Gotta lose them ole Red Planet blues.
by Conrad J. Storad

Life After Mars Observer

The spacecraft's arrival at Mars was to have been the culmination of more than a decade's worth of work for hundreds of scientists, engineers, technicians, and students, including planetary geologist Philip Christensen and his team of researchers at Arizona State University.

The mission's total price tag exceeded $800 million. But instead of the much anticipated glut of important new information about Mars, the final result was a very ugly public failure.

Politicians, quasi-media types, and other NASA critics jumped all over the financial aspects of the loss. In many cases, as is not unusual in such frenzies of scapegoat hunting, speeches were given and reports were printed and aired that grossly distorted the facts. If listeners or readers actually believed a literal translation of the carping, then they could assume that almost one billion dollars tied neatly in bundles of small bills and crammed into the spacecraft had just been flushed down a remote interplanetary sewer somewhere between Earth and Mars.

Many of the best journalistic reports also failed to clearly explain what actually had been lost when Mars Observer went silent. Hardware and software costs were discussed, but few reports delved into the human and intellectual impact of the loss.

Organizations and institutions are easily personified and stereotyped. NASA, like ASU, is not a single living entity. Both are organizations made up of thousands of individuals. And the Mars Observer project was the handiwork of hundreds of people. In fact, more than 170 human-years worth of labor alone had been spent in the design and construction of Christensen's thermal emission spectrometer instrument.

The ASU scientist tried to clarify the cost issue. While the price tag for the entire project was indeed more than $800 million, in reality, that total was spread among hundreds of people and institutions over the course of a decade.

"Most of the project's money was paid in salaries that people used to live and reinvest in the economy in all the normal ways," Christensen says. "The actual hardware lost in space cost about $160 million to design and build. But the plans and designs and knowledge that went into creating all the instruments on board was not lost. It still exists. Many people earned advanced degrees as part of the project. All of that human expertise still exists."

Christensen's original TES team involved a dozen people, including graduate students whose theses and dissertations were to be based on data beamed back from Mars. Each of the other six instruments on board were supported by similar science teams made up of individuals with hopes and dreams and career goals riding along.

At ASU, geology doctoral students Ken Edgett and Melissa Wenrich are just two of the TES team members whose scientific futures were altered by the loss of Mars Observer. They are luckier than some. Both are still working. And with the TES instrument's recent selection as one of five experiments to fly on the planned Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft in 1996, they could still be involved in some way with analyzing new data from the Red Planet.

Meanwhile, Christensen says that researchers at ASU's Thermal Emission Spectroscopy Laboratory continue to assemble a spectral library of Earth's minerals and rocks. The work employs undergraduate science students as well as graduate assistants.

In addition, TES computer programmers are working to develop user-friendly software which allows scientists to view existing Mars data for areas of interest on the Martian surface and to plan future observations. The software applications being developed also could be applied to the collection and evaluation of data from NASA's Earth Observing System satellites which begin operations in 1998.

You just can't keep a good group of space scientists down. Edgett and Wenrich say ASU graduate students involved with TES have gotten over the loss and regained a new sense of enthusiasm. Still, many had to reconsider dissertation topics. For example, where a particular thesis might have used new data gathered by the TES instrument, several students are now concentrating more on laboratory and field studies which may have future application to Mars data.

"Space science always has generated a lot of interest," Wenrich says. "But there are only so many jobs, and a surplus of people fighting for them. When Mars Observer was lost, some of the really good, hot young scientists lost their spots in the space science system. They may never be able to get a foot back in the door. That's the sad part. If you miss a beat, you're out of the race."

Other young scientists may go on to other projects. But some simply cannot give up their passion for studying Mars. Edgett knows that passion. He's been hooked on Mars since the sixth grade when he saw the first Viking lander images transmitted in 1976.

"Remember, we're talking about Mars," Edgett says with intensity. "For some people, including myself, Mars is such a passion that studying other planets just won't do."

But the passion can be lost, especially if you don't get the chance to do what you really want to do, Wenrich adds. Still, despite the setback, like Edgett, she has been able to maintain her enthusiasm for planetary science as well.

"We're getting another shot with TES," she says. "But I had hoped to be finished with my dissertation by the time Mars Surveyor reaches the planet in 1997. Originally, I planned to address questions about the surface chemistry of Mars and the geologic implications of the mineralogy. My focus has changed to addressing Earth-related questions using remote sensing from planes and from space."

Christensen jumps into the conversation to support his students.

"Sure, we've suffered a setback. That is part of science, especially planetary exploration," he says. "But you must remember that there aren't a slew of thermal emission spectroscopy labs around the country churning out graduate students. Someone will have to analyze the data when we finally get it from Mars. If not you, then who?" he adds with a smile directed straight at Wenrich and Edgett.

The eternal optimist always will find something good in any difficult situation. That is true of Mars Observer's demise.

"With the Mars Surveyor mission, I'll now have the opportunity to work with the science team as the new TES instrument is built from step one," Wenrich explains. "I missed all that before, having joined the first project just before launch. I've seen the tail end of the movie. Now I want to see the beginning."

Edgett's "benefits" branch into other disciplines. During the course of the first mission, Edgett became an information officer for the TES science team. He learned the value of quality public relations and the importance of sharing information with an interested community, skills that will add to his success as a scientist and scholar in years to come. He continues to write and edit TES News, a quarterly newsletter designed to update progress and share new information about the project.

With Christensen's support, Edgett and his colleagues also formed an educational outreach team that shared reams of information and teaching tips with elementary and secondary school teachers -- and their students -- throughout Arizona.

The TES team hosted three separate day-long workshops during the past two years. Attended by hundreds of teachers, the workshops included guided tours of the space flight facility and educational packets brimming with photos and information about Mars and space science. But most importantly, the sessions were imbued with the addictive passion for planetary exploration that Christensen, Edgett, Wenrich, and their ASU colleagues radiate.

"I've used the word passion a lot," Edgett laughs. "But that is how I feel. We really are passionate that the only way for all of this to be really worthwhile for the people who pay for it -- all of us -- is to share as much as we can with everybody," he says.

"Some people say that planetary exploration is a luxury. Not anymore, I say. Exploring the solar system is a luxury only in the sense that the Louisiana Purchase was a luxury, or the Lewis and Clark exploration of that territory was a luxury," Edgett says.

What's next for the ASU researchers? Ken Edgett answers with a phrase borrowed from Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the Russian visionary and rocket pioneer who wrote about sending probes to Mars in the late 19th century. Edgett uses the phrase as a closing on all his correspondence with Arizona science teachers. The simple, all-encompassing answer: "To Mars!"

The Thermal Emission Spectrometer Project is supported by NASA. Tours of the ASU Mars Global Surveyor Space Flight Facility can be arranged. Contact Philip R. Christensen, Ph.D., (602) 965-1790. For more information about the project, please visit the Mars Thermal Emission Spectrometer Project homepage.

ASU RESEARCH, SPRING/SUMMER 1994:
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