Testing the Waters

Chief mate Dee Emrich (foreground) and other crew members of R/V Neil Armstrong watch a test of the ship’s new CTD handling system. The CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth) helps scientists analyze physical, chemical, and biological properties of the water, and the new handling system is designed to compensate for the ship’s vertical motion in an effort to keep the sensors as motionless as possible in the water column. Now members of the public can enter to win a behind-the-scenes tour of Neil Armstrong and WHOI this spring through the #GetOnBoard contest.(Photo by Ken Kostel, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)