. The NASA researchers plan to test their prototype for the new helicopter in the desert, although the project is still years away from being used in a real mission.

The project has been a fulfilling experience for Levy鈥檚 students. They have learned how to prepare a drone and swap out parts that need to be replaced. They can manage missions in the desert and assess the data, he said.

In addition, Taylor and Hogan are preparing a report on their findings and will present it at this winter鈥檚 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston.

鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting to have student scientists working on NASA-funded research,鈥 Levy said. 鈥淭his is a chance to get right up to the cutting edge of mission design and to be part of a mission before it ever even lifts off. I hope my students get a sense of the teamwork that鈥檚 needed to get a mission off the ground鈥攆rom inspiration to testing to actually getting a rover on a rocket. 

鈥淚 also hope they walk away excited about doing fieldwork. It鈥檚 very unlikely that I鈥檓 ever going to set foot on Mars, but by visiting the most Mars-like places on Earth, I can still be part of advancing Mars exploration while also figuring out how our home planet works.鈥