NASA Selects 23 Participating Scientists for MESSENGER Mission to Mercury
- From: baalke@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:09:47 -0800 (PST)
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/status_report_11_16_07.html
MESSENGER Mission News
November 16, 2007
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NASA Selects 23 Participating Scientists for MESSENGER Mission to
Mercury
NASA has selected 23 scientists for participation in the MErcury
Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER)
Mission. MESSENGER is on course to fly within 200 kilometers of
Mercury
on January 14, 2008 - the first probe to pass by the planet in nearly
33
years - and these Participating Scientists, along with the mission's
existing team of engineers and scientists, will play critical roles in
examining the images and data gathered before, during, and immediately
following that flyby.
"The breadth, scope, and creativity of the scientists selected is very
encouraging," said Marilyn Lindstrom, NASA Program Scientist for the
MESSENGER mission. "By directly participating in NASA's next mission
to
Mercury, these scientists will help bring us closer to the long-term
objective of better understanding the innermost planet."
MESSENGER is the seventh mission in NASA's Discovery Program. The
MESSENGER mission, spacecraft, and science instruments are focused on
answering six key questions that will allow us to understand Mercury
as
a planet: Why is Mercury so dense? What is the geologic history of
Mercury? What is the structure of Mercury's core? What is the nature
of
Mercury's magnetic field? What are the unusual materials at Mercury's
poles? What volatiles are important at Mercury?
Each selected scientist will conduct science investigations addressing
the broad science goals of the mission that can be addressed with the
MESSENGER science payload. They will also join one or more of the
MESSENGER discipline groups as new MESSENGER Science Team members.
The existing 23-member MESSENGER Science Team is divided into four
Discipline Groups - Geochemistry, Geology, Geophysics, and Atmosphere
and Magnetosphere - with each Co-Investigator responsible for
implementation of a particular part of the mission's science plan. The
newly selected Participating Scientists are:
Name - Institution - Title of Investigation
Mehdi Benna
Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Md.
Advanced MHD modeling of the magnetosphere of Mercury to support the
MESSENGER mission
David Blewett
Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Laboratory
Laurel, Md.
Spectral and geologic studies of the mercurian surface
Larry Evans
Computer Sciences Corporation
Lanham-Seabrook, Md., and
Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Md.
Elemental composition of Mercury from the Gamma-Ray Spectrometer
measurements
Robert Gaskell
Planetary Science Institute
Altadena, Calif.
Shape, topography, and internal structure of Mercury from MDIS data
Jeffrey Gillis-Davis
University of Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
Integrating MESSENGER data to investigate the origin of Mercury's
intercrater and smooth plains deposits
Steven Hauck
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, Ohio
Contributions to MESSENGER and the geophysical structure and evolution
of Mercury
Jörn Helbert
German Aerospace Center
Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany
Supporting the analysis of the Hermean surface composition by
laboratory
emissivity measurements and by developing cross calibration strategies
with VIRTIS on Venus Express and MERTIS on BepiColombo
Kevin Hurley
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, Calif.
Integrating the MESSENGER GRNS experiment into the 3rd interplanetary
network of cosmic gamma-ray burst detectors
Catherine Johnson
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, Canada, and
University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, Calif.
Investigations of Mercury's internal magnetic field
Rosemary Killen
University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Md.
Mercury's exosphere: Composition, variability, and solar wind
interaction
David Lawrence
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos, N.M.
Investigating Mercury's composition and geology using orbital neutron
spectroscopy
Jean-Luc Margot
Cornell University
Ithaca, N.Y.
Optimal characterization of the interior of Mercury by integrating
existing and future spin state measurements
Timothy McCoy
Smithsonian Institution
Department of Mineral Sciences
Washington, D.C.
Mapping the mineralogy of Mercury
Larry Nittler
Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C.
MESSENGER investigations of the geochemistry of Mercury
Jürgen Oberst
German Aerospace Center
Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany
Technical support for stereo imaging and studies in geodesy and
cartography
David Paige
University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.
Mountains, shadows, and ice on Mercury
Michael Purucker
Raytheon Technical Services Company and Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, Md.
Enhancing magnetic field investigations with a comprehensive approach
David Schriver
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, Calif.
Understanding Mercury's magnetosphere using MESSENGER data and global
kinetic simulations
Ann Sprague
University of Arizona
Tucson, Ariz.
Exospheric sources and surface chemistry to probe the formation and
evolution of Mercury
Richard Starr
Catholic University of America
Washington, D.C., and
Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Md.
Surface elemental analysis of Mercury with the MESSENGER geochemistry
instrument suite
Ronald J. Vervack, Jr.
Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Laboratory
Laurel, Md.
A comprehensive investigation of Mercury's exosphere
Faith Vilas
MMT Observatory
Tucson, Ariz.
Characterizing space weathering on Mercury's surface using MESSENGER
experimental data
Thomas Watters
Smithsonian Institution
National Air and Space Museum, Center for Earth and Planetary Studies,
Washington, D.C.
Global characterization and analysis of tectonism on Mercury
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and
Ranging) is a NASA-sponsored scientific investigation of the planet
Mercury and the first space mission designed to orbit the planet
closest
to the Sun. The MESSENGER spacecraft launched on August 3, 2004, and
after flybys of Earth, Venus, and Mercury will start a yearlong study
of
its target planet in March 2011. Dr. Sean C. Solomon, of the Carnegie
Institution of Washington, leads the mission as principal
investigator.
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory built and
operates the MESSENGER spacecraft and manages this Discovery -class
mission for NASA.
.
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