Work with NASA on Mars Exploration

For many undergraduates, the idea of determining the landing site for a Mars Rover or taking pictures with its robotic arm is something from a science fiction movie. But Raymond E. Arvidson, James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences and Chair of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, has made it a reality for some students.

Thanks to Arvidson, NASA houses its Planetary Data System (PDS) Geosciences Node right here in the Earth and Planetary Remote Sensing Laboratory (EPRSL), part of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University. The EPRSL is involved in many aspects of NASA's planetary exploration program, including developing science objectives and plans for missions, participating in mission operations and data analysis, and archiving and distributing data relevant to characterizing and understanding planetary surfaces and interiors.

Students become involved in the Laboratory as a part of the Pathfinder Program in Environmental Sustainability, where multidisciplinary approaches to environmental problems are stressed with hands-on experience. The Pathfinder program gives selected freshman an opportunity to begin a challenging course of study that will last their four years at Washington University, while allowing them to pursue majors in a variety of fields.

Currently, Arvidson’s team is working on the Phoenix Mars Mission. Phoenix left Earth on August 4, 2007 and, 423 million miles later, will reach Mars on May 25, 2008. A key to the success of this mission will be a smooth landing for the spacecraft on the rocky surface of Mars. The relatively rock-free landing site was determined by Professor Arvidson’s team after painstakingly analyzing NASA images.

After a successful landing, Arvidson’s team will work with the robotic arm and gather soil and water-ice samples, take images with the robotic arm camera and interpret and archive the data. Mars, a cold desert planet, has no liquid water on its surface. The samples from the Phoenix lander will help determine any presence of water and habitable conditions, key clues to knowing whether life ever arose on Mars. There is a lot of work to be done in a few months because, according to Professor Arvidson, Phoenix will be frozen in ice by December 2008.

For more information on Washington University's involvement in the NASA program, visit http://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu.

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