Come Together Washington

Mars Exhibit




Department of Aeronautics/Astronautics
left table and images above

Department of Atmospheric Sciences
right table and posters 
MetNet, "Meteorology Network"  lander
above
Viking FC#3 lander

For the exhibit, please see below this update.

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Update

Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2004 14:01:56 -0700
From: Adam Bruckner <bruckner@aa.washington.edu>
To: Jim Tillman <mars@atmos.washington.edu>


Most of the positive comments were from unidentified attendees of the event. .... The most significant plaudit came from Ed Lazowska of CSE (former chair of that department). He said that there was a "buzz" at the event about our Mars exhibit being the best one. He told me this twice in person and once via e-mail (which you received, too). Dean Denton also praised our exhibit. The Viking Lander and the Metlander that Ari-Matti sent were what made our exhibit so attractive and interesting to everyone. People were fascinated by the fact that the Metlander would be going to Mars in a few years.

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Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2004 13:36:39 -0800
From: Connie Kravas <ckravas@u.washington.edu>
To: a very long list of and

Cc: mark emmert, Bill Gates
Subject: Thank you for coming together for Coming Together
Parts/Attachments:

This is a special message to you and about you......the talented, creative, brilliant people who organized and executed Come Together Washington and the Gala. ...........

In the words of the chair of the campaign, Bill Gates Sr. who was the first to convey his appreciation for you: "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you."

Thank you, indeed.  connie

P.S.  And PLEASE forward this email to those who I have inadvertently left off the list. I truly dread the thought that a single contributor to Oct. 15 might be overlooked in this message. I will be very grateful if you will pass along these words of thanks.

The event was well-paced, engaging, entertaining and, best of all, persuasive......No other event to match it in the 60+ years I have been around.

What an evening!  All the planning and effort led to one of the most memorable events in the University's history.

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Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
College of Engineering

The Mars Connection: UW grads on Rover mission teams

Adam Bruckner, chair of the UW Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Adam Bruckner has been in high demand of late.

The UW Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics chair is an expert on spacecraft design, propulsion systems and manned flights to Mars, and with the recent successes of the Mars Exploration Rover missions on the Red Planet, people want to hear his take on findings and developments. As such, he has been quoted in regional and national publications, participated as a panelist in seminars and spoken to various groups in the Puget Sound region.

But beyond his expertise, Bruckner has an inside track that few can claim.

Three of his former students are members of the Rover mission teams. And a fourth worked on a robotic arm for a previous Mars mission.

"I caught sight of one of them the other day on a special NOVA program, in Mission Control at JPL," Bruckner said. "It was great to see him."

That former student is Rob Grover, a 1998 UW graduate with a master's degree in aeronautics and astronautics and an entry, descent and landing systems engineer for the Spirit and Opportunity landings. Being part of the mission operations on landing night was a one-of-a-kind experience, Grover said.

"It was an exciting, terrifying, and joyful night, all rolled into one," he said, adding that every day at work he is reminded of the unique opportunity he has to be part of history.

"It is not every job where Al Gore and Arnold Schwarzenegger stop in to shake your hand and the president phones his congratulations," Grover said. "Those of us who have the honor of carrying out the missions for our country know how lucky we are to find ourselves part of the team."

His time at the UW learning and honing his abilities was well spent, he said. “The transition to applying my skills both in industry and at JPL was nearly seamless."

Bruckner said every time he gets the latest updates on the Rover missions -- at least once a day -- he feels pride for his former students. Their success, he added, isn't a coincidence.

"It shows the caliber of our students," he said. "Our graduates are among the best in the world, second to none."

Jim Tillman has participated in Mars Landed Meteorology, Mission Development, Operations and Science since 1965. These include Viking, Mars-96, Pathfinder and now MetNet, a Finnish led mission to place permanent Climate Stations on Mars. The Climate Landers were proposed by Tillman and included in the IMEWG, International Mars Exploration Working Group's "Mars Exploration Strategy" adopted Nov. 10, 2000 in Helsinki. Some of this history, and the permanent home of this Viking Flight Lander #3 body in the Electrical Engineering Department, are found at this location.
Some of the accomplishments of Tillman and his collaborators are:

Viking Development, Mission Operations July 20, 1976 through Nov. 12, 1982, and Science

• Many scientific contributions including how to predict 'Great' dust storms
• Creating the Viking Meteorology data base, that contains over 98% of the meteorology from the surface of Mars, with his Viking Computer Facility staff and other colleagues
• Initiated and assumed the Major role extending Lander 1's life by 3 years in the late 1970's and early 1980's that included taking over NASA's downlink processing of engineering data, supplying it to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory staff enabling continued lander operations
• Public Outreach: Many Viking and Mars exploration related programs
  His permanent (1983 to present) "Viking View of Mars" exhibit at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.
• Developing this Viking Mars Flight Lander #3 exhibit, (a permanent exhibit in the University of Washington's Electrical Engineering Department), with Professor Howard Chizeck, Electrical Engineering, and Professor Adam Bruckner, Chair of Aeronautics/Astronautics along with many great collaborators and students.

• Initiated the three year $ 900,000 Live from Earth and Mars Education/Public Outreach program, leading the Live from Mars component
• 10,000,000 web hits July, 1997 and currently 2,000 to 7,000 hits/day
• This "Live from Earth and Mars" web site links to our UW Department of Atmospheric Sciences site containing Data, UW model forecasts and many other resources

• Helped Finland begin their Mars Meteorology program in the late 80's
• Provided Meteorology and Sensor design support for USSR - European Mars 96 and for Finland's participation in the US Mars Polar Lander

• Became Finnish IMEWG Delegate Jan 2000
• Asked to review Final draft of the world's Mars Exploration Strategy & invited to comment
• My comments were added to the strategy, and approved Nov 2000
• Since Viking provided > 98% of the meteorology from the surface of Mars, the most important from my perspective is the MetNet (MetLander), Climate Landers beginning at the Viking sites

• IMEWG Cape Canaveral 2001 Risto Pellinen to Jim Tillman: "Here are your Climate Landers"
• After Finland - Russia ratification, FMI and Tillman sign the
Live From Earth and Mars -- Science, Technology, Engineering Partnership, LFEM-STEP agreement