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A Year Later, New Pathfinder Conclusions c Employees 0 II asked to share visions for JPL of 2057 - 1111 Pasadena, California Vol.• 28, No. 14 July 10, 1998 By MARK WHALEN What will JPL be like in 60 years, when the space age turns 100? How might space research better serve everyone on Earth? And how might A year later, new Pathfinder conclusions the Laboratory and NASA achieve what may be considered only dreams today? Although, presumably, no one who now Rock composition,. water history among latest findings works at JPL will be around to see the By FRANKLIN O'DONNELL plain 2 billion years ago. "Since then this locale has Laboratory of 2057, employees are nonetheless been dry and static," he said. being encouraged to share their visions of the A year after the landing of Mars Pathfinder, While the area appears to have been possibilities of the distant future, as well as the mission scientists say that data from the untouched by water for eons, wind appears to ways to achieve them in the short term. spacecraft paint two strikingly different have been steadily eroding rocks at the landing The effort was introduced with mid-June pictures of the role of water on the red meetings for managers and supervisors led by planet, and yield surprising conclusions Analysis of Pathfinder images shows JPL Director Dr. Edward Stone. The next stage about the composition of rocks at the that about about three to five centimeters starts the week of July 13, when a series of landing site. (one to two inches) of material has been meetings hosted by members of the Executive "Many of the things that we said stripped away from the surface by Council wi ll begin, allowing interested employ­ last summer during the excitement wind, Golombek noted. ees to contribute their thoughts on the Lab's after the landing have held up "Overall, this site has experienced a future. well," said Dr. Matthew net erosion in recent times," Golombek The meetings will address a variety of Golombek, Pathfinder project sci­ said. "There are other places on Mars themes, said Legislative and International entist at JPL. "But we have now that are net 'sinks,' or places where Affairs Office Manager Dr. Richard O'Toole, had more time to study the data and dust ends up being deposited. who is managing the overall effort. He are coming up with some new con­ Amazonis Planitia, for example, prob- explained that the themes describe specific pro­ clusions." ably has about one to two meters (three ject assignments as well as general areas of Similar to ongoing science results to six feet) of fine, powdery dust that you employee interest. A partial list of the themes from JPL's Mars Global Surveyor would sink into if you stepped on it." includes: spacecraft currently in orbit around Chemical analysis of a number of •Origins Mars, Pathfinder data suggest that the rocks by the alpha proton X-ray spectrom­ •Mars planet may have been awash in water 3 eter (APXS) instrument on Pathfinder's • Earth science and instruments billion to 4.5 billion years ago. The imme­ mobile Sojourner rover, meanwhile, reveals • Technology development diate vicinity of the Pathfinder landing site, an unexpected composition that scientists are • Flight operations however, appears to have been dry and still trying to explain. • Mission assurance unchanged for the past 2 billion years. The cmTent assessment of data from this •Software Several clues from Pathfinder data point to a instrument suggests that all of the rocks studied • Centers of excellence wet and warm early history on Mars, according by the rover resemble a type of volcanic rock • Best business practices to Golombek. Magnetized dust particles and the PIA01238 with a high silicon content known on Earth as •Outreach possible presence of rocks that are conglomer­ andesite, covered with a fine layer of dust. All An online system at http://hr/et has been ates of smaller rocks, pebbles and soil suggest New Mars Pathfinder image indicates the route of the rocks appear to be chemically far differ­ devised for those who wish to sign up for the copious water in the distant past. In addition, the traveled by the Sojourner rover during 83 sols · ent from meteorites discovered on Earth that are sessions. bulk of the landing site· appears to have been (Martian days) last year. The azimuth-elevation believed to have come from Mars. projection of the "gallery panorama" shows "Employees will be able to participate in a deposited by large volumes of water, and the "The APXS tells us that all of these rocks are the rover against the rock Yogi, which it visit­ meeting with a theme to which they contribute hills on the horizon known as Twin Peaks appear the same thing with different amounts of dust on today," O'Toole said, "or may also choose to ed on the fourth and fifth Martian days follow­ to be streamlined islands shaped by water. ing Pathfinder's July 4 landing. The rover path them," said Golombek. "But images suggest that propose ideas for theme areas they might like to But Pathfinder images also suggest that the was reproduced using IMP camera "end of there are different types of rocks. We don't yet be part of in the future. " landing site is essentially unchanged since cata­ day" and "rover movie" image sequences and See Future, page 2 strophic flooding sent rocks tumbling across the rover vehicle telemetry data as references. See Pathfinder, page 3 Two JPLers named astronaut candidates Io's volcanoes By ENRICO PIAZZA hotter than any JPL scientists Dr. Stanley Love and Dr. John Olivas have been selected by NASA for the 1998 Astronaut Candidate Program, and will planet: Galileo report to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston in mid-August to begin one year of By JANE PLATT training and evaluation. The two will train to become mission special­ New observations by JPL's Galileo space­ ists, astronauts who are in charge of operating craft reveal dozens of volcanic vents on experiments, deploying satellites and handling Jupiter's fiery moon Io where lava sizzles hotter many other aspects of space shuttle missions. than the surface temperature of any other planet Both scientists said they have been fascinat­ in our solar system. Temperatures this high are ed with space since childhood. And as is often not known to have occurred on Earth for bil­ the case, both had previously applied for the lions of years. At one such vent, known as astronaut program. Only 25 people were select­ Pillan Patera, two of Galileo's instrnments have ed this year, out of more than 2,600 applicants. indicated the lava temperature may be 2,000 Since joining JPL a year ago, Love has been Kelvin (3, 140 degrees Fahrenheit). These a staff engineer working with computer models results are reported in the July 3 issue of the of space optical instruments, such as the journal Science. Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer, which will Dr. Stan Love Dr. John Olivas "The most likely explanation for these very determine the chemical composition of Earth's high temperatures is that the eruptions contain atmosphere with unprecedented accuracy. His tenacity eventually paid off. 2, Stardust and Champollion missions, as weU as magnesium-rich silicates," said Dr. Alfred Love has been part of a team working to "I didn't get hired that time, didn't get hired the X-33, a prototype reusable launch vehicle. McEwen of the University of Arizona, a mem­ develop new methods for estimating the condi­ the second time, then I finally got hired this As a mechanical and material engineer, his ber of Galileo's solid state imaging camera tion of the optics in space telescopes. He has time. I'm very honored, and delighted," he said. research focuses on studying how different mate­ team. "We' ve tentatively identified magnesium­ applied these techniques to the Hubble Space Before joining JPL, Love for two years held rials-from plastic to metal to ceramic-behave rich orthopyroxene in lava flows around these Telescope, where they can be used to sharpen a post-doctorate appointment in Caltech's once exposed to light, radiation, increased tem­ hot spots. This leads us to conclude that silicate up existing images. Hubble also provides a use­ Geological and Planetary Sciences Division. He perature and pressure. The goal is to understand volcanism is taking place with lava composi­ ful test case for future missions, such as the researched how metal and minerals behave what the specific material does at the atomic level. tions expected to melt at a very high tempera­ Next Generation Space Telescope, which will under hard pressures and violent impacts, as Olivas, 32, was born in North Hollywood ture. We must now think of Io's volcanoes in have built-in optical adjustment capabilities. well as studying simulated asteroid collisions and grew up in El Paso, Texas, where his par­ terms of the type of very high-temperature sili­ Love also worked on reengineering IPL engi­ using a supercomputer. ents still live. cate volcanism which was found on Earth dur­ neering processes. After his high school graduation in 1983 in Olivas said it was a summer trip to the Johnson ing its early days, and which we suspect Love said his fascination with space started Eugene, Ore., Love earned a bachelor's degree Space Center and Kennedy Space Center with his occurred also on Venus and Mars." with science-fiction books. in physics from Harvey Mudd College, then family that inflamed his fascination with space. The new findings by the Galileo camera and "I started reading sci-fi books at 6, and I earned a master's degree and a doctorate in He was only 7 years old, but reali zed right away the spacecraft's near infrared mapping spec­ always loved space and astronomy," he said.
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