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Timothy Parker

Photo of Timothy Parker

Address:

4800 Oak Grove Drive
M/S 183-501

Pasadena, CA 91109

Phone:

818.354.2451

Fax:

818.354.0966

Member of:

Planetary Geosciences

Biography

Dr. Tim Parker was the originator of the Mars Ocean hypothesis. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Southern California in 1994, with a dissertation entitled "Martian Paleolakes and Oceans." His research papers on the subject of ancient aqueous environments on Mars, beginning in 1989, have played a significant role in the development of the "follow the water" theme of Mars exploration and influenced the graduate studies of a number of students around the world.

Tim's flight project experience at JPL includes CRAF, Magellan, Mars Pathfinder, Mars Exploration Rovers (MER), and the upcoming Phoenix and MSL missions. He is a member of the Athena science team on MER and serves as a Geology Team Group Lead. He played a critical role in landing site selection for Pathfinder and MER and leads traverse geological assessments for MER, which involves comparing high resolution MOC orbiter views of the MER landing sites with overhead projections of images acquired by the rover vehicles on the ground. Continuous updates of these location maps are critical for the successful operation of the rovers.

Tim first applied his localization skills to determine the location of Mars Pathfinder within 12 hours of landing, when only 60° of the horizon panorama had been downlinked. Based on this location, several kilometers east of the predicted location based on Viking Lander 1 radio tracking, he was able to find a better match between the horizon views and orbiter images of the Viking 1 Lander, about 6 kilometers east of the location proposed by the Viking science team 20 years prior. As the two MER rovers landed, he used this same skill to place the rover landing sites with respect to the orbiter images within hours of landing.

Education

  • B. S., Geology: California State University, Long Beach (1979)
  • M. S., Geology: California State University, Los Angeles (1985)
  • Ph.D., Geology: University of Southern California, Los Angeles (1994)

Professional Experience

  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory (1981-present)
    • Research Scientist (1984-present)
    • Science Consultant (1981-1984)
  • Oil Well Logging; Seacoast Well Logging, San Joaquin Valley, CA (1982-1984)
  • Staff Geologist; Ertec Western, Long Beach, CA (1979-1981)

Selected Awards

  • NASA Group Achievement Award MSL Mastcam, MAHLI and MARDI Instruments Team (2013)
  • NASA Group Achievement Award, MSL Project Operations Team (2013)
  • NASA Group Achievement Award, MSL Science Office Development and Operations Team

Selected Publications

Publications (Theses):Publications (Research Papers):Publications (Book Chapters):

  1. Parker, T. J. Martian Paleolakes and Oceans, 1994: Ph.D., Univ. of So. California, 200p.
  2. Parker, T. J., 1985, Geomorphology and Geology of the Southwestern Margaritifer Sinus - Northern Argyre Region of Mars: M.S., California State Univ., Los Angeles, 165p.
  3. Anderson, F. S., A. F. C. Haldemann, N. T. Bridges, M. P. Golombek, and T. J. Parker. Analysis of MOLA data for the Mars Exploration Rover landing sites. J. Geophys. Res., 108, 8084, 2003.
  4. Arvidson, R. E.; Squyres, S. W.; Anderson, R. C.; Bell, J. F., III; Blaney, D.; Brückner, J.; Cabrol, N. A.; Calvin, W. M.; Carr, M. H.; Christensen, P. R.; Clark, B. C.; Crumpler, L.; Des Marais, D. J.; de Souza, P. A., Jr.; d'Uston, C.; Economou, T.; Farmer, J.; Farrand, W. H.; Folkner, W.; Golombek, M.; Gorevan, S.; Grant, J. A.; Greeley, R.; Grotzinger, J.; Guinness, E.; Hahn, B. C.; Haskin, L.; Herkenhoff, K. E.; Hurowitz, J. A.; Hviid, S.; Johnson, J. R.; Klingelhöfer, G.; Knoll, A. H.; Landis, G.; Leff, C.; Lemmon, M.; Li, R.; Madsen, M. B.; Malin, M. C.; McLennan, S. M.; McSween, H. Y.; Ming, D. W.; Moersch, J.; Morris, R. V.; Parker, T.; Rice, J. W., Jr.; Richter, L.; Rieder, R.; Rodionov, D. S.; Schröder, C.; Sims, M.; Smith, M.; Smith, P.; Soderblom, L. A.; Sullivan, R.; Thompson, S. D.; Tosca, N. J.; Wang, A.; Wänke, H.; Ward, J.; Wdowiak, T.; Wolff, M.; Yen, A. Overview of the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover Mission to Gusev Crater: Landing site to Backstay Rock in the Columbia Hills, J. Geophys. Res., Vol. 111, No. E2, E02S01 10.1029/2005JE0024992006.
  5. Baker, V. R., Komatsu, Parker, Gulick, Kargel, and Lewis, 1992. Channels and Valleys on Venus: Preliminary Analysis of Magellan Data: J. Geophys. Res. 97, 13421-13444.
  6. Beaty, D.W., Clifford, S.M., Borg, L.E., Catling, D., Craddock, R.A., Des Marais, D.J., Farmer, J.D., Frey, H.V., Haberle, R.M., McKay, C.P., Newsom, H.E., Parker, T.J., Segura, T., and Tanaka, K.L., 2005, Key Science Questions from the Second Conference on Early Mars: Geologic, Hydrologic, and Climatic Evolution and the Implications for Life. Astrobiology, Vol. 5, No. 6: 663-689.
  7. Bell III, J. F., S. W. Squyres, R. E. Arvidson, H. M. Arneson, D. Bass, D. Blaney, N. Cabrol, W. Calvin, J. Farmer, W. H. Farrand, W. Goetz, M. Golombek, J. A. Grant, R. Greeley, E. Guinness, A. G. Hayes, M. Y. H. Hubbard, K. E. Herkenhoff, M. J. Johnson, J. R. Johnson, J. Joseph, K. M. Kinch, M. T. Lemmon, R. Li, M. B. Madsen, J. N. Maki, M. Malin, E. McCarney, S. McLennan, H. Y. McSween Jr., D. W. Ming, J. E. Moersch, R. V. Morris, E. Z. Noe Dobrea, T. J. Parker, J. Proton, J. W. Rice Jr., F. Seelos, J. Soderblom, L. A. Soderblom, J. N. SohlDickstein, R. J. Sullivan, M. J. Wolff, A. Wang. Pancam Multispectral Imaging Results from the Spirit Rover at Gusev Crater. Science 305, 800-806.
  8. Bell III, J. F., S. W. Squyres, R. E. Arvidson, H. M. Arneson, D. Bass, W. Calvin, W. H. Farrand, W. Goetz, M. Golombek, R. Greeley, J. Grotzinger, E. Guinness, A. G. Hayes, M. Y. H. Hubbard, K. E. Herkenhoff, M. J. Johnson, J. R. Johnson, J. Joseph, K. M. Kinch, M. T. Lemmon, R. Li, M. B. Madsen, J. N. Maki, M. Malin, E. McCarney, S. McLennan, H. Y. McSween Jr., D. W. Ming, R. V. Morris, E. Z. Noe Dobrea, T. J. Parker, J. Proton, J. W. Rice Jr., F. Seelos, J. M. Soderblom, L. A. Soderblom, J. N. Sohl-Dickstein, R. J. Sullivan, C. M. Weitz, M. J. Wolff. Pancam Multispectral Imaging Results from the Opportunity Rover at Meridiani Planum. Science 306, 1703-1709.
  9. Clifford, S. M. and Parker, T. J., The evolution of the Martian hydrosphere: Implications for the fate of a primordial ocean and the current state of the northern plains: Icarus, 154, 40-79, 2001.
  10. Edgett, K. S. and Parker, T. J. Water on early Mars: Possible subaqueous sedimentary deposits covering ancient cratered terrain in western Arabia and Sinus Meridiani: Geophys. Res. Let., 24, No. 22, 2897-2900, 1997.
  11. Golombek, M. P.; Crumpler, L. S.; Grant, J. A.; Greeley, R.; Cabrol, N. A.; Parker, T. J.; Rice, J. W., Jr.; Ward, J. G.; Arvidson, R. E.; Moersch, J. E.; Fergason, R. L.; Christensen, P. R.; Castano, A.; Castano, R.; Haldemann, A. F. C.; Li, R.; Bell, J. F., III; Squyres, S. W. Geology of the Gusev cratered plains from the Spirit rover transverse. J. Geophys. Res., Vol. 111, No. E2, E02S07.
  12. Golombek, M. P., R. E. Arvidson, J. F. Bell III, P. R. Christensen, J. A. Crisp, L. S. Crumpler, B. L Ehlmann, R. L. Fergason, J. A. Grant, R. Greeley, A. F. C. Haldemann, D. M. Kass, T. J. Parker, J. T. Schofield, S. W. Squyres, and R. W. Zurek, Assessment of the Mars Exploration Rover Landing Site Predictions, Nature 436, 2005, 44-48.
  13. Golombek, M. P., J. A. Grant, T. J. Parker, D. M. Kass, J. A. Crisp, S. W. Sqauyres, A. F. C. Haldemann, M. Adler, W. J. Lee, N. T. Bridges, R. E. Arvidson, M. H. Carr, R. L. Kirk, P. C. Knocke, R. B. Roncoli, C. M. Weitz, J. T. Schofield, R. W. Zurek, P. R. Christensen, R. L. Fergason, F. S. Anderson, and J. W. Rice Jr. Selection of the Mars Exploration Rover Landing Sites. J. Geophys. Res. 108, 8072, 2003.
  14. Golombek, M. P., Cook, Moore, and Parker, T. J. Selection of the Mars Pathfinder landing site: J. Geophys. Res., 102, E2, 3967-3988, 1997.
  15. Golombek, M. P., Cook, Economou, Folkner, Haldemann, Kallemeyn, Knudsen, Manning, Moore, Parker, Rieder, Schofield, Smith, Vaughan, Overview of the Mars Pathfinder mission and assessment of landing site predictions: Science, 278, 1743-1748, 1997.
  16. Grant, J. A., and Parker, J. T. Drainage evolution in the Margaritifer Sinus region, Mars: J. Geophys. Res. 107, doi:10.1029/2001JE001678, 2002.
  17. Grotzinger, J. P. , J. F. Bell III, W. Calvin, B. C. Clark, D. A. Fike, M. Golombek, R. Greeley, K. E. Herkenhoff, B. Jolliff, A. H. Knoll, M. Malin, S. M. McLennan, T. Parker, L. Soderblom, J.N. Sohl-Dickstein, S. W. Squyres, N. J. Tosca, W. A, Watters. Stratigraphy, Sedimentology and Depositional Environment of the Burns Formation, Meridiani Planum, Mars, EPSL 240 (2005) 11-72.
  18. Komatsu, G., Baker, Gulick, and Parker, Venusian Channels and Valleys: Distribution and Volcanological Implications, 1993 Icarus 102, 1-25.
  19. Li, Rongxing; Archinal, Brent A.; Arvidson, Raymond E.; Bell, Jim; Christensen, Philip; Crumpler, Larry; Des Marais, David J.; Di, Kaichang; Duxbury, Tom; Golombek, Matt; Grant,,John; Greeley, Ronald; Guinn, Joe; Johnson, Andrew; Kirk, Randolph L.; Maimone, Mark; Matthies, Larry H.; Malin, Mike; Parker, Tim; Sims, Mike; Thompson, Shane; Squyres, Steven W.; Soderblom, Larry A. Spirit rover localization and topographic mapping at the landing site of Gusev crater, Mars J. Geophys. Res., Vol. 111, No. E2, E02S06
  20. McSween, H. Y. Jr., Murchie, Crisp, Bridges, Anderson, Bell, Britt, Breckner, Dreibus, Economou, Ghosh, Golombek, Greenwood, Johnson, Moore, Morris, Parker, Rieder, Singer, Wenke, Chemical, Multispectral, and Textural Constraints on the Composition and Origin of Rocks at the Mars Pathfinder Landing Site: J. Geophys. Res. 104, 8679-8715, 1999.
  21. Metzger, S.M., Johnson, Carr, Parker, and Lemmon, 1999, Dust devil vortices seen by the Mars Pathfinder camera: submitted to Geophys. Res. Let., 23p.
  22. Metzger, S.M., Johnson, Carr, Parker, and Lemmon, 1999, Techniques for identifying dust devils in Mars Pathfinder images: submitted to Trans. IEEE, 40p.
  23. N. T. Bridges, Greeley, Haldemann, Herkenhoff, Kraft, Parker, Ward, Ventifacts at the Pathfinder Landing Site: J. Geophys. Res., in press, 21 Manuscript pages, 1 table, 9 figures.
  24. Oberst, J., Jaumann, Zeitler, Hauber, Kuschel, Parker, Golombek, Malin, Soderblom, Photogrammetric Analysis of Horizon Panoramas: The Pathfinder Landing Site in Viking Orbiter Images: J. Geophys. Res. 104, p.8927-8933, 1999.
  25. Parker, T. J., and Currey, Extraterrestrial Coastal Geomorphology, Geomorphology 37, 303-328, 2001.
  26. Parker, T. J. and Rice, Sedimentary geomorphology of the Mars Pathfinder landing site: J. Geophys. Res., 102, E11, 25,641-25,656, 1997.
  27. Parker, T. J., Gorsline, Saunders, Pieri, and Schneeberger, Coastal Geomorphology of the Martian Northern Plains, 1993: J. of Geophys. Res. 98 E6, 11,061-11078.
  28. Parker, T. J., Saunders, Schneeberger, 1989. Transitional morphology in west Deuteronilus Mensae, Mars: Implications for modification of the lowland/upland boundary: Icarus 82, 111-145.
  29. Saunders, R. S., Fanale, Parker, Stephens, and Sutton, 1986, Properties of filamentary sublimation residues from dispersions of clay in ice: Icarus 66, 94-104.
  30. Smith, P. H., Bell, Bridges, Britt, Gaddis, Greeley, Keller, Herkenhoff, Jaumann, Johnson, Kirk, Lemmon, Maki, Malin, Murchie, Oberst, Parker, Reid, Sablotny, Soderblom, Stoker, Sullivan, Thomas, Tomasko, Ward, Wegryn, Results from the Mars Pathfinder Camera: Science 278, 1758-1765, 1997.
  31. Squyres, S. W., R. E. Arvidson, J. F. Belll III, J. Bruckner, N. A. Cabrol, W. Calvin, M. H. Carr, P. R. Christensen, B. C. Clark, L. Crumpler, D. J. Des Marais, C. dUston, T. Economou, J. Farmer, W. Farrand, W. Folkner, M. Golombek, S. Gorevan, J. A. Grant, R. Greeley, J. Grotzinger, L. Haskin, K. E. Herkenhoff, S. Hviid, J. Johnson, G. Klingelhofer, A. Knoll, G. Landis, M. Lemmon, R. Li, M. B. Madsen, M. C. Malin, S. M. McLennan, H. Y. McSween, D. W. Ming, J. Moersch, R. V. Morris, T. Parker, J. W. Rice Jr., L. Richter, R. Rieder, M. Sims, M. Smith, P. Smith, L. A. Soderblom, R. Sullivan, H. Wanke, T. Wdowiak, M. Wolff, A. Yen. The Spirit Rovers Athena Science Innvestigation at Gusev Crater, Mars. Science 305, 2004, 794-799.
  32. Squyres, S. W., R. E. Arvidson, J. F. Belll III, J. Bruckner, N. A. Cabrol, W. Calvin, M. H. Carr, P. R. Christensen, B. C. Clark, L. Crumpler, D. J. Des Marais, C. dUston, T. Economou, J. Farmer, W. Farrand, W. Folkner, M. Golombek, S. Gorevan, J. A. Grant, R. Greeley, J. Grotzinger, L. Haskin, K. E. Herkenhoff, S. Hviid, J. Johnson, G. Klingelhofer, A. Knoll, G. Landis, M. Lemmon, R. Li, M. B. Madsen, M. C. Malin, S. M. McLennan, H. Y. McSween, D. W. Ming, J. Moersch, R. V. Morris, T. Parker, J. W. Rice Jr., L. Richter, R. Rieder, M. Sims, M. Smith, P. Smith, L. A. Soderblom, R. Sullivan, H. Wanke, T. Wdowiak, M. Wolff, A. Yen. The Opportunity Rovers Athena Science Investigaation at Me3ridiani Planum, Mars, Science 306, 2004, 1698-1703.
  33. Ward, A. W., Gaddis, Kirk, Soderblom, Tanaka, Golombek, Parker, Greeley, Kuzmin, General Geology and Geomorphology of the Mars Pathfinder Landing Site: J. Geophys. Res. 104, 8555-8571, 1999.
  34. Weitz, C. M., Parker, Bulmer, Anderson, Grant. Geology of the Melas Chasma landing site for the Mars exploration Rover mission: J. Geophys. Res. 108, doi:10.1029/2002JE002022, 2003.
  35. Baker, V. R.; Komatsu; Gulick, Parker, 1997. Channels and Valleys. In Venus II : Geology, Geophysics, Atmosphere, and Solar Wind Environment. Edited by Stephen W. Bougher, D.M. Hunten, and R.J. Philips. Tucson, AZ : Univ. of Ariz. Press, 1997., 757
  36. Ford, J. P., Plaut, and Parker, 1993. Volcanic Features. In Guide to Magellan Image Interpretation, Ford, J. J. et al., JPL Publ. 93-24.

Projects

MER - Mars Exploration Rovers
MSL - Mars Science Laboratory