The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) announced that the Deep Environmental Sample Processor (D-ESP) is being tested in MBARI’s test tank this week.
The test are being executed in preparation for a six-month deployment on the Monterey Advanced Research System (MARS) cabled observatory. With funding from NASA’s ASTEP program (Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring the Planets), the D-ESP will autonomously detect, sample, and process microorganisms on the seafloor and surrounding waters 891 meters (2,923 feet) below the surface of Monterey Bay.
The D-ESP is also being tested and refined for microbiological investigations. The goal is to deploy it in areas of intense geological and microbiological interest (such as the Juan de Fuca ridge) and to link the relationships between tectonic activity, fluid flow, and microbial flux from below the seafloor to overlaying waters.
[mappress] April 18, 2013; Image: MBARI