January 14, 2014 Slideshow

(From left to right:) Jesse McNichol, Jeff Seewald, and Sean Sylva inspect a device used to remove bacteria from an Isobaric Gas-Tight sampler (IGT) without releasing the pressure inside the device. (Photo courtesy Jen Barone)

Chief Scientist Stefan Sievert rinses saltwater from a set of IGTs that he removed from an elevator moments before.

Graduate student Jesse McNichol adjusts an oxygen sensor that he uses as part of his batch incubation experiments on the IGTs.

Miriam Sollich (left) and Donato Giovannelli (right) inspect a sample of a hydrothermal vent structure. The vents, which have a loose, crumbly consistency, are incredibly difficult to collect on the seafloor, so samples this large are rare. (You can see Jason try to collect vent samples in this video.)

When very young, these fuzzy tubeworms, called Alvinella (or “pompeii worms”), flock to hot water near a vent’s output. There, they settle onto the rocks and build tube-like homes, which look fragile but are actually quite tough. Alvinella can endure temperatures of more than 70˚ Celsius (158˚ Fahrenheit).

Ordinary Seaman Mark Anderson removes rust from a metal table on Atlantis’ deck. The tool he’s holding, called a needle gun, can scrape the metal clean in seconds.

This stack of steel weights will take the Large Volume Pump down to the seafloor. After the pump completes its work there, Jason will pull out the metal pin above it, releasing the weights and sending the pump (which has its own buoyancy attached) back up to the surface.

(From left to right): Dionysis Foustoukos, Kerry McCulloch, and Matt Rawls gaze intently at Jason’s video screens during a late-night shift in the remotely operated vehicle’s control van.

Dionysis Foustoukos adjusts a set of IGTs in advance of an upcoming elevator deployment.