Just back from Hawaii

 We just came back from the Big Island of Hawaii where we were shooting for an upcoming episode.  We had a great time, but what a long flight!  We shot some testing that NASA is doing with the volcanic soil there.  It turns out that the volcanic soil in Hawaii is very similar to what we expect to find on the moon.  In this testing, researchers were actually extracting oxygen and water out of the soil.  With this technology, astronauts will not have to bring all of there oxygen and water with them, they can just make it there!  Who knows, this technology may be able to help drought stricken places back here on Earth too.  It amazes me every day what the hard working people at NASA can do to help out world.

We also shot on top of Mauna Kea at 13,700 ft, because the worlds largest collection of telescopes are up there.  We also did a short piece at Volcanoes National Park to find out how NASA is helping us better understand volcanoes.  You can check out our pictures from this trip here: 
http://community.webshots.com/user/nasa360

Kilawaea
Photo: Courtesy of a fan

7 thoughts on “Just back from Hawaii”

  1. Ben,
    The hand gesture signifies “hang loose”, which is what we were doing after we filmed quickly in front of the volcano. When we arrived it was very misty and overcast. We had a small window of time to film when the weather broke. Shortly before dark we filmed in a lava tube after traversing through a rain forest. Jennifer and Johnny did a great job in a short amount of time with the light fading and a tired and hungry crew. Look for the Hawaii program in a month or two. We’ll be posting a program we filmed at Moses Lake, Washington shortly. Thanks for writing and check out our new photo page at
    http://community.webshots.com/user/NASA360.

    Talk to you soon.

    Mike

  2. A recent post from a user:

    ******

    On Dec 12, 2008 06:14:55 PM Lucille Green wrote:

    NASA is really educating me on things about nature I never really knew about.

    Now I’m trying to read as much as a can about NASA and the adventures.

    Well, I haven’t been to Hawaii, but I’m sure the first thing i will want to test when i go there is how the soil feels, so i can have a feel of the moon.

    Thanks for educating me.

    All the best!

    Lucille Green

    ******

    Folks, let me take this opportunity to explain something about the rules that bind NASA blogs.

    When you post your name with a link to… well, just about anything non-NASA, we are required to decline the post for the blog. We cannot edit your posts, we must either take them or leave them in their entirety.

    Ms. Green, for example, had a link associated with her name. Otherwise, her post was wonderful. Normally, I would have simply grimaced and tossed the post, but I decided to ‘recreate’ her post as a way to illustrate the rules on blogs.nasa.gov.

    We don’t like it any more than you do, but this is a non-negotiable rule for us.

    Please, please try to remove all links from posts you submit to the NASA 360 blog and any other blog on blogs.nasa.gov.

    Thanks.

  3. Ditto for Ben…

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    On Nov 28, 2008 08:49:09 AM Ben Dixon wrote:

    Looking forward to it too! What’s the significance of the hand gestures?

    P.S. I’m so jealous of you guys and the work you get to do.

    Ben Dixon

  4. …and TW

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    On Dec 01, 2008 07:30:01 PM TW Jackson wrote:

    the soil in hawaii is similar to the moon?! Could that have anything to do with the theory that the moon and the earth were once one before breaking off during orbit?

    TW Jackson

  5. On Mar 06, 2009 09:43:10 PM Mark wrote:
    So you guys were at 13,700 feet? Did you climb up there? I was at Longs Peak in Estas Park, Colorado – didn’t reach the summit, but I was up around 13,000 feet. I did hike up there. However, I drove up Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs and when I reached the summit – I was at 14,258 feet.

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