In addition to his scientific research, Colaprete has also contributed to various projects at Ames including the Pascal Scout Mission for which he is the deputy principal investigator, the Mars Polar Drill Scout mission for which he is leading the effort on the meteorology package, and the Lunar Robotic program for which he is the science / payload lead on one of the Ames proposals. These findings have had a significant impact on the field, and have motivated follow-up studies by other groups of researchers. He has used these models to show carbon dioxide ice clouds on early Mars do warm the surface through a scattering greenhouse, but not to the levels previously thought, impact events on early Mars can dramatically alter the planet's climate system and could provide an explanation for many of the fluvial features and atmospheric dynamics can explain the observed offset of the south polar residual ice cap. He has developed state-of-the-art cloud microphysical schemes and incorporated them into the NASA/Ames Mars General Circulation Model. In addition to his project and instrumentation work, Colaprete is internationally recognized for his work on the nature of the martian climate system. In most cases these projects had limited budgets and aggressive schedules, forcing the project to be innovative, often taking advantage of equipment and efficient labor phasing to stay on schedule and budget. HOMER – A Sounding Rocket New Technology Test Flight - project scientist and principal investigator of the Limb Imaging Far-UV SpectrometerģCorner-Sat – A micro-sat (LEO) constellation funded by DARPA (launched in December 2004) – project scientist (until leaving CU for NASA)Ĭitizen Explorer – A small-sat (LEO) funded by CU – project scientists and principal investigator of the ozone spectral-photometer (Speck) (until leaving CU for NASA) LRO is designed to map the lunar surface and characterize landing sites for future missions.Īnthony Colaprete (photo to the left) is the LCROSS principal investigator.ġ992 B.A., Physics, University of Coloradoġ998 M.S., Astrophysical, Planetary and Atmospheric Science, University of ColoradoĢ000 Ph.D., Astrophysical, Planetary and Atmospheric Science, University of Coloradoġ990 -2000, Colorado Space Grant Consortiumġ992 -2000, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space PhysicsĢ000 - March 2003, National Research Council Associate at NASA Ames Research CenterĪpril 2003 - August 2003, principle investigator, SETI InstituteĪugust 2003 - present, space scientist, NASAĬolaprete has worked on a variety of space projects ranging from sounding rocket and space shuttle flights, to micro and small satellites:ĮSCAPE/SUV (STS-56) – project scientist – A "Get Away Special" cargo-bay experimentĮSCAPE II (STS-66) – project scientist – A "Get Away Special" cargo-bay experimentĭATA-CHASER (STS-85) – A "Hitchhiker" cargo-bay experiment - project scientist and principal investigator of the Lyman Alpha Solar Imaging Telescope (LASIT) Scheduled for launch in 2008, LCROSS will travel to the moon as a co-manifested payload aboard the launch vehicle for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Ames will manage the mission, perform mission operations, and develop the payload instruments, while Northrop Grumman will design and build the spacecraft for this innovative mission. This is a fast-paced, low-cost, mission that will leverage some existing NASA systems, Northrop-Grumman spacecraft expertise, and Ames' Lunar Prospector spacecraft experience. NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., will oversee the development of the LCROSS mission with its spacecraft and integration partner Northrop-Grumman. LCROSS will also provide technologies and modular, reconfigurable subsystems that can be used to support future mission architectures. The impact will cause an explosion of material from the crater's surface to create a plume that specialized instruments will be able to analyze for the presence of water (ice and vapor), hydrocarbons and hydrated materials. LCROSS will blast the permanently dark floor of one of the moon's polar craters with two heavy impactors early in 2009 to test the theory that ancient ice lies buried there. The identification of water is very important to the future of human activities on the moon. The mission objectives of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) are to advance the Vision for Space Exploration by confirming the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at either the moon's North or South Pole.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |