II Stone projects a prom1s1ng• • future for Lab By MARK WHALEN Vol. 28, No. 5 March 6, 1998 JPL's future has never been stronger and its Pasadena, California variety of challenges never broader, JPL Director Dr. Edward Stone told Laboratory staff last week in his annual State of the Laboratory address. The Laboratory's transition from an organi­ zation focused on one large, innovative mission Galileo reveals best-yet Europa close-ups a decade to one that delivers several smaller, innovative missions every year "has not been easy, and it won't be in the future," Stone acknowledged. "But if it were easy, we would­ n't be asked to do it. We are asked to do these things because they are hard. That's the reason the nation, and NASA, need a place like JPL. ''That's what attracts and keeps most of us here," he added. "Most of us can work elsewhere, and perhaps earn P49631 more doing so. What keeps us New images taken by JPL's The Conamara Chaos region on Europa, here is the chal­ with cliffs along the edges of high-standing Galileo spacecraft during its clos­ lenge and the ice plates, is shown in the above photo. For est-ever flyby of Jupiter's moon scale, the height of the cliffs and size of the opportunity to do what no one has done before­ Europa were unveiled March 2. indentations are comparable to the famous to search for life elsewhere." Europa holds great fascination cliff face of South Dakota's Mount To help achieve success in its series of pro­ for scientists because of the Rushmore. The image at right shows an grams, the Lab must also continue its development prospects that a liquid ocean might area of crustal separation. Lower resolution of innovations in technology and in the implemen­ lie underneath its icy crust. The pictures taken earlier by Galileo revealed tation of new ways of doing business, he added. that dark wedge-shaped bands in this presence of water would increase Stone called 1997 one of the most exciting region are areas where the icy crust has years in the Laboratory's history. Highlights the odds that life may have existed completely pulled apart. Dark material included Mars Pathfinder's July 4 landing, at some point in Europa's history. has filled up from below and filled the marking Earth's first return to Mars in 21 years; The new pictures include high­ void created by this separation. P49633 Mars Global Surveyor's September arrival at resolution views of rough, broadly the red planet; TOPEX/Poseidon's monitoring scalloped icy cliffs on Europa as (and continued tracking) of the development of high as Mt. Rushmore. Other The dark, relatively smooth region at the El Nifio in the Pacific Ocean; Galileo, which images show an impact crater finished its primary mission and began an named Pwyll and the so-called lower right hand corner of the high-resolution extended study of Europa; and Cassini's Conamara Chaos region, where icy image at right may be a October launch to Saturn "on schedule, under plates on the surface have broken place where warm ice has budget and full up in specification." apart and moved around. One large, welled up from below. Pledging that 1998 will be "no less excit­ icy fracture is big enough to be The region is approxi­ ing," Stone cited Voyager passing Pioneer 10 on spanned by the Brooklyn Bridge. mately 30 square kilome­ Feb. 17 to become the most distant human-cre­ The Galileo mission, which ters in area (about 12 ated object in the solar system. He also noted continues through December square miles). An isolated that there will be six launches of JPL missions 1999, includes eight Europa fly­ bright hill stands within it. and instruments over the next 12 months. bys, four of the moon Callisto and The image also shows JPL's missions are linked by the themes of two prominent ridges that one or two of the moon Io, searching for evidence of life outside of Earth have different character­ as well as the discovery of the origins of galax­ depending on the spacecraft's istics; the youngest ridge health. ies, stars and planetary systems, Stone said. He runs from left to top and called the search for life elsewhere "a shorthand All recently released images are is about 5 kilometers in term for one _of the grand themes of what links available online at http://photojournal. width (about 3 Y2 miles). many of our programs together." jpl.nasa.gov . D P49629 Stone emphasized that since life has been detected "anywhere there's water on Earth­ whether it's at the bottom of the ocean; around vents of near-boiling water from the interior of the Earth; in Antarctica, at near freezing; or in a Lab recruits experts to help hunt for new planets and life rock two miles down-the search for life else­ By JANE PLATT and Mayor first detected where, in a certain sense, is a search for liquid a Doppler shift from the water elsewhere in the solar system." Two newly arrived scientists at JPL will play star 51 Pegasus, Queloz Viking showed scientists the existence of a key role in the search for planets around other said their first reaction water in Mars' past. But JPL's Mars program has stars and the hunt for life beyond Earth. The was "We'd better check already begun to step up the effort dramatically, appointments highlight a new JPL initiative to our instruments." as evidenced by its planned launches to the plan­ unite scientists from various disciplines, such as Even after they veri­ et every 26 months for the next 10 years or more. biology and astronomy, to study the evolution of fied the instruments' The Laboratory will also aggressively pursue planets and life in the universe. accuracy, Queloz and the origins of life elsewhere in the solar system. Dr. Didier Queloz, a Swiss astronomer who co­ Mayor spent several, Under development are a half dozen missions discovered the first known planet around a star sim­ weeks monitoring 51 that in the next 12 years will return samples of ilar to our sun, is a Distinguished Visiting Scientist Pegasus to confirm the alien worlds for scientists' analysis: Genesis, at JPL for the next year and a half. Dr. Kenneth discovery. In July 1995, solar wind, 2003 return; Stardust, comet, 2006; Nealson has joined JPL as a Senior Researcher in they were confident the Japanese MUSES-C, asteroid, 2006; Mars Astrobiology, a new field whose goal is to under­ enough to buy a large Surveyor, soil and rocks, 2008 and 2010; and stand how planets and life co-evolve. cake and hold a celebra­ Champollion/Deep Space 4, comet, 2010. While at JPL, Queloz will continue his search tion party in the south of In addition, Stone noted that in the last few for planets and help the Lab develop sophisticat­ France for family and weeks NASA's Solar System Exploration ed search technologies. His work will benefit friends. Queloz and Subcommittee proposed launch dates for several NASA's Origins Program, a series of planned Mayor formally an- Dr. Kenneth Nealson Dr. Didier Queloz missions in the Outer Planets Program: a Europa missions to study the formation of galaxies, nounced their discovery, orbiter mission in 2003, Pluto Kuiper Express in stars, planets and life. The program has gained a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting 51 Pegasus, at an er telescope, and holds great promise as a tool in 2004 and a solar probe mission in 2006 or 2007. momentum from discoveries by Queloz, and October 1995 scientific meeting in Florence, Italy. the search for Earth-sized planets. "I'd like to While the payoff from the Cassini mission subsequently other astronomers, of several plan­ Queloz and other astronomers face great play a role in future exploration by helping to may not be realized for another six years and ets orbiting stars beyond our sun. Many scien­ challenges in finding new and better ways to define interferometry techniques," Queloz said. more, Stone envisions a possibility of still further tists believe this raises the odds that an Earth-like detect planets more like Earth. Current tech­ Until very recently, an astronomer like studies. "It's hard for me to imagine that after the planet exists with suitable conditions for life. niques allow only for the detection of giant, Queloz would have had little if any interaction success of studying Saturn and its moon Titan Queloz, a Swiss citizen, got his degree in Jupiter-sized planets, which are considered with a biological scientist like Nealson. But var­ starting in 2004 we will not want to go back to physics in 1990 from the University of Geneva, unlikely candidates for life. ious disciplines such as astronomy, geology, biol­ further explore this world, which has on its sur­ and worked on his doctoral thesis at Geneva While at JPL, Queloz will share his planet­ ogy and chemistry are joining forces to study the face layer upon layer of organic matter produced Observatory with Professor Michel Mayor from finding experience with engineers who are design­ development of life on Earth and the prospects of over millions of years, very much like our own 1991 to 1995. Using the French Elodie telescope ing more advanced technologies. Queloz is using a life elsewhere. Therefore, the work of scientists polar caps have layer by layer records of our past in Haute Provence, France, they looked for signs testbed interferometer at Caltech's Palomar like Nealson and Queloz is converging to form a climate in the layers of ice and snow." of a Doppler shift in nearby stars.