OCTOBER Jet Propulsion 2015 Laboratory VOLUME 45
NUMBER 10
Three JPL concepts picked in
Discovery’s first round By Franklin O’Donnell
JPL’s Discovery Program proposals are (from left) NEOCam, Psyche and VERITAS.
Significant good news for JPL ar- would map the planet with a radar “As more and more exoplanets are rived at the end of September when vastly more capable than that on discovered, this information is essen- NASA announced the selection of JPL’s Magellan mission of the ear- tial to predicting whether Earth-sized three mission concepts managed by ly 1990s. The mission would obtain planets are more likely to resemble the Lab for possible development un- global maps of high-resolution radar Earth or Venus.” der the agency’s Discovery Program. imaging and altimetry, and make other Tony Freeman was the VERITAS The three proposals – a Venus or- measurements designed to penetrate capture lead for Step 1. Dave Leh- biter, a mission to a metal asteroid Venus’ thick carbon dioxide atmo- man of JPL is project manager, Scott and a space telescope to search sphere. Hensley is the project scientist, and for more near-Earth asteroids – are JPL planetary scientist Sue Smrek- Leon Alkalai will be the capture lead among five concepts that NASA will ar, VERITAS principal investigator, for Phase A. Lockheed Martin would fund for further concept design stud- said the mission is designed to reveal be the spacecraft contractor. VERI- ies during the coming year. In Sep- Venus’ geologic history, determine TAS stands for Venus Emissivity, Ra- tember 2016, the agency expects to how active it is, and search for the dio Science, InSAR, Topography And pick one or two for final development fingerprints of past and present water. Spectroscopy. for flight. “The overarching question is, ‘How The huge metal asteroid Psyche
The Venus orbiter, called VERITAS, Earthlike is Venus?’” said Smrekar. Continued on page 2 JPL CONCEPTSPICKED pal investigator, LindyElkins-Tanton asteroid everidentified. and nickel,makingitthelargest metal sition laterfoundtobe90percent iron 1852, Psycheisunusualforitscompo tween MarsandJupiter. Discovered in the suninmainasteroid beltbe 250-kilometer-wide objectthatcircles ion propulsion toreach andorbitthe Psyche, thisspacecraftwoulduse lected JPLproposal. Alsoknownas is thedestinationforsecondse potentially hazardous asteroids near the latestproject designedto survey provided bySpaceSystemsLoral. JPL, usingapower-propulsion chassis soon. Thespacecraftwouldbebuiltby manager isexpectedtobenamed the project scientist, and a JPL project lead forPsyche,Carol Polanskeyis going tolooklike.” she added.“We havenoideawhatit’s has everseenametalworldbefore,” cept is “truly exploration.” “Nobody Elkins-Tanton saidhermissioncon its metalcore. protoplanet thenforming,leavingonly system thatstrippedthemantlefrom a massive collisionintheearlysolar Psyche could be the remnant of a of ArizonaStateUniversityinTempe, the qualityofproposal work attheLabandoursuccessinteamingwith According tothemission’s princi JPL’s third proposal, NEOCam,is David Ohcontinuesasthecapture Because theasteroid is so unusual, “JPL’s representation inthese selectionsisavery strong reflection of science investigators,” saidJPLDirector CharlesElachi. Continued from page1 - - - - - Exploration Directorate (4X),while developed byJPL’s SolarSystem ery Program announcement. were selectedinthecurrent Discov NASA’s Goddard SpaceFlightCenter posals, twomissionconceptsfrom spacecraft contractorforNEOCam. soon. BallAerospace wouldbethe manager isexpectedtobenamed Step 1capture lead.AJPLproject issue.” “NEOCam isdesignedtosettlethe asteroids hittingEarth,”saidMainzer. without theneedforcryocoolers. scope tofunctionformanyyears vironment allowingtheinfrared tele location provides astable,colden between Earthandthesun.That be stationedattheL1Lagrangepoint much widerfieldofview. a larger diameter and would feature a The newspacetelescopewouldhave asteroids and 135 near-Earth objects. vey Explorer, whichfound34,000 mission, theWide-fieldInfrared Sur investigator AmyMainzer’s previous covered todate. more near-Earth objects than all dis Earth –perhapsyielding10times VERITAS and Psyche are being In addition to the three JPL pro George SpraguewastheNEOCam “Everyone wantstoknowabout Following launch,NEOCamwould NEOCam buildsonJPLprincipal ------the Foundryand3X,thatcontributed in many offices across JPL, including lutions anddevelopmentapproaches efited from hard work,innovativeso mulation Office. Astrophysics andHeliophysicsFor Roger Lee,deputymanagerof7X’s us todevelopthisproposal,” said space telescopesitmadesensefor but because of 7X’s involvement with sion observing solar system objects, Technology Directorate (7X). Lab’s Astronomy, PhysicsandSpace NEOCam isbeingshepherded bythe of competinginStep2begins.” Step 1campaign.Nowthehard work dreds ofJPLerswhosupported our time. Congratulations go to the hun “NASA received 28proposals this System MissionFormulationOffice. Sherwood, managerof4X’s Solar mains extremely tough,”saidBrent ence investigators.” and oursuccessinteamingwithsci quality ofproposal workattheLab tions isaverystrong reflection ofthe “JPL’s representation intheseselec lation Office. of 4X’s SolarSystemMissionFormu view,” saidKimReh,deputymanager significant contentandtechnicalre “All oftheseproposals haveben “NEOCam isasolarsystemmis “The Discoverycompetitionre Lab Director CharlesElachiadded, n ------
Universe 2 confirmed the first near-Earth-size planetinthe “habitablezone” ues tosupportscienceactivities. agency tomanageKepler’s spacecraftdevelopment, andcontin been the workof NASA’s Keplermission.JPL was askedbythe to findsomeofthemostdistantexoplanetsknown. telescopes thatuseaplanet-huntingtechniquecalledmicrolensing 219134b. Theinfrared observatory alsoworksintandemwithother recently confirmedtheclosest knownrocky planettoEarth,HD spheres andweatheronlarge, gaseousexoplanets. and somecleverengineering,ithaspioneered thestudyofatmo surprises isitsabilitieswithexoplanets.Thankstosteady gaze study planetsaround other stars,butoneofthemission’s biggest exoplanet exploration. both existingdiscoveriesaswellinhelpingchartthefuture of to Earth.Throughout thattime,JPLhasplayedamajorrole in firmed exoplanetshavebeendiscovered, somemuchmore similar planet-finding. Overthepasttwodecadesmore than1,800con closer toitsparent starthanEarthis. as 51Pegasibtheplanetwasa“hotJupiter,” muchlarger and ever foundorbitingasun-likestarbeyondoursolarsystem.Known two Swissscientistsannouncedthediscoveryoffirstplanet An artist’s renderingofexoplanet51Pegasi b, discoveredinOctober1995. It’s abouthalfthesizeofJupiterandorbitsitsstarinfourdays. In itsmostrecent majordiscovery, inJulyofthisyear, Kepler By farthelion’s share ofexoplanetdiscoveries,however, have Spitzer canhelpnarrow down thesizesofexoplanetstoo,and JPL’s Spitzer Space Telescope originally was not designed to That eventushered inanextraordinarily productive periodfor In 1995, a breakthrough for the world of astronomy came when MARK THESPOT EXOPLANETS - - - It wasthetoppriorityspace missionidentifiedinthe2010 sential questionsinbothexoplanet anddarkenergy research. or WFIRST, aspace-basedobservatorydesigned tosettlees Space Flight Center on Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope, cess. the missionsthatcarrythemout,buildingoneachother’s suc office coordinates worktodefinescientificinvestigationsand leads allplanet-seekingstudythemesacross theagency. The five starsisgoingtohaveanEarthanalogplanet.” shown usthatexoplanetsare more abundantthanstars.Onein science who previously served as Kepler project manager. “It’s ing,” saidLeslieLivesay, JPL’s director forengineeringand stars thatare similartooursuninsizeandtemperature. Earth, andorbitintheirstar’s habitablezone.Ofthese,nineorbit candidates havediametersbetweenonetotwotimesthatof and analysistoverifytheyare actualplanets.Twelve ofthenew dates detectedbytheKeplermissionto4,696. May 2009to2013.Thisraisesthenumberofplanetcandi by 521basedontheiranalysisofobservationsconductedfrom team hasincreased thenumberofnewexoplanetcandidates number ofconfirmedplanetsto1,030.Inaddition,theKepler around asun-likestar. Thisfinding,Kepler-452b, bringsthe total Looking tothefuture, JPL isworkingwithNASA’s Goddard NASA’s ExoplanetExplorationOffice, whichisbased atJPL, “The numberofplanetsKeplerhasdiscovered ispretty amaz Such candidateexoplanetsrequire follow-upobservations 20 yearsago the firstfinding discovered since Thousands By Mark Whalen Continued onpage5 - - - -
Universe 3 mer of2013. ship from JPL’s Education Office insum Nature Geoscience. a report onthesefindingspublishedby researcher whowastheleadauthorof mentor for Lujendra Ojha, the youthful launches nextyear, hadservedasa for JPL’s InSightmissiontoMarsthat extra senseofpride. on Marstoday, SuzanneSmrekar felt an yet thatliquidwaterflowsintermittently Orbiter provided thestrongest evidence tember thatJPL’s MarsReconnaissance Ojha hadreceived agraduatefellow Smrekar, deputyprincipalinvestigator When NASAannouncedinlateSep vealed the strongestevidenceyetforwateronpresent-dayMars. . Lujendra Ojha, JPLgraduatefellowwhoseresearchre theformer - - - of the geophysical properties of Elysium presentation onanin-depthinvestigation Spectrometer forMars. biter’s CompactReconnaissance Imaging tions withmineralmappingbytheor The newstudypaired HiRISE observa slope lineaeatdozensofsitesonMars. (HiRISE) now have documentedrecurring Resolution ImagingScienceExperiment from MarsReconnaissance Orbiter’s High undergraduate student in 2010. Images liquid water—asaUniversityofArizona often describedaspossiblyrelated to flows—known asrecurring slopelineae, Ojha’s workatJPLculminatedwitha Ojha firstnoticedpuzzlingdownhill - evidence ofwater onMarstoday Former JPLresearcher finds water Following the - - Ojha. a brightfuture andmore great workfrom site onMars.” in. We’re lookingtobeatthemostboring We wanttoavoidthattypeofsoil to drill InSight, Smrekar replied, “Absolutelynot! are anywhere near the landing zone for tremely self-motivatedasa scientist.” said. “Hewaskind,thoughtfulandex worked hard topindown evidence,” she ed, hardworking butmodest researcher. water findings,Smrekar recalls adedicat Planitia. Althoughunrelated totheMars Smrekar saidshe’s lookingforward to Asked whether Ojha’s water findings “He wasveryfocusedonscienceand By Mark Whalen n - -
Universe 4 Wayne Sible andTracking, Telemetry, and tel, project managersAlaudin Bhanjiand planetary NetworkDirector KeyurPa recognized forits50thanniversary. missions, whiletheMarsprogram was ognized foritssupportofall interstellar Deep SpaceNetworkandMarsteams. pervisors in September honored JPL’s honorDSN,Supervisors Mars Mars Program Director Fuk Li (right) presents a Curiosity image to county Supervisor Mike Mars ProgramDirectorFukLi(right)presentsaCuriosityimagetocountySupervisor Antonovich. United Way campaigntargetshomelessness In attendancefortheDSNwere Inter The DeepSpaceNetworkwasrec The LosAngelesCountyBoard ofSu - - - - engineer Amanda Steffy. Deb Chattopadhyay andMSLsystems Mars ScienceLaboratorymission lead cations software engineerBevinDuckett, Manager JohnCallas,engineering appli Zurek, MarsExplorationRoverProject Roger Gibbs, Chief Scientist Richard were Director FukLi,DeputyDirector Guerrero. Command Office Manager Ana Maria Mars program personnelinattendance n - Angeles. Inthepast,manyJPLemployees event aimstoreduce homelessnessinLos Los AngelessetforSaturday, Nov. 21.The Walk, a5Krun/walkatExpositionParkin participate inUnitedWay’s annualHome paign will continue through Friday, Dec. 4. begin signinguponlinethatday. Thecam swer anyquestions,andemployeesmay present topassoutinformationandan lunch. 1 p.m.Pop-upcafeswillbeavailablefor kick-off eventonthemallfrom noonto gets underwayThursday, Oct.29witha please visithttp://www.unitedwayla.org. event. time, aJPLteamisbeingformedforthe joined theCaltechteam,butforfirst multimedia. et news,interactives,visualizations and discovery dashboard alongwithexoplan the sitefeatures acontinuouslyupdated etquest.jpl.nasa.gov. ManagedatJPL, etQuest” website, located at http://plan since 2002withitsaward-winning “Plan really fired uppeople’s imagination.” there are planetsaround everystarhas ect scientistforKepler. “Discoveringthat said JPLastronomer Nick Gautier, proj of themostexcitingthingsinscience,” planets outtheretobeone isturning that couldbeusedforexoplanetstudies. development research forastarshade sion. JPLisalsoconductingtechnology- telescope andcoronagraph forthemis survey. JPL’s role includesdevelopinga National AcademyofSciencesdecadal EXOPLANETS As partofthecampaign,JPLwillagain A representative from UnitedWay willbe JPL’s 2015-16United Way campaign For more informationonthecampaign, NASA hastrackedthesediscoveries “Finding thatthere are billionsofother n Continued from page3 n ------
Universe 5 B N rie ews f s and StrategyJakobvan of Project Formulation doctorateforvanZyl Honorary ics technologyandsupportingsystems enabling applications. Earth science,astrophysics andplanetaryscience nologies, enablingcutting-edgeinstrumentation for and microwave monolithicintegratedcircuit tech sensing, ultra-low-noisemillimeterwaveamplifiers, of microwave radiometryforscientificremote communications. advanced 3G/4Gcellularstandards forterrestrial have increased datareturnfrom spacecraftand plistic solutionsincodingandmodulationthat ing through thedevelopmentofelegant,sim field oftelecommunications and signal process tory’s future. decisions thathelpguidethecourseofLabora Fellows are sought out for advice on strategic tions totheLaboveranextendedperiodoftime. extraordinary technicalandinstitutionalcontribu lows, anhonorrecognizing thosewhohavemade JPL Fellowsappointed NASA representative onthe2015list. mobile applicationenvironment. Heistheonly be thefirstwithinNASAtodeploya3-D–enabled allowingJPLto wearable developmentpatterns, ment systemandtheintroduction ofmobileand JPL’s paperlessprocure ful implementationof Information Officer. the Office oftheChief Development Group with and MobileApplication manager ofJPL’s Web recognized EvanChan, awards program has Week 2015RisingStar Chan honoredas ‘Rising Star’ December. cal Engineeringthere, willreceive thehonorin is currently anExtraordinary Professor inElectri from theuniversityand an engineeringdegree South Africa. sity ofStellenboschin neering from the Univer honorary doctor of engi Zyl hasbeenawarded an Brian Wilcox:Forpioneeringinnovations inrobot JPL AssociateDirector Todd Gaier:Forvisionaryleadershipinthefield Dariush Divsalar:Forpioneeringworkinthe The honorees: Three researchers havebeennamedJPLFel Chan ledthesuccess The FederalComputer Van Zyl,whoearned - - - -
Jakob vanZyl Evan Chan ------a rough time. and supporthavehelpedmyfamily andmeduring card onthepassingofmymother. Thethoughts thanks tomyJPLfriendsfortheircondolences and JPL, healsotraveledseveraltimestoOxford Uni Field PlanetaryCamera2.Aspartofhisworkat Mariner, theHubbleSpaceTelescope andWide uted toVoyager, Galileo, spacecraft. Hecontrib of machinedpartsfor ing incustomfabrication 1969 to1995,specializ worked atJPLfrom gary, Koehler 357, diedAug.4. ment specialistinSection 85, a retired senior instru habitation ofMarsandthemoon. and devisingrobotic solutionstoenablehuman tion forrobotic asteroid redirection andretrieval, and deployment,conceptualizingafeasiblesolu JPL’s preeminence inrobotic rover development tion.org/donate. name beconsidered tohttp://www.mds-founda nephews. sister KathleenGibsonandmanynieces ceptional ServicesMedal. NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal and Ex and JPLawards, including received numerous NASA Deep SpaceNetwork.He Observatory 2andthe to Cassini,OrbitalCarbon Kemski alsocontributed than 25yearsatJPL, tory, diedAug.15. for Mars ScienceLabora mission assurancemanager ney, Ziggy, Bridget,Corey andKasey. Harold, Robertand John; and grandchildren Brit specialized machiningtechniques. versity inEnglandtomentortheiremployeeson Steve Waldherr I wouldliketopassalongmyappreciation and L A nativeofHun Emmerich Koehler, P Kemski’s familyisaskingthatdonationsinhis He issurvivedbyhiswife,Liz,motherJoan, During hiscareer ofmore Richard Kemski, Koehler issurvivedbyhiswife,Karolina; sons assings etters 60, - - - -
- Emmerich Koehler Richard Kemski - - - - -
Universe 6 Pasadena, CA91109. 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Education Directorate ofthe the Communicationsand Universe ispublishedby CLASSIFIED ADSAT JPL’S ONLINE NEWSSOURCE Mark Whalen Editor [email protected] READ ANDSUBMIT E-MAIL USAT http://jplspace
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Universe 7