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JASON Expedition: 'Mysteries of Earth and Mars':Meteor Crater, AZ

by Claudia Herrera Hudson

"I was always struck, from the time I was very little, with what a gift this world is, how we understand so little now, and how much more there is to explore and be grateful for. How can anyone stop exploring?"
- Dr. Pamela Clark, Geoscientist, NASA
<h5>Dr. Pamela Clark, geoscientist for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Student Argonaut Chris Scarver examine shocked sandstone at Meteor Crater in Arizona as part of the JASON Expedition: Mysteries of Earth and Mars </h5><P>
Dr. Pamela Clark, geoscientist for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Student Argonaut Chris Scarver examine shocked sandstone at Meteor Crater in Arizona as part of the JASON Expedition: Mysteries of Earth and Mars


Guest Researcher, Dr. Pamela Clark

Dr. Pamela Clark is a geoscientist for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. She works in the development of geochemical instruments, analysis and interpretation of geochemical/geophysical measurements for planetary missions, and theoretical modeling.

How did you end up in the field you are in today?

I have wanted to work for the space program since I was ten years old. I was inspired by the landing of human crews on the Moon as part of the Apollo program. I particularly admired President Kennedy for making that commitment to landing 'a man on the moon' in less than a decade! What a challenge! How American to go into the dangerous frontier! I wanted to be a part of it. I couldn't imagine anything more exciting I could do with my life. I hoped to be the first woman that landed on Mars. Werner von Braun, German rocket engineer who surrendered to and joined the Allies after World War II, was also instrumental in starting the American space program for which I greatly admired him and I actually had a chance to meet him! He was responsible for involving a lot of young people in the space program by helping to create a NASA which has always heavily invested in educational outreach..... I ended up developing a career in Planetary Geoscience to be part of NASA.

What would you most like students to learn from participating in JASON Expedition: Mysteries of Earth and Mars?

I would like students to get excited about exploration and to see science as an important means of interacting with and learning to understand and expand out into the universe, finding resources we need along the way to make that possible. I would like students to have a chance to see what scientific work involves (hard work and dirt and frustration separated by moments of sheer joy, occasional terror, and serendipity encompassed by a sense of mission to probe the unknown). Field work is science on the ground, at its most obvious, based on first hand observations. I would also like to strengthen the creative problem-solving and team-building skills of participating students.

What advice would you give to students who are interested in studying science?

I would give them the same advice I would give other students, with one exception. I would offer special encouragement to pursue their goals with great dedication. Self-discipline and self-sacrifice and singlemindedness, less important values in today's American postmodern culture, are even more essential than they were before. Such values will allow students to compete more effectively with students entering technical fields from other parts of the world in a global economy. I would also encourage them to consider smaller colleges where they will get more hands on experience in science or engineering when it is time to think about colleges. Take advantage of every hands on experience you can get in your field of interest.

Why do you think it is important for students to make comparisons between Earth and Mars, and what can we hope to learn by doing that?

I explore the world around me in order to understand its amazing mystery. As they look closely at the world around them, the students will find the extraordinary, arresting and beautiful, close at hand. This is compellingly true for the world remote from us, deep within and outside of the earth. We go to the edge of the frontier, the solar system, for adventure, for insight, for novelty, for opportunity. I was always struck, from the time I was very little, with what a gift this world is, how we understand so little now, and how much more there is to explore and be grateful for. How can anyone stop exploring?

As far as Mars is concerned, Mars is a special case, the most Earthlike among the planets in many ways, and, as a result, the place where life is most likely to have arisen independently of the Earth. As we go looking for that possibility, Mars continues to evade us, to provide tantalizing evidence that Mars may or my not have had living things. So, very important questions scientists now and in the future will be asking are: Is there life on Mars? Are we alone in the universe (as living beings)? How will we recognize life? How will we protect it and protect ourselves from it? Did living things die out or survive on Mars? How did that happen? To answer these questions, we will need to look at changes recorded in Mars rock and atmosphere. Deposits on the ground and in the atmosphere would have changed in dramatic ways while living things existed on Mars. Mars is subject to extreme climatic shifts, so any survivors would have had to be able to tolerate 'extremes'. We are now in the process of exploring the adaptations of living things in analogous extreme environments on the Earth, including very dark, cold, or hot places deep in the oceans or underground. When we go to Mars, we will have to do field work in analogous places, poke into rugged terrain, look at the bottom of craters and pits, and icesheets, to answer those questions. The students could be participating in that activity some day!


Student Argonaut, Chris Scarver

Chris Scarver is a ninth-grader from Wisconsin, where his favorite subjects are Chemistry, Biology, and Zoology. Chris is a charismatic student who enjoys working on experiments with his fellow classmates to discover how things work. His teachers often pair him with English as a Second Language learners because of his patience and ability to work well with others.

As a member of the basketball team, Chris recognizes the importance of teamwork. He also participates in Best Men, a community program that pairs young men with adult mentors. Last year, the group recognized Chris with an award for exceptional attendance and positive attitude.

<h5> As an alternative to a wheeled rover, Dr. Allan Treiman, Planetary Geologist from the Lunar and Planetary Institute, TX, and student Argonaut Anna go over the operation of the TET prototype at Meteor Crater in Arizona as part of the JASON Expedition: Mysteries of Earth and Mars. It's a tetrahedral walker that tumbles to negotiate the rough landscape. Made up of six struts, it can be independently retracted or expanded telescopically, like the legs of a camera tripod. It moves by either shrinking or extending its edges to move its center of gravity beyond its base, so that it falls over. </h5><P>
As an alternative to a wheeled rover, Dr. Allan Treiman, Planetary Geologist from the Lunar and Planetary Institute, TX, and student Argonaut Anna go over the operation of the TET prototype at Meteor Crater in Arizona as part of the JASON Expedition: Mysteries of Earth and Mars. It's a tetrahedral walker that tumbles to negotiate the rough landscape. Made up of six struts, it can be independently retracted or expanded telescopically, like the legs of a camera tripod. It moves by either shrinking or extending its edges to move its center of gravity beyond its base, so that it falls over.


Student Argonaut, Anna Dykhoff

Astronomy is a favorite branch of science for Anna Dykhoff, an eighth-grade homeschooler from Virginia. She first became interested when she visited a stargazing program in Virginia and could see Saturn, Jupiter, Venus and The Milky Way. Anna plans to contribute a great deal of enthusiasm to her expeditions.

Anna has participated in several extracurricular activities, including playing piano, being a Colonial Living History Apprentice, participation in Girl Scouts, Math Olympiad team, and the Reston Bible Church Youth group.

Page created on 7/3/2013 12:02:00 PM

Last edited 7/3/2013 12:02:00 PM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

Related Links

NASA: Goddard Space Flight Center - -- located outside Washington DC, the center is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists and engineers dedicated to learning and sharing their knowledge of the Earth, Sun, Solar System, and Universe.
Earth Science (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), - also known as geoscience, is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. It is arguably a special case in planetary science, being the only known life-bearing planet.
NASA: Images Of Meteor Crater: - The Meteor Crater in the State of Arizona was the first crater to be identified as an impact crater. Between 20,000 to 50,000 years ago, a small asteroid about 80 feet in diameter impacted the Earth and formed the crater.
The JASON Project: - Delivering Real Adventures in Science and Measurable Gains in Achievement
Mythological Hero: Jason and the Argonauts - -- “Never before or since was so brave a ship's company gathered together.”

Extra Info

Additional information courtesy of the JASON Project

This story was made possible by a grant from The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

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Author Info

Dr. Robert Ballard has been featured for several years on the MY HERO web site. He is a well-known explorer and educator and the founder of an amazing science research project used by millions of students around the world called, The JASON Project.

For over a decade JASON Expeditions have taken place around the globe.

2005's JASON Project expedition, “Mysteries of Earth and Mars,” explored several different locations around the United States. The student and teacher “Argonauts," along with a team of renowned researchers and scientists, helped "unravel the mysteries of Earth and Mars" as they compared the two planets through exciting scientific exploration!

Scientists know that Earth and Mars share a common origin in the solar system, yet are two planets which evolved very differently. By visiting locations on Earth whose environment could best be paralleled with that of Mars, and which, despite extreme conditions, have life forms thriving therein, the JASON team was able to theorize about the types of life that could potentially exist in the extreme conditions of 'the red planet' as well.

During their visit to Meteor Crater, Arizona,

the Argonauts in 'Team Meteor Crater' explored around the crater's rim with guest researchers Dr. Pamela Clark, Dr. Jim Rice, and Dr. Allan Treiman. Together, they conducted a number of research activities which investigated the challenges of robotic space exploration, compared the geology of Earth and Mars, and examined the forces that have shaped the Martian surface. Meteor Crater is the best preserved crater on Earth and measures .75 miles in diameter. Mars, too, has craters on its surface. In fact, the Martian 'Hellas Planitia' is a gigantic impact crater nearly 4 miles deep and over 1200 miles wide!

While at Meteor Crater, the students even got to work with a TET prototype, a tetrahedral walker that tumbles to negotiate the rough landscape. To top off an already amazing day, as it turned out, NASA's 'Desert Rats' team was also doing testing of its own in the Meteor Crater area that day, and the Argonauts were given a surprise ride, experiencing the latest design and technology for the next lunar (and perhaps, Martian?) vehicle, for themselves!