Durham Academy Upper School – Durham, NC
Way Cool Student Scientist, Durham Academy
As you follow the progress of the Mars Rovers, imagine what it would be
like to be part of the scientific process that deciphers what Spirit and
Opportunity have found. Two students and one teacher from Durham
Academy in Durham, N.C. are doing more than imagine – they have
joined the journey of discovery.
Howard, Craig and Adam are members of the Athena Student Interns Program
(ASIP) that is giving high school students from across the nation the
chance to work with the scientists of the Mars Exploration Rover Project
(MER). Their mentor is Dr. Jeff Moersch from the University of
Tennessee, an Athena Science Team member who analyzes data from the
instrument called Mini-TES.
Mini-TES (Thermal Emissions Spectrometer) can reveal the compositions of
martian rocks, soil, and atmosphere by detecting the characteristics of
the infrared emissions from these materials. The Durham team has
directly contributed to the mission by offering mineral samples with
spectra, now catalogued into the spectral library at
Arizona State
University, that will help science team members decipher the
information they receive from Mars.
Howard Lineberger is the teacher/leader of the Durham ASIP team. He has
been on the teaching staff of Durham Academy for six years offering
instruction in chemistry, astronomy and geology. Before that, he taught
science for twenty years in public and private schools in the Triangle
(Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) and in the Chicago, Illinois areas. He
states, “My role in the ASIP program is to facilitate the
understanding of the geologic concepts necessary for my students, Adam
and Craig, to understand the geology of Mars as it is unveiled by the
Mars orbiters and the MER rovers.” Howard says he has always been
inspired by NASA’s exploration of space and is thrilled with his
role in the ASIP program.
Craig’s role in the mission is to work as a SAP expert user. He
says, “It’s my job to look at the data from the rovers in
Maestro and
share what I see with the rest of the team.” Craig is on
Durham’s Science
Olympiad team and has twice competed at the national level. He
says, “Mars fascinates me because it provides the means for us to
see another world and understand what makes Earth so special. Primarily,
however, I applied for this internship because I was excited at the
opportunity to be a part of a great scientific endeavor.”
Adam is in charge of submitting weekly reports to ASIP Coordinator
Cassie Bowman, informing her of the outreach and scientific activities
that the Durham team is planning to do or has completed. He says,
“During landed operations I will be working with Dr. Moersch on
analyzing spectral data on mineral samples as they are relayed back to
Earth from the rovers in order to identify the rocks that we find on
Mars.” He adds, “The accurate identification of certain
types of rocks that we expect to find will help prove the former
existence of liquid water on Mars, which is suggestive that life once
inhabited the surface.” Adam finds the ability to study Mars from
Earth to be a fascinating process. He says, “Mars is so far away
and so alien to anyone here on Earth, and yet we can send machines there
which give us the illusion that we are somehow visiting that planet,
when we never move off the surface of this one. It is an incredible
connection to be able to see close up images of the surface of Mars, see
how the rover is manipulating and observing the environment, when I am
millions of miles away.”
Howard has a Masters Degree in Geology and five years of experience in
mineral exploration. He draws from this training when martian data
offer mineral signatures. He explains, “Certain minerals, like
olivine, which has already been seen in abundance in the rocks and soil
of Mars, are volcanic in origin and react quickly with water. Thus the
presence of olivine means that water has not affected the materials that
contain this mineral. Other minerals, such as grey hematite, carbonate
minerals, and zeolites, form via processes involving liquid water, and
so, can confirm the presence of liquid water on Mars at some time in the
planet’s geologic past.”
In addition to his teaching, Howard enjoys coaching student athletes in
the sports of football, basketball, track and golf. Since 1991, he has
served as teacher and director of a summer math and science institute
that has successfully inspired many underprivileged students in the
Triangle areas to pursue science and math related careers. He feels
that the ASIP experience also offers inspiration, “Our involvement
in ASIP will greatly enhance the content of my curriculum, and I hope
that perhaps a few Durham Academy students will be inspired to pursue a
career in space science, perhaps with JPL or NASA.”
Craig says that he is “thrilled by this chance to broaden my
scientific horizons and to involve myself in one of the greatest
exploratory missions of the modern era.” However, his interests
lie in linguistics. He studies the constructed language
Lojban and says,
“I hope to study linguistics in college and beyond.” Craig
plays the trumpet and enjoys fencing, a sport he hopes to pursue
throughout his life.
Adam is a senior at Durham Academy with an interest in engineering. He
plans to study physics and math at Carleton College next year. He
states, “Designing, building, testing, and fixing machines have
always been preoccupations of mine. For the past five years this has
taken the form of Science Olympiad, where I have competed at regional,
state and national levels.” He also enjoys playing drums and
listening to a variety of music including jazz, rock, and some
classical.
A close encounter with the Mars Exploration Rovers has given Adam
insight into the people and the mechanisms that make a space mission
work. He says, “The most exciting thing about this mission is the
exposure that I am getting to the people and places associated with the
Mars program. I have met many people who are directly and indirectly
responsible for major accomplishments in the field of space exploration,
and that is something that most people do not get the chance to
do.” Regarding last year’s trip to the Jet Propulsion Lab
to prepare for landed operations, Adam states “it gave me a chance
to get behind the scenes to see what goes on at NASA. It was
fascinating to see where and how the engineers build the rovers
themselves, and to see the field tests of the rovers that have been kept
here.”
The Durham team looks forward to joining Dr. Moersch and the rest of the
MER science team at the Jet Propulsion Lab at the end of March. Howard
quips, “Perhaps a key observation will be made by this threesome
from Durham Academy.”
