MARS:Monterey Accelerated Research

System

What Is MARS?The Undersea Cable Observatory

• Allows scientists to monitor their instruments in real time 

 • Connects

equipment to a power supply

 • Sends data

instantaneously to researchers' computers

Components

1. Underwater Cable

2. Science Node

The Science Node• Trawl-Resistant Frame • Yellow flotation block • Two titanium cylinders

Experiments• Eye-In-The-Sea • ALOHA Mooring • Seafloor

Seismometer • Benthic Rover • Deep Sea

Environmental Sample Processor

Eye-In-The-Sea

• Sensitive camera that records bioluminescent sea creatures

 • Uses only red light for

illumination • Lures animals into

visibility

ALOHA Mooring

• Buoy, half-mile long cable, vertical profiler

 • Other instruments can be

attached to float • Constantly measures

salinity, temperature, oxygen, and backscatter in water column 

Seafloor Seismometer

• Part of 880 seismometer network

 • Sits West of San

Gregorio Fault, monitors Pacific plate

 • Gathers valuable

information about the earth's interior

Benthic Rover• Mobile lab that charts

deep-sea carbon cycles

 • Measures oxygen

levels in sediment • Can function up to a

year

Deep-Sea Environmental Sample Processor

• Robotic DNA lab that tests for new life forms

 • Contains all the chemicals,

computers, and containers of a full-size laboratory

 • Has to deal with the cold and

extreme pressure of the deep sea

History• MBARI put team together: University of

Washington, NASA, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute

 • NSA approved grant in September 2002

 • First Obstacle: drilling permits

 • Second Obstacle: the medium voltage power system

 • Finally put together on site in February 2008

 • Power connector on TRF failed after 20 minutes

 • Fully operational November 2008

The Future: Deep Sea Testbeds