Rice University News Office
Media Advisory
DATE: Sept. 18, 1997
CONTACT:
Lia Unrau
PHONE: (713) 831-4793
E-MAIL: [email protected] 98-14
MARS RESEARCHER AVAILABLE TO DISCUSS MAGNETIC FIELD
HOUSTON, Sept. 18, 1997 -- Paul Cloutier, Rice University professor of space physics and astronomy, is a co-investigator on the Mars Global Surveyor team that announced Wednesday that the red planet has a magnetic field.
Cloutier (pronounced KLOO-tee-ay) and Rice post-doctoral and graduate students were the first people to see the magnetic field data arrive from the spacecraft at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California last weekend.
Cloutier says a better understanding of the magnetic field will shed light on the geological evolution of Mars and whether the planet might have been more conducive to life forms at one time.
Cloutier is a co-investigator assigned to the Magnetometer and Electron Reflectrometer, the instruments responsible for collecting the data, and will continue to study the magnetic field. The data suggest that Mars' magnetic field is 1/800th the strength of Earth's magnetic field.
To schedule an interview with Cloutier, phone him at (713) 527-8101, ext. 3533. If you experience difficulty contacting Cloutier, contact Lia Unrau at (713) 831-4793.
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