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Dr. Jim Garvin NASA Chief Scientist, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC |
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Dr. Jim Garvin
Host Researcher,
NASA Chief Scientist,
NASA Headquarters,
Washington, DC
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How did you end up in the field you are in today? Who or what inspired you to pursue this career? Who are some of the people you look up to or admire?
Ever since I can remember I wanted to be a scientist. As early as age three I was collecting rocks and was fascinated with the natural world. I recall hoping I could visit the Redwoods forests when I saw a picture of them in a book at three years old. By grade school, I was a science-junkie, fascinated by the moon, rocks, dinosaurs, fossils, insects etc. When I was in 4th grade, I convinced our teacher to take us on a fossil collecting field trip into the Mountains of Lebanon (we were living in Beirut). I experienced the deserts of the Middle East and had my first 'Martian' experiences. By 6th grade, the Moon and Mars had hooked me and my interest in science broadened to the science associated with exploration throughout history. When I was in 6th grade we visited New Zealand and I explored the flanks of Mt. Egmont on the North Island and explored the geothermal areas… thinking of life on other worlds and dreaming of more visits to such vistas. I watched in awe as Apollo 8 circumnavigated the Moon, and cheered when Apollo 11 landed. So, I was a space science junkie before I could even walk very well!
I ended up pursuing all kinds of unusual science projects in high school, including experiments on Liverworts (primitive bryophytes), fungi, aquatic insects, and rocks. I pursued my undergraduate education at Brown University in Providence RI, where the role of several professors in space exploration was noteworthy. As a freshman I took a special course on the History of Exploration taught by Prof. T. A. Mutch, who later was made famous by his leadership of the Mars Viking lander imaging team and as an
Associate Administrator for NASA (Space Sciences). By the time I was a senior, I knew Mars was where I wanted to work, but since flights out there were rare (and, for people, impossible), I took Prof. Mutch's first course in the Geology of Mars and it changed my life. I ended up moving on to Stanford University for a Masters degree, but soon returned to Brown to study under Dr. Tim Mutch, in order to focus on Mars, and in particular the sedimentology of the Viking lander sites and impact cratering. Sadly, Dr. Mutch died in a climbing accident atop one of the 8000m peaks in the Himalayas in 1980. I evolved my graduate studies to work under Professor Jim Head and with Dr. Richard Grieve. Under Jim I ended up comparing the surfaces of Mars (from Viking) to those explored by the Soviet Venera landers on Venus, and with analogue settings here on Earth. In doing so, I realized that impact craters were very important in shaping the fragmental debris on planetary surfaces such as the Moon, Mars, Venus and in some places Earth. Thanks to Jim Head and Richard Grieve, I broadened my scientific horizons to become an impact cratering geologist, visiting craters in the US, Canada, Germany, and all over the former USSR (now Russia).
I look up to real explorers, including Tim Mutch for his resolve to try new things, to Dr. Lionel Wilson for unveiling the world of volcanoes to me, to Dr. Richie Williams (USGS) for first helping me discover ICELAND as a natural laboratory, to John Grunsfeld, astronaut/scientist/friend and to science colleagues all over the world!
While at NASA's Goddard Flight Center I proposed a project that became the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA), a component of the Mars Observer orbiter (MO). A laser altimeter uses lasers to measure the height and geometrical properties of a planet's surface. This mission was launched in 1992, but failed upon orbital insertion in fall of 1993. Meanwhile, I led a team designing orbital laser altimeters for the moon and Earth. Spare parts from MOLA were used as the Shuttle Laser Altimeter in 1996 and again in 1997, measuring the topography of Earth from orbit and observing the heights of trees from space! I also led several aircraft campaigns to Iceland to monitor landscapes associated with sub-glacial volcanic eruptions relevant to Mars.
In 1999, I was asked to chair an internal NASA study to invent new pathways for human and robotic exploration of Mars in the name of science and technology. By designing this vision, we started along the path to the current Exploration Vision we are part of now. Meanwhile, the failures of the Mars 1998 missions (the Mars Polar Lander and Mars Climate Orbiter both failed) caused NASA to develop a new Mars team and I was asked to be the lead scientist. I started working at NASA Headquarters where I have since led the development of the Mars science strategy on behalf of the science community. I was fortunate enough to have cast the very first vote in favor of flying the Mars Exploration Rovers to Mars in May of 2000 when NASA had to make a choice.
In my career, I have come to admire those who explore with integrity and with appreciation of nature. I was fortunate enough to visit small, unpopulated places here on Earth (Surtsey, the Azores, Navassa island, Zhamanshin crater in Kazakhstan) in the pursuit of science truth or at least understanding, and this is thrilling beyond words. The real world is so much more interesting than reality TV! And the real Mars is what really gets me going.
What Mars-related research/work projects are you currently involved in? How do you conduct your research/work and what tools/technology do you use? How does math factor into your work?
I am Chief Scientist for all of Mars exploration, but I only have time to dabble in my ongoing work to understand how the geometric properties of impact craters relate to the structure of the upper crust and the role of ice. In order to do this lifelong work I needed the data acquired by the MOLA laser altimeter. In 1985, when I first met some laser engineers at GSFC, I got the idea that measuring the landscape at human-scales from orbit (or airplanes) was the approach I needed to explore the complex geometric (3D) shapes of impact craters (and volcanic ones). This work on Earth helped prepare us for similar work to be done on Mars.
Math plays a huge role in my work and I often enjoy computer programming. The math needs to describe how craters form and evolve, and what distributions of rock sizes and shapes tell us about the Martian surface. So, without math, I could not achieve any new results that allow us to understand Mars, craters, or geosciences in general. I am now studying the shapes of thousands of Martian craters in the middle to high latitudes of the northern hemisphere on Mars. These craters may have been excavated into ice-rich ground when a continuous ice sheet covered such places on Mars. This is evidence for semi-global ice cover (and even sub-ice liquid water) on Mars. I am now using the explosion craters of the Nevada nuclear Test site here on Earth to understand how the small craters our MER Rovers are exploring have evolved.
What do you like best about your job? What do you like the least? What are the most common misconceptions that people have about what you do?
I enjoy strategizing about science directions for Mars with my fellow science colleagues on the basis of new discoveries and then developing a flight program to go figure it all out. I wish I had more time to do research but I recognize that my role now is that of a leader for the entire Mars science community. Many people believe that I sit around worrying about paperwork and the like, but I spend a lot of time with the Mars science community and our Mars science team at JPL. I love NASA since it provides hope via exploration and I think that Mars, as the 4th planet and a 4-letter word, is all about hope – the hope of finding evidence that we are (or were) not alone!
Where have you traveled for your work? What's the favorite place you've been so far?
My travels have included multiple trips to Surtsey Island off the coast of Iceland, one of my favorite places. My license plates on our truck say "SURTSEY" and people stop me to try to figure out what that means. I adore Iceland because of the primeval landscapes that evoke the processes we see on Mars. I catalyzed the first international field expedition to the 870,000 year old Zhamanshin impact crater in Kazakhstan in 1989, thanks to support of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. Zhamanshin was incredible and it inspired me to think of Mars and its subtle craters.
My 1994 trip to the Azores islands off Portugal was fantastic, and I visited the Capelhinos "sursteyan" volcanic site (it formed in 1957-58 compared to Surtsey which formed in 1963-67). These places remind me of the characteristics of Mars we thought were dominant, thanks to Viking. I enjoyed my field visit to Skeidararsandur in 1997, just after the big catastrophic outburst flood of November 1996. We were able to map the place and determine what this extreme, Mars-like flood did to the landscape.
My more recent field trip to Nevada was very memorable. We visited the nuclear explosion test sites to better understand impact cratering on the Moon and Mars. We connected these small 30m to 400m diameter craters to those we are exploring now with our MER rovers Spirit and Opportunity.
Finally, I long to visit the greatest Mars analogues on Earth, including the dry valleys of Antarctica and the Atacama Desert of Chile. Now, thanks to the Opportunity rover, I hunger to visit such places armed with a few scientific tools.
What was your favorite subject when you were in middle school? What did you think you were going to be when you grew up? What advice do you wish someone would have given you at the time?
In junior, I loved Science and Math, especially aspects related to field science. As a 7th grader I made a map of every tree in a 2 acre woods behind our school for science class.
I wish someone could have taken me to Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral to see a launch in person. That would have motivated me forever. But I was lucky in that I had some extraordinary teachers who recognized my passion, and "let me be." I recall the joy in 9th grade when I walked into my Advanced Biology class in February (in Connecticut) and proudly showed our teacher the liverwort Marchantia that I had discovered in a swamp, despite the fact that he had assured all of us that there were no liverworts in all of New England.
Why do you think it is important for students to learn about our solar system and specifically about Mars? Why do you think it is important for students to make comparisons between Earth and Mars, and what can we hope to learn by doing that? Why explore the solar system in general and Mars specifically?
The solar system is our real neighborhood and it provides context for us to understand our own planet and to seek answers to questions that have been with us forever: where did we come from and are we alone? Looking for our "roots" in the Solar System, whether on Mars, via what the Moon can tell us, via new worlds such as Titan (Saturn's big moon), or elsewhere, is inspiring and requires creative thinking. History provides us with a lesson -- those who do not dare to explore their neighborhood will perish. I honestly believe Mars is Mother Nature's great control experiment for all of us here on Earth. By exploring how it works we will learn how to better understand our home planet's history and potential future. And in doing so, we can ask whether Mars has ever harbored life. My view is, "Why not?" We need to explore Mars with new eyes and new tools, always relating our measurements and experiments to what we know or can find out here on Earth. This is what inspired the new field of astrobiology. Discovering the unknown is so gratifying and exciting, I cannot imagine not doing so!
What one thing would you most like students to learn from participating in JASON Expedition: Mysteries of Earth and Mars?
I would like students to realize that science-based exploration of the Earth to understand Mars is fun, and that it provides activities and approaches that can be exciting to all students, and not only science "geeks" or math wizards. Field exploration on Earth was often accomplished by brave women and men who may not have been the best scientists, but who used their passions for learning to make contributions. This JASON Expedition can open up the exploration of Mars for all students and bring it home to Earth, as the ultimate test case and proving ground.
What advice would you give to students who are interested in studying science? What are some of the diverse careers associated with the work that you do?
Science is not only about lots of challenging math problems, and endless homework. It's really all about exploration, and the hard work involved is just like the training athletes go through to be able to participate in the Olympics or professional sports. Everyone who is interested can participate in science, and with a little thinking and creativity can find a role. The history of science is one avenue that we need to bear witness to, as we document how we explore places such as Mars. Some students are good at ideas but need help from others to execute those ideas and make them work. It's the same at NASA. Not all scientists become Mars Principal Mission Investigators like our amazing Dr. Steve Squyres (on the MER rovers). Science is best done with diverse approaches, ideas, and skills, and it is the integration of all these parts that leads to major discoveries. Mars offers us a place to explore where almost every step (even via analogues here on Earth) can lead to major discoveries. That's fun! And there is something in it for everyone who takes the time to think about it.
When you are not working, what do you like to do for fun?
I adore listening to U2 and REM music and, when I was younger, I used to try to go to every U2 concert that I could! I have always been passionate about ice hockey and I have played goaltender for 25 years. I have not played much in the past few years due to my job and young children at home, but I remain a hockey fanatic and hope to get to Mars one day to skate on its wonderful and cold icecaps. I really enjoy taking forest walks with my young children and with our Bouvier des Flandres dog "Yogi." Finally, I love traveling to places such as Iceland just to witness all too briefly what Mars must really be like.
Any final thoughts, words of advice, personal philosophy?
Dare to explore! Never wait to wonder! Allow one's passions to unleash your power for learning... and cherish the wonders of nature, from the deserts of Mars to the giant Redwoods of Earth!
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