{"380801":{"#nid":"380801","#data":{"type":"event","title":"Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity and the Exploration of the Red Planet","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Center for Space Technology and Research (CSTAR) is honored to present Dr. Steven Squyres, Principal Investigator for the science payload on the Mars Exploration Rover Project and Professor of astronomy at Cornell University, as its invited speaker in the CSTAR Distinguished Lecture Series. This talk will provide an up-to-date summary of the missions of Spirit and Opportunity, from their initial conception through their development, launch, landing, and operations on the surface of Mars.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;In January of 2004, twin robotic explorers named Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars. Expected to last for 90 days, their mission has now gone on for more than eleven years. Its objective is to search for evidence of past water on Mars, and to determine if Mars ever had conditions that would have been suitable for life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESpirit landed in Gusev Crater, a large impact crater in the southern highlands of Mars. Finding only ancient lava on the crater floor, Spirit drove a mile and a half to the base of the Columbia Hills, a mountain range near the landing site. There Spirit ascended Husband Hill, the highest summit in the range, finding evidence that the rocks were modified long ago by water. Later, Spirit found strong evidence for ancient hot springs on Mars. Spirit\u2019s mission ended after six years on the martian surface.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOpportunity landed on Meridiani Planum, a smooth plateau near the martian equator. In the first few weeks after landing, Opportunity found compelling evidence for long-ago water on Mars. This evidence included thick deposits of sulfate salts, concretions that precipitated from liquid water, and rocks that preserve ancient ripples formed when water flowed over sand. Opportunity has driven more than 40 kilometers across the martian surface, and has been exploring Endeavour Crater, a spectacular impact crater 25 kilometers in diameter.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo develop Spirit and Opportunity, a team of more than 4,000 highly motivated engineers and scientists overcame a host of technical challenges. The challenges were multiplied by an extraordinarily tight schedule that was driven by the motions of the planets.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the Distinguished Speaker:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESteven W. Squyres is the James A. Weeks Professor of Physical Sciences at Cornell University, and is the Principal Investigator for the science payload on the Mars Exploration Rover Project. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell in 1981 and spent five years as a postdoctoral associate and research scientist at NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center before returning to Cornell as a faculty member. His main areas of scientific interest have been Mars and the moons of the outer planets. Research for which he is best known includes study of the history and distribution of water on Mars and of the possible existence and habitability of a liquid water ocean on Europa.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Squyres has participated in many of NASA\u2019s planetary exploration missions, including the Voyager mission to Jupiter and Saturn, the Magellan mission to Venus, and the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission. Along with his current work on MER, he is also a co-investigator on the Mars Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Science Laboratory missions, a member of the Gamma-Ray Spectrometer Team for the Mars Odyssey mission, and a member of the imaging team for the Cassini mission to Saturn.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Squyres chaired the most recent planetary decadal survey for the National Research Council. He has also served as Chair of the NASA Space Science Advisory Committee, and is currently Chair of the NASA Advisory Council. His awards include the American Astronomical Society\u2019s Harold C. Urey Prize, the Space Science Award of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Astronautical Society\u2019s Carl Sagan Award, the National Space Society\u2019s Wernher von Braun Award, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the Center for Space Technology and Research (CSTAR):\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cstar.gatech.edu\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EThe Center for Space Technology and Research (C-STAR)\u003C\/a\u003E organizes, integrates, and facilitates Georgia Tech\u0027s space science and technology research activities. C-STAR brings together a wide range of Georgia Tech faculty who are active in space-related research and functions as a focal point for the growth of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.aerospace.georgiainnovation.org\u0022\u003Espace industry in the state of Georgia\u003C\/a\u003E. C-STAR personnel are advancing the frontiers of astrophysics, Earth science, planetary science, robotics, space policy, space technology, and space systems engineering. C-STAR was established in 2013 and is led by \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cstar.gatech.edu\/robert-braun\u0022\u003ERobert D. Braun\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(Director) and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cstar.gatech.edu\/thomas-orlando\u0022\u003EThomas Orlando\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(Associate Director). C-STAR is actively engaged in partnerships with NASA\u0027s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Georgia Department of Economic Development Center of Innovation for Aerospace, and the Georgia Space Grant Consortium.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Center for Space Technology and Research (CSTAR) is honored to present Dr. Steven Squyres, Principal Investigator for the science payload on the Mars Exploration Rover Project and Professor of astronomy at Cornell University, as its invited speaker in the CSTAR Distinguished Lecture Series. This talk will provide an up-to-date summary of the missions of Spirit and Opportunity, from their initial conception through their development, launch, landing, and operations on the surface of Mars.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"CSTAR Distinguished Lecturer, Dr. Steven Squyres, will provide an update of the Mars exploration missions of  Spirit and Opportunity."}],"uid":"27257","created_gmt":"2015-02-21 14:02:54","changed_gmt":"2017-04-13 21:19:59","author":"Cynthia Pendley","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2015-04-13T19:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2015-04-13T21:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2015-04-13T21:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2015-04-13 23:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2015-04-14 01:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2015-04-14 01:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"380811":{"id":"380811","type":"image","title":"Dr. Steve Squyres","body":null,"created":"1449246231","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:23:51","changed":"1475894349","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:39:09","alt":"Dr. Steve Squyres","file":{"fid":"75267","name":"miss-steverover-l.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/miss-steverover-l.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/miss-steverover-l.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":42127,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/miss-steverover-l.jpg?itok=_qDjl3ib"}}},"media_ids":["380811"],"groups":[{"id":"282661","name":"Center for Space Technology and Research (CSTAR)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"167098","name":"space exploration"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1789","name":"Conference\/Symposium"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78751","name":"Undergraduate students"},{"id":"78761","name":"Faculty\/Staff"},{"id":"78771","name":"Public"},{"id":"174045","name":"Graduate students"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECindy Pendley\u003Cbr \/\u003EProgram Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cstar.gatech.edu\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECenter for Space Technology and Research (CSTAR)\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:cindy.pendley@ae.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ecindy.pendley@ae.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2328\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}