From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4_at_msn.com)
Date: Thu Jan 15 2004 - 07:16:11 PST
http://www.theithacajournal.com/news/stories/20040115/localnews/230651.html
Stargazer zeros in on Mars
Focus on the Red Planet
By CONNIE NOGAS
Gannett News Service
ITHACA -- Last spring John Roma Skok of Apalachin, a student at Owego Free Academy, was researching geology on Mars.
This year, the 2003 OFA graduate and freshman at Cornell University, is one of the first people to see images from the planet that's millions of miles away.
Skok, who is majoring in engineering physics, is the only freshman among the six students on the Cornell Calibration Crew helping to calibrate photos beamed back from the Spirit rover.
Images of Mars bounce from Mars to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and then to Cornell's Space Science Building. Skok and the other team members, including some professors, ensure the images are accurate and of high quality before sending them back to the JPL.
"Every once in a while, you step back and realize you are part of a historic event," said Skok, who is president of the Cornell Astronomical Society. "I am completely honored and humbled to be even a small part of a project of actually exploring another planet."
Skok has been pursuing his interest in astronomy nearly all of his 18 years. His mother painted a representation of the winter sky on his bedroom ceiling -- in glow-in-the-dark paint -- before he was a year old.
"Every night since, I would fall asleep looking at the stars and planets exactly as you would find them outside each winter," Skok said.
At the age of 8, he read Carl Sagan's book "Cosmos." He started volunteering at the Kopernik Space Education Center in Vestal when he was 13.
"This area of New York state has really nurtured my interest in astronomy," he said. "I still remember trips to the Roberson planetarium (in Binghamton) as a kid."
While at OFA, Skok participated in the Authentic Science Research program, in which students research their own topics over a three-year period. Skok researched Martian geology. He was one of 300 semifinalists out of the 1,581 students nationwide who entered the competition.
David Russell, an OFA chemistry and earth science teacher, hasn't forgotten one of his brightest stars.
"John's success comes from persistent effort and natural intelligence," Russell said. "It was exciting to watch his growth as a scientist during the three years he conducted his study on Martian cratering."
When Skok arrived on the Cornell campus in August, he immediately began looking for opportunities to conduct research and got a spot on the volunteer calibration team. He said he plans to continue working on the project some nights and weekends until the mission ends in three to six months.
His work, he said, offers him research experience for his future career as an astronomy professor.
There's only one drawback: The rover is solar-powered and can operate only during the day. The Martian day lasts about 24 hours and 40 minutes. His hours keep changing to keep pace with Martian time.
That could be 9:30 p.m. until 2 a.m. or 10:30 p.m. until 3 a.m.
"I've had some really erratic sleep patterns because of that," he said.
Originally published Thursday, January 15, 2004
Photo caption:
John Roma "J.R." Skok uses a pair of 3-D viewing glasses to check out a calibration target image while waiting for data to come in from the Mars rover Spirit in the early hours of Wednesday morning at Cornell University Skok, an engineering physics student at Cornell, is volunteering to calibrate images from Spirit's stereo color camera.
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