Morten Bo Madsen

Morten Bo Madsen
Born 30 May 1957
Gørding, Denmark
Nationality Danish
Fields Physics
Institutions University of Copenhagen
Alma mater Technical University of Denmark
Known for Public outreach on Mars research

Morten Bo Madsen is a Danish physicist, associate professor at the Niels Bohr Institute.[1] He was a participating scientist on the Phoenix Mars mission which proved the presence of water on Mars.

Early career

In 1989, Madsen joined the Mössbauer spectroscopy group led by Jens Martin Knudsen at the University of Copenhagen. During the 1990s, their research focused on studies of the planet Mars and, based on the ideas of "The Martian", Jens Martin Knudsen formed the Danish Mars Group. This soon spurred a sister-group, the Mars Simulation Laboratory, in Århus, an initiative by Erik Uggerhøj and Per Nørnberg.

Pathfinder Mission 1997

Madsen participated in the design and analysis of the five Danish magnetic experiments taken on the 1997 Mars Pathfinder mission.[2] On the mission, patterns of Martian dust formed on the magnetic plates revealing the magnetic properties of the dust, thus giving hints of the chemical composition of the magnetic component in the dust and geological formation.[3] Madsen's team was one of the two non-US teams who were working with NASA on the Pathfinder Mission, the other team was German.[4] The results from the magnetic experiments showed that there had not been liquid water on the surface of mars for the last 2 billion years.[5]

Mars Polar Lander 1999

After the success of the Pathfinder mission, Madsen's team continued developing the next generation of magnetic experiments for the 1999 Mars Polar Lander mission. Two of the three magnetic experiments were identical to the ones flown on the Pathfinder mission.[5] Contact with the Mars Polar Lander was lost on December 3, 1999.

Mars Exploration Rover Mission 2003

Madsen designed magnetic experiments on board each of the two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, of the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover mission. Three of the magnets were designed to draw magnetic airborne dust from the atmosphere and four magnets were placed on the arm, next to the Rock Abrasion Tool. It was designed to capture magnetic dust exposed from the Martian rocks.[6] The dust was analysed by onboard cameras using various filters.[7] The results from the magnet experiment was considered a success in that they helped the understanding of how the dust on Mars was built up.[7] Members of the team, including Madsen, were at the control center at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena during the rovers' landing and the initial data collection.[5][8]

Phoenix 2007

Right: Copy of one of the three Phoenix ISWEEP color targets designed by Madsen at the Niels Bohr Institute. Left: The magnesium sample holder without the magnets.
The color calibration target on Mars showing rings of dust accumulation

In 2007, Madsen's team was invited by NASA to design the three radiometric calibration targets for the Phoenix mission called "Improved Sweep Magnet Experiment" (ISWEEP).[9] The target consisted of a magnesium holder containing a palette of different calibrated colors of synthetic rubber with sweeping magnets underneath to clear the colored material of the magnetic Martian dust, assisting in calibrating the cameras of the mission[10]

References

  1. ↑ staff register, www.nbi.ku.dk, http://www.nbi.ku.dk/english/staff/beskrivelse/?id=168986, retrieved 30 March 2011 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ Sinja Sveinsdottir, Thomas A.E. Andersen (June 1997), Lander vi på Mars næste fredag? (in Danish), Ingeniøren, p. 10
  3. ↑ J. Kjærgaard, Jens (August 1997), Så er der livligt på Mars, Berlingske Tidende, p. 8
  4. ↑ Flarup, Jane (18 August 1997), "Viden om", Den store kærlighed: Mars, Jyllands-Posten, p. 6
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 A. E. Andersen, Thomas (4 December 1998), Ny ekspedition til Mars, Ingeniøren, p. 20
  6. ↑ Lauritsen, Sune (February 2004), Mission til Mars, Universitetsavisen, p. 8 |first2= missing |last2= in Authors list (help)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Tarp, Davud (4 July 2007), Tiåret for Mars-revolutionen, Berlingske.dk
  8. ↑ Los Angeles: Kjartan styrer på Mars, Stiften.dk, 22 March 2004
  9. ↑ Madsen's great Martian adventure, jp.dk, 15 February 2008
  10. ↑ WESTH, ASGER (13 July 2007), Støvsugermission på Mars, Jyllands-Posten Øs, p. 4

External links