I Was Hooked

By Robert Haberly, Ames Research Center

I was looking over the weather charts in the back of San Jose State's meteorology lab one day when I noticed a yellow technical paper lying on a nearby desk. I was a graduate student at the time searching around for a research thesis topic. What got my attention about this paper was its title: Development of the Venus Atmosphere. I didn't understand the paper much, but I was astonished to learn that Venus' atmosphere was mostly carbon dioxide, that it surface pressure was about 90 bars (about 90 times higher than Earth's), and its surface temperature was over 700° Kelvin (hot enough to melt lead). Good Lord, I thought, how did that happen? What about the other planets in the solar system? Do they too have bizarre atmospheres with weird surface conditions?

As I looked for answers to these questions (which turned out to be YES, they do have bizarre atmospheres and weird surface conditions) it suddenly dawned on me that our planet is pretty unique. And having been taught (actually - drilled) that physics is universal and its laws apply to everything, I reasoned that there must be a perfectly logical explanation to why the other planets are so different. In fact, it seemed to me that the other planets provide natural laboratories for us to test out our theories of what determines the Earth's weather and climate.

Having come to this revelation, I decided to approach Dr. Christopher Reigel, my Master's Thesis advisor, about doing a thesis on the meteorology of another planet. Fortunately, he knew someone at NASA/Ames Research Center who was actively involved in this kind of research. At the time NASA was sending spacecraft to Mars to try to determine if it had life (it still is). Much of the information coming back from these missions (Mariner 9 and Viking) was related to the atmosphere and climate system. Ames researcher Dr. Jim Pollack was one of the few scientists in the world who was studying planetary atmospheres and Mars in particular. Dr. Reigel introduced me to Jim and the rest is history.

I was hooked. Working with Jim Pollack opened a door to a world I never thought I be part of - planetary exploration. But Jim admonished me that if I wanted to stay part of it, I needed to get a Ph.D. So I did, and I eventually got hired at Ames where to this day I continue to conduct research on planetary atmospheres and get to work with people who study subjects ranging from planetary interiors to solar system formation and astrobiology. It is a very stimulating environment and lots of fun! But most importantly, it is very satisfying to know that the work I do contributes to our understanding of the universe we live in.