If there are places on Earth that resemble the conditions of Mars, Joe Levy wants to know.
Levy, an associate professor in Colgate’s Department of Earth and Environmental Geosciences, has spent years studying such locations as part of his work to determine where on Mars water and ice might be present.
Now, Levy’s research has caught the attention of NASA.
Levy and two of his students — Riley Taylor ’26 and Flannery Hogan ’26 — spent a week during the summer in the Alvord Desert in Eastern Oregon with a NASA team that’s designing a new generation of Mars helicopters with sensors to examine moisture in soil.
Together, the groups worked on a NASA-PSTAR (Planetary Science and Technology from Analog Research) project called “HeliHabitable.” The collaboration involved using Levy’s research drones, which have been tested in Antarctica and are equipped with cameras and sensors that measure different wavelengths of light, to study wet soil.
By analyzing the moisture in the ground of a desert in extreme summer heat using drones rather than the naked eye, researchers wanted to perform their study in the same manner that scientists would use when examining the surface of Mars.
“My two summer students and I were working to figure out how detectable the muddy groundwater plume was from a helicopter-borne sensor and how the detectability of the water changed throughout the day as the water dried up in the desert sun,” Levy said.
“If we could find the water with a hyperspectral camera on Earth, this would give the Mars helicopter team confidence that they could use the same approach on Mars.”
The Colgate study began a few years ago with research by Levy and Jessica Johnson ’22, who together published their findings. That report caught the attention of NASA researchers, who contacted Levy about joining him at the desert study site.
The NASA team heard about the Colgate study in the Alvord Desert from one of its scientists, who knew Levy from their days as grad school students. NASA contacted Levy about joining him at the desert study site.
The Alvord Desert, which looks like something out of a science fiction movie, is famous for its picturesque landscape and hot springs that pour out of valley walls and disappear onto the dry lakebed.
The hot springs look similar to landforms on Mars called Recurring Slope Lineae, Levy said.
So far, the project has been a success.
“We’re off to a great start,” Levy said. “Even though the field conditions were intense — it got up to 108 degrees on the desert floor and strong winds would blow through every afternoon. But we worked early in the day and got in lots of flights with the Colgate drones.”
Levy and his students will return to the Alvord Desert the next two summers to continue their work. The NASA researchers plan to test their prototype for the new helicopter in the desert, although the project is still years away from being used in a real mission.
The project has been a fulfilling experience for Levy’s students. They have learned how to prepare a drone and swap out parts that need to be replaced. They can manage missions in the desert and assess the data, he said.
In addition, Taylor and Hogan are preparing a report on their findings and will present it at this winter’s Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston.
“It’s exciting to have student scientists working on NASA-funded research,” Levy said. “This is a chance to get right up to the cutting edge of mission design and to be part of a mission before it ever even lifts off. I hope my students get a sense of the teamwork that’s needed to get a mission off the ground—from inspiration to testing to actually getting a rover on a rocket.
“I also hope they walk away excited about doing fieldwork. It’s very unlikely that I’m ever going to set foot on Mars, but by visiting the most Mars-like places on Earth, I can still be part of advancing Mars exploration while also figuring out how our home planet works.”