MER science team

[Marsrocks]

I read an article years ago that talked about the MER science team members, and their qualifications. I hope I can find that article again. But in the meantime this thread is about that topic:

Articles written by mer science team members:

marsrover.nasa.gov/science/pdf/web_publist.pdf

article mentioning some members:

planetary.org/news/2011/1031_Mars_Exploration_Rover_Update.html

[Marsrocks]

Malin on MER:


www.msss.com/all_projects/mars-exploration-rovers.php

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Athena science team

Steve Squyres (Principal Investigator), Cornell University

Oded Aharonson, California Institute of Technology

Ray Arvidson (Deputy Principal Investigator), Washington University, St. Louis

Jim Bell (Pancam Payload Element Lead), Cornell University

Johannes Brückner, Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, Germany

Nathalie A. Cabrol, SETI Institute

Wendy Calvin, University of Nevada, Reno

Mike Carr, USGS, Menlo Park

Phil Christensen (Mini-TES Payload Element Lead), Arizona State University

Ben Clark, Lockheed Martin Corp.

Barbara Cohen, University of New Mexico

Larry Crumpler, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Space Science

Dave Des Marais, NASA Ames Research Center

Tom Economou, University of Chicago

Prof. Jack D. Farmer, Arizona State University

Bill Farrand, Space Science Institute

William M. Folkner, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Paul Geissler, United States Geological Survey, Flagstaff

Amitabha Ghosh, Tharsis Inc.

Matt Golombek, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Steve Gorevan (Rock Abrasion Tool Payload Element Lead), Honeybee Robotics

John Grant, Smithsonian Institution

Ronald Greeley, Arizona State Universtiy

John P. Grotzinger, Massachusetts Institute of Techonology

Larry Haskin, Washington University, St. Louis

Ken Herkenhoff (Microscopic Imager Payload Element Lead), USGS, Flagstaff

Stubbe Hviid, Max Planck Institut für Aeronomie

Jeffrey R. Johnson, USGS, Flagstaff

Göstar Klingelhöfer (Mössbauer Payload Element Lead), Johannes Gutenberg-University, Germany

Andy Knoll, Harvard University

Geoffrey A. Landis, Glenn Research Center

Mark Lemmon, Texas A & M

Prof. Ron Li, The Ohio State University

Morten Bo Madsen, Niels Bohr Institute, Denmark

Mike Malin, Malin Space Sciences Systems

Timothy McCoy, Smithsonian Institution

Scott McLennan, State University of New York at Stony Brook

Hap McSween, University of Tennessee

Doug Ming, NASA Johnson Space Center

David Mittlefehldt, NASA Johnson Spaceflight Center

Jeff Moersch, University of Tennessee

Jeffrey Moore, NASA Ames Research Center

Dick Morris, NASA JSC

Tim Parker, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Jim Rice, Arizona State University

Lutz Richter, Institute of Space Simulation, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Rudi Rieder (APXS Payload Element Lead), Max Planck Inst. für Chemie, Germany

Michael Sims, NASA Ames

Mike Smith, Goddard Space Flight Center

Peter Smith, University of Arizona

Larry Soderblom, USGS, Flagstaff

Robert Sullivan, Cornell University

Claude d'Uston, CESR, France

Heinrich Wänke, Max Planck Inst. für Chemie, Germany

Tom Wdowiak, Univ. Alabama at Birmingham.

Michael J. Wolff, Space Science Institute

Albert S. Yen, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

R. Aileen Yingst, University of Wisconsin Green Bay


athena.cornell.edu/the_mission/scientists.html

[Marsrocks]

Nathalie A. Cabrol, SETI Institute

(It leaves out that she is also employed by NASA-Ames)

astrobiology.nasa.gov/directory/profile/516/nathalie/cabrol/

explore.wingsworldquest.org/node/457

cabrol.seti.org/PSP/files/e3eee911e4dfe4b1e9d9d387a7452842-0.html

www.extremeenvironment.com/2003/team/ncabrol.htm

cabrol.seti.org/PSP/files/d09ab07bd843a21a9c6c00a2eb8796f5-13.html


Lakes on Mars - Nathalie Cabrol (SETI Talks)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGBbke1wJRk



Her MER website appeared early - then quickly disappeared:

wayback.archive.org/web/*/http://web99.arc.nasa.gov/~ncabrol/

web.archive.org/web/20100112071133/http://web99.arc.nasa.gov/~ncabrol/

web.archive.org/web/20100213002459/http://www.extremeenvironment.com/2003/

[Marsrocks]

This is the article I wanted to find:

www.marstoday.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=8482

NASA Selects 28 Participating Scientists for Mars Rover Mission

NASA has selected 28 scientists for participation in the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Mission. The mission consists of two separate, though identical, rovers scheduled for launch in mid-2003 and arrival at separate destinations on Mars in early 2004.

The selected proposals were judged to have the best science value among 84 proposals submitted to NASA last December in response to the Mars Exploration Rover Announcement of Opportunity. Each selected investigation will work with the MER Program Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., and will become full MER science-team members, joining previously selected scientists as part of the Athena science team.

"The breadth, scope, and creativity of the scientists selected is very encouraging," said Dr. Ed Weiler, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science, Headquarters, Washington. "By directly participating in NASA's next mission to the surface of Mars, they will help bring us closer to the long-term objective of our Mars Exploration Program -- understanding Mars as a planet and determining whether life ever existed there."

The MER mission science objectives include: (1) study rocks and soils for clues to past water activity; (2) investigate landing sites that have a high probability of containing evidence of the action of liquid water; (3) determine the distribution and composition of minerals, rocks and soils surrounding the landing sites; (4) determine the nature of local surface geologic processes; (5) calibrate and validate data from orbiting missions at each landing site; and (6) study the geologic processes for clues about the environmental conditions that existed when liquid water was present, and whether those environments were conducive for life.

The selected investigators are:

# Johannes Brueckner; Max Planck Institut fur Chemie, Mainz, Germany; Investigation of elemental composition of Martian soils and their relationship to global surface chemistry
# Nathalie A. Cabrol; SETI Institute, Moffett Field, Calif.; Aqueous Sedimentary Processes at the MER sites
# Wendy M. Calvin; University of Nevada, Reno; Mini-TES investigation for surface mineralogy and surface/orbit constraints on TES
# Benton C. Clark; Lockheed Martin Corporation, Littleton, Colo.; Chemical Alteration Processes on Mars: Investigations and Implications
# Larry S. Crumpler; New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Albuquerque; Field Geology and Micro-surface Characteristics at MER Investigation Sites
# Jack D. Farmer; Arizona State University, Tempe; Integrated Studies of Surface Geology and Mineralogy to Explore for Past Aqueous Environments
# William H. Farrand; Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.; Major and Minor Components of the Surface Layer of Mars: An Investigation Using the MER Pancam and Mini-TES
# William M. Folkner; JPL; Measurement of Mars Rotation Changes with the Mars Exploration Rovers
# Matthew P. Golombek; JPL; Directing Long Range Rover Traverses using Orbital Surface Predictions and MER Ground Truth
# John A. Grant; Smithsonian Institution, Washington; Constraining the Geologic Setting and Evolution of the MER Landing Site(s)
# Ronald Greeley; Arizona State University, Tempe; Mars Exploration Rover: Study of Aeolian Features and Processes
# John P. Grotzinger; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge; Geological Analysis of Martian Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks
# Stubbe Hviid; Max Planck Institut fur Aeronomie, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany; Investigation of the production and composition of Martian soils and dust and their effect upon the Martian atmosphere
# Jeffrey R. Johnson; U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Ariz.; Spectrophotometric Observations of Surface Materials at the MER Landing Sites
# Geoffrey A. Landis; Ohio Aerospace Institute, Cleveland; Study of Solar Energy and Dust Accumulation on MER
# Mark T. Lemmon; Texas A & M University, College Station; Investigation of the properties of Martian atmospheric dust and its effect on the illumination of the Martian surface
# Rongxing Li; Ohio State University, Columbus; Surface Image-based High-precision Near Real-time Landing Site Mapping and Long-range Rover Localization for MER 2003 mission
# Scott M. McLennan; State University of New York, Stony Brook; Sedimentary Petrology at the MER Sites
# Douglas W. Ming; NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston; Identification and Processes of Formation for Phyllosilicates, Sulfates, and Other Chemical Weathering Products on Mars
# Jeffrey E. Moersch; University of Tennessee, Knoxville; A Search for Aqueous Minerals with the Mars Exploration Rover Mini-TES Experiment
# Timothy J. Parker; JPL; Sedimentary Stratigraphy and Geomorphology of the MER A and B Landing Sites
# James W. Rice; Arizona State University, Tempe; MER Geomorphic and Sedimentological Investigations
# Lutz Richter; DLR Institut fur Raumsimulation, Koln, Germany; Mars Soil Mechanics Investigations Using MER Rover Locomotion System Engineering Data
# Michael D. Smith; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.; Retrieval of Atmospheric Properties using mini-TES spectra
# Peter H. Smith; University of Arizona, Tucson; The dust cycle monitored from MER
# Robert Sullivan; Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.; Physical and Mechanical Properties of Martian Soils Along MER Traverses
# Michael J. Wolff; Space Science Institute, Martinez, Ga.; Aerosol Studies and the Boundary Layer: Things are Looking Up
# Albert S. Yen; JPL; Soil Formation without Liquid Water: An Assessment of the Meteoritic Contribution to the Martian Surface

[Marsrocks]

interesting list here:

www.exploratorium.edu/origins/arecibo/people/index.html

[Marsrocks]

Why do We Explore?

Posted on: June 22, 2010 7:15 PM, by SETI Institute

by Nathalie A. Cabrol

I realize how immodest the title of this first blog may sound and it is certainly not my intention to convince anybody that I will answer this question in the limited space allowed here or even in a lifetime. My hope is, instead, to stir thoughts and invite an exchange of diverse perspectives to make this a thread that we can all pull from time to time. It is an immense subject debated in an abundant literature, but discussing it is certainly not the exclusive privilege of those called explorers. All beings, from the greatest minds to the simplest forms of life on this planet and possibly others, are explorers. All are, thus, without exception, competent to contribute to this discussion in one form or another.

Exploring may mean a number of different things for each of us but I argue that we all do it for the same reasons, whether those are reasoned or subconscious, and that the fundamentals of why we do explore have been the same since the dawn of life on our planet. My perspective stems from a passion for exploration, for living, breathing and imagining it every day of my life and dreaming about it at night. It is fueled by a fascination for the possibility of finding life on other planets and observing life's ability to adapt on ours no matter what is thrown at it. It is also sustained by the exceptional environment of the SETI Institute where I belong. Walking down the Institute's hallways, posters and photographs take residents and visitors alike from Is there anybody out there? to Do you sincerely believe that anything can survive down here? and everywhere in between. The sky is not even the limit. It is our starting point.

There is a very large universe out there and according to the String Theory, it could be only one out of an infinity of universes. Even better for us curious minds since that's more real estate to explore! Cosmology theories and quantum physics possibly epitomize, at least to me, the human mind's ability to play with what we know of our universe and to project it into the unknown. These explorations take us beyond the limits of where, directly or indirectly, our hands can touch, our eyes can see, and our bodies can travel, to look at all the angles our imaginations can reveal. There, we embrace an addictive freedom, while still clinging to the laws of physics with which we have come to evolve. One day these laws might fall but for now, they are still what make our universe go round. We explore at microscopic to macroscopic scale but this is not a human privilege. All species that made the journey thus far with us are still here because they were greater explorers than those that did not. This takes me to what I feel strongly is the most fundamental, primeval essence of exploration: survival.

While we are seeking brethren in the universe, our own beginnings remain unclear. Life on Earth may have developed and gone extinct many times before finally taking roots on a planet heavily bombarded by asteroids and comets for hundreds of millions of years, a planet ravaged by volcanic eruptions the likes of which we do not know anymore, and by many more countless deadly threats. In such an environment, immobility and scarcity were not the name of the game. Survival resided in the diversification of environments that life could make available to itself by multiplying when it could, and by colonizing the next crack in the rock, the next rock in the field, and finally all the fields in the continent, the next continent and the next ocean in the planet, and soon (at geological scale), the next planet. This is our journey so far.

Each species goes as far and as fast as its evolutionary path can take it. This path is dictated by that species' exposure to the environment and to other species. We (as in life in general) are all trying to constantly expand our horizon, for there is gain in doing so. At the most primary level the gain is physical survival through a greater range of environments, which provide additional resources to supply a greater number of individuals of the same group. The curiosity and awe that we humans associate with exploration is a late comer. Understanding when this driving force developed is by itself a fascinating subject. I do not believe the first bacteria were curious about their environment; they simply tried to adapt to it.

Curiosity requires first questioning, which is the attribute of a number of superior species who do not simply react but rather interact with their environment. Those species also show creativity and imagination, which are both signs that they are exploring their mental and cerebral abilities. I am now going much too far outside my area of expertise and will hope that others will comment farther on this. But as far as humans go, beyond survival, exploration is certainly associated with physical, mental, and spiritual questioning that fuel each other by changing our perception of all the dimensions we know of, and give to the universe. Iterative questioning and exploring expands our imagination, thus our ability to further question and explore. The curiosity we apply to exploration is also one way for us to stimulate our imagination and gauge its validity in understanding our universe and its endless diversity. To some extent, it is the way each generation has to create its own universe.

Today, we still strive to survive but now life has also reached the point where its exploration path has come to question its own origin. Indeed, we do explore to understand where we came from and define the meaning, if any, of this wonderful universal journey of ours. It is fascinating to realize how, as we walk the Earth, the surface of other planets, soon the Milky Way and beyond, that this journey gives greater depth to our consciousness, for exploration is also very much an inward voyage. We are made of all the bricks of this universe. There is, therefore, a chance that part of this answer that we have set out to seek so far away in the unknown confines of the universe, might be within us, waiting for the time when exploration will take us back home.

scienceblogs.com/SETI/2010/06/why_do_we_explore.php