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Science and leadership par excellence

Science and leadership par excellence
Science and leadership par excellence Steve Squyres and Ray Arvidson at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in 2013, as Oppy was atop Matijevic Hill. Arvidson, a Co-I on the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on MRO scheduled additional passes over Endeavour Crater and found Matijevic Hill to be a “sweet spot” for phyllosilicates. Squyres agreed they had to check it out. In an outcrop, Esperance, (left top), they found remnants of ancient clay minerals, evidence that near neutral water pooled there billions of years ago. It was one of MER’s greatest discoveries. A close-up view taken with the rover’s Microscopic Imager (left bottom) helped confirm the discovery. “Whatever the reason you're on Mars is, I'm glad you're there. And I wish I was with you,” said Carl Sagan in a recorded message to future Mars explorers just before his death in 1996. NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornell / ASU (left); NASA / JPL-Caltech; A.J.S. Rayl (right)