2021 Technology Demonstration
Past Expedition
Overview
From May 14-27, 2021, NOAA Ocean Exploration will lead the 2021 Technology Demonstration on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer from Cape Canaveral, Florida, to Norfolk, Virginia. The expedition provides an opportunity to test several technologies that will allow the ocean exploration community to explore deeper, farther, and more comprehensively than previously possible. Expeditions like this are vital for the advancement of ocean exploration technologies that will benefit partners and the broader field of ocean exploration alike in our collective mission to explore, map, and understand the vast ocean realm.
Features
From May 14-27, 2021, NOAA Ocean Exploration led the 2021 Technology Demonstration aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer as it sailed from Cape Canaveral, Florida, to Norfolk, Virginia. The expedition provided the opportunity to scope the potential for expanded NOAA Ocean Exploration sampling operations and to test technology that may one day enable the ocean exploration community to systematically, explore hadal depths.
August 18, 2021
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May 20, 2021
During the 2021 Technology Demonstration, we will be collecting water samples to detect environmental DNA, also known as “eDNA,” throughout the water column. eDNA is the genetic material that organisms leave behind in their environment (for example, in sediment or water). By collecting and analyzing this genetic material left behind, species can be identified within an environment without scientists ever having to see them. eDNA has many applications and is widely used at NOAA.
May 19, 2021
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If there is any place on Earth that can be considered terra (or more accurately, aqua) incognita, it is the ocean’s hadal zone. Named after Hades, the Greek god of the underworld, the hadal zone extends from a depth of 6,000 to 11,000 meters (3.7 to 6.8 miles). It is made up primarily of widely separated ocean trenches and troughs that together occupy an area about half the size of Australia, but new regions of hadal seafloor are still being discovered.
May 19, 2021
From May 14-27, 2021 NOAA Ocean Exploration will lead the 2021 Technology Demonstration on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer from Cape Canaveral, Florida, to Norfolk, Virginia. The expedition provides an opportunity to test several technologies that will allow the ocean exploration community to explore deeper, farther, and more comprehensively than previously possible. Expeditions like this are vital for the advancement of ocean exploration technologies that will benefit partners and the broader field of ocean exploration alike in our collective mission to explore, map, and understand the vast ocean realm.
May 4, 2021
Orpheus is both the new class of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) capable of reaching the ocean’s greatest depths and the first vehicle of the class. Two identical Orpheus AUVs were built in 2018, named Orpheus and Eurydice after the famous pair from Greek mythology who adventured through the depths of Hades.
May 4, 2021
The NOAA Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute (OECI) is one of 20 NOAA Cooperative Institutes, each of which is made up of academic and non-profit research institutions that demonstrate the highest level of performance and conduct research that supports NOAA's mission goals and Strategic Plan.
May 4, 2021
For a long time, planetary scientists thought Earth’s ocean was unique in the solar system. After all, Earth is the only planet that orbits our sun in the “Goldilocks Zone” that is neither too hot, nor too cold, for liquid water to exist on the surface. For that reason, astrobiologists have looked to exoplanets — planets circling other stars — for signs of oceans like our own that might harbor extraterrestrial life in order to answer one of the oldest questions humans have asked: “Are we alone in the universe?”
May 4, 2021
The lack of GPS on Mars forced NASA engineers to come up with a new method of wayfinding to support critical activities during the current Mars 2020 mission. Instead of signals from satellites in orbit, they used features on the surface of the planet as the basis of a vision-based system known as Terrain Relative Navigation.
April 29, 2021
Multimedia
Featured multimedia assets associated with this project.
Education
Our Learn & Discover page provides the best of what the NOAA Ocean Exploration website has to offer to support educators in the classroom during this expedition. Each theme page includes expedition features, lessons, multimedia, career information, and associated past expeditions. Below are related top education themes for this expedition.
Meet the Exploration Team
Learn more about the team members and their contributions to this project.
Video Engineer, Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration
Orpheus Engineer, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
eDNA Lead, NOAA Ocean Exploration
Biologist, NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center
Mapping Watch Lead, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Expedition Coordinator in Training, NOAA Ocean Exploration
Resources & Contacts
Media Contacts
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NOAA Ocean Exploration
Emily Crum
Communications Specialist
Email Address: emily.crum@noaa.gov -
NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations
David Hall
Public Affairs Officer
Email Address: david.l.hall@noaa.gov -
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Ken Kostel
Director of Research Communications
Email Address: kkostel@whoi.edu -
Suzanne Pelisson
Media Relations
Email Address: spelisson@whoi.edu -
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Ian O’Neill
Media Relations Specialist for Robotics
Office: (978) 281-9175
Email: ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov