Clayoquot Sound Expeditions

Today's NASA Image

Test Stand A-2 Peering Out from the Fog

At Stennis Space Center, three large engine test stands were built the early 1960s to test the first and second stages of the Apollo Saturn V rocket that carried Americans to the moon. Since 1975, the test stands have supported testing of the Space Shuttle main engines. The last planned test was conducted in July of 2009. In this photo, the A-2 Test Stand peered out from a thick blanket of fog during the early morning hours of Oct. 28, 2009. This photo was taken from the top of the B Test Stand. The A-1 and A-2 test stands are transitioning to support J-2X engine testing for the Constellation Program, while the B-1/B-2 test stand will support stage testing. For the first time since the 1960s, a new test stand, called A-3, is under construction with a scheduled completion date of 2011. The A-3 test stand will be 300 feet tall and will enable engineers to conduct simulated high-altitude testing up to 100,000 feet. Photo Credit: NASA/SSC/Allen Forsman, Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne
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We are in our eigth year exploring the waters and sediments of Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia. This beautiful region is a perfect testbed for many of our research ideas.

Check out the Tofino Botanical Gardens and their wonderful Research Station
For more information about the region, check out the ‘Friends of Clayoquot Sound‘ website (not affiliated with us)

Clayoquot Sound, and its sister sound to the South-East, Barkley Sound, consist of a series of glacially-carved fjords with rivers at their heads and shallow sills at their oceanic ends. Both Effingham Inlet (Barkley Sound) and Tofino Inlet (Clayoquot Sound) have anoxic basins at their heads.

We have evaluated the water column for its plankton and bacterial growth, and the sediments forr their organic carbon preservation. Manuscripts from this work are available on our publications page (Nuwer et al., submitted and Evans et al., submitted).