JAXA ALOS Image: Heart of the Atacama from orbit

The Japanese Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS), captured this image on 30 May 2010.

Credit: JAXA/ESA

This ALOS satellite image shows the heart-shaped Miscanti lake and smaller Miñiques lake in northern Chile.

The lakewater is brackish – meaning that it's saltier than freshwater, but not as much as seawater.

This is due to the salinity in the soil. Chile's largest salt flat, the Salar de Atacama, lies to the west (not pictured).

Two partially snow-covered volcanoes can be seen above and below the lakes on the right, while plains stretch out to the west in a nearly vegetation-free environment.

The area pictured is part of the Atacama Desert, which runs along part of South America's central west coast.

It is considered one of the driest places on Earth, as moisture from the Amazon Basin is blocked by the Andes to the east, as well as from the Pacific Ocean by the Chilean Coastal Range to the west.

Pacific Ocean currents and wind circulation also play a major role in the desert climate.

Because of the Atacama plateau's high altitude, low cloud cover and lack of light pollution, it is one of the best places in the world to conduct astronomical observations and home to two major observatories.

The European ESO ALMA Observatory is located on the Atacama Plateau.

Some areas of the desert have been compared to the planet Mars, and have been used as a location for filming scenes set on the red planet.

Just last year, ESA tested a self-steering rover in the Atacama, which was selected for its similarities to martian conditions.

WINFOCUS ADUM brings ISS ultrasound from orbit to the ends of the Earth

NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn assists Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield, with an Ultrasound 2 scan in the Columbus Module of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

Fast, efficient and readily available medical attention is key to survival in a health emergency.

When a person is stricken with injury or illness, getting a quick and accurate diagnosis through medical imaging technology can be crucial for ensuring proper treatment. NASA

For people who live in major cities and towns where fully-equipped hospitals are only a quick ambulance ride away, that's not usually a problem. But for those without medical facilities within easy reach, it can mean the difference between life and death.

For astronauts in orbit about 240 miles above Earth aboard the International Space Station, that problem was addressed through the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity (ADUM) investigation.

Station crew members trained to use a small ultrasound unit aboard the station to examine fellow crewmates.

In the event of a health concern, astronauts could use this facility to diagnose many injuries and illnesses with the help of doctors on Earth.

Last year, the ultrasound unit used for ADUM was replaced with a smaller and even more sophisticated scanner dubbed Ultrasound 2, currently in use aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Now those same techniques are being adapted and used for people living in remote, underdeveloped areas far from any hospital, where CT scans, MRIs and even simple X-ray exams are impossible.

Scott Dulchavsky

In partnership with the World Interactive Network Focused on Critical Ultrasound (WINFOCUS), ADUM principal investigator Dr. Scott Dulchavsky is taking techniques originally developed for space station astronauts and adapting them for use in Earth's farthest corners.

"The ADUM experiment developed protocols for performing complex procedures rapidly with remote expert guidance," said Dulchavsky.

"The procedure was streamed live to allow doctors to request adjustments to the exam real-time.

We did about 80 hours of ultrasound exams on the space station, and it worked pretty famously. After some modification of the process, we got a pretty slick product."

This is a view of the screen during a tele-ultrasound guidance session performed by a WINFOCUS doctor in Italy to a team in rural Brazil. Credit: WINFOCUS

Although the experiment worked on the space station, Dulchavsky was looking to further the reach of this valuable tool.

"I'm a doctor on Earth way more than I'm a space medicine doctor, so I was trying to figure out how we could transition this work to care for people on the planet, particularly in remote, austere, underserved environments," Dulchavsky explained.

He already had adapted ADUM protocols for Earth-bound use by non-medical professionals, such as athletic trainers of several pro sports teams and Olympic athletes, but he knew that much more was possible. Enter WINFOCUS.

"Ninety-five percent of the population doesn't have quick access to some of the most common diagnostic tools doctors use," said Dulchavsky.

"WINFOCUS is a global network organization, and their main goal is to use ultrasound as an enabling point-of-care device."