Ryan Colligan: Journey to Mars

Journey to Mars: The Rover Curiosity. Danny Krysak, Kellas 106, Thursday 1:00 - 2:00 pm

Space Exploration, Aliens, Curiosity and Danny Krysak by Ryan Colligan

Note to the reader: Here is a startling update. It’s important to note, with scientific articles in particular, that news and current information is subject to change, and often does at an alarming rate. This essay/blog post has been a work in progress for a few weeks now, but new information has been released since the essay was finished. The “ingredients for life” have been found in a sample of the ground taken by Curiosity on Mars. For information on this recent announcement, please visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-092 , as it will surely be a topic of conversation at the upcoming presentation.

Did we find evidence of an “alien death ship” on Mars?

On January 30th, 2013 the Mars rover Curiosity sent back a mysterious image, an image of a .5 cm “metallic arm.” Reflecting light in the manner that metal would, the photo has both scientists and enthusiasts guessing. An article by Michael Rundle of the Huffington Post UK entertains some of these theories. Could it be a metal more resistant to erosion, or could it really be some alien manufactured metal? (Rundle)

It’s stories and articles like these that lead our minds to wander like they did when we were children, that bring us crawling back to our grade school days when we entertained Star Wars-esque fantasies of life on other planets. It is a great tragedy that these days, we seem to take space exploration for granted. It not only helps to answer our many questions about what might be out there beyond Earth, but it also helps to support our economy!

Scott Hubbard, a professor in aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford and a 20 year NASA alum, has said that “$7 or $8 in goods and services are still produced for every $1 that the government invests in NASA.” (Gaudin) These investments in NASA not only help us to achieve new feats in engineering, but also help us to develop new communication technology. Could you imagine a world without smart phones and laptops? Without the Apollo missions, you wouldn’t have to! We would not have the integrated circuit, a key component to microchips (Gaudin), and without microchips, we would not have the amazing computer devices we have today! It’s difficult to imagine the world without these “byproducts” of space exploration.

So why aren’t people noticing this trend? Because we as a nation do not understand this relationship between NASA and technological progress, we consequently did not rally around Curiosity. A rover “roughly the size of a Mini Cooper” (Ball) not only touched down on the surface of Mars, but it provided a live feed with only a 14 minute delay (Ball)! It seems however, that America is just no longer fascinated by space exploration, but maybe, just maybe, Danny Krysak can muster up some enthusiasm and support.

“Who is Danny Krysak?” you may be asking?

Danny Krysak is a Planetary Geoscience graduate from the University at Buffalo and he will be presenting as part of SUNY Potsdam’s 2013 Academic Festival on Thursday, April 11th. The presentation, titled “Journey to Mars: The Rover Curiosity” begins at 1 PM.

It would be difficult to find a better speaker when it comes to Curiosity. Not only did Krysak minor (in geology) here at SUNY Potsdam in 2008 (SUNY Potsdam Department of Geology), he is currently a “Mission Operations Specialist” for Curiosity at Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) (Ball)!

What Krysak does, in simple terms, is operates the four science cameras on board Curiosity (the four cameras being MARDI; the Mars Descent Imager, MAHLI; the Mars Hand Lens Imager, and two mast cams) (Ball). The role of the four cameras is to provide images for the science team (Ball), so in a way, they are Curiosity’s eyes. Krysak is one of the first people on Earth to see these images, and is therefore of importance to Curiosity’s main mission.

For those who may not know why we sent a rover to Mars, an article titled “Face to Face with a Giant” by Emily Lakdawalla sums it up quite nicely.
“Curiosity is designed to study ancient rocks in order to determine what the environment was like when they formed, and whether the ingredients for life- water, a source of energy, and organic materials- were present, and for how long.” (Lakdawalla)

The search for these “ingredients for life” as Lakdawalla put it, is Curiosity’s main mission, and unlike its predecessors-- Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity is significantly more equipped for the task. Curiosity is nuclear-powered and features tools for excavation (a brush, a drill, an Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer, and sieves) and tools for analysis (assorted cameras and on-board chem labs) (Lakdawalla). Krysak’s role, operating the Mastcams, is pivotal in this main mission. By making use of the Mastcams, promising rock formations are selected for drilling and examination. (Lakdawalla)

Much progress has been made since Curiosity has touched down on August 5th, 2012 (Drake). Shiny objects shrouded in mystery aside, Curiosity has, at last, drilled its first 5 cm hole into the surface. (Palmer) By analyzing the powder and sediments drilled from the rock (Amos), we can begin to hypothesize how a planet that was “once more like Earth became the dry, dusty and acidic ball it is today (Drake).”

Curiosity has also begun to take impressive photos of itself on Mars using its MAHLI hand cam (one of the cameras operated by Krysak!) (Amos).These interesting photos can be viewed on Curiosity’s twitter, along with current news and updates on what the rover is doing at https://twitter.com/MarsCuriosity.

So come show some support for our space program. Come to Danny Krysak’s “Journey to Mars: The Rover Curiosity” at 1 PM on Thursday, April 11th, and discover for yourself what Krysak and the team have found, whether life may have existed on Mars, and see where the future may take us!


Works Cited

Amos, Jonathan. "Curiosity Mars Rover Spins Its Rock Drill." BBC News. BBC, 02 July 2013. Web. 23 Feb. 2013.

Ball, Jessica. "Danny Krysak: An Out-of-this-world Geologist (Accretionary Wedge #49) - Magma Cum Laude - AGU Blogosphere." AGU Blogosphere. American Geophysical Union, 28 Aug. 2012. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.

Drake, Nadia. "Safe On Mars, Rover Begins The Search For Signs Of Habitability." Science News 182.4 (2012): 5-6. Academic Search Complete. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.

Gaudin, Sharon. "How Moon Landing Changed Technology History." Computerworld UK. DG News Service, 21 July 2009. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.

Lakdawalla, Emily. "Face To Face With A Giant." Sky & Telescope 122.6 (2011): 22-30. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.

Palmer, Roxanne. "NASA Rover Curiosity Is First Robot To Drill Into Martian Surface." International Business Times. International Business Times, 22 Feb. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.

Rundle, Michael. "Mars Rover Spots Metallic 'Arm' Sticking Out Of A Rock (PICTURES)." Huffington Post UK. Huffington Post UK, 7 Feb. 2013. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.

SUNY Potsdam Department of Geology. "2011 & 2012 Double Issue." State University of New York College at Potsdam Geology Newsletter (2012): 19+. Web. 9 Mar. 2013. PDF file.