Suzanne Smrekar

Last updated
Suzanne Elizabeth Smrekar
Other namesSue
Alma mater Brown University, Southern Methodist University
Known forMars InSight lander, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Suzanne E. Smrekar is an American geophysicist and Deputy Principal Investigator for the Mars InSight lander [1] and the principal investigator for the planned VERITAS space probe to Venus. [2]

Contents

Background

Smrekar obtained her B.S. degree in geophysics and mathematics from Brown University in 1984, and her doctorate in geophysics from Southern Methodist University in 1990. She was a postdoctoral researcher at MIT before joining the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in 1992. [3]

Career

Published works

Smrekar and colleague Ellen Stofan reported in Science in 1997 that Venus' heat loss was caused by volcanic activity and formations specific to Venus. [4] As Venus has no plate tectonics like Earth, she and others are attempting to study its volcanalogy to draw better conclusions about the formation of Earth. [5] Smrekar and an international team of researchers presented the Venus Emissivity Mapper (VEM) at a conference in 2018; this device scans the planet's surface at specific wavelengths to record the mineral composition, and uses other channels to determine cloud cover, weather, interference, and volcanic activity. [6]

Smrekar remains a team member of the joint Brown – MIT NASA Lunar Science Institute. [7] She has jointly written several articles for the Encyclopedia of the Solar System. [1]

NASA Missions

Smrekar has formed part of multiple  NASA  teams dedicated to exploring the Solar System. In 1999, she was involved with the design of the ground-penetrant micro-laboratories Deep Space 2 that "hitchhiked" on the Mars Polar Lander. [8] She was Deputy Project Leader for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), [9] [10] [11]  which, in addition to monitoring the eventual descent for multiple Martian instrument landings, used its shallow- and deep-penetration radar to uncover a pool of solid carbon dioxide at Mars' South Pole – "equivalent to Lake Superior." [12] Direct observation of the Martian lithosphere led to some of the first accurate measurements of the interior temperature of the planet. [13] Her Magellan probe uncovered newly-active geology on the planet. [14] [15] She designed the HP3 and GEMS instrument packages for the InSight mission, [16] which commenced in 2016. [17] Smrekar served as Deputy Principal Investigator in addition to constructing much of the ground-penetrant instrumentation for InSight. She lightly referred to needing to obtain sub-surface results of Martian geography and geology as understanding "...the whole enchilada" of non-Earth planets. [18]

Minor planet discoverer

On 14 June 1983, Smrekar discovered asteroid  6819 McGarvey at Palomar Observatory. She named it after her mother, Flora McGarvey Smrekar (1924–1977). [19]

Recognition

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Magellan</i> (spacecraft) NASA mission to map the surface of Venus via robotic probe (launched 1989)

The Magellan spacecraft was a 1,035-kilogram (2,282 lb) robotic space probe launched by NASA of the United States, on May 4, 1989, to map the surface of Venus by using synthetic-aperture radar and to measure the planetary gravitational field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Discovery Program</span> Ongoing solar system exploration program by NASA

The Discovery Program is a series of Solar System exploration missions funded by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through its Planetary Missions Program Office. The cost of each mission is capped at a lower level than missions from NASA's New Frontiers or Flagship Programs. As a result, Discovery missions tend to be more focused on a specific scientific goal rather than serving a general purpose.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maxwell Montes</span> Montes on Venus

Maxwell Montes is a mountain massif on the planet Venus, of which Skadi Mons is the highest point on the planet's surface.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geology of Venus</span> Geological structure and composition of the second planet from the Sun

The geology of Venus is the scientific study of the surface, crust, and interior of the planet Venus. Of all the other planets in the Solar System, it is the one nearest to Earth and most like it in terms of mass, but has no magnetic field or recognizable plate tectonic system. Much of the ground surface is exposed volcanic bedrock, some with thin and patchy layers of soil covering, in marked contrast with Earth, the Moon, and Mars. Some impact craters are present, but Venus is similar to Earth in that there are fewer craters than on the other rocky planets that are largely covered by them. This is due in part to the thickness of the Venusian atmosphere disrupting small impactors before they strike the ground, but the paucity of large craters may be due to volcanic re-surfacing, possibly of a catastrophic nature. Volcanism appears to be the dominant agent of geological change on Venus. Some of the volcanic landforms appear to be unique to the planet. There are shield and composite volcanoes similar to those found on Earth. Given that Venus has approximately the same size, density, and composition as Earth, it is plausible that volcanism may be continuing on the planet today, as demonstrated by recent studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Observations and explorations of Venus</span>

Observations of the planet Venus include those in antiquity, telescopic observations, and from visiting spacecraft. Spacecraft have performed various flybys, orbits, and landings on Venus, including balloon probes that floated in the atmosphere of Venus. Study of the planet is aided by its relatively close proximity to the Earth, compared to other planets, but the surface of Venus is obscured by an atmosphere opaque to visible light.

A quake is the result when the surface of a planet, moon or star begins to shake, usually as the consequence of a sudden release of energy transmitted as seismic waves, and potentially with great violence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marsquake</span> Seismic event occurring on Mars

A marsquake is a quake which, much like an earthquake, would be a shaking of the surface or interior of the planet Mars as a result of the sudden release of energy in the planet's interior, such as the result of plate tectonics, which most quakes on Earth originate from, or possibly from hotspots such as Olympus Mons or the Tharsis Montes. The detection and analysis of marsquakes could be informative to probing the interior structure of Mars, as well as identifying whether any of Mars's many volcanoes continue to be volcanically active.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volcanism on Venus</span> Overview of volcanic activity on the planet Venus

The surface of Venus is dominated by volcanic features and has more volcanoes than any other planet in the Solar System. It has a surface that is 90% basalt, and about 65% of the planet consists of a mosaic of volcanic lava plains, indicating that volcanism played a major role in shaping its surface. There are more than 1,000 volcanic structures and possible periodic resurfacing of Venus by floods of lava. The planet may have had a major global resurfacing event about 500 million years ago, from what scientists can tell from the density of impact craters on the surface. Venus has an atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide, with a density that is 90 times that of Earth's atmosphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mars</span> Fourth planet from the Sun

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. The surface of Mars is orange-red because it is covered in iron(III) oxide dust, giving it the nickname "the Red Planet". Mars hosts many enormous extinct volcanos and one of the largest canyons in the Solar System. For comparison, Mars's diameter is 6,779 km (4,212 mi). It is classified as a terrestrial planet and is the second smallest of the Solar System's planets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Solomon</span> American planetary scientist

Sean Carl Solomon is the director of the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, where he is also the William B. Ransford Professor of Earth and Planetary Science. Before moving to Columbia in 2012, he was the director of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institute in Washington, D.C. His research area is in geophysics, including the fields of planetary geology, seismology, marine geophysics, and geodynamics. Solomon is the principal investigator on the NASA MESSENGER mission to Mercury. He is also a team member on the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory mission and the Plume-Lithosphere Undersea Melt Experiment (PLUME).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">InSight</span> Mars lander, arrived November 2018

The Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission was a robotic lander designed to study the deep interior of the planet Mars. It was manufactured by Lockheed Martin Space, was managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and two of its three scientific instruments were built by European agencies. The mission launched on 5 May 2018 at 11:05:01 UTC aboard an Atlas V-401 launch vehicle and successfully landed at Elysium Planitia on Mars on 26 November 2018 at 19:52:59 UTC. InSight was active on Mars for 1440 sols.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellen Stofan</span> Planetary geologist and NASA scientist

Ellen Renee Stofan is Under Secretary for Science and Research at The Smithsonian and was previously the John and Adrienne Mars Director of the National Air and Space Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VERITAS (spacecraft)</span> Planned late-2020s Venus orbiter

VERITAS is an upcoming mission from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to map the surface of the planet Venus in high resolution. The combination of topography, near-infrared spectroscopy, and radar image data will provide knowledge of Venus's tectonic and impact history, gravity, geochemistry, the timing and mechanisms of volcanic resurfacing, and the mantle processes responsible for them.

<i>DAVINCI</i> Planned late-2020s Venus atmospheric probe

DAVINCI is a planned mission for an orbiter and atmospheric probe to the planet Venus. Together with the separate VERITAS mission, which will also study Venus, it was selected by NASA on 2 June 2021 to be part of their Discovery Program. Its acronym is inspired by Leonardo da Vinci in honor of his scientific innovations, aerial sketches and constructions.

The selection process for Mission 13 and 14 of the Discovery program began in February 2014, as NASA drafted an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for the next Discovery mission. The winning mission proposals received $450 million in funding towards mission development and construction, along with bonus funding if missions were able to incorporate certain technologies. For Discovery Mission 13 and 14, NASA received 28 proposals, 16 of which notably centered around small Solar System bodies. Lucy, a multiple-flyby mission to the Jupiter trojans, and Psyche, a mission to the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche, were announced as the winners of the competition in January 2017, with launches in October 2021 and October 2023, respectively.

Venus Origins Explorer (VOX) is a concept orbiter mission to Venus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure</span> Scientific instrument aboard the InSight Mars lander

The Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) is a seismometer and the primary scientific instrument on board the InSight Mars lander launched on 5 May 2018 for a landing on 26 November 2018; the instrument was deployed to the surface of Mars on 19 December. SEIS is expected to provide seismic measurements of marsquakes, enabling researchers to develop 3D structure maps of the deep interior. Better understanding the internal structure of Mars will lead to better understanding of the Earth, Moon, and rocky planetary bodies in general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EnVision</span> Proposed mission to Venus

EnVision is an orbital mission to Venus being developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) that is planned to perform high-resolution radar mapping and atmospheric studies. EnVision is designed to help scientists understand the relationships between its geological activity and the atmosphere, and it would investigate why Venus and Earth took such different evolutionary paths. The probe was selected as the fifth medium mission (M5) of ESA's Cosmic Vision programme in June 2021, with launch planned for 2031. The mission will be conducted in collaboration with NASA, with the potential sharing of responsibilities currently under assessment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package</span> Scientific instrument of the InSight Mars lander

The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) is a science payload on board the InSight lander that features instruments to study the heat flow and other thermal properties of Mars. One of the instruments, a burrowing probe nicknamed "the mole", was designed to penetrate 5 m (16 ft) below Mars' surface. In March 2019, the mole burrowed a few centimeters, but then became unable to make progress due to various factors. In the following year further attempts were made to resolve the issues, with little net progress. On January 14, 2021, it was announced that efforts to drill into the martian surface using the device had been terminated.

Roger Jay Phillips was an American geophysicist, planetary scientist, and professor emeritus at the Washington University in St. Louis. His research interests included the geophysical structure of planets, and the use of radar and gravity to investigate the surfaces and interiors of the planets.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Smrekar, Sue. "Science - Geophysics & Planetary Geosciences (3223): People: Suzanne Smrekar". science.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  2. ↑ Johnson, Alana (2 June 2021). "NASA Selects 2 Missions to Study 'Lost Habitable' World of Venus". nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 2021-06-02. VERITAS also will map infrared emissions from Venus' surface to map its rock type, which is largely unknown, and determine whether active volcanoes are releasing water vapor into the atmosphere. Suzanne Smrekar of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, is the principal investigator.
  3. ↑ Next, S. M. (2018-05-29). "Thursday: InSight Mars Mission Deputy Principal Investigator to Speak at SMC". Santa Monica Next. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  4. ↑ Stofan, Ellen R.; Smrekar, Suzanne E. (1997-08-29). "Corona Formation and Heat Loss on Venus by Coupled Upwelling and Delamination". Science. 277 (5330): 1289–1294. doi:10.1126/science.277.5330.1289. ISSN   1095-9203.
  5. ↑ "Volcanoes on Venus May Still Be Awake". National Geographic News. 2015-06-23. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  6. ↑ Smrekar, Suzanne; Arnold, Gabriele E.; Tsang, Constantine; Boerner, Anko; D'Amore, Mario; Jaenchen, Judit; Kappel, David; Mueller, Nils; Maturilli, Alessandro (2018-09-18). "The Venus Emissivity Mapper (VEM): Obtaining global mineralogy of Venus from orbit" (PDF). In Kirk, Maureen S; Strojnik, Marija (eds.). Infrared Remote Sensing and Instrumentation XXVI. Vol. 10765. International Society for Optics and Photonics. pp. 107650D. Bibcode:2018SPIE10765E..0DH. doi:10.1117/12.2320112. ISBN   9781510621015. S2CID   134509078.
  7. ↑ "Brown MIT NLSI Team". www.planetary.brown.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  8. ↑ "CNN - Along for the ride: microprobes - November 1999". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  9. ↑ (in English) Mission Team
  10. ↑ "Home (AIAA)". doi:10.2514/6.2006-5856.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ↑ KSC, Lynda Warnock. "NASA - Deputy Project Scientist". www.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  12. ↑ Laboratory, Jet Propulsion (2011). "Huge Dry Ice Deposit on Mars". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  13. ↑ "Mars Cold Goes Down Deep". www.marsdaily.com. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  14. ↑ (in English) VENUS STILL GEOLOGICALLY ACTIVE, MAGELLAN FINDS
  15. ↑ (in English) Comunicato stampa della Nasa del 28 giugno 1994 sui risultati ottenuti dalla sonda Magellano su Venere Archived 2009-08-26 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ↑ "New Mars lander safely touches down. What happens now?". MSN. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  17. ↑ (in English) Planetary Science Division Activities with Small Bodies, GEMS: GEophysical Monitoring Station
  18. ↑ "New Mars lander safely touches down. What happens now?". Science & Innovation. 2018-11-26. Archived from the original on November 27, 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  19. ↑ "6819 McGarvey (1983 LL)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  20. ↑ "NASA Weighing Double-Barrel Discovery Award". SpaceNews.com. 2015-10-02. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  21. ↑ (in English) Suzanne E. Smrekar
  22. ↑ "Lecture: Venus - Earth's Evil Twin or Just Misunderstood?". kiss.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  23. ↑ KISSCaltech, Venus: Earth's Evil Twin or Just Misunderstood? - Suzanne Smrekar , retrieved 2018-12-07
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