Subscribe RSSWith one of its professors chosen to take part in another Mars deplaning project, Washington University is furthering its decades-long relationship with the nation's space program.
Raymond Arvidson, professor of globe and planetary sciences, was named recently to be a participating scientist on the Mars Science Laboratory, the mission that's sending a new traveller, Curiosity, to the planet's surface. The rover lifted off in November and is scheduled to arrive in early August.
Arvidson suggested using the tourist as a tool to study the planet's soil. The proposal was among 29 chosen from a field of nearly 150 applicants. His co-investigator is Karl Iagnemma, a managing director research scientist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The proposal was born out of lessons learned while working on an earlier Mars vagrant, Spirit. The vehicle landed on Mars in January 2004 for a three-month mission that ended up stretching out for several years.
Life ran into trouble in April 2009, when one of its wheels broke through a section of crusted soil, entrapping the 400-clear machine. Scientists worked for more than a year to free Spirit but declared an end to the mission last May after the solar-powered carrier lost power and stopped responding.
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