Mr. Frank Seelos
of Washington University will be featured at the May meeting of the
St. Louis Astronomical Society. Mr. Seelos will talk about the nature
of the surface of the planet Mars, particularly the area to be explored
by the next Mars surface rover. In January, 2004, two robot rovers will
touch down on the Martian surface. Mr. Seelos will review the current
state of Mars science from a global perspective, and provide a detailed
look at one of the landing sites selected for the Mars Exploration Rover
(MER) mission. He will also describe the scientific instruments on board
the MER robots, and explain how they will be used to answer important
questions about the origin and evolution of the Red Planet.
At Washington University, Frank Seelos is a Doctoral candidate in the
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. As a member of Professor
Raymond Arvidson's planetary geology research team, he is heavily involved
with planning for the MER project, including the design and prototype
testing of the Rover's science instruments and the selection of one
of the landing sites.