UAB astrophysicist Thomas Wdowiak, Ph.D., recently returned from four-month at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, where he worked on the Mars Rover mission.

Posted on June 14, 2004 at 3:43 p.m.

     

WHAT:

 

UAB astrophysicist Thomas Wdowiak, Ph.D., recently returned from four-month at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, where he worked on the Mars Rover mission. Wdowiak is a member of NASA’s Athena Team, which designed and built the two Mars Rovers.

Wdowiak’s contribution to the project is in the area of exobiology, a specialty that seeks to determine whether or not particular environments are capable of supporting life and to develop the instruments that can make that determination.

Wdowiak will talk with students involved in the 2004 UAB Physics Research Experiences for High School Students program about his continued participation in the Mars Rover mission, findings the mission has made so far and the future of the mission. He also will conduct a question-and-answer session.

NOTE: Wdowiak will be returning to JPL June 17 for two weeks to continue his mission work and will spend two weeks out of every month there for the foreseeable future.

     

WHEN:

 

Monday, June 14, 2004
2 p.m.

     

WHERE:

 

UAB Hill University Center
Room 411
1400 University Boulevard
Birmingham, AL

     

FYI:

 

The students are part of the 2004 UAB Physics Research Experiences for High School Students program. High school students who plan to major in science, technology, computation or mathematics get experience working with researchers in a university setting. They also learn about the design and performance of problem-solving research and careers in science.

     

CALL:

 

Jennifer Park, Media Relations, (205) 934-3888 or jpark@uab.edu