Presenting the Mars Rover Mission

If you happen to be in the Kalamazoo Michigan area on Monday, and have some free time in the afternoon, perhaps you would consider a trip to Western Michigan University for a space exploration lecture.

At 4.00pm EST, Dr. Ray Arvidson (Director of the Earth and Planetary Remote Sensing Laboratory at Washington University in St. Louis) will present

“The Mars Exploration Rover Mission”

Abstract:

The two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been traveling across the surface and making scientific measurements for over 1200 Mars days or sols. Opportunity landed on Meridiani Planum on what we now know are ancient lake beds formed in an acid-sulfate aqueous system. Spirit landed on olivine-bearing basaltic plains and then drove to the older Columbia Hills.

The Hills are an ancient volcanic complex with extensive evidence for the interaction of water and magmatic systems, including hydrated sulfate and silica deposits. The evidence for the interaction of water and crustal materials will be discussed, along with implications for habitability and life on Mars.

Monday, February 11, 2008
4:00 P.M.
1104 Rood Hall
Western Michigan University Campus

If you have been following the intrepid rovers for the past four years (and yes, it has been four years since they landed. Not bad for two little craft with a ninety-day mission) you know how wonderful and intriguing their story is.

This program is sponsored by the WMU College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Geosciences.