Evan Justin

The Dream

Growing up in the 60’s I immersed myself in the Space Race, & geographic expeditions to Earth’s frontiers of science & adventure through the National Geographics my grandparents supplied me as birthday presents. Later in life, I fell in love with my wife Jan, environmental science field work, and with sharing
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News

NASA Selects Investigations For First Mission To Encounter The Sun

NASA has begun development of a mission to visit and study the sun closer than ever before.

NASA, Newseum Invite Media To Discover And Encounter Comets

NASA will commemorate a quarter-century of comet discoveries and discuss upcoming comet encounters during a symposium at 9 a.m. EDT on Friday, Sept. 10, in the Knight Studio of the Newseum.

New NASA HD App for iPad With Expanded Content Available Free

NASA has unveiled NASA App HD, a new mobile application designed for the iPad.

Mercury Transits Sun

Mark your calendar: On Wednesday, November 8, the planet Mercury will pass directly in front the Sun.

Houston, We Have a Solution

New research aboard the space station aims to adapt a tried-and-true repair tool to weightlessness.

Membranes on Mars

New membranes developed by NASA-funded researchers could help people go to Mars--and clean the air here on Earth.

Latest News From the Mojave

Syllabus trial

⇒ Read More Posts From The Field

Background on the Trip

Spaceward Bound Mojave

Evan Justin will be headed to the Mojave Dessert along with a select group of 40 educators and scientists from around the country to do field research at the end of March 2007. This NASA sponsored effort aims to link teachers and scientists together to perform scientific fieldwork in lunar geology, Mars astrobiology, Mars geology, and issues of temperature and solar inundation and radiation. Mr Justin was selected due to his background in the area in geology and toxicology field research and his longtime association with various NASA related projects including Network of Educator Astronaut Teachers (NEATS)
JPL Galileo Ambassador & Solar System Ambassador, Project AstroBio among many others.

In addition to gathering important scientific data one of the other goals of the project is to create science curriculum based on the field research. The intent is to give students hands on experience with field research and to continue the efforts of the project and perhaps expand into other areas of inquiry. By engaging in interesting hands on activities in the field it is hoped that this will spark interest among some students in pursuing further study in science, engineering, and mathematics.

Why Go To The Mojave?

Mojave Dessert and Gusev Crater Mars taken by Spirit probe. (Click image for larger view)

Planning for future exploration of Mars and the Moon is already well underway. Future space probes that will explore the Martian or lunar landscapes need to be designed in such a way that they can gather, sample, and analyze data with the proper tools and systems. The best way to insure that these probes are up to the task is to perform “analog” studies in similar Earth environments. These analog studies are looking to uncover “exceptions” to preconceived notions of what and how systems work. By looking for the exceptions to the scientific rule probes can be designed to better predict what will be encountered and have the necessary functionality to gather data.

The Mojave Expedition also pairs educators with leading research scientists from around the country. The teacher-scientist teams will work together in the field with the intended outcome of creating curriculum for use in science education that will extend the work of the teams into the classroom.

Read more about the Mojave Expedition
Who’s going? see the impressive list of scientists and educators including, of course, Mr Justin!
Find out more about the Mojave Desert

Posted In: » Expedition

What’s Astrobiology Anyway?

Astrobiology is the study of the origins, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe.

More about Astrobiology
Astrobiology @ NASA

Fundamental Questions

Astrobiology addresses three basic questions that have been asked in various ways for generations.

* How does life begin and evolve?

* Does life exist elsewhere in the universe?

* What is the future of life on Earth and beyond?

Principles

The following basic principles are fundamental to the astrobiology program:

* Astrobiology is multidisciplinary in its content and interdisciplinary in its execution. Its success depends critically upon the close coordination of diverse scientific disciplines and programs, including space missions.

* Astrobiology encourages planetary stewardship through an emphasis on protection against forward and back biological contamination and recognition of ethical issues associated with exploration.

* Astrobiology recognizes a broad societal interest in its endeavors, especially in areas such as achieving a deeper understanding of life, searching for extraterrestrial biospheres, assessing the societal implications of discovering other examples of life, and envisioning the future of life on Earth and in space.

* The intrinsic public interest in astrobiology offers a crucial opportunity to educate and inspire the next generation of scientists, technologists and informed citizens; thus a strong emphasis upon education and public outreach is essential.

NASA et al, “Astrobiology and the Roadmap.” Astrobiology At NASA Ames Research. NASA. 19 Mar 2007
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