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Planets are hot in 2004.

  • The Cassini spacecraft will arrive at Saturn on July 1, 2004. This will mark the end of the spacecraft's journey through the Solar System as well as the beginning of its tour of Saturn, its rings, moons and magnetosphere.
  • The twin Mars rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, have been performing bonus operations after completely their primary three-month mission exploring Mars. Both rovers have had their missions officially extended by NASA to at least September of this year, and will continue working for as long as possible after that. 
  • Another U.S. orbiter, Mars Odyssey, is still in its primary mission and also will likely have multiple extended missions.
  • MESSENGER ("MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, Geochemistry, and Ranging"), is a scientific investigation by spacecraft of the planet Mercury. It is scheduled to launch in July, and will provide the first global view of the smallest and least explored planet.
  • The shallow radar sounder (SHARAD) and HiRISE camera on the 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, will make a more comprehensive inspection of Mars than any previous mission. 
  • Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS) instrument of the Mars Express Mission, will search for evidence of subsurface water and/or ice.

Many of the scientists at the National Air and Space Museum's Center for Earth and Planetary Studies (CEPS) are directly involved in these missions and are available for media interviews throughout the year.

Dr. James Zimbelman, chairman of CEPS, is a geologist.  His research interests include topical geologic mapping of Mars and Venus; analysis of remote sensing data of Earth, Mars, and Venus at visual, infrared, and radar wavelengths; investigations of long lava flow emplacement on the terrestrial planets; paleoflood studies on Earth and Mars; and field studies in volcanic and desert terrains.  

Dr. John Grant is also a geologist and serves as co-chair of the Mars Landing Site Steering Committee.  Along with fellow committee members, Dr. Grant worked to identify landing sites that achieve maximum scientific return within the safety and engineering constraints of a given mission. He has been spending most of his time since January at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Cal. as a member of the Mars Rover team.

Dr. Bruce Campbell, a geophysicist, is active in future planetary missions and spacecraft development efforts. He is currently leading a team to develop a low-cost orbital imaging radar system for Mars, which may reveal buried water-carved channels. He is a team member for the SHARAD shallow radar sounder on the 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Dr. Thomas R. Watters is a geologist and the Senior Scientist at CEPS. He is a Participating Scientist on Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS) instrument of the Mars Express Mission. Dr. Watters is also involved in the MESSENGER Mission to Mercury.

Ross Irwin is a geologist who is using the topographic data from Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) to study possible ancient lakes and hydrology on early Mars. He is first author on a science paper on this topic. While MOLA is no longer collecting new topographic data, the huge data set it returned is still being data-mined every day.

To speak with any of these scientists about the above topics or other planetary-related subjects, please call the numbers above.