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Mars Exploration

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| Photo courtesy NASA/JPL/Cornell |
| A close up of the rock dubbed "El Capitan." |
Washington University faculty and students are making critical contributions to Mars-related research and space exploration projects, including the 2004 Mars rover missions. Raymond E. Arvidson, Ph.D., the McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and chair of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, is the mission's deputy principal scientist. Visit this page for news updates on WUSTL's involvement in the Mars rover missions and other Mars-related research projects at Washington University.
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Showing 2 Mars Exploration Experts.
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William McKinnon
 Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences

McKinnon's research focuses on the icy satellites of the outer solar system and the physics of impact cratering. The last twenty odd years of planetary exploration can be characterized by both the unveiling of the outer solar system - initially by the Voyager missions, but now by the Galileo mission ...

Expertise: icy satellites, meteorites, outer solar system

Direct contact: (314) 935-5604
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mckinnon@levee.wustl.edu

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Roger Phillips
 Professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences

Roger Phillips, Ph.D., Washington University Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Director of the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, and collaborators are interested in the interior evolution of the terrestrial planets and how a planet's evolution affects and modifies its outer rigid ...

Expertise: Mars, NASA, origins of life on Mars, space studies, surface features of Mars

Direct contact: (314) 935-6356
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phillips@wustite.wustl.edu

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Showing 2 Mars Exploration Experts.
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| News Stories & Tip Sheets: |
Showing Mars Exploration Stories 1 through 3 of 25.
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Pickled in Brine
 Mars may once have been awash in water but the water was very salty

Oct. 26,
2009 -- Andrew H. Knoll, Ph.D., Fisher Professor of Natural History and professor of earth and planetary sciences at Harvard University, will discuss the evidence for life on Mars at 7 p.m. Oct. 30 in Room 300, Laboratory Sciences Building, on the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis.

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Haskin honored with named feature on the Moon
 WUSTL man on the Moon

Feb. 3,
2009 --
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| Haskin |
A crater on the moon has been named after the late Larry Haskin, Ph.D., who spent much of his career as a WUSTL researcher in the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences.

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Bringing Mars to life
 Ray Arvidson to deliver inaugural Robert M. Walker Distinguished Lecture

Oct. 20,
2008 -- Raymond E. Arvidson, Ph.D., the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Washington University, will deliver the inaugural Robert M. Walker Distinguished Lecture at 7 p.m. Oct. 30 in Room 100, Brown Hall, on the university's Danforth Campus. Arvidson, who has played key roles in NASA's missions to Mars, including the current Phoenix Mars Mission, will discuss "Mars: Environments, Habitability, and Life" during the free lecture that is open to the public.

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Showing Mars Exploration Stories 1 through 3 of 25.
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For Mars Rover, Really Remote Roadside Assistance
The Wall Street Journal

July 17,
2009 -- On Mars, NASA's robot rover Spirit is spinning its wheels on the soft shoulder of planetary exploration, up to its axles in silt millions of miles away from tense engineers who are struggling to extricate it by remote control. Includes comments by WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson, who is the project deputy principal investigator.

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U.S. Astronauts Might Hitch Rides on Chinese Spacecraft
Space.com

April 17,
2009 -- The U.S. and China are exploring new ways to bridge U.S. moon exploration plans with China. Includes comments from WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson.

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What lies in store for the Mars rovers?
MSNBC.com
and 1 others

March 31,
2009 -- Their 90-day warranty expired awhile ago, but NASA's twin Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity are still trundling along the Martian surface en route to their next destinations more than five years after landing on the red planet. But just how long they can keep going is anyone's guess. WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson comments.

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Lander data sheds light on Mars polar water
MSNBC.com
and 1 others

Dec. 16,
2008 -- Data from the now-defunct NASA Phoenix Mars Lander is shedding light on the current water cycle on Mars, particularly how water moves between the surface and the atmosphere in the northern polar region. It has a very active weather environment. WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson, who is the lead scientist for Phoenix's robotic arm, comments.

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Phoenix probe sheds new light on Mars weather
Toronto Star (Canada)
and 21 others

Dec. 16,
2008 -- NASA is still unable to say for sure whether its Phoenix lander has found a place where life could have existed on Mars. In addition to analyzing ice and soil samples for organic material, a process that is still under way, the Phoenix science team collected daily weather reports, information considered critical to learning if the planet could have supported water long enough for life to evolve. Includes comments by WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson, who served as the lead scientist for the lander's robotic arm.

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NASA says Phoenix Mars mission has ended
Associated Press
and 112 others

Nov. 11,
2008 -- NASA declared an end to the Phoenix mission on Monday, some five months after the spacecraft became the first to land in Mars' arctic plains and taste water on another planet. "It's always a sad situation to not be able to communicate with it, but it lived beyond its warranty," said mission scientist and WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson.

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NASA sends 'please wake up' call to Phoenix lander
USA Today

Nov. 4,
2008 -- NASA engineers still hope to rouse a slumbering Phoenix lander and wring the last science out of the mission to Mars' North Pole. WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor and mission scientist Ray Arvidson comments.

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NASA's Phoenix Mission Faces Survival Challenges
ScienceDaily.com
and 15 others

Oct. 29,
2008 -- In a race against time and the elements, engineers with NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander mission hope to extend the lander's survival by gradually shutting down some of its instruments and heaters. WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson, who is the robotic arm's co-investigator, comments.

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NASA's Phoenix Lander Weathers Martian Dust Storm
ScienceDaily.com
and 6 others

Oct. 15,
2008 -- The Phoenix Lander successfully weather a regional dust storm that temporarily lowered its solar power. The team is back investigating the Red Planet's northern plains, and WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson, comments on the storm.

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Phoenix's Water May Be Gumming Up the Works
Science Magazine

Aug. 8,
2008 -- The Phoenix mission's most dramatic achievement so far has been touching martian water ice. Mission investigators are now trying to decode the mysteries of alien dirt. WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson, mission robotic arm co-investigator, comments.

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Living on Mars time: Scientists suffer perpetual jet lag
USA Today
and 1 others

July 29,
2008 -- Mars Lander mission controllers have been living on its schedule, or rather the exact opposite of it. When the spacecraft is sleeping during the Martian night, the scientists are up analyzing data; when the spacecraft rises at the beginning of the day on Mars, they retire and let Phoenix do its work.Mars' day is 40 minutes longer than Earth's, and the start of the Martian day is always changing with respect to Earth time, as a result of their respective orbital motions. Reserachers essentially change three time zones every two days, as a result. Phoenix robotic arm co-investigator and WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson comments.

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Tasting ice
Science News Web edition

July 21,
2008 -- Phoenix Mars Lander is ready to analyze ice if instruments work properly. "The team is totally focused on getting a rasped-up icy sample to TEGA," says mission specialist and WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson. He says collecting the desired icy sample is like trying to sample the sidewalk in front of his house. "The soil is that hard," he says.

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NASA: Robotic arm gives Martian soil a zap
Computerworld (MA)
and 5 others

July 15,
2008 -- As NASA scientists prepare to give a faulty instrument on the Mars Lander another try, they've also been using an electric fork and an atomic force microscope to get more clues about the makeup of Martian soil. WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson, a co-investigator for the Mars Lander's robotic arm team, comments.

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NASA waiting on first chemical analysis of Martian soil
Computerworld (MA)
and 1 others

June 26,
2008 -- NASA scientists are eagerly awaiting the first test results to come down from a wet chemistry lab on the Phoenix Mars Lander that yesterday analyzed its first bit of Martian soil. Includes comments by WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson on the work of the lander's robotic arm.

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NASA's Phoenix Lander finds ice on Mars
Telegraph.co.uk (UK)

June 23,
2008 -- The Mars Phoenix Lander has found ice on the surface of the Red Planet raising hopes of finding evidence of life forms.
The proof came in a series of pictures sent back by Phoenix of a trench it dug with its robotic arm at the arctic circle of Mars, showing dice-sized chunks of white material that are seen to melt away over the course of several days.
WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson comments. He is the lead scientist for Phoenix's Robotic Arm.

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Ice on Mars! Now you see it, now you don't
MSNBC.MSN.com

June 20,
2008 -- The scientists behind NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander mission now know that they had their first close-up look at Martian ice — because it has vanished from the picture. NASA scientist and WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson comments.

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Mars lander loses day of work after data glitch
Associated Press
and 56 others

June 19,
2008 -- The Phoenix lander stopped digging soil near Mars' north pole as engineers on Earth worked to fix a glitch that caused the loss of a day's worth of photos. NASA scientist and WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson comments.

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Phoenix Probes Martian Soil -- No Ice Yet but Lots of Resolution
Scientific American online

June 17,
2008 -- NASA announced that the first soil sample baked in the Phoenix Mars Lander shows no signs of water. NASA scientist and WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson comments on the robotic arm.

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Mars lander may have found ice at polygon's edge
New Scientist (UK)

June 17,
2008 -- The Phoenix lander's robotic arm has uncovered a patch of what may be ice on the border of a polygon-shaped section of soil in Mars's northern plains. NASA scientist and WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson comments. He is the lead scientist for the robotic arm's activities.

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Mars team ponders whether lander sees ice or salt
Associated Press
and 53 others

June 17,
2008 -- Is the white stuff in the Martian soil ice or salt? That's the question bedeviling scientists in the three weeks since the Phoenix lander began digging into Mars' north pole region to study whether the arctic could be habitable. Mission scientist and WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson comments.

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Additional Information:
More Mars-related news
Analyses show water stayed on Mars longer than previously thought
Nov. 26, 2001 - An analysis of high-resolution topographic maps and photographs, as well as recent studies of Martian meteorites suggest the presence of water on the Red Planet for a longer time scale than scientists had previously believed. Roger J. Phillips, Ph.D., professor of earth and planetary sciences and Director of Washington University's McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, analyzed topographic maps of the planet (accurate to within half a meter) that are based on data returned from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) on the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission. (http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/2002/science-tech/mars_water.html)
Mars-related articles from campus newspaper, The Record.
Feb. 6, 2004 — Mars mission gets boost from WUSTL
July 11, 2003 — Mars mission bolstered by Arvidson, colleagues
Dec. 7, 2001 — Water stayed on Mars longer than thought, analyses show
June 15, 2001 — Swept away: Study suggests massive water erosion of Mars' highlands
March 30, 2001 — Researchers pinpoint region responsible for Mars' heyday
Nov. 17, 2000 — Mars Rover project involves faculty, staff, students
April 4, 2000 — Life's origins: Researchers find intriguing posibility in volcanic gases
Jan. 29, 1998 — Arvidson takes on new roles in Mars Surveyor missions
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