Darlene Lim

Last updated

Darlene Lim
Darlene Lim 2019.png
Lim in 2019
Born
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
NationalityCanadian
American [1]
Alma mater Queen's University at Kingston (BS)
University of Toronto (MS, PhD)
Known forNASA analog research
Scientific career
FieldsGeobiology
InstitutionsNASA Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley, California
Doctoral advisor Marianne Douglas
Other academic advisorsJohn Smol
Website www.darlenelimology.com
External media
Audio
Nuvola apps arts.svg "Darlene Lim", Science Friday
Nuvola apps arts.svg "Darlene Lim, SHAD '89 & AMES Research Center Scientist on CHML"
Video
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg "Dr. Darlene Lim – Geobiologist, NASA Ames – 20th Annual International Mars Society Convention"
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg "Darlene Lim – Looking For Life On Mars", IdeaCity2004

Darlene Sze Shien Lim is a NASA geobiologist and exobiologist who prepares astronauts for scientific exploration of the Moon, Deep Space and Mars. [2] Her expertise involves Mars human analog missions, in which extreme landscapes like volcanoes and Arctic deserts serve as physical or operational substitutes for various planetary bodies. [3] She has become a leading public figure for Mars exploration, having presented her missions publicly at academic institutions and public events around the world. She has also discussed her work for various media groups such as NPR, The New York Times , and The Washington Post . [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Background

Lim is a first-generation Canadian; [7] her parents emigrated from Singapore and she was born in Kingston, Ontario. [1] She grew up "spending time in the Canadian Rockies, and watching Jacques Cousteau on TV." [8] She studied biology at Queen's University at Kingston as an undergraduate, and graduated in 1994. She credited Professor John P. Smol for igniting her interest in limnology, the study of lakes and ponds. [1]

Lim subsequently completed a master's and doctoral degree in geology at the University of Toronto in 1999 and 2004 respectively. [9] She was already working on NASA-sponsored projects such as the Haughton–Mars Project, which involved studying the Arctic craters as simulated Martian environments. [10] She became a postdoctoral researcher with Christopher McKay at NASA Ames in 2004, [3] [11] [12] and later became a NASA staff scientist and project leader. [13] [14]

Public outreach

Lim has completed dozens of radio interviews with the CBC throughout her PhD. [15] From 2008 to 2009, Lim's work was part of POLAR-PALOOZA: Stories from a Changing Planet, a traveling exhibit sponsored by the NSF and NASA. [16] She was the lead guest on the NASA Ames podcast in 2016. [2] A profile of her Mars-simulation colony in Hawaiʻi (BASALT) appeared in the Chicago Tribune . [17] Lim appeared on the SAGANet/SpaceTV Ask an Astrobiologist! streaming program in 2017. [18] She appeared twice on the Science Friday radio hour in 2018, contributing a 25-minute segment about undersea volcanic exploration tuned in to by over a million listeners. [6] [19] Lim participated in the Frontiers for Life in Space panel at the MIT Media Lab. [20] [21] She was a judge in the HP "Home Mars" VR competition in 2018. [22] [23] In 2019, she will present the opening lecture of the newly renamed Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI). [24]

Volunteer service

Lim serves on the Ocean Exploration Advisory Board of NOAA. [25] She served as a Scientist-in-Residence at the government of Canada's "Marsville" program from 2000 to 2002. [26] [27] From 2009 to 2015, she served as co-chair of the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group Goal IV (Prepare for Human Exploration). [21] Lim founded the Haven House Family Shelter STEM Explorer's Speaker series, which enabled NASA and academic researchers to conduct education and outreach programs with shelter-based children in the San Francisco Bay Area. [28] [29]

Research and exploration

Lim has taken a decidedly nontraditional path, choosing government labs and public-facing space research over a traditional academic career. As an exobiologist, Lim has explored extreme environments worldwide, from Hawaiʻi [4] [30] and Florida to the Arctic [31] and Antarctic. [29] [32] By studying extreme habitats on earth, researchers like Lim hope to gain insights into conditions that human explorers might face on Mars or other planets. [33] The physical, mental, and operational demands involved in real field science and exploration, under extreme conditions, are comparable to those involved in space exploration missions, giving astronauts an opportunity to train as field scientists and develop and test team protocols and technology. [34]

In 2000, Lim was an inaugural crew member in the first-ever Mars simulated colony in the Arctic, the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS). [35] She participated at the simulated base at Haughton impact crater on Devon Island, Nunavut in both 2000 and 2001. [36]

In 2004, Lim established the Pavilion Lake Research Project in British Columbia, Canada, to study chemical and biological characteristics of microbial geologic formations underwater. She extrapolates from limnological and paleolimnological investigations of bodies of water in the Canadian High Arctic to Holocene climate change and to potential paleolake regions on the surface of Mars. [37] In a 2017 interview, newly minted astronaut Zena Cardman specifically credited Lim, who gave her an opportunity to work at Pavilion Lake, with sparking her interest in NASA exobiology projects. [7] [38]

Lim is the Principal Investigator of SUBSEA, a biogeochemical analogue study for life on other planets. [5] [6] [13] [39] Lim has been a principal investigator in the 2018 Lōʻihi Seamount Expedition on the Exploration Vessel Nautilus, [8] [40] exploring an underwater volcano near the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. [41] The work is supported by the Ocean Exploration Trust, as part of an initiative of Robert Ballard to explore and map the deep ocean. [42] [43] This work examines science related to future robotic exploration of Europa and Enceladus, two Solar System moons with potentially habitable environments. SUBSEA also studies ocean exploration as an analog to future human spaceflight concepts such as Low Latency Telerobotics. [44]

In 2018, Lim and colleague Jennifer Heldmann scouted extreme environments in Iceland in anticipation of a new mission kick-off in 2019. The preparations are being made to support possible missions that could send people to the Moon and to Mars in 2030. [45]

Awards and honors

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space exploration</span> Exploration of space, planets, and moons

Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. While the exploration of space is currently carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration is conducted both by uncrewed robotic space probes and human spaceflight. Space exploration, like its classical form astronomy, is one of the main sources for space science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael L. Gernhardt</span> NASA astronaut and manager of Environmental Physiology Laboratory

Michael Landon Gernhardt is a NASA astronaut and manager of the Environmental Physiology Laboratory, and principal investigator of the Prebreathe Reduction Program (PRP) at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yvonne Cagle</span> American astronaut and Manager

Yvonne Darlene Cagle is an American physician, professor, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, and NASA Astronaut. Cagle joined NASA as an astronaut in 1996. She is one of six African American woman astronauts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Zuber</span> American astronomer (born 1958)

Maria T. Zuber is an American geophysicist who is the vice president for research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she also holds the position of the E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. Zuber has been involved in more than half a dozen NASA planetary missions aimed at mapping the Moon, Mars, Mercury, and several asteroids. She was the principal investigator for the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) Mission, which was managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger</span> Former American astronaut

Dorothy Marie "Dottie" Metcalf-Lindenburger is a retired American astronaut. In 2000, she married Jason Metcalf-Lindenburger, a fellow Whitman College graduate and educator, from Pendleton, Oregon, and they now have one daughter together. She was a science teacher at Hudson's Bay High School in Vancouver, Washington when she was selected in 2004 as an educator mission specialist. Her parents are Joyce and Keith Metcalf, who reside in Fort Collins, Colorado. She was the first Space Camp alumna to become an astronaut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LOCAD</span>

The Lab-on-a-Chip Applications Development (LOCAD) element is a set of related lab-on-a-chip projects at NASA. The projects develop integrated lab-on-a-chip products in three areas related to space exploration: Environmental Control and Life Systems Support (ECLSS), Medical Systems, and Remote Exploration. NASA conducts activities related to these projects both at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human mission to Mars</span> Proposed concepts

The idea of sending humans to Mars has been the subject of aerospace engineering and scientific studies since the late 1940s as part of the broader exploration of Mars. Long-term proposals have included sending settlers and terraforming the planet. Proposals for human missions to Mars have come from agencies such as NASA, CNSA, the European Space Agency, Boeing, and SpaceX. As of 2023, only robotic landers and rovers have been on Mars. The farthest humans have been beyond Earth is the Moon, under the Apollo program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NASA</span> American space and aeronautics agency

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. Established in 1958, NASA succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the U.S. space development effort a distinctly civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. NASA has since led most American space exploration, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968–1972 Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. NASA currently supports the International Space Station and oversees the development of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System for the crewed lunar Artemis program, the Commercial Crew spacecraft, and the planned Lunar Gateway space station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeanette Epps</span> American aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut

Jeanette Jo Epps is an American aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut. Epps received both her M. S. and Ph.D. degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland, where she was part of the rotor-craft research group and was a NASA GSRP Fellow. She was chosen for the 20th class of NASA astronauts in 2009, graduating in 2011. Epps currently serves as a member of the ISS Operations Branch and has completed analog astronaut missions, including NEEMO 18 and CAVES 19. She is the second woman and first African-American woman to have participated in CAVES. She has been selected to fly to the ISS in early 2024 as part of the SpaceX Crew-8 crew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring Planets</span> Former NASA program

Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring Planets (ASTEP) was a program established by NASA to sponsor research projects that advance the technology and techniques used in planetary exploration. The objective was to enable the study of astrobiology and to aid the planning of extraterrestrial exploration missions while prioritizing science, technology, and field campaigns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pavilion Lake Research Project</span>

The Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) is an international, multi-disciplinary, science and exploration effort to explain the origin of freshwater microbialites in Pavilion Lake, British Columbia, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Abercromby</span> Biomedical engineer from Scotland working for NASA

Dr. Andrew Frank Jorgensen Abercromby is a scientist and biomedical engineer who designs and tests spacesuit systems and exercise countermeasures for future exploration of the Solar System. He is employed by NASA as Lead of the Human Physiology, Performance, Protection & Operations (H-3PO) Laboratory at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. As an aquanaut, Abercromby served as a member of the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations 14 crew. Abercromby has more than fifteen years of experience working in the Human Health and Performance (HH&P) and Engineering Directorates at the Johnson Space Center. He is married with two daughters.

Human analog missions are activities undertaken on Earth in various environments to simulate aspects of human missions to other worlds, including the Moon, asteroids, and Mars. These remote field tests are performed in locations that are identified based on their physical similarities to the extreme space environments of a target mission. Such activities are undertaken to test hardware and operational concepts in relevant environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Dory</span> Human Systems Integration Lead at NASAs Johnson Space Center

Jonathan Robert Dory is a Human Systems Integration Lead at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. He is Branch Chief of NASA's Habitability and Human Factors Branch, part of the Habitability and Environmental Factors Division at NASA/JSC. Dory supports crew safety and productivity on the International Space Station (ISS) Program by planning and assessing the on-orbit interior configuration of ISS, as well as performing anthropometric analysis of crew tasks. He contributes to the integrated operation of the Space Station while using 3D computer graphics and animation software as part of his daily work. In July 2002, Dory served as an aquanaut on the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations 3 crew.

Terrestrial analogue sites are places on Earth with assumed past or present geological, environmental or biological conditions of a celestial body such as the Moon or Mars. Analogue sites are used in the frame of space exploration to either study geological or biological processes observed on other planets, or to prepare astronauts for surface extra-vehicular activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sian Proctor</span> American astronaut and professor

Sian Hayley "Leo" Proctor is an American commercial astronaut, geology professor, artist, author, and science communicator. She became the first female commercial spaceship pilot on the all-civilian Inspiration4 orbital spaceflight, September 15, 2021. As pilot of the Inspiration4's SpaceX Crew Dragon space capsule, Proctor became the first African-American woman to pilot a spacecraft. She was also the education outreach officer for the first Hawai’i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) Mission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Watkins</span> American astronaut (born 1988)

Jessica Andrea Watkins is an American NASA astronaut, geologist, aquanaut and former international rugby player. Watkins was announced as the first Black woman who completed an International Space Station long-term mission in April 2022. On June 9, 2022, at 7:38 UTC, she became the African American woman with the most time in space, surpassing Stephanie Wilson's 42 day, 23 hour and 46 minute record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margarita Marinova</span> Bulgarian-born Canadian aeronautical engineer

Margarita Marinova is a Bulgarian aeronautical engineer. She is the Senior Mars and Vehicle Systems Development Engineer at SpaceX.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jacobs, Gail (19 January 2011). "Life at the SETI Institute: Darlene Lim – Exploring the Watery Depths of Limnology". Huffington Post. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  2. 1 2 Colen, Jerry (16 November 2016). "Darlene Lim Talks About The Challenges of Doing Science on Mar". NASA. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  3. 1 2 Fazekas, Andrew (8 April 2005). "Life on the Edge: Adventures of an Extremophilic Scientist". Science. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  4. 1 2 Stirone, Shannon (27 August 2018). "NASA is preparing for future space missions by exploring underwater volcanoes off Hawaii". Popular Science. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  5. 1 2 Ives, Mike (28 May 2018). "Kilauea Volcano's Lava Fields Offer Scientists a Portal to Mars". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 "Darlene Lim". Science Friday. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  7. 1 2 Mervis, Jeffrey (29 June 2017). "NASA's new astronaut corps features an abundance of scientific talent". Science. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  8. 1 2 "Darlene Lim". Nautilus Live. 7 August 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  9. ↑ Forrest, Alexander L.; Laval, Bernard E.; Pieters, Roger; S. S. Lim, Darlene (January 2013). "A cyclonic gyre in an ice-covered lake". Limnology and Oceanography. 58 (1): 363–375. Bibcode:2013LimOc..58..363F. doi: 10.4319/lo.2013.58.1.0363 . S2CID   85691141.
  10. ↑ "Life on Mars?". University of Toronto Magazine. 24 June 2000. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  11. ↑ Lim, Darlene (2011). "A historical overview of the Pavilion Lake Research Project—Analog science and exploration in an underwater environment". In Garry, W. Brent; Bleacher, Jacob E. (eds.). Analogs for planetary exploration. Geological Society of America. p. 88. ISBN   9780813724836 . Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  12. ↑ "Christopher McKay – BASALT" . Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  13. 1 2 "Darlene Lim – SUBSEA" . Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  14. ↑ Vafidis, Jen (17 September 2012). "The Most Surreal Lake in the World Is a Portal to Some Very Weird Things". Motherboard. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  15. ↑ "SHAD's top 16 stories for 2016 include Rhodes scholars looking to make living conditions better for indigenous Canadians". SHAD Empowering Change Makers. Archived from the original on 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  16. ↑ Sutterfield, Carolyn (2008). "ASTC Notes" (PDF). ASTC Dimensions: 21–22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  17. ↑ Kaplan, Sarah. "How NASA is rehearsing for a mission to Mars". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  18. ↑ "Ask an Astrobiologist with Dr. Darlene Lim". SPACETV.NET. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  19. ↑ "A Deep Ocean Dive Is Training NASA For Space". Science Friday. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  20. ↑ Ekblaw, Ariel. "Beyond the Cradle 2018 Speakers". MIT Media Lab. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  21. 1 2 Bell, Katy Croff. "Scientific Analogs and the Development of Human Mission Architectures for Ocean and Space". MIT Media Lab. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  22. ↑ Wilson, Kate (17 August 2018). "This is what a city of one million people could look like on Mars". Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  23. ↑ Langnau, Leslie (14 August 2018). "HP Mars Home Planet premieres virtual reality experience". Design World. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  24. ↑ "SSERVI Director's Seminar: Darlene Lim (postponed until end of furlough)". Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  25. 1 2 "Keynote Speakers". Women in Space. Archived from the original on 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  26. ↑ "Announcements – Marsville in Action: What is Marsville?". Government of Canada. 21 December 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  27. ↑ "An interview with Darlene Lim". Imagiverse Educational Consortium. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  28. 1 2 "2019 Women of Discovery Awards". Wings WorldQuest. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  29. 1 2 "Darlene Lim | FINESSE". spacescience.arc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  30. ↑ Williams, Kimberly (14 December 2016). "NASA field test focuses on science of lava terrains similar to early Mars". phys.org. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  31. ↑ Lim, Darlene S. S.; Kwan, Christine; Douglas, Marianne S. V. (14 June 2001). "Periphytic diatom assemblages from Bathurst Island, Nunavut, Canadian High Arctic: An examination of community relationships and habitat preferences". Journal of Phycology. 37 (3): 379–392. doi:10.1046/j.1529-8817.2001.037003379.x. ISSN   0022-3646. S2CID   84355956.
  32. ↑ "NASA to send submarine to Antarctica looking for temperature-resistant life". Tech2. 15 August 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  33. ↑ Cockell, C. S.; Lim, D. S. S.; Braham, S.; Lee, P.; Clancey, B. (2003). "Exobiological Protocol and Laboratory for the Human Exploration of Mars – Lessons from a Polar Impact Crater" (PDF). Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. 56: 6. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  34. ↑ "Dec 1 2011: Astrobiology of Lakes". UCLA Institute for Planets and Exoplanets. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  35. ↑ Zubrin, Robert (2004). Mars on Earth : the adventures of space pioneers in the high Arctic (1st trade pbk. ed.). New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin. pp. 151–178. ISBN   978-1-58542-350-7.
  36. ↑ "Darlene Lim". High Lakes 2006 Science Expedition. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  37. ↑ Lim, Darlene S.S.; Cockell, Charles S. (October 2002). "Paleolimnology in the High Arctic implications for the exploration of Mars". International Journal of Astrobiology. 1 (4): 381–386. Bibcode:2002IJAsB...1..381L. doi:10.1017/S1473550403001265. S2CID   122400187.
  38. ↑ Grush, Loren (9 June 2017). "A SpaceX engineer and marine biologist explain how they got picked to be NASA astronauts". The Verge. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  39. ↑ "NASA to Send Submarine to Seafloor Near Hawaii Next Week". News18. 14 August 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  40. ↑ Woodman, Jenny (1 September 2018). "Ocean Exploration Fueled by Girl Power". Proteus. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  41. ↑ "Exploring Lōʻihi Seamount with SUBSEA". Nautilus Live. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  42. ↑ "2018 Nautilus Expedition". Nautilus Live. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  43. ↑ Shea, Rachel Hartigan (18 October 2013). "Discoverer of the Titanic Is Mapping Underwater America". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  44. ↑ Powell, Corey S. (29 August 2018). "How an underwater volcano could help scientists find extraterrestrial life". NBC News (Mach newsletter). Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  45. ↑ Demurtas, Alice (24 May 2018). "NASA Starts Simulations in Iceland in Preparation For Journey To Mars". The Reykjavik Grapevine. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  46. ↑ "SHAD (summer program)". Engineer Information. 11 April 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  47. ↑ "About the Foundation and the Prize : Feinberg Graduate School". Weizmann Institute of Science. 9 May 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  48. ↑ "History of the Pavilion Lake Research Project". Pavilion Lake Research Project. Archived from the original on 5 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  49. ↑ "The Wired Smart List 2013". Wired UK. 9 December 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  50. ↑ "BAER's Dr. Darlene Lim Wins NASA Ames Honor Award". Bay Area Environmental Research Institute. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.