Image

Hello?

August 3, 2012

Even in the far north, scientists on research vessels maintain some, limited contact with home via email. This view from the bridge of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy shows the ship’s two satellite domes that transmit data and messages back to shore. During this particular cruise to the Bering Sea, scientists kept in regular contact via the Polar Discovery website about their daily activities and findings. Photos like this one were queued up to transmit at set intervals each day over the Inmarsat network. Smaller text-only messages went out almost instantly via the Iridium network.(Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution )