Mars Science Sleuth
Dr. Joy Crisp has examined the scorched slopes of Mount Etna in Italy, visited Mount St. Helens, and carried out scientific research on the lava flows of Mauna Loa in Hawaii, Earth's largest volcano. But even as she is awestruck by the power of these geologic titans, her mind drifts to Mars, to the biggest volcano in our solar system.
Olympus Mons.
The extinct giant towers over the rust-colored surface of the planet Mars. Three times taller than Mt. Everest - the highest point on Earth - it is bigger around at its base than the entire state of New Mexico.
What secrets about Mars' past does it harbor? What was it like when this volcano was erupting on Mars? How did it evolve with time?
"I find this work fascinating on Earth, so figuring out these puzzles on Mars is even more exciting," Crisp said.
But Crisp will never make it to Mars. For now, it's too far away. Too dangerous.
Of course, she's not going to let that stop her.
Robot Geologists
As project scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, Crisp works to enable the efforts of a large team of scientists exploring the surface of Mars through electronic eyes of the twin robot geologists. Following in the footsteps of the 1997 Pathfinder and 1976 Viking missions, the sophisticated robotic explorers are roaming Mars in search of evidence of past liquid water and the evolution of Mars' climate.
In January 2004, the rovers landed at different spots - thousands of miles apart - and began using a powerful array of instruments to study Martian rocks. Both robots are equipped with cameras that can take wide panoramas of Martian terrain and microscopic images that may offer clues to past environments.
"We are especially interested in the conditions when liquid water was active on the surface," she explains. "Were there cold water seas or warm hydrothermal fluids like those at Yellowstone National Park involved? Was water only around for brief flooding episodes? The surface of Mars has lots of volcanic rocks which may have interacted with water, which ties into my interest in volcanoes."
The rovers have even got the robotic eqivalent of a rock hammer. Geologists like Crisp learn a lot by cutting open rocks and studying the fresh, unweathered surfaces inside. Both Mars Exploration Rovers will be equipped with a rock abrasion tool - a diamond-studded rock cutter that will grind a hole about twice the diameter and thickness of a U.S. quarter, into a rock on Mars. This provides the science team with freshly exposed rock surfaces to study with the scientific instruments.
A Rock Hound is Born
Born and raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Crisp grew up reading lots of books. Her favorite subjects in school were English and math. It wasn't until college, when she took Physical Chemistry and Geology, that she became fascinated with science.
While working on her doctorate dissertation, she studied 14-million-year-old outpourings of a magma chamber on Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. The chamber erupted over and over, refilling and partially crystallizing each time. On a series of excursions to the islands, Crisp collected rocks for more thorough examination back in the laboratory. "The geological and mineralogical clues to the activity in the chamber were locked in the rocks, just waiting to be deciphered," she said.
The same is true for Mars. But the rocks are a lot harder to get at.
Crisp has already been to Mars, sort of. When the first robotic Mars explorer - Sojourner - rolled onto off the Pathfinder platform onto Mars, Crisp was watching anxiously. As assistant rover scientist, Sojourner was the focus of her attention.
On another past project, she studied volcanoes and volcanic eruption clouds, as seen in the infrared through NASA's earth-viewing satellite instruments. Crisp has also done research on the physics of how lava flows cool, crystallize, and flow on the Earth and Mars.
In her current job as Mars Exploration Rover project scientist, she's responsible for the science integrity of the mission, advising the project manager, and acting as a science spokesperson for the project.
The job requires a wide breadth of scientific knowledge, diplomacy and judgment.
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