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Visiting Mission Control

July 5, 2018

Senior Engineering Assistant Brian Kelly and Senior Financial Analyst Kim Sargent give elementary school students from the Mullen-Hall School a tour of the Coleman and Susan Burke Ocean Operations Room in WHOI’s Laboratory for Ocean Sensors and Observing Systems. WHOI ocean glider pilots use the computers in this room to monitor the location and status of gliders “flying” in the ocean thousands of miles away, collecting data for the Ocean Observatories Initiative. The gliders are equipped with sensors to measure a variety of seawater characteristics, such as temperature, salinity, and currents. The gliders’ path are pre-programmed, but pilots can “talk” to the vehicles via Iridium satellite to adjust course. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)