From: Jan Wee <jwee@mail.arc.nasa.gov>
Subject: New field journals and upcoming web chats!
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 11:00:55 -0500
Dear discuss-lfm members,
There are exciting opportunities for you and for students
to interact with the Mars team members via web chats and
several *newly posted* Field Journals and Biographies via the
Live From Mars web site. New field journals posted as recently as
THIS WEEK include Bridget Landrey (6/22 & 6/23), Mark
Adler (6/21 who shares preparing for the "big day"),
Jim Murphy (6/18), Greg Wilson (6/17) and David Mittman
(6/14). These field journals give you an up-close-and-personal
look at the day to day issues facing the Mars team, the
challenges, the ups and downs, and the science of landing
the Pathfinder on Mars and anticipated events to come.
Words of inspiration are often shared, like these from
Mark Adler who wrote in his 6/21 Field Journal...
"If I had to summarize the feeling here at JPL, it's a
combination of excitement, anticipation and stark terror.
:-) Obviously, excitement about landing on Mars for the
first time in over 20 years. Anticipation about what we might
learn, since every time we've sent a new spacecraft to Mars in
the past, our view of the planet has changed. And lastly,
stark terror of significant failure in a very ambitious mission
that is both trying a new way to land on Mars and operating
the very first wheeled robot to ever be sent to Mars. There
is always risk in sending our robot agents alone out into the
dark expanses of space and the vast uncharted surfaces of
other worlds. But if it all works, and we think it will, then
all of Earth will share with us the wonder of exploring a new
world."
See http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/team/index.html for
the Field Journals and Biographies! (Thanks to Sandy D.
at NASA Quest for the new Field Journals and Bios!)
Web chats provide another exciting way to interact with the Mars
Team members. Don't forget -- you must PRE-REGISTER
for the live chats. For more details see:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/interact.html#webchat
Several chats are scheduled for July...
----->July Chats
Tuesday, July 1, 2 p.m., Pacific, Bridget Landry
Bridget is the deputy uplink systems engineer, which means she
teaches computers on the ground to speak the same language as
the Pathfinder spacecraft. In other words, she takes very complex,
but general computer programs and makes them understand all
the commands that the Mars Pathfinder knows. Bridget will
bring us up to date on all the pre-landing activities the
spacecraft is going through.
Tuesday, July 8, 9 a.m., Pacific, Jeff Plescia
Jeff is a Mars research scientist whose primary interest
is planetary geology. He was an investigator on the
Viking mission to Mars in the 1970s and is anxious to
compare past Viking images of the surface of Mars with
new images from Pathfinder. Jeff will answer all of your
questions about touchdown on the surface of Mars and the
daily routines of the lander and rover.
Week of July 14 (exact day still to be determined), 7 a.m.,
Pacific, Peter Thomas Peter, a research scientist at
Cornell University, studies pictures of other planets
and satellites sent back by spacecraft. His particular
interest is in Mars and how the wind shapes the surface by
moving sand and dust, sometimes in global storms, and how
the polar caps have affected Mars' geology and climate.
Tuesday, July 22, 9 a.m., Pacific, Jack Farmer
Jack is an exopaleontologist--a searcher for fossils on
other worlds. His most important contribution to the Pathfinder
mission to date was to recommend the landing site at the mouth of
Ares Vallis (a large outflow channel). While it is unlikely
that Pathfinder will discover fossil remains of ancient life
forms, it may allow us to determine if the right kinds of
rocks are present, that is, rocks of sedimentary origin that
could harbor a microfossil record.
Hope you will take advantage of these resources available
to all!
Jan Wee, moderator