NASA Mars Science Laboratory
The landing site for the Mars Science Laboratory is Gale crater, 96 miles (154 kilometers) across. Gale’s attraction lies in a gigantic stack of ancient sediments that may contain evidence of Mars’ habitability in earlier eras. MSL will be targeted to land within the ellipse, which measures 12-by-16 miles (20-by-25 kilometers). ASU professors and researchers, as well as alums, are involved in the mission. Professor Meenakshi Wadhwa is a co-investigator with the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument, essentially an analytical chemistry system. Amy McAdam, an ASU alumna, is also working on SAM. Professor Jack Farmer is a science team member for a different instrument, CheMin, designed to examine the chemical and mineralogical properties of rocks and soils. Associate Professor Alberto Behar is an investigation scientist for the Russian Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons instrument.