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3.2.2.1

PLRP overview

The Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) (Lim et al., 2011) is a scientific investigation that also serves as a space flight analogue. It studies microbialites, unusual microbial structures, in mountain lakes in British Columbia (BC), Canada. PLRP was established in 2005. Starting in 2008 DeepWorkers, single-person submersibles, were used in addition to SCUBA and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) to explore the lake bottom. As in NEEMO, the underwater environment poses real challenges and risks, and the

submersibles are excellent stand-ins for spacecraft. The need to constantly monitor life support systems while performing other science duties such as sampling, photographing, etc. and at the same time piloting the submersible provides a high fidelity analogue to conducting science operations in hostile environments. The submersible pilots make science dives typically lasting three to six hours, in close communication with scientists in the boats that tracked the subs.

In 2011, an international and interdisciplinary team of researchers came together to investigate the biology and chemistry of Kelly Lake, BC with questions and hypotheses based on observations made at Pavilion Lake during previous seasons. Scientific

priorities included:

1. Map the distribution and characterize the morphology of the microbialites at Kelly Lake;

2. Measure the growth rates of the microbialites at Kelly Lake;

3. Characterize the microbial community (bacteria, viruses, algae) that live on/in the microbialites;

4. Identify processes that contribute to the formation of microbialites.

During this season different operational modes of a DeepWorker submersible were tested including real-time communication between the pilot and a science back-room team, and delayed communication, testing a 50 sec delay as simulation for an asteroid mission.

Different communications protocols were compared to maximize scientific return in a real science and exploration setting. Unlike NEEMO and Desert RATS, the space mission simulation was limited to the dive and did not continue during surface time or off-duty hours.

The following discussion is based on PLRP project that took place in Kelly Lake, BC, which was conducted in July 2011. Co-author M. Mader participated as a member of the science back-room team and as an observer of the operational science success metrics process.

3.2.2.2

PLRP field team composition

The field team for the science dives in PLRP 2011 included the submersible pilots (variously marine biologists and astronauts with and without scientific backgrounds). A science team composed of geologists and marine biologists were stationed in support ships and in a mission control trailer located in the town of Clinton, 15 km away from Kelly Lake. A submersible support team maintained the subs and their systems between missions.

3.2.2.3

PLRP 2011 field site

Kelly Lake is located near Clinton, BC, Canada at a latitude 51° 0'17" N and longitude 121°46'47" W. Meter-scale microbialites were noted in Kelly Lake during SCUBA exploration in the early years of the PLRP. The lake is 1283 m in length and 374 m in width, with an average depth of ~38 m.

3.2.2.4

Prior knowledge of PLRP 2011 field site

There were limited photographs of the floor of Kelly Lake prior to the 2011 field season, however, a microbialite facies distribution map was created using 3-D sonar mapping using AUVs (Gutsche and Trembanis, 2010; Trembanis et al., 2010). The resulting high- resolution (<1 m/pixel) maps of bathymetry, slope, rugosity (roughness), and backscatter, were used as the basemap for mission planning.

3.2.2.5

PLRP 2011 field work approach and activities

Flight paths for two DeepWorker submersibles were planned based on sonar data base maps. Three phases of field work were planned over the course of 7 days including, Phase 1: exploration and mapping (Figure 3-2), Phase 2: processing day and exploration of extra points of interest, and Phase 3: Detailed investigations and sampling. Data collected during each phase would influence the flight paths and detailed investigations of the subsequent phases.

During the exploration and mapping phase, the submersibles followed a contour path along the outside edge of the lake and a transect grid that covered the rest of the lake bottom (Figure 3-2). The goal was to obtain photographic and video coverage of the entire lake floor and thus the flights did not deviate much from their set paths. Data from these early flights helped determine exact locations and paths for detailed investigations and sampling. As pilots explored features of interest, they had more leeway in the flight plan to observe a specific area for extended periods of time or deviate from the flight path to observe an interesting feature in greater detail.

Each DeepWorker submersible was equipped with a video camera that recorded the dives. Pilots would vocalize observations while flying the submersible. Notable features were recorded by scientist observers listening to the commentary in a track boat

following the submersible topside and the science back-room team situated in a mission control room 15 km from the lake. The science back-room team was able to see live video feed from one submersible (Figure 3-3) and could also record their own

observations of the video feed in a specialized web-based software system termed xGDS (Deans et al., 2012). This system included applications that linked recorded notes by mission control observers to specific locations on a Google Earth map showing the traverse path and current location of the DeepWorker.

Figure 3-2: Reconnaissance flight paths of DeepWorker submersibles, Kelly Lake (Image credit: D. Lim, PLRP).

3.2.2.6

PLRP2011 communication plan

During the 2011 PLRP season two DeepWorker submersibles were used, one of which was connected to the surface control vessel with a fiber optic cable, and real-time voice and video data could be broadcast wirelessly to the science back-room team 15 km away. Similar to NEEMO XVI, this capability allowed different operational modes to be tested including real-time communication between submersible pilots and the science back- room team, and delayed communication, testing a 50 sec delay as simulation for an asteroid mission.

Figure 3-3: Back-room Science Team watching live video feed from a DeepWorker submersible in the Mission Control Center.