Penn State Featured On Pathfinder Mission Chat Site
10-3-97
University Park, Pa. -- Space enthusiasts of all ages can "talk" with the university scientists and astronauts who played a major role in the success of the current Mars Pathfinder mission, during an on-line chat, Mars Exploration, hosted by the Science Coalition. Penn State will be the featured university on Oct. 17.The Mars Exploration web site will make its debut Tuesday, Oct. 7, from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. EST. Visitors can join in the discussion about the Mars landing in the Science Cafe section of the site at www.sciencecoalition.org.
Dr. Thanasis Economou, of the University of Chicago's Laboratory for Astrophysics and Space Research, and Dr. Peter H. Smith, of the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, will host the first on-line chat and will discuss the instruments they designed for the NASA Pathfinder mission. They will be joined by astronauts Thomas D. Jones and Dr. Peggy A. Whitson, who will answer questions about the future potential for human space flight to Mars.
The two-hour chat marks the first of several planned interactive on-line forums for experts and enthusiasts to talk about the major scientific advances that are supported by university-based research.
Dr. Tom Economou, senior scientist in the University of Chicago's Enrico Fermi Institute, and his University of Chicago team designed and built the Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), one of the key scientific instruments on board the Mars Pathfinder rover, Sojourner. The APXS has provided the first-ever chemical composition analysis of rocks and soil on the surface of Mars.
The APXS can detect any chemical element except hydrogen at concentrations as low as a fraction of one percent.
"Down the line we want to be able to find out if life on Mars developed along the same lines as life on Earth, but we won't be able to answer that question until we can bring back samples to examine in laboratories here on Earth," said Dr. Economou.
Undergraduate and graduate students contributed to the research supporting the APXS at the University of Chicago's laboratory for Astrophysics and Space Research. University scientists have participated in more than 35 space missions, including lunar landings, planetary orbiters and extra-solar missions.
Dr. Peter Smith of the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory became one of the most famous photographers in the solar system this summer, when the camera he designed took the first stereoscopic photos from Mars in stunning color. Smith and his team have devoted much of the past four years to designing, building, calibrating and testing the color-sensitive camera called the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP).
One of IMP's first tasks on Mars was to search for the sun at sunrise so the Pathfinder's computer could position its high-gain antenna, Pathfinder's high-speed communications link to Earth. Since then, IMP has imaged a 360-degree panoramic view of the Mars surface and other breathtaking pictures posted for 100 million web viewers during the July 4 weekend last summer.
The Science Coalition is an alliance of 413 organizations, institutions and individuals including Nobel laureates, businesses, non-profit health organizations, medical groups, health care providers, scientific societies and public and private universities. The coalition's mission is to sustain the federal government's historic commitment to university-based science research.
**kiw**
Contact: Karen I. Wagner (814) 865-7517 (office), e-mail: kiw1@psu.edu
Julie Ann Bubolz (814) 865-6563 (office), e-mail: jab342@psu.edu
Julie Brown (202) 289-5900 (office), e-mail: Julie_Brown@clsdc.com