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KANSAS UNIVERSITY physics and astronomy professor Tom Cravens is part of an interdisciplinary team of scientists analyzing and interpreting data collected by MAVEN about Mars’ atmosphere.
City leaders back away from land donation plan over fears of perceived connection By Chad Lawhorn Twitter: @clawhorn_ljw Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo
KU prof part of Mars mission By Scott Rothschild
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Our job is to put all this diverse information together. This past Sunday, Kansas Uni- What is the escape rate of versity professor Thomas Cravens was glued to his television. But he the atmosphere? Where does it all go?” wasn’t watching football. Twitter: @ljwrothschild
He was watching NASA TV as the MAVEN — short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN — spacecraft arrived in Mars’ orbit after traveling 442 million miles over 10 months. “I was very relieved when the engines shut off when they should have,” Cravens said. Now for the next Earth year, Cravens, a professor in the department of physics and astronomy, will be among a number of interdisciplinary scientists analyzing and interpreting data collected by MAVEN about Mars’ atmosphere. The mission represents an un-
— KU professor Thomas Cravens precedented study of Mars’ upper atmosphere and will help scientists learn more about the history of the planet’s climate. “Our job is to put all this diverse information together. What is the escape rate of the atmosphere? Where does it all go?” Cravens said. Older surfaces of Mars reveal there was water. MAVEN, a robotic explorer about the length of a school bus, will help explain where the water and carbon dioxide went.
Cravens said the information helps scientists understand how and why Mars is the way it is in comparison with other planets. “Why does Earth have the right atmosphere? Why not Venus, which is very hot. Why not Mars, which is cold. It’s the Goldilocks effect; the Earth was just right,” he said. Cravens, who has worked at KU since 1988, said his interest in space and the planets started as child. “It is fun to me to hop from planet to planet learning how they are the same and how they are different,” he said. The $671 million MAVEN mission represents a step in NASA’s bid to send astronauts to Mars. Cravens said he believes it will happen. “It comes down to politics and budgets,” he said. — Reporter Scott Rothschild can be reached at 423-0668.
Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday night backed away — at least temporarily — from making a 10-acre donation of land to the local Boys & Girls Club after residents accused the commission of trying to use the donation to garner votes for a proposed $28 million police headquarters building. “This is a veiled or unveiled attempt to soften the tax blow that is at hand,” said Lawrence resident Greg Robinson, referring to the proposed 0.2 percent sales tax that is on the Nov. 4 ballot to fund the police CITY COMMISSION headquarters proposal. Commissioners were considering a request to donate 10 acres that are part of a 47-acre parcel near the Kansas Turnpike interchange on McDonald Drive. The city has agreed to buy the 47-acre site for $2.25 million for the police headquarters, if voters approve the sales tax in November. The city needs only about 15 acres of the site for the police project and has said it will put the remainder of the site to other uses. Please see SEPARATE, page 2A
Lawrence Arts Center receives $100,000 grant for science program By Elliot Hughes Twitter: @ehughes12
The Lawrence Arts Center received a $100,000 grant Tuesday that will expand an out-of-school science education program for elementary students.
Money will expand ArtSpace summer session to full year, add teaching positions The funds will help the Arts Center offer its ArtSpace program yearround after primarily being a summers-only class since it debuted three years ago. The grant also will help cre-
officer for the Arts Center. The grant was awarded by the Hearst Foundations, a pair of national philanthropic organizations working in culture, education, health and social services.
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Showers, sun Business Classified Comics Crave
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ate more full-time teaching positions for well-trained teaching artists. “This will have a tremendous impact on the ArtSpace program,” said Susan Tate, chief executive
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Today’s forecast, page 10A
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Deaths Events listings Horoscope Opinion
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ArtSpace focuses on science lessons that incorporate artistic disciplines while meeting national education standards for both Please see ARTS, page 2A Tate
Court ruling questioned
Vol.156/No.267 34 pages
State prosecutors say a recent Kansas Supreme Court ruling could help set free some of the prison system’s most dangerous inmates. Page, 5A
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