NASA Fieldwork in Iceland: Team Atomic

Team Atomic trekked deep into Iceland’s landscapes in search of geothermal activity that could help unlock secrets about Mars. Their mission was to hunt for both relic and newly formed geothermal vent deposits and then compare those features to what the Perseverance rover is seeing on the Martian surface.

The first days began with scouting hikes, weighing which locations offered ideal work conditions while still being accessible on foot. Overcast skies and steady rain forced pauses early in the week and complicated sampling from Lake Kleifarvatn, which required wading into the water and retrieving promising samples by hand from the lake floor.

The scouting paid off with the discovery of Engjahver, an unexpected geothermal site that became an ideal research location; every piece of gear had to be carried in and out of the site daily.

Iceland, Lake Kleifarvatn

nasa, team atomic, iceland, mars, perseverance rover, geothermal vents, lake kleifarvatn, engjahver, fieldwork, sampling