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Javier Martín-Torres

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Javier Martín-Torres (born 27 July 1970) is a Spanish physicist with interests in atmospheric science (mainly Earth, Mars, and exoplanet atmospheres), geophysics, and astrobiology.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] He has published over 150 scientific papers in these areas, and participated in more 500 presentations in international conferences.

He is chaired professor in Atmospheric Sciences at Luleå Tekniska Universitet[8] (LTU), Sweden, and Senior Research Scientist of the Spanish Research Council[9], assigned to the Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra[10], located in Armilla, Granada, Spain. He is also Visiting Professor at the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh[11], in the United Kingdom, and Specially Appointed Professor at the University of Okayama[12] in Japan. Previously has worked for ESA, California Institute of Technology, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and 10 years for NASA (NASA/Langley and Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Martin-Torres has experience in space mission development through the whole chain: first idea- design- development-modelling-operations. He is currently PI of the HABIT instrument that will be part of ExoMars 2020, and is co-I of the current and future missions to Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity rover, ACS/Trace Gas Orbiter, and ISEM/ExoMars rover.

Mars research

Martin-Torres is the principal investigator of the HABIT (HabitAbility, Brines, Irradiation and Temperature)[13] instrument. This instrument will travel to Mars as part of the scientific payload of the ExoMars 2020 mission[14] to investigate, between other thing, the water exchange cycle between the atmosphere and the Martian regolith.
He has been the scientific responsible for the REMS instrument in NASA's Curiosity rover, which since 2012 investigates the habitability of Mars, and co-investigator of 7 space missions of NASA and ESA.
Martin-Torres is co-author of the latest reported discoveries about the Martian environment, namely, the presence of fixed Nitrogen (Evidence for indigenous nitrogen in sedimentary and aeolian deposits from the Curiosity rover investigations at Gale crater, Mars[15]) and native organics in Martian ground(Organic molecules in the Sheepbed Mudstone, Gale Crater, Mars[16]), the detection of methane plumes in the atmosphere (Mars methane detection and variability at Gale crater[17]) and, remarkably, the daily formation of liquid aqueous solutions on the soil (Transient liquid water and water activity at Gale crater on Mars[18]).

Transient liquid water on Mars

On December 2014, Nature Geoscience magazine published the paper Transient liquid water and water activity at Gale crater on Mars, whose signatories were headed by Martín-Torres. It deals with a study developed from data registered along a full Martian year by means of different instruments on board Curiosity rover/ MSL mission, namely, Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS), Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN), and Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM). In the study, it is stated that there is a daily cycle of water exchange between the atmospheric boundary layer and the ground, including a phase during which the water remains in a transient liquid state. This is possible thanks to the presence in the soil of perchlorates, a highly hygroscopic kind of chlorine salts which seem to be ubiquitous over the Martian surface. These salts have the capability of catching water vapour from the environment up to the point of becoming solved in it forming concentrated solutions or brines. It is an extreme case of hygroscopy known as deliquescence.
The eutectic temperature of these brines allows its permanence in liquid state under the registered Martian environmental conditions in the study area of Curiosity, close to the equator, where they are the least favourable for this to happen. Therefore, it is expected that the phenomenon is more intense in terms of duration of the liquid phase in higher latitudes.
The presence of liquid water on present day Mars entails transcendent consequences in a number of aspects of the planet’s exploration. Firstly, it casts a new light on the comprehension of Martian environment, and can be the key to understand some morphological features of the surface, such as the so-called Recurrent Slope Lineae (RSLs). In addition, the discovery has posed the necessity for taking special precautions to avoid biological contamination of the planet with terrestrial organisms carried on board the spacecrafts to be sent in the next missions, since the availability of liquid water multiply the possibilities for them to survive and thrive in certain places. Finally, water can be a valuable in-situ resource at the disposal of a crew which is eventually sent to Mars someday.
However, the brines themselves have not been monitored yet, and a quantification of the phenomenon is still missing. This is what the Brine Observation Transition to Liquid Experiment (BOTTLE, one of the units composing HABIT instrument) is being developed for.

Radiative Transfer modelling

Radiative Transfer was the core area of Martin-Torres’ early career. He developed non-Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium models to explain the emissions of some of the main emitters in the infrared (ozone, methane, nitric oxide, hydroxyl, dinitrogen monoxide, nitrogen dioxide); and has been part of the Science Team of MIPAS/Envisat, SABER/TIMED, and Orbiting Carbon Observatory.
Martin-Torres is author of the line-by radiative transfer code FUTBOLIN (FUll Transfer By Optimized LINe by line), which is widely used to model radiative processes in the atmosphere. It has been used to model the Earth’s atmosphere and the atmospheres of Mars, Venus, and Titan, and simulations of Earthshine for exoplanet applications.
He was member, as Visiting Associate Research Scientist, of the University of California in Los Angeles’ (UCLA) Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science & Engineering (JIFRESSE)[19].

Awards

Martin-Torres has received several NASA awards, between them, an individual award for "Outstanding contributions to the Investigations to the Columbia Challenger accident" and another "for the success of the operations and scientific exploitation of REMS/Curiosity".
His team at Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden, has won several European space-related innovation awards, including the OHB Innospace Challenge (REF), and in November 2018 a team consisting of two of his students will fly in the Fly Your Thesis! Campaign of the European Space Agency (LINK), after being one of the 2 European teams selected in a European competitive process.

Selected awards

  • 2018 Award of Honorary Status: Honorary Professor at the School of Physics and Astronomy, College of Science and Engenieering, The University of Edinburgh[20], Edinburgh, U.K.
  • 2014 Special Prize of the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) for scientific merits during the period 2013-2014, offered by the Spanish Ministry of Research and Education, June 26, 2014, Headquarters of CSIC, Madrid
  • 2014 Award of Honorary Fellow status at the College of Science and Engenieering, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U. K.
  • 2003 NASA/Langley Award for "Outstanding contributions to Space Shuttle Columbia Investigation Team”, 2003.

Group awards

  • 2018 WindCoE project awarded Arctic Theme award, European Union, European Regional Development Plan, October 9, Scotland House, Brussels, Belgium
  • 2018 Top-3 European finalist 2018 edition of the joint Sustainable Exploration Challenge by Airbus, Air Liquide, and Merck KGaA. Project: Moon Alchemist.
  • 2018 European Finalist (2nd Position) in the INNOspace Masters OHB Challenge, Project: PVT-GAMERS, June , 2018 at the DLR in Berlin, Germany. (https://www.innospace-masters.de/ ). Project: PVT-GAMERS (Pressure, Volume Temperature Gauging Method for Electric-propulsion Systems).
  • 2018 National (Sweden) winners of the ActInSpace Challenge, May 25-26.
  • 2015 NASA Group Achievement Award as member of the MSL Prime Mission Science and Operations Team “for exceptional technical innovations in rover surface operations leading to significantly improved Mars Science Laboratory prime mission performance and science return”.
  • 2013 NASA Group Achievement Award as part of the REMS Team “for exceptional achievement defining the REMS scientific goals and requirements, developing the instrument suite and investigation, and operating REMS successfully on Mars”.
  • 2013 The National Aeronautic Association 2012 Robert J. Collier Trophy as member of the Mars Science Laboratory Team “in recognition of the extraordinary achievements of successfully landing Curiosity on Mars, advancing the nation's technological and engineering capabilities, and significantly improving humanity's understanding of ancient Martian habitable environments”.
  • 2012 TIME magazine´s Tech’s Best Invention of the Year as member of the Curiosity Mars Rover Team.
  • 2004 NASA Achievement Award as part of the Space Shuttle Columbia Investigation Team, 2004.
  • 2003 NASA/Langley Group Achievement award as part of the SABER experiment Team, 2003.

Books

  • F. Javier Martín-Torres and María-Paz Zorzano, The Fate of Freedom of a Space Exploration Mission Encountering Life and the Liberty of the “Encountered” Extra-Terrestrial Beings, chapter of the book The Meaning of Liberty Beyond Earth, Space and Society Series, Springer International Publishing; 2015 edition, ISBN-13: 000-3319095668.
  • F. J. Martín-Torres and J. F. Buenestado, ¿Qué sabemos de la vida en el Universo?, Editorial: CSIC y Catarata, ISBN: 978-84-8319-840-7, Páginas: 128, 2013
  • Martín-Torres F. J., and A. Delgado-Bonal, A Mathematic Approach to Nitrogen Fixation Through Earth History, chapter of book Nitrogen in Planetary Systems: The Early Evolution of Atmospheres of Terrestrial Planets, ISBN 978-1-4614-5190-7, Springer-Verlag, 2013.
  • Trigo-Rodríguez, J. M. and F. J. Martín-Torres, Implication of Impacts in the Young Earth Sun Paradox and the Evolution of Earth’s Atmosphere, chapter of book Nitrogen in Planetary Systems: The Early Evolution of Atmospheres of Terrestrial Planets, ISBN 978-1-4614-5190-7, Springer-Verlag, 2013.
  • Co-author in book as part of the Venus Entry Probe Team, Venus Entry Probe Workshop, Note du Pole de Planetologie, Institut Pierre Simon Laplace des Sciences de l’Environnement Global, ISSN 1768-0042, 2006.

References

  1. ^ "Javier Martin-Torres". nai.nasa.gov. NASA Astrobiology Institute.
  2. ^ "Himalayan glaciers experienced significant mass loss during later phases of little ice age". ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
  3. ^ "Fall 2009 Faculty News:Kudos to Javier Martin-Torres". lpl.arizona.edu. The University of Arizona.
  4. ^ "News". astrobiology.ac.uk. The University of Edinburgh.
  5. ^ "Javier Martin-Torres". ltu.se. Lulea University of Technology.
  6. ^ "Planetary boundary layer and circulation dynamics at Gale Crater, Mars". sciencedirect.com. ScienceDirect.
  7. ^ "NASA finds ancient organic material, mysterious methane on Mars". sciencedaily.com. Science Daily.
  8. ^ Luleå Tekniska Universitet
  9. ^ CSIC
  10. ^ Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra
  11. ^ University of Edinburgh
  12. ^ University of Okayama
  13. ^ HABIT (HabitAbility: Brine, Irradiation and Temperature). https://atmospheres.research.ltu.se/habit/
  14. ^ ExoMars 2020/Surface Platform. http://exploration.esa.int/mars/56933-exomars-2020-surface-platform/
  15. ^ Stern, J. C., Sutter, B., Freissinet, C., Navarro-González, R., McKay, C. P., Archer Jr., P. D., Buch, A., Brunner, A. E., Coll, P., Eigenbrode, J. L., Fairen, A. G., Franz, H. B., Glavin, D. P., Kashyap, S., McAdam, A. C., Ming, D. W., Steele, A., Szopa, C., Wray, J. J., Martin-Torres, J., Zorzano, M-P., Conrad, P. G., Mahaffy, P. R., MSL Science Team, 2015, Evidence for indigenous nitrogen in sedimentary and aeolian deposits from the Curiosity rover investigations at Gale crater, Mars, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. vol. 112 , issue 14, p. 4245–4250, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1420932112.
  16. ^ C. Freissinet, D. P. Glavin, P. R. Mahaffy, K. E. Miller, J. L. Eigenbrode, R. E. Summons, A. E. Brunner, A. Buch, C. Szopa, P. D. Archer Jr., H. B. Franz, S. K. Atreya, W. B. Brinckerhoff, M. Cabane, P. Coll, P. G. Conrad, D. J. Des Marais, J. P. Dworkin, A. G. Fairén, P. François, J. P. Grotzinger, S. Kashyap, I. L. ten Kate, L. A. Leshin, C. A. Malespin, M. G. Martin, F. J. Martin-Torres, A. C. McAdam, D. W. Ming, R. Navarro-González, A. A. Pavlov, B. D. Prats, S. W. Squyres, A. Steele, J. C. Stern, D. Y. Sumner, B. Sutter, M.-P. Zorzano, and the MSL Science Team, 2015, Organic molecules in the Sheepbed Mudstone, Gale Crater, Mars, Journal of Geophysical Research Planets, vol. 120, Issue 3, pp. 495–514, doi: 10.1002/2014JE004737.
  17. ^ Webster, C.R., Mahaffy, P.R., Atreya, S.K.,; Flesch, G.J., Mischna, M.A., Meslin, P.Y.,; Farley, K.A., Conrad, P.G., Christensen, L.E ., Pavlov, A.A., Martin-Torres, J. Zorzano, M.P., McConnochie, T.H., Owen, T., Eigenbrode, J.L., Glavin, D.P., Steele, A., Malespin, C.A., Archer, P.D., Sutter, B., Coll, P., Freissinet, C., McKay, C.P., Moores, J.E., Schwenzer, S.P., Bridges, J.C., Navarro Gonzalez, R., Gellert, R., Lemmon, M.T., MSL Sci Team, 2015, Mars methane detection and variability at Gale crater, Science, vol. 347, Issue: 6220, pp. 415-417, doi: 10.1126/science.1261713.
  18. ^ Martin-Torres, J., Zorzano, M-P., Valentin-Serrano, P., Harri, A-M., Genzer, M., Kemppainen, O., Rivera-Valentin, E. G., Jun, I., Wray, J. J., Madsen, M. B., Goetz, W., McEwen, A. S., Hardgrove, C., Renno, N., Chevrier, V. F., Mischna, M. A., Navarro-Gonzalez, R., Martínez-Frías, J., Conrad, P. G., McConnochie, T. H., Cockell, C., Berger, G., Vasavada, A., Sumner, D. Y. & Vaniman, D. T., 2015,Transient liquid water and water activity at Gale crater on Mars, Nature Geoscience, vol. 8, p. 357-361, doi:10.1038/ngeo2412.
  19. ^ Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science & Engineering (JIFRESSE). https://jifresse.ucla.edu/
  20. ^ College of Science & Engineering College of Science & Engineering. https://www.ed.ac.uk/science-engineering
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