Seminar: Jill Krezoski

Satisfy your Curiosity: An Update on the Mars Science Laboratory Project

Gillian (Jill) Krezoski
Malin Space Science Systems

Wednesday, February 18th, 2015
CSL 422 – 12:00pm

The Mars Science Laboratory (also known as the Curiosity Rover) landed in Gale Crater on Mars on the late evening of August 5, 2012 amidst much fanfare. The rover contains the largest scientific payload ever to land successfully on another planet, and boasts the ability for an impressive suite of scientific experiments. This talk will summarize the project’s accomplishments over the past two years of successful operations on Mars at a higher level, and will examine some interesting scientific images taken by Curiosity’s science cameras.  We will discuss some historical findings about past environments on Mars, and will look at some more recent questions that have arisen within the past several months at the base of Mount Sharp.

Jill Krezoski is a Missions Operations Specialist for the Mars Science Laboratory at Malin Space Science Systems in Sorrento Valley, California. Established in 1990, Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) designs, builds, and operates space camera systems for government and commercial aerospace customers. Several cameras built by MSSS are operating in orbit around Mars and the Moon. Four of their cameras are currently imaging the Martian surface aboard Curiosity. An additional deep space camera is on its way to Jupiter (Junocam) and is expected to arrive in October, 2016.

Gillian received her Bachelor’s degree in geology at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire where she specialized in Mississippian near-shore eolian sedimentology in Pennsylvania. She went on to obtain her Master’s degree in Earth Science at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario (Canada), where she specialized in Quaternary near-shore marine sedimentology at a geoarcheological site in Turkey called Liman Tepe/Klazomenai. After graduating in 2008, Gillian moved to Pittsburgh where she worked for a geotechnical engineering company completing Environmental Impact Analyses for international nuclear plant sitings. She moved to San Diego in November of 2011 and began work at Malin Space Science Systems, where she coordinates with multitudes of scientists daily and operates the MAHLI, MARDI and Mastcam Science cameras aboard the Curiosity Rover.