University of Arizona - Desert Yearbook (Tucson, AZ)

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Eyes on the heavens By Cara Ammann FEW PEOPLE GO THROUGH LIFE WITH THEIR EYES constantly directed at the ground. Quite possibly, even fewer go through life with their eyes constantly directed at the sky. Two of those people work at the UA ' s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Senior research scientist Peter H. Smith and plantary sciences professor William Boynton have made a place for the UA among the stars and planets. On August 4, 2003, after nearly two years of intense competition with other schools, NASA announced that the Phoenix Mission, designed by a team at the UA, will be the first of a series of scout missions. The program is part of the agency ' s new Mars Exploration Program, scheduled to launch in 2007. The effort is named after the mythical bird that died in flames only to arise from its own ashes. Similarly, the Phoenix Mission was designed to improve on the technology that was lost when the 2001 Mars Surveyor Mission was cancelled after the 1999 Mars Rover crashed into the Red Planet, taking with it data and instruments designed at the UA. (The Phoenix Mission proposal) refined all those things that were lost. It ' s the resurrection of all the good science we didn ' t have the opportunity to do, Smith said. The 810-page proposal took over a year to write, costing nearly $1.5 million but resulting in S355 million from NASA for the project. This amount is six times larger than any other single grant in the UA ' s history, and it promises to have a lasting effect not only on the Lunar and Planetary Lab, attracting students from all over the world, but on the Tucson community as well. The proposal was designed to involve Tucson in a big way, Smith said. The entire operation will be run from Tucson. The press will be here. Scientists will be here. The UA designated a new building for the Phoenix Mission. Located on North Sixth Avenue and East Drachman Street, the building will include a mock-up of the landing site, and it will be open to the public. The Phoenix Mission is expected to land on Mars in June 2008, where it will stay to collect and analyze data for approximately six months. The goal of the mission is two- fold: To study the history of water and soil interaction on Mars and to analyze the chance for life on Mars. What truly makes this mission unique, however, is the fact that it was designed to dig deeper into the surface of Mars than has ever been done. No one has ever seen underground on Mars before, Smith said. We have the ability to dig and to see it. Among other things, the lander will contain a soil-analyzing instrument known as TEGA, which stands for Thermal Evolved Gas Analyzer. Samples of soil will be heated to extremely high temperatures, vaporizing any organic or carbon-based matter present in the soil. These gases will then be analyzed using a spectrometer, allowing scientists to determine the content of the soil. Soil will also be added to water, and the sample will be tested for its pH, saltiness and redox potential, which indicates its potential to support life. Hopefully, we ' ll be able to create Martian soil here on Earth, plant a seed in it, see if it grows, and try to answer the question: ' Is this the kind of environment where life can exist? ' Smith said. Unearthed 103

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Senior research scientist Peter H. Smith is one of the people from the DA who worked on the Phoenix Mission, which will be the first in a series of scout missions to Mars. PHOTO BY KEVIN B. KLAUS 102 The Desert

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In memory Students we lost ' Official list of students who passed away during the 2003-2004 academic year, courtesy of the Dean of Students office Elizabeth Anton Dana Stone Clarke Wm. Alexander Frey, V Brian Goodspeed Nick Hohnbaum Joe Hohnson Matthew Hopper Joshua Ryan Howard David Hungerford Jacqueline Johnson Joseph Gerard Johnson Ted Kelly Michael Kvasnica Robin McKay Amit Uttam Prajapati Stephanie Rubin Lindsay Anne Schiffman Melina Taylor Michael Two-Horses 104 ' The Desert