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Newsletter #8 - March 31st, 2004

Mars Gravity Biosatellite will provide the first data on the adaptation of the mammalian body to the partial gravity of 0.38g found on the surface of Mars. It will help provide answers to one of the critical outstanding questions in the planning of future human expeditions to the Red Planet. Mars Gravity is led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Washington (UW) and the University of Queensland (UQ).

In this edition:
1. WATCH THIS SPACE - Mars Gravity Notices
2. EVENT HORIZON - News and Views on Events
3. TECH LIFE - Science and Engineering Updates
4. LIL' BIT OF SOL - Team Member News

1. WATCH THIS SPACE
Mars Gravity Notices

NASA AWARDS MARS GRAVITY $100,000

A $100,000 grant has been awarded to the Mars Gravity program through NASA Ames Research Center. The funding will partially support key program personnel working towards our Preliminary Design Review (PDR), slated for later this year, as well as payload and science laboratory prototyping and testing at MIT. Mars Gravity Science Director Erika Wagner said the award demonstrated the strong links the program was forging with the nation's space program.

"Mars Gravity is being driven by compelling science, particularly in light of the nation's new exploration agenda. The program is very well positioned right now to provide an essential, low cost stepping-stone for future human missions to Mars, and the research community is quite excited by that," she said.

NEW MARS GRAVITY PERSONNEL

Mars Gravity is pleased to announce some new appointments. Lead Systems Engineer John Essig, Lead Payload Engineer Andrew Heafitz and Assistant Program Manager Lisa McGill have joined the team. See section 4 below to learn a little more about our intake of new over-achievers!

THANK YOU TO CHRISTY BUESO

Join us in thanking our departing Development Director, Christy Bueso, for her contributions to the Mars Gravity Team. She was instrumental in expanding recognition of the program within both the MIT community and the broader aerospace community. Last December, Christy's work culminated in a presentation by her and other team members to the MIT Corporation. We wish Christy the best of luck in her future endeavors.

GIVING TO MARS GRAVITY

Mars Gravity relies on both public and private support. Hundreds of students and professional advisers from across the globe have helped bring this program to fruition - now your support can take it to flight. Please donate generously online at

http://www.marsgravity.org/sponsors/donation.php

or by mail to:

Mars Gravity Program Office
MIT Room 41-116
77 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139
USA

or email us at info@marsgravity.org to discuss how you might help promote the program in your local area.
Did you know?
By a lucky coincidence, European astronomers claim to have found the most distant object ever seen from Earth. A foreground galaxy cluster acting as a giant gravitational lens has made visible a faint galaxy fragment with a redshift of 10.0, which beats the previous record of 7 announced just a few weeks ago. The galaxy can be seen as it was just 460 million years after the birth of the universe (or 3.5% of the present age of the cosmos).
ref: http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1201_1.asp

2. EVENT HORIZON
News and Views on Events

SEATTLE YURI'S NIGHT COUNTDOWN

Former JPL Mars Exploration Program Manager Donna Shirley will speak at the Seattle Yuri's Night celebrations on 12 April. The original leader of the team that built the Sojourner Rover and author of a book about her experiences, "Managing Martians", Donna Shirley will offer her insights into the current excitement being witnessed on Mars. The Seattle party has a new website that you can check for more details: http://www.yurisnight.net/seattle/. Donna also recently testified to the House Science Committee regarding the direction of the U.S. space program, see http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=12152.

MARS GRAVITY CO-HOSTS MARSWEEK 2004 CONFERENCE @ MIT, APRIL 9th-11th

Just prior to Yuri's Night, the Mars Gravity program will be co-hosting the 5th annual MarsWeek conference at MIT on April 9th-11th. MarsWeek is a three-day conference dedicated to new developments in human and robotic exploration of Mars. This year's program includes speakers from NASA Headquarters, the Mars Exploration Rover program, the Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory, the X Prize Foundation, and many other institutions driving the frontiers of space exploration. For more details, and online registration, please visit the conference web site at http://web.mit.edu/mars/marsweek/.

EXTERNAL CONTRIBUTORS LIST

People everywhere have been asking how they can get more involved with the Mars Gravity program. Well, we're trying to make it easier! An external contributors email list has been created to allow us to communicate with interested people who have special skills or resources they would like to volunteer. Can you help us produce graphic designs for print or multimedia presentations? Can you translate scientific papers? Can you undertake bite-sized tasks in your area of expertise? These and many other opportunities may await you. Simply visit: http://www.marsgravity.org/team/jointheteam.php to take the first step!

INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

People of all ages and experience levels are invited to apply for the new Mars Gravity Internship Program. Applicants propose the duration and the area of activity, ranging from hardware development and science investigations to educational outreach and business management. The program provides a unique opportunity to become part of an exciting space mission team. Please visit: http://www.marsgravity.org/team/jointheteam.php for more details and to download the application materials. We've extended the deadline through April 10th, so be sure to get your application in quickly!

CAMBRIDGE RINDGE AND LATIN SCHOOL (CRLS) SCIENCE NIGHT

Mars Gravity team members from MIT attended a science expo for the Cambridge community, open to students and parents of all ages, held at CRLS on Tuesday 9 March. The team interacted with more than 100 visitors over the course of the evening, building alka-seltzer powered rockets to explain propulsion and toothpick & gumdrop 'satellites' to encourage discussion of structural strength and spacecraft capabilities.

Did You Know?
Why do scientists believe Meridiani Planum on Mars was once drenched in briny water, probably for millions of years? Opportunity's microscopic imager examined nearby bedrock and showed (1) intriguing beads with a uniform distribution, and (2) regularly shaped voids suggestive of "vugs", which on Earth are rock cavities lined with crystals that form when water leeches through cracks. The alpha particle x-ray spectrometer then detected (3) very high amounts of sulfur, a lot more than could be expected from volcanic origins. Finally, the Mossbauer spectrometer, used to seek out iron-bearing minerals, found (4) Jarosite (KFe3(SO4)2(OH)6, Potassium Iron Sulfate Hydroxide). On Earth this rare amber-yellow-brown mineral forms only in dilute sulfuric acid in ground water.

3. TECH LIFE
Science and Engineering Updates

QUESTIONS TO info@marsgravity.org

Q: Will there be any difference between the gravity you generate in the Biosatellite and the actual gravity on Mars?

A: Yes. Mars generates its "gravity field" of 0.38g m/s^2 by virtue of the attraction generated by its mass (in accordance with Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation). On the other hand, the Biosatellite will generate an inward centripetal acceleration by virtue of a spin that we deliberately impart with our thrusters. For example, with a diameter of around 800 mm (15.7 in), a constant spin rate of 29 revolutions per minute (RPM) is needed to create a centripetal acceleration of 0.38g.

This is not quite the same as the gravity on Mars. When the mice move around on the Biosatellite, a "Coriolis acceleration" will be noticeable, requiring the animals to compensate slightly in order to navigate normally in their environment. This is a consequence of the practical limit on our radius of rotation. However, based on the Biosatellite design and previous rodent studies in ground-based centrifuges, we don't expect the Coriolis acceleration will significantly affect the health of the animals, and ground controls will help eliminate any small bias in the results.

Did You Know?
During the three-month primary mission of the twin MER rovers Spirit and Opportunity, the distance between Earth and Mars will vary from about 170 to 320 million kilometers. Signals sent to and from the planet travel at the speed of light, or about 300,000 km/s. So it takes from 9 to 18 minutes for messages to travel one-way, or twice as long for the round trip. It could be 18 minutes or more before one of the robots can provide confirmation of receipt of a command. Some might say, however, that's a lot better than your typical teenage son or daughter!

4. LIL' BIT OF SOL
Team Member News

NEW FACES AT MIT

Lead Systems Engineer: John Essig
John brings with him more than 10 years of experience in the aerospace industry related to gas turbine work. In recent times he has been involved in some entrepreneurial ventures, including patent applications. John will lead the systems team to refine the overall preliminary design in readiness for PDR.

Lead Payload Engineer: Andrew Heafitz
Andrew has a B.S. and M.S. in mechanical engineering from MIT. He's co-founder of the MIT Rocket Team, winner of the 2002 Lemelson Student Prize for Inventiveness, and one of Technology Review magazine's 2003 Top 100 young innovators. He previously worked on the development of NASA's Plant Growth Facility, an environmentally-controlled space shuttle mid-deck locker experiment to study microgravity plant growth. The PGF flew on STS-87 and STS-93.

Assistant Program Manager: Lisa McGill
Lisa is a native of Buffalo, NY, with a B.A. in Geological Sciences from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Electronic Materials from MIT. Married to Matt Borthwick, this is not a couple to mess with: both are black belts in Isshinryu Karate! Lisa also works as a science copyeditor for Springer-Verlag. She is enthusiastic about moving into the project management side of science.

A MINUTE WITH: STEPHANIE WALLACE (UW)

Age: 31

Current academic/employment status:
I'm working toward a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, with a controls focus, at the UW.

Education:
I have B.A. in linguistics from UC Berkeley and a B.S. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from UW.

What do you do in Mars Gravity?:
I'm the UW Deputy Project Manager. The biggest part of my job lies in helping to smooth the transitions as students come and go. New people who come on board face a pretty steep learning curve, and it's important that they have the tools that allow them to make useful contributions to the program.

How long have you been involved with Mars Gravity?:
About a year and a half.

What have you already gotten out of Mars Gravity?:
I've gotten great engineering and leadership experience, and I've seen how important it is for individuals to know their contribution is important.

Favorite TV Show:
The Simpsons.

Favorite Band:
Sublime.

Favorite Sport:
Thumb wrestling. Or maybe sumo.

What do you do on a typical Sunday?:
I take my dog for a walk along the river, then we head to the computer lab at school for the Mars Gravity worksession!

Favorite Sweets:
Delicious peanut M&Ms. There's also a yummy gummy candy from Japan called Hi-Chew; purple flavor is the best.

Last movie you saw?:
Lord of the Rings - Return of the King.

Favorite travel destination?
I went to Tonga once - that was nice. Really I like any trip involving boats.

Best advice you can offer someone?:
Don't quit - you're doing fine.

For more information about the Mars Gravity Biosatellite program, please visit http://www.marsgravity.org

All dollar amounts in this newsletter are in US dollars.