A planetary scientist has a career of perhaps 50 years to make inroads into the mysteries behind billions of years of planetary evolution. Thus, to one who studies the planets, time not only is of the essence, it is the essence of much of his work.
Raymond E. Arvidson, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts and Sciences, has been the beneficiary of the blessing "May you live in interesting times." Not only is he living in a fascinating era in which the planets have become more accessible to scientists and the general public, he's making the most of it and establishing an enduring foundation for future planetary scientists.
In the first 25 years of his professional life, Arvidson has made multiple impacts in the understanding of Venus, Mars, the Earth and the workings of the inner solar system, as well as in the teaching of young people and the training of future planetary scientists. Looking ahead to the next century, Arvidson will be in the midst of exciting and long-awaited discoveries about Mars, the enchanting "Red Planet"; global distribution of planetary data through the Internet; and studies of the condition and future of Earth itself.
As a child in the 1950s, Arvidson had more than a passing interest in space but little in the way of pedigree to encourage him to take on the daunting challenge of the planets.
"I was the first person in my immediate family to graduate from high school," Arvidson explained from his fourth-floor office in James S. McDonnell Hall. "My biggest influence in my teen-age years was Bill Kettleson, at the time my future father-in-law. He worked in construction for Philadelphia Electric and was an amateur geologist. We used to go out to the Pennsylvania coal mines and collect samples and just talk about the processes that put the Earth together. My wife, Eloise, and I made a donation for a plaque in his honor that's now on display in McDonnell Hall."
Arvidson's father was a Swedish immigrant house painter; his mother also was a blue-collar worker. The family lived in Brooklyn, N.Y., until Arvidson was 5. Arvidson, his sister (who has earned a master's degree in psychology, he proudly noted) and his mother moved to Williamstown, in southern New Jersey, after the marriage broke apart. In high school, Arvidson pondered his future and considered both forestry and geology. A trip to the guidance counselor's office proved a boon both to Arvidson and the field of earth and planetary sciences.
He attended Temple University in Philadelphia on a partial scholarship, earning a bachelor's degree in geology in 1969. He then went to Brown University in Providence, R.I., and studied under Tim Mutch, who led the imaging team of the Viking Lander missions to Mars. Arvidson earned a master's degree in 1971 and a doctorate in 1974, both in geology, from Brown.
"Interestingly, I left for graduate school on July 20, 1969, the day Neil Armstrong walked on the moon," Arvidson said. "My first visit to Tim's house was the evening Mariner 6 flew past Mars. My direction was going beyond petroleum fields and out to the planets."
It was at Brown that Arvidson, with Mutch and others, first started working on NASA projects. He helped plan and implement the imaging experiment for the Viking Lander missions, launched in the summer of 1975 when he was an assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences at Washington University.
"The only job interview I had was in 1973, when I came to interview at Washington University," he said. "At the time, the department that preceded the present-day earth and planetary sciences department had been de-emphasized because of budgetary problems. But there was interest in starting a modern earth and planetary sciences department, and I was curious what the next 10 years might be like in a new, developing situation.
"The reason I'm here is Bob Walker (McDonnell Professor of physics in Arts and Sciences). Although a physicist, he had the vision of a modern department of earth and planetary sciences and was instrumental, with Chancellor (William H.) Danforth and James S. McDonnell, in establishing the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences a year after I started here."
The earth and planetary sciences department grew from a half-dozen faculty in 1974 to 19 teaching and research faculty now.
Michael E. Wysession, Ph.D., assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences, is one of the outstanding faculty members Arvidson oversees. Wysession began his career at the University in January 1991, the same month Arvidson became department chair.
"Personally, I couldn't imagine a better chair. He's a strong leader with a good vision of where he wants the department to go, but he lets his faculty work out the details of their programs on their own," Wysession said. "He knows where he wants to go, but he doesn't meddle with the rest of us in getting there -- he lets us take the ball and run. As for teaching, one of his strong interests is building the undergraduate education program. In just four years, both the undergraduate program and departmental research have grown tremendously."
Housed across from his office, the geoscience node is a major storehouse and distribution hub for NASA data from the surfaces and interiors of the inner solar system planets and their satellites, made available instantaneously to scientists worldwide via optical jukeboxes and magnetic disk farms on the Internet.
Arvidson was involved from concept to completion with the Magellan Mission to Venus (1980 to 1994), the Viking Lander missions to Mars (1970 to 1982), the Mars Observer Mission (1985 to 1993) and currently with the Mars Global Surveyor, scheduled for launch in 1996. Studying the planets with such intricate involvement presents him with incredible highs and lows.
"One of the most exciting times was when the Viking Lander touched down on the surface of Mars," Arvidson said. "I was in residence at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena (Calif.) and monitored the lander radioing information back. And then, to see that first image from the surface of the planet -- it was a big thrill.
"Also, it was a great moment when Magellan finally lifted off in 1989, our first mission to the planets in almost a decade. Then, to see the first strip of radar data radioed back and to know we were on our way to getting the best picture yet of Venus, those were wonderful moments."
On the other hand, when a mission fails, as the Mars Observer did in 1993, the disappointment is keen because time, that precious quantity, is lost.
"To give some perspective on time and studying the planets, I remember driving from St. Louis to Los Angeles in 1976 with my family to spend the fall on sabbatical at JPL to work on the Viking Lander mission," Arvidson recalled. "My son was less than a year old. The next mission to Mars, Mars Observer, disappeared in 1993. My son was nearly 20 years old, an adult. A generation had passed."
Arvidson and his Washington University group will play a major role in archiving and distributing the data for the 1996 Mars Global Surveyor, the Mars Observer recovery mission that will fly most of the same instruments that the lost Mars Observer flew. Arvidson also is key to NASA's overall planning for future Mars missions, as well as those planned by the Russians, with whom he's worked for nearly a decade.
"After Mars Observer, the planetary community, working with NASA and JPL, constructed a 'road map' for Mars exploration, with some constraints built in," he said. "It was determined to launch often to avoid long intervals between missions. Another consideration was to do things more economically. A mix of orbiters and landers was selected to provide global and local data. Another yet was to pursue a theme in which we try to understand the current and past climates of Mars and what ramifications these may have for life on the 'Red Planet.' Now there are plans extending to 2005 for a series of Mars missions launched every other year."
Of all his pursuits, though, Arvidson perhaps is most enthused about his Focus 297 course, "Environmental Science and Policy." He teaches 15 cross-disciplinary freshmen who study critical issues of the environment. A key component of the course is field trips. Next semester, the course will culminate with a spring break trip to Death Valley National Park in California and Nevada.
"This fall, we camped on Jameson Island on the Missouri River flood plain to study erosion and sand deposition from the floods," Arvidson recalled. "After a full weekend of really intense activity, they sang rock songs on the way back home. I very much enjoyed the experience. These are bright, energetic students who constantly challenge you."
Although time can be a frustration to the planetary scientist, Arvidson is upbeat about the future.
"I would like to participate in future Mars missions, as well as the exciting terrestrial studies that we have planned, and continue to interact with enthusiastic, bright students," Arvidson said. "It is difficult to imagine a more exciting decade of activity."
-- Tony Fitzpatrick
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