Alumnus is right in the middle of mission to Mars

For Tim Glotch ’99, the best is yet to come he hopes in terms of the major strides made the past few weeks in the exploration of Mars.

The planetary geologist is working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the nerve center for the mission that has seen so much success since the Spirit rover landed on the red planet’s surface Jan. 3.

Glotch, 26, was crammed in the mission control room when the NASA team received the signal that confirmed the rover had successfully found purchase on the planet’s surface.

On Thursday,  Glotch was again jammed in the control room when scientists saw the first picture confirming the rover had left its landing pad, putting its six wheels onto the soil of Mars.

NASA had sent radio commands directing Spirit to start its ride off the lander at 3:31 a.m. EST  Thursday, and confirmation that the rover had successfully completed its drive down a nylon ramp came about 90 minutes later.

‘When we saw that first picture come down, we broke out a few bottles of champagne,’ said Glotch, who spoke after completing his 10-hour shift at the lab in Pasadena, Calif. ‘This was the last big thing, the last obstacle to overcome. And it went off without a hitch.’

Spirit moved 10 feet in about 78 seconds, according to JPL scientists. And that’s where the $410 million rover will stay for the next few days as its spectrometers and other instruments test the soil in the immediate area.

Glotch, who earned a degree in astrogeophysics from Colgate, works on the Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES) team. He acts as a payload downlink lead for the Mini-TES instrument.

The instrument is a small ‘ but quite complex box of electronics and optics that sits inside the main body of the rover. It is used to detect thermal infrared energy which provides data on the mineralogy of rocks and soil on the planet’s surface.

Glotch must validate the data coming from the instrument, monitor its health, and conduct the first round of data analysis.

Working on the flip side, is his wife, Deanne Rogers, who is a payload uplink lead for the same team.

Because of the wacky schedules predicated by the Mars day, which is about 40 minutes longer than a day on Earth, they don’t see too much of each other.

He works while it is daytime on Mars, and his wife works while it is night there.

But, he said, it’s better than what other scientists have.

‘Others are forced to leave their families behind. It’s nice for us to be out here together,’ Glotch said.

They met while pursuing their doctorates at Arizona State University, and they married in November 2002.  Both of them worked with Professor Phil Christensen of ASU, who conducted critical testing on Mini-TES and other instruments in preparation for this Mars mission.

‘We knew that working on the testing of the instruments, that we’d probably work on the mission, as well,’ Glotch said. ‘It’s really exciting. I can’t believe the time we’ve had.’

There’s more to come, though, for Glotch. Much more.

On Jan. 24, a second rover ‘ Opportunity ‘ is scheduled to land on the opposite side of the planet from Spirit. It will put down in what is called the Meridani Planum, an area rich with a mineral called hematite.

Glotch is very excited about hematite. In fact, a large part of his dissertation that he’s been working on for the past two years focuses on it. He said there are competing theories on how the iron-rich mineral got on Mars. He believes that it was formed in a water-related process; other scientists believe it was formed volcanically.

 The tests conducted by Opportunity will prove which theory is correct.

‘It’ll be time to put up or shut up,’ he said. A paper he has written about his theory is currently under review.

Glotch joked that if he’s proven right, he’ll be elated. If he’s wrong, he’ll have to figure out why and write another paper.

‘I have a lot more scientifically invested in Opportunity and I’m even more excited about that part of the mission,’ he said.

Glotch and his wife have been in Pasadena for two weeks. The mission was originally projected to last three months. But NASA engineers are now saying the rovers might last longer than originally thought, and they might be serviceable for six to nine months.

If the mission is extended, Glotch said he expects to stay on for most or all of it. But he is still working on his doctorate in geology, and is looking to complete it and graduate this summer.