File:University Students Join NASA on Trip to Hawaiian Volcano (20159364000).jpg

March across pahoehoe

The team hikes across Kilauea’s lava fields to reach designated test sites. Several types of lava make up the fields, primarily smooth pahoehoe, which can harden into a ropy, shelly or slabby (pictured here) texture. Some of the most dangerous lava to walk on is a’a – unstable piles of jagged rock. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Jasmine Blennau

In June, five student journalists from Stony Brook University packed their hiking boots and hydration packs and joined a NASA-funded science team for 10 days on the lava fields of Kilauea, an active Hawaiian volcano. Kilauea’s lava fields are an ideal place to test equipment designed for use on Earth’s moon or Mars, because volcanic activity shaped so much of those terrains. The trip was part of an interdisciplinary program called RIS4E – short for Remote, In Situ, and Synchrotron Studies for Science and Exploration – which is designed to prepare for future exploration of the moon, near-Earth asteroids and the moons of Mars.

To read reports from the RIS4E journalism students about their experiences in Hawaii, visit ReportingRIS4E.com

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NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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