Underwater equipment sits on the deck of the Liberty Star to characterize the condition of the coral reefs and reef fish populations.

Underwater equipment sits on the deck of the Liberty Star, which will be the site of an undersea expedition to characterize the condition of the deep-sea coral reefs and reef fish populations in the Oculina Banks, a marine protected area, 20 miles offshore of the east coast of Florida. A team of scientists will deploy an underwater robot, a seafloor sampler, and the Passive Acoustic Monitoring System (PAMS), originally developed by NASA to monitor the impact of rocket launches on wildlife refuge lagoons at KSC. The research is sponsored by NOAA Fisheries. The ship departed from Port Canaveral April 29 and will return May 9.