Suzanne Smrekar Explained

Suzanne Elizabeth Smrekar
Other Names:Sue
Alma Mater:Brown University, Southern Methodist University
Thesis Year:1990
Known For:Mars InSight lander, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Suzanne E. Smrekar is an American geophysicist and Deputy Principal Investigator for the Mars InSight lander[1] and the principal investigator for the planned VERITAS space probe to Venus.[2]

Background

Smrekar obtained her B.S. degree in geophysics and mathematics from Brown University in 1984, and her doctorate in geophysics from Southern Methodist University in 1990. She was a postdoctoral researcher at MIT before joining the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in 1992.[3]

Career

Published works

Smrekar and colleague Ellen Stofan reported in Science in 1997 that Venus' heat loss was caused by volcanic activity and formations specific to Venus.[4] As Venus has no plate tectonics like Earth, she and others are attempting to study its volcanalogy to draw better conclusions about the formation of Earth.[5] Smrekar and an international team of researchers presented the Venus Emissivity Mapper (VEM) at a conference in 2018; this device scans the planet's surface at specific wavelengths to record the mineral composition, and uses other channels to determine cloud cover, weather, interference, and volcanic activity.[6]

Smrekar remains a team member of the joint Brown – MIT NASA Lunar Science Institute.[7] She has jointly written several articles for the Encyclopedia of the Solar System.

NASA Missions

Smrekar has formed part of multiple NASA teams dedicated to exploring the Solar System. In 1999, she was involved with the design of the ground-penetrant micro-laboratories Deep Space 2 that "hitchhiked" on the Mars Polar Lander.[8] She was Deputy Project Leader for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO),[9] [10] [11]  which, in addition to monitoring the eventual descent for multiple Martian instrument landings, used its shallow- and deep-penetration radar to uncover a pool of solid carbon dioxide at Mars' South Pole – "equivalent to Lake Superior."[12] Direct observation of the Martian lithosphere led to some of the first accurate measurements of the interior temperature of the planet.[13] Her Magellan probe uncovered newly-active geology on the planet.[14] [15] She designed the HP3 and GEMS instrument packages for the InSight mission,[16] which commenced in 2016.[17] Smrekar served as Deputy Principal Investigator in addition to constructing much of the ground-penetrant instrumentation for InSight. She lightly referred to needing to obtain sub-surface results of Martian geography and geology as understanding "...the whole enchilada" of non-Earth planets.[18]

Minor planet discoverer

On 14 June 1983, Smrekar discovered asteroid 6819 McGarvey at Palomar Observatory. She named it after her mother, Flora McGarvey Smrekar (1924–1977).

Recognition

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Science - Geophysics & Planetary Geosciences (3223): People: Suzanne Smrekar. Smrekar. Sue. science.jpl.nasa.gov. 2018-12-07.
  2. Web site: NASA Selects 2 Missions to Study 'Lost Habitable' World of Venus . Johnson . Alana . nasa.gov . 2 June 2021 . NASA . 2021-06-02 . VERITAS also will map infrared emissions from Venus’ surface to map its rock type, which is largely unknown, and determine whether active volcanoes are releasing water vapor into the atmosphere. Suzanne Smrekar of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, is the principal investigator..
  3. Web site: Thursday: InSight Mars Mission Deputy Principal Investigator to Speak at SMC. Next. S. M.. 2018-05-29. Santa Monica Next. en-US. 2018-12-07.
  4. Stofan. Ellen R.. Smrekar. Suzanne E.. 1997-08-29. Corona Formation and Heat Loss on Venus by Coupled Upwelling and Delamination. Science. en. 277. 5330. 1289–1294. 10.1126/science.277.5330.1289. 1095-9203.
  5. Web site: Volcanoes on Venus May Still Be Awake. https://web.archive.org/web/20150626060516/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/06/150623-venus-volcanoes-active-space/. dead. June 26, 2015. 2015-06-23. National Geographic News. 2018-12-07.
  6. Book: Smrekar. Suzanne. Arnold. Gabriele E.. Tsang. Constantine. Boerner. Anko. D'Amore. Mario. Jaenchen. Judit. Kappel. David. Mueller. Nils. Maturilli. Alessandro. Infrared Remote Sensing and Instrumentation XXVI . The Venus Emissivity Mapper (VEM): Obtaining global mineralogy of Venus from orbit . Marija. Strojnik. Maureen S. Kirk. 2018-09-18. International Society for Optics and Photonics. 10765. 107650D. 10.1117/12.2320112. 2018SPIE10765E..0DH. 9781510621015. 134509078. https://elib.dlr.de/124881/1/8023.pdf.
  7. Web site: Brown MIT NLSI Team. www.planetary.brown.edu. 2018-12-07.
  8. Web site: CNN - Along for the ride: microprobes - November 1999. www.cnn.com. 2018-12-07.
  9. Mission Team
  10. Home (AIAA). 10.2514/6.2006-5856.
  11. Web site: NASA - Deputy Project Scientist. KSC. Lynda Warnock. www.nasa.gov. en. 2018-12-07.
  12. Web site: Huge Dry Ice Deposit on Mars. Laboratory. Jet Propulsion. 2011. ScienceDaily. 7 December 2018.
  13. Web site: Mars Cold Goes Down Deep. www.marsdaily.com. 2018-12-07.
  14. VENUS STILL GEOLOGICALLY ACTIVE, MAGELLAN FINDS
  15. Comunicato stampa della Nasa del 28 giugno 1994 sui risultati ottenuti dalla sonda Magellano su Venere
  16. Web site: New Mars lander safely touches down. What happens now?. MSN. en-XL. 2018-12-07.
  17. Planetary Science Division Activities with Small Bodies, GEMS: GEophysical Monitoring Station
  18. Web site: New Mars lander safely touches down. What happens now?. https://web.archive.org/web/20181127020255/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/11/mars-insight-lander-touches-down-what-happens-now-space/. dead. November 27, 2018. 2018-11-26. Science & Innovation. 2018-12-07.
  19. Web site: NASA Weighing Double-Barrel Discovery Award. 2015-10-02. SpaceNews.com. en-US. 2018-12-07.
  20. Suzanne E. Smrekar
  21. Web site: Lecture: Venus - Earth's Evil Twin or Just Misunderstood?. kiss.caltech.edu. en. 2018-12-07.

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