Additionally while there, Art, for purposes of education and mission awareness will be making update calls to Chicago from his Iridium Satellite phone, taking digital stills as well as video with his handheld HD camera. These calls will be archived on this site and can be found at this link.

The following information was provided by Marty Kress, Executive Director of the Von Braun Institute for Science & Innovation regarding the Tawani 2011 International Antarctic Expedition:

The 2011 TAWANI INTERNATIONAL ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION is derived from a prior Tawani Foundation funded, collaborative environmental conservation research project that was broadly focused on the lakes, soils and ice of the Schirmacher and Untersee Oases ecosystems in Queen Maud Land Antarctica.

The investment in dialog between our team and those that help place us into the field made a tremendous difference with respect to our ultimate success. It goes without saying that camaraderie such as this is one of the most important aspects of formulating a successful research effort to an extremely remote setting. In addition to having expedition members with superb scientific backgrounds, success in the field requires an enormous amount of teamwork and coordination. It is the confluence of this enabling camaraderie along with the successful application of the previous logistics lessons and knowledge gained from our scientific results that we wish to build upon in this new and highly focused project. The pieces are all in place to ensure the successful execution of the 2011 Tawani Antarctic Expedition.

Results from our work will provide new constraints on the characteristics of early organisms by creating a framework to identify microbial behaviors from the rock record. They will lead to insights into the co-evolution of microbial communities and the interactions within these communities. Specifically, results from the proposed research will improve our understanding of the development and interpretation of macroscopic structures that affect chemical transport and gradients within microbial communities. As a secondary benefit, model development and exploration will provide a means to identify and study specific structures that might be uniquely biological. Long term, this line of research will provide a more rigorous intellectual framework for evaluating potential macroscopic morphological biosignatures in the search for life elsewhere in the solar system.

The principal focus of the proposed 2011 Tawani International Antarctic Project, will be to move beyond our initial discoveries and observations and to concentrate our studies on the benthic microbial mats, particularly the large conical stromatolites, the smaller pinnacle mats, and how they form the observed structures.

Lake Untersee is a significant site of scientific interest and the comparisons we make between it and other polar lakes will lead to a much more comprehensive understanding of perennially ice-covered lakes on Earth and will further our appreciation for these very unique ecosystems

To learn more about Von Braun and the Robert A. Pritzker Center for Meteoritcs & Polar Studies at The Field Museum of Chicago, follow these links. The Field Museum, through the Robert A. Pritzker Center and the Polar Expedition Fund will partner with Von Braun on the coordination of the Tawani 2011 Antarctic Expedition.

To learn more about Art Mortvedt, visit Polar Flight 90 and read the recent article in Cessna Magazine.

Astrobiology Magazine, September 2009. Laser-induced Fluorescence Emission (L.I.F.E. at Lake Untersee, Antarctica). Authors: Michael C. Storrie-Lombardi and Brigit Sattler

The ices of Earth’s polar regions and high mountains, once seen as sterile, harsh environments too poor in nutrients and liquid water to sustain life, are now known to harbor rich, complex microbial communities in the ice ecosystems of alpine and polar lakes, sea ice, glacier ice, and even ice of supercooled cloud droplets. The combination of dust, water, organic matter, sunlight, and life results in a tiny microcosm that derives liquid water and usable energy from the Sun, accumulations known as cryoconites. Cryoconite assemblages and their icy habitat have been proposed as a model system for understanding the challenges microbial life would face on Earth or other planets early in their evolution. (To learn more about microbial life in Antarctica, please read the complete article).

Laser-Based Fluorescence Imaging Technique Has Implications for Detecting Microbial Life Forms in Martian Ice

New Rochelle, NY, September 30, 2009–An innovative technique called L.I.F.E. imaging used successfully to detect bacteria in frozen Antarctic lakes could have exciting implications for demonstrating signs of life in the polar regions of Mars, according to an article published in the current issue of Astrobiology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com). The article is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/ast

Michael Storrie-Lombardi, PhD, from Kinohi Institute (Pasadena, CA), and Birgit Sattler, PhD, from the University of Innsbruck, Austria, used laser-induced fluorescence emission (L.I.F.E.) imaging to detect red and infrared fluorescence activity produced by cyanobacteria present in the ice of frozen Antarctic lakes. This noninvasive technique does not destroy individual target organisms or disrupt the structure of microbial communities or the surrounding ice matrix. The authors’ work, described in the article “Laser-Induced Fluorescence Emission (L.I.F.E.): In Situ Nondestructive Detection of Microbial Life in the Ice Covers of Antarctic Lakes” was conducted as part of the 2008 Tawani International Expedition to Schirmacher Oasis and Lake Untersee in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica.

This L.I.F.E. technique, which required minimal, inexpensive, off-the-shelf equipment, demonstrated a promising, feasible strategy for detecting photosynthetic activity of microbes via orbital monitoring of ice formations on Earth, on Mars, and in frozen regions of planets in nearby star systems. The technique could also be employed by an interplanetary rover conducting on-site analyses and sample collection.

Astrobiology is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published 10 times a year in print and online. The Journal provides a forum for scientists seeking to advance our understanding of life’s origins, evolution, distribution, and destiny in the universe. A complete table of contents and a free sample issue may be viewed online at www.liebertpub.com/ast

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 60 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at www.liebertpub.com

Tawani Foundation was proud to partner with NASA, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute of the Russian Federation, Von Braun Center for Science & Innovation, and the Planetary Studies Foundation to fully fund an international expedition to Antarctica in search of extreme organisms.

Scientists and explorers hoped to discover a new species of extremophile, hardy life forms that exist and flourish in conditions too hostile for most known organisms. Discoveries of this nature will help scientists understand the limitations of life on Earth, and to prepare human explorers to search other worlds for signs of life in the universe.

The students of Blackhawk Elementary School in Freeport Illinois sent Flat Stanley with Mrs. Main to explore Cape Town South African and Antarctica.  Mrs. Main shared her adventures with the 2nd grade students to show where Flat Stanley had traveled.  This is an excellent way for the 2nd grade students to learn geography and science. Freeport High School Article.