Hi all,

I've had the honor and privilege of spending the last week as part of the science team for the 2010 NASA Desert RATS test, where NASA is testing geologic field operations using its two prototype lunar exploration rovers in a volcanic field north of Flagstaff, Arizona. It has been a truly remarkable experience - I've been part of the "geologic back room", and my job has been to run the imaging acquisition and documentation systems for both the rover traverses and the crew EVAs (extravehicular activities - i.e., simulations of space walks), and I'm going to be part of the strategic science planning team for the next couple of nights.

The rovers are quite remarkable vehicles - if you want to see something about them and about the Desert RATS test, you can go to http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/anal...sert_rats.html

The publicity people decided that they wanted to do a live interview with me for NASA TV about what I'm doing, and the interview is folded into a half hour program that's viewable on the web. The whole program is great and will give you a feel for the rovers and the testing we've been doing. If you want to see what I had to say, it starts at about 17:40 into the program at the following link:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/9473544

Barb