PSI Senior Scientist Matt Chojnacki and Senior Research Associate Matthew R. Perry have been named as Co-Investigators on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission. Perry works on MRO’s Shallow Radar instrument, or SHARAD, as a member of the Science and Operations Team and as System Manager for the Colorado SHARAD Processing System (CO-SHARPS) and Chojnacki works on MRO’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera, or HiRISE as Science Theme Lead and as a HiRISE Photogrammetry Lab manager.
“Being a member of the SHARAD team since 2016 has been an incredible opportunity and experience. I am honored to have been named as a Co-Investigator and I look forward to continuing contributing to the MRO SHARAD mission,” Perry said. MRO SHARAD is an orbital radar sounder that “senses” changes in the electromagnetic properties of the Martian subsurface. MRO SHARAD has been instrumental in our evolving understanding of the Martian polar caps and subsurface water ice reservoirs as well as other subsurface features such as those located within volcanic provinces . To learn more about MRO SHARAD, please visit https://sharad.psi.edu.
”I officially joined the HiRISE team in 2013 as part of a post-doc with the instrument’s principal investigator, Alfred McEwen, at the University of Arizona,” Chojnacki said. “At that stage, I had been studying the amazing HiRISE images of Martian geology and constructing topographic maps of its landscapes from stereo images for most of the mission.”
MRO’s HiRISE is the principal high-resolution (25cm/pixel) science camera operated by NASA at Mars. Chojnacki continued his work with the HiRISE team when he joined PSI in 2020, contributing HiRISE science analysis, mission operations, and data production.
“I’m delighted and incredibly honored to be included among such a prestigious group of scientists and part of an incredible spacecraft mission,” Chojnacki said. HiRISE images and terrain models can be viewed here: https://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/.
NASA offered congratulations to Perry and Chojnacki, who have contributed so much to the MRO mission and to the exploration of Mars.
Chojnacki and Perry work in PSI’s office in Lakewood, Colorado.
