Department News

LPL and the city of Tucson are the subject of a new book titled Under Desert Skies: How Tucson Mapped the Way to the Moon and Planets. The book's author is University of Arizona (UA) alumna Melissa Sevigny, who grew up in Tucson. As an undergraduate, Melissa studied creative writing and environmental sciences; she went on to complete a M.FA. in Creative Writing and Environment from Iowa State University, and is currently a science and technology reporter for KNAU (Arizona Public Radio) in Flagstaff. As an undergraduate Arizona NASA Space Grant intern in 2006, Melissa and her mentor, Professor Michael J. Drake, began an oral history project with LPL as the topic. The interviews and research continued beyond the Space Grant year, thanks to funding from Mike Drake, and were eventually transcribed into the text for the book, which has been published by The University of Arizona Press. Melissa has donated the royalties to LPL for outreach activities.

On April 25, UA Library Special Collections, The University of Arizona Press, and LPL hosted a panel discussion and reception to introduce Under Desert Skies. The panel discussion was moderated by Melissa Sevigny and featured William K. Hartmann, Peter Smith, and Ewen Whitaker, with opening remarks from Tim Swindle. The event, available for viewing online, was a wonderful opportunity to honor those who pioneered planetary science and to inspire planetary scientists of the future. 

To purchase a copy of Under Desert Skies, go to: 

http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/Books/bid2594.htm

Images courtesy of University of Arizona Libraries

Congratulations to Peng Sun, who defended his dissertation on April 25! The research topic was titled, “Charged Particle Transport in the Turbulent Magnetic Field in Space and a Transport Model for the ENA Ribbon.” Peng's advisor was Regents' Professor Emeritus Randy Jokipii. 

by Sarah Morrison

It has been a busy year for LPL Outreach, with events ranging from wowing young children with our new Pluto globe to giving popular monthly lectures at Borderlands Brewery as part of our Space Drafts Public Talk Series (in collaboration with Steward Observatory and NOAO). The Space Drafts concept expanded this year, with the result being that Tucson has its own flavor of the broader movement, called Astronomy on Tap.

LPL's Pluto globe trended on social media and our "how-to" was promoted as a guest blog entry at the Planetary Society. We also showcased planetary science with interactive exhibits at many community events such as What If? Weekends at Biosphere 2, the Connect2STEM event in Phoenix, Tucson Festival of Books, Tucson Hebrew Academy’s Community STEM Festival, and SARSEF Future Innovator’s Night. These were often group outreach efforts including Maria Schuchardt (Space Imagery Center), Dolores Hill (OSIREX-REx), Sarah Morrison (LPL graduate outreach coordinator), and the rest of our outreach volunteers. The LPL graduate students themselves have talked directly with over 4,500 people so far this year about our Solar System and beyond, growing our ties to the community and developing better ways to communicate our science! Most recently, LPL graduate students have discussed their research and career paths with several hundred college-bound high schoolers at UA’s STEAMworks expo held April 14, 2016. We have had a great year for outreach so far, and we continue to develop our community connections for more to come!

 

 

 

LPL graduate student Sarah Morrison making a Pluto globe for outreach activities. Image credit: LPL graduate student Alessondra Springmann.

 

 

 

April’s Space Drafts audience enjoys 3D HiRISE anaglyphs presented by LPL graduate student Margaret Landis (off screen) in her discussion of the climate history on Mars. Image credit: LPL graduate student Sarah Morrison.

 

 

 

Maria Schuchardt (far right) shows the world to a family at Connect2STEM on Jan. 9, 2016. Image credit: UA College of Medicine-Phoenix.

 

 

 

LPL graduate student Donna Viola discusses her research on Mars at STEAMworks on April 14, 2016. Image credit: University of Arizona.

Jennifer Fernando joined LPL in November 2015 as a postdoctoral researcher working on the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) processing and analysis with Dr. Alfred McEwen and Dr. Shane Byrne. As a planetary geologist, her research focuses on the characterization of the martian past (e.g., volcanic, sedimentary) and present (seasonal processes linked to the surface-atmosphere exchanges) processes in order to better understand the planet's internal (volcanism) and external (climate) dynamic systems and to evaluate their impact in surface changes. To constrain these processes, Jennifer uses orbital visible and near-infrared remote sensing observations to derive quantitative information about the chemical (e.g., composition, mineral abundances) and physical properties (grain size, morphology, internal structure) of surface materials. On the HiRISE team, Jennifer is working on the development of an innovative and quantitative processing tool that includes a sophisticated correction for the atmospheric and surface scattering contributions of the HiRISE color images in order to estimate quantitative information about the surface materials. This development will also enable analysis of images taken under variable geometric acquisitions and atmospheric conditions useful to track current surface changes (e.g., CO2 defrosting and Recurring Slope Lineae features).

Jennifer is from Paris, France. She earned a B.S. and a M.S. in Earth and Universe Science with a specialty in Planetary Science (2011) at the University of Pierre and Marie Curie (Paris, France). She earned her Ph.D. in 2014 from the University of Paris-Sud 11 (Orsay, France). Her thesis focuses on the estimates of the martian surface microtexture using visible hyper spectral and multi-angular data in order to give new constraints about the geological processes responsible for Mars evolution. Jennifer enjoys traveling, hiking and cooking (bon appétit!). 

Congratulations to the 2016 recipients of the LPL Outstanding Staff Awards: Anjani Polit (Appointed Personnel) and Joshua Sosa (Classified Staff Excellence Award)!

Anjani Polit became Uplink Operations Lead for the HiRISE project in 2010, but had a decade of HiRISE targeting and uplink operations experience before that.

Anjani's work is complex; each observation requires individual attention in terms of targeting and camera parameters; instrument temperatures require constant modeling and monitoring to avoid noise or shutdown; and the spacecraft recorder's data storage requires constant modeling and monitoring to avoid underutilizing the downlink or overfilling the recorder. All of this in addition to the complex targeting process, which entails interacting with the project over landing site images and 4 other experiment teams with conflicting ideas on how to point the spacecraft. Anjani must juggle overlapping planning cycles (every 2 weeks, HiRISE initiates a new 2-­week planning cycle, a process that takes about 6 weeks---resulting in 3 overlapping cycles); communicate with the science team, other HiRISE operations staff, staff from other science experiments, and the MRO project personnel at JPL and Lockheed-­Martin. This means she must remain available for communication on nights and weekends. Anjani also contributes often to education and public outreach efforts (talks, tours), and is described as a "terrific" role model for children and young adults. When not on duty with HiRISE, Anjani volunteers for the Southern Arizona Rescue Association.

Anjani's nominating letters cited her astounding competence and reliability, good humor, dedication, attention to detail, and patience in educating inexperienced scientists on the operations process. Anjani's ongoing efforts to improve performance to maximize science returns and improve procedure efficiencies, including overseeing the automation and simplification of many HiRISE processes, are further examples of what makes her an outstanding member of the LPL staff.

Since 2010, Joshua Sosa has supported Susan Brew and Arizona Space Grant Consortium (ASGC) as an assistant and program webmaster. In 2013, he assumed duties as Web Site Designer/Developer for LPL. And in 2014, Joshua's job description expanded to include AV support for LPL and the Kuiper Building.

With Space Grant, Joshua helps Program Manager Susan Brew carry-out the day-to-day ASGC program business—everything from clerical jobs, to redesigning and programming the statewide website in Drupal and continuously finding ways to enhance its usefulness for managers and participants. Joshua has been key in helping AZSGC managers work smarter and more efficiently by identifying solutions and updating and improving online systems for conducting daily business. He built online forms, databases, and other systems to help streamline and systematize data collection for NASA reporting, selecting interns and fellows, tracking students and more. He trains ASGC members in system use, allowing Space Grant to share programs across Arizona colleges and universities while minimizing administrative burdens. The Arizona web site has been positively reviewed by NASA; moreover, the website built for the National Space Grant Directors’ Council Meeting (Tucson, fall 2015), was well received. Joshua also provided the AV support for this large meeting, saving the nation’s 52 Space Grant Consortia many hundreds of dollars.

Beginning in 2013, Joshua has worked as web designer for LPL, upgrading the site by implementing a user-friendly Drupal system. Joshua provided training and documentation for the upgrades and patiently supported and addressed a wide variety of cosmetic and internal maintenance issues. He integrated existing FileMakerPro databases, with which he previously had little experience. Implementation of web forms has simplified service requests, information sharing, and record keeping. In 2015, LPL began a web site re-design to take advantage of UA design templates. Joshua attended meetings of the UA Web Developers Group and worked with UITS Systems Integration and Architecture team to learn about the new web modules and how to implement them.

In 2014, Joshua’s job description expanded to include AV support for LPL/Kuiper. This demanding responsibility supports a wide-ranging set of tasks: regular equipment maintenance; recording lectures; researching equipment; improving output quality; supporting tele/video conferencing, and much more. He was faced with several challenges at the start (lack of documentation, out-of-date equipment, etc.), but got his hands dirty (literally) and began cleaning up AV systems in classrooms and conference rooms. Joshua is “on-call” for most of the day in the event something goes wrong. He makes himself available to support off-campus and after-hours events, e.g., special lectures, outreach events, LPLC, faculty retreats. He has made significant improvements to the quality of AV in Kuiper rooms, upgrading to HDMI signals, replacing cabling, and virtualizing Windows in lecture halls to improve system stability.

Sharon Hooven joined LPL in August 2011 as a Business Manager, Senior, for the OSIRIS-REx mission. Prior to joining LPL, she worked for the University of Arizona Department of Pathology business office; and, prior to that, "well, a long time ago," according to Sharon, she was with the marketing department of a simulation computer company in Michigan. Sharon has one son (Lewis, his wife Rebbeca), one daughter (Monique, her husband Shawn), and three grandsons (Cameron-10, Danye-8, and Kristopher-6) who are her greatest joy. In her spare time, she enjoys the outdoors, with hiking being one of her favorite activities. Retirement is not far off and Sharon looks forward to purchasing a motor home, adopting a dog, and traveling the United States to cross items off her bucket list—the Northern lights, moonbow at Cumberland Falls in Kentucky, swimming with the manatees in Florida. The list goes on and on, according to Sharon: “I think I’ve passed the point where I could hike the Appalachian Trail but maybe in a whole bunch of pieces over a very long period of time.”

Emily Joseph is a member of the operations team for Cassini’s Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS). Emily grew up in Tucson and began working in astronomy as a high school intern at the Planetary Science Institute (PSI). She has a B.S. in Astronomy from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduation, she returned to Tucson (and the warm weather!) and continued her work at PSI as a research assistant. Emily joined the VIMS team half-time in January 2015 and loves the opportunity to work with the mission that first got her interested in space. Her job involves creating instructions for the spacecraft based on mission scientists’ goals to allow Cassini to meet those goals safely and efficiently. In her spare time, she enjoys cycling, baking, and doing craft projects.

Mildred Matthews spent 26 years at LPL, beginning in 1970, working on the Space Science Series with Professor Tom Gehrels. The text below is from Rick Binzel, Professor of Planetary Sciences and Margaret MacVicar Faculty Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

On February 11, just four days short of her 101st birthday, Mildred Shapley Matthews passed away peacefully at her home in California with her family present. Mildred was the daughter of Harvard College Observatory Director Harlow Shapley and she held the interesting distinction of being "lost in the solar system" for 75 years. As a commemoration of his newborn daughter, Shapley bestowed the name Mildred to asteroid 878 discovered in 1916. Unfortunately the initial observations of the asteroid were limited, and the object was "lost" with highly uncertain orbital elements until recovered in 1991. Friends and colleagues seeing Mildred over the years would always ask, "are you found yet?"

Matthews' foundational contributions to planetary science began around the time of her nominal retirement age, when in the 1970s she began working as the production editor in the inaugural years of the UA Press Space Science Series created by Tom Gehrels. Her role became most prominently recognized as co-editor on more than a dozen volumes extending in to the 1990s. Overall for more than 20 Space Science Series volumes she edited, operating through friendly (then increasingly stern, but always polite) post cards and phone calls to delinquent authors, it was Matthews who brought the books into their final published form.

Matthews leaves behind a legacy of books that have served as the gateway for countless planetary science careers and insights toward future advancements in our field.

Many LPL field trips could be retitled “Effects of the Farallon Plate Subduction,” and this spring’s trip to the San Bernardino Valley and Chiricahua Mountains was no exception. For three days (Feb. 26-28), LPL field trip group (PTYS 594A) explored an area shaped by the volcanic and tectonic consequences of plate subduction in addition to the consequences of changing water availability.

On day one, our group stopped at the spheroidally weathered rocks off the I-10 freeway (east toward New Mexico) before moving on to Willcox Playa, where we discussed how playas form and searched for signs of large desiccation cracks, drying due to climate change, and signs of earth fissures. Earth fissures in Arizona are caused by subsidence due to artificial groundwater pumping, a process so far constrained to the Earth. We also discussed the biological and human history of the area, noting that Geronimo, the Apache leader, surrendered on what is now private land not far from the field trip route.

Day two was focused more on the consequences of the Farallon Plate subduction, including the basin and range province formation and the multiple episodes of volcanism. We saw cinder cones and maar craters, and reviewed the formation of mantle xenoliths, discussing the consequences of the still-active basin and range formation in the Southwest (including an 1887 earthquake that had its epicenter in Mexico but was still felt in Tucson). Field trippers also took the opportunity to discuss border issues, which seemed especially pertinent as later that day, we saw a mounted border patrol officer making rounds.

Finally, on day three, we drove across the Chiricahua Mountains and arrived at the national monument. Our hikes brought us close to hoodoos as well as precariously balanced rocks (PBRs), resulting in discussion about their formation in tuff deposits from a large eruption about 30 million years ago, similarly timed to the formation of some of the cinder cones observed the day before. Due to construction within the national monument, there were features that we were unable to see, including fossil fumaroles, but our group discussed them and the economic role that the volcanic activity has played in Arizona’s history (Arizona has high grade copper deposits that are still being mined). 

	The Spring 2016 LPL field trip group photo at Chiricahua National Monument. (Photo credit: Hamish Hay)
	The field trip group listens to talks about the formation of the Turkey Creek volcanic deposit, hoodoos, and precariously balanced rocks within Chiricahua National Monument. (Photo credit: Margaret Landis)
	Shane Byrne explains to the group how plate subduction can lead to volcanic activity and basin and range terrain. (Photo credit: Margaret Landis)

Moon Tree Celebration!: Poetry, Apollo, and Trees, Oh My!

LPL alumni may remember the University of Arizona (UA) Moon Tree as a familiar friend that has grown to maturity alongside LPL. Its shade offers a place of peaceful reflection or simply a place to enjoy a pleasant lunch. It is a magnificent reminder of the Apollo program, LPL’s important role in it, and ongoing lunar research. On October 30, an extraordinary confluence of disciplines came together to celebrate the UA’s Bicentennial Moon Tree, located between the Kuiper Space Sciences Building and Flandrau Science Center. Keynote speaker Jack Roosa, a resident of Tucson, represented his late father, Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa, and shared his story.

TO THE MOON AND BACK WITH APOLLO 14

As part of a U.S. Forest Service experiment on germination, astronaut Stuart Roosa carried 400-500 tree seeds (a mix of five species) to lunar orbit and back on the Apollo 14 mission to the Moon in 1971. The gesture was a tribute to the “smoke jumpers” who risked their lives fighting forest fires after parachuting into remote areas—Roosa had been a smoke jumper himself during a summer break from college. The tree seeds experienced 34 orbits around the Moon and 9 days 2 minutes in space. During post-flight decontamination, the seed container burst open and the seeds commingled. However, they were sorted and eventually germinated properly after all.

FINAL DESTINATION: THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

The UA's American sycamore seedling was planted on Arbor Day, April 30, 1976, in honor of the U.S. Bicentennial. Prescott and Flagstaff received the same honor, but the UA tree is the only original moon tree remaining in Arizona. David Williams at NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center documents it as one of only 64 surviving moon trees located around the world. The Moon Tree is one of 800 heritage trees and plants cared for by the UA Campus Arboretum.

SPECIAL HONORS

The Moon Tree is one of the few trees in Tucson with a special heritage and connection to distinguished Tucson residents honored at the Oct. 30 commemoration. The public Moon Tree Celebration at LPL was a collaboration of the University of Arizona’s Campus Arboretum, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, UA Poetry Center, and the UA Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research. The event brought together members of the community who would not normally be attracted to all of these disciplines.

Jack Roosa gave a fascinating keynote presentation that described Stuart Roosa’s humble roots, forest fire-fighting experience, Apollo 14 mission experiences, and the continuing search for “missing” moon trees. We were thrilled that Mr. Roosa’s family was also able to attend the celebration.

Tyler Meier, Executive Director of the UA Poetry Center, discussed the connection between words, events, emotions, and the environment. He recited a poem titled, “The Sycamore,” by Wendell Berry—a very appropriate poem for the UA Moon Tree, which has survived blistering summers and withering winters.

LPL Director Dr. Tim Swindle recounted the fast-paced events that led to LPL’s involvement at the very beginning of the U.S.–Soviet race to the Moon in the 1960s and Apollo missions. He described the experiences that prepared LPL founder Dr. Gerard P. Kuiper, lunar astronomer Ewen Whitaker, and others for their future service to our country’s robotic and manned lunar programs.

Also speaking at the commemoration was Dr. Steve Leavitt, Acting Director of the UA Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, who made a presentation about A.E. Douglass and his work with astronomy and dendrochronology, from Lowell Observatory to the University of Arizona. Dr. Tanya Quist, Director of the UA Campus Arboretum, reminded us of the beneficial interconnection between trees, science, poetry, and art.

The commoration was fitting tribute to Stuart Roosa. No other Moon Tree can boast such a diverse collection of admirers all in one place.

SPECIAL EXHIBITS

LPL staff members Maria Schuchardt, Dolores Hill, and Rik Hill displayed an assortment of Apollo 14 images, original photographs from the collection of LPL lunar atlases, and other memorabilia; the other sponsoring departments displayed posters and materials pertaining to poetry, tree rings, and the Campus Arboretum. In addition, world-renowned space artists Simon Kregar, Michelle Rouch, and Jim Scotti graced the scene with beautiful Apollo-themed art pieces. Ms. Rouch created an original Moon Tree art piece especially for the celebration. The Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association brought telescopes for a stargazing party in hopes that it might clear. The evening ended with a special viewing of the award-winning film, Desert Moon, by filmmaker Jason Davis.

CONNECTIONS TO EACH OTHER: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE

We were honored to have Moon expert Ewen Whitaker in the audience. Jack Roosa expressed appreciation to Ewen for his many contributions to the Apollo program. Students from the Coronado Middle School Space Science Club were excited to meet Ewen and took the opportunity to shake his hand and thank him for his work. It was wonderful to see the generations connect.

Everyone who attended enjoyed discovering the many connections we have through the Moon Tree. The celebration allowed us to expand our personal horizons while honoring the UA Moon Tree and the extraordinary man who carried its seed to the Moon and back.

From Left to Right: Danielle, Kathleen, Jack, and Nannon Roosa. Photo courtesy:  Michelle Rouch.

All photos courtesy Maria Schuchardt.

Late October saw the PTYS 594A LPL field trip group heading off for three days of exploring the area around the Salton Sea, an inland body of water caused by accidental flooding in 1905. While accidental flooding may not make for the best planetary analog, the intermittent lacustrine history of the Salton Sea area is an interesting analog to both Mars and Titan. In addition to the Salton Sea itself, the surrounding Californian landscape was also home to dunes, faults, and mud volcanoes.

On Day One, we arrived at the Salton Sea by way of the Algodones Dunes, a dune field over 700 km² in size that has been used as a movie set and recreation area. We were interested in the dunes themselves, formed from sediment from a previous paleolake that filled, at least in three distinct times, large amounts of the Salton Trough. We also took a moment to note the tectonic history of the Salton Trough and of the general basin and range province we had just driven through (and would continue to explore the rest of the trip). We camped the first night in the Anza-Borrego Mountains and were able to identify some of the edge of the dry lakebed of Lake Cahuilla, as well as numerous shells from the last period of lake filling.

On Day Two, our group visited mud volcanoes, unique features that erupt a mix of water and sediment due to pressurization from below (in this case due to the tectonic activity of the Salton Trough). We observed the eruptions of the sludgy material that built up almost person-height structures, and had an opportunity for mud volcano kite-based stereophotogrammetry conducted by LPL Associate Staff Scientist Stephen Scheidt.

Finally, we arrived at the Salton Sea. From the mined dacite domes (a safe distance from the shore), we were able to see the large body of water, populated by pelicans and other migratory water birds. We discussed the catastrophic formation of the Salton Sea from an overflowing notch in the Colorado River 110 years ago, subsequent recreational use, and continuing salinization and eutrophication as agricultural runoff slowly becomes the inland sea's only source of water (direct water supplies will be cut off by 2018 as a drought mitigation measure). The Imperial Valley is still a major producer of dates and other crops, serving as a reminder of how human land use, the environment, and geology all play a role in changing terrestrial landscapes.

We spent our remaining time at the Salton Sea continuing to explore the dune types, dry lakebeds, and alluvial fans of the strongly tectonic and variably lacustrine environment. Our group camped at Clark Dry Lake to observe another dry lakebed and vegetated dunes. On Day Three of the field trip, we went in search of the tufa deposits left by the previous high stands of lakes in the area, observed dunes in action as they crossed a paved (and previously accessible) road, and took a few minutes to discuss the long history of humans in the Southern California coastal regions before returning to Tucson. 

	LPL graduate student Ben Lew giving a talk (Photo: M. Landis)
	Raw kite image of the mud volcanoes (Photo: S. Scheidt)
	Group photo at a Salton Sea dune, with the inland sea in the background. (Photo: S. Byrne)
	Map showing the digital terrain model of the mud volcanoes site. A. Dashed line shows footprint for 1 of 187 raw camera images used to calculate the topography. B. Location where spectators were standing created anomalies in the data. C. Some of the mud flows that had spilled on the northeast side of a mud volcano were expressed well in the topographic data. (Map and caption: S. Scheidt)