QUESTION:
For Mike Malin: you said hiking and camping is part of your job.
How does this fit in?

ANSWER from Mike Malin on November 28, 1996:
Hiking and camping are part of my work because I am a geologist as 
well as a planetary scientist. I believe it is important to study the 
Earth as well as other planets, both because we live here, and 
because on Earth I can form a hypothesis and then go out and test it 
(something that is much harder to do on Mars!). When I was a kid, I 
didn't enjoy outdoor recreation that much, so it is kind of funny that 
my work led me to spend time hiking and camping. I have had many 
"adventures" hiking and camping for my work, including spending 
several months camping in Antarctica, and in Iceland and Alaska. 
These areas helped me "train my eye" to look for features on Mars, 
which I now do using cameras.

Thank you again for asking your question.

Mike Malin
Principal Investigator