7:00 pm Thursday, October 4, 2001 in Room 212 of McMullen Hall St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa The possibility of life on Mars has long fascinated human observers. Of the many unanswered questions concerning the possible existence of life at Mars, none is more important than the existence of water. In this talk Dr. Gurnett will discuss the history of the search for water at Mars, starting with Schiaparelli’s 1877 observations of “canals” on Mars, Lowell’s early 20th century ideas about irrigation and intelligent beings on Mars, and ending with the modern era of space exploration, including a description of a radar to search for sub-surface water being built at the University of Iowa for flight on the Mars Express spacecraft in 2003. Don Gurnett is a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Iowa, where he has been on the faculty since 1965. He specializes in experimental space plasma physics and has participated as a Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on more than 25 major NASA spacecraft projects, most notably the Voyager 1 and 2 flights to the outer planets, the Galileo mission to Jupiter, and the Cassini mission to Saturn. His current project involves the development of a low-frequency radar for the Mars Express spacecraft, which is to be launched in 2003. He is the author of more than 390 scientific publications, primarily in the area of magnetospheric radio and plasma wave research, and has supervised 50 student thesis projects. Prof. Gurnett has received numerous awards for his research and teaching. These include the 1978 John Howard Dellinger Gold Medal from the International Scientific Radio Union, the 1989 John Adam Fleming Medal from the American Geophysical Union, and the 1989 Excellence in Plasma Physics Award from the American Physical Society. In 1994 he received the Iowa Board of Regents Award for Faculty Excellence, and in 1998 he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Note: McMullen Hall is at the corner of Locust and Gaines in Davenport, Iowa. Parking on the St. Ambrose campus will be on a first-come basis, with no permits required. The lot on the corner of Gaines and Lombard is recommended, but any open location is fine. Questions: Contact Dr. Herb Lyon, John Deere Chapter Program Chair, at 796-5377. |
