Michael C. Malin

Key takeaways

Michael C. Malin belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Michael C. Malin to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Michael C. Malin from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Michael C. Malin (born 1950) is an American astronomer, space scientist, and CEO of Malin Space Science Systems. His cameras have been important scientific instruments in the exploration of Mars. Malin designed and ran the orbiting Mars camera (part of the larger Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft) which took over 212,000 high-resolution photos of Mars over a nine-year period. In late 2006, he and Kenneth Edgett announced photographic evidence which strongly suggested water was flowing on Mars in the present day.

History A native of California, born in Los Angeles, Michael Malin earned a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley in Physics with a minor in English literature. He then attended Caltech, where he earned a Ph.D. in Planetary Sciences and Geology in 1975. After his doctorate, he worked for four years at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he was involved with the Viking 1 and Voyager missions. He taught geology at Arizona State University for 11 years before returning to California and founding Malin Space Science Systems.

Malin Space Science Systems

Malin was convinced that valuable science could be done by a high resolution camera orbiting Mars. However, he met with skepticism from NASA officials. Malin was told "Viking had already taken all the pictures we ever needed of Mars." Malin thought that position was absurd. (Interview, Space.com 6/2000). Malin and Ed Danielson, a friend from Caltech days, jointly thought up a camera which would be able to resolve objects 6.5 feet across. NASA was not very interested but, in 1985, they gave Malin and Danielson $50,000 to come up with a proposal. Their design was telescope mated to an electronic camera. The camera was approved, and Malin now had to build it. Building the camera took years and was delayed several times by NASA. In the spring of 1992, with launch only months away, the camera was installed on the Mars Observer. The launch was successful and in January 1993 it took some photos but then, the Observer spacecraft ceased operations. Fortunately, MSSS had built a double and so two years later, the double was sent up (in November 1996) and that camera worked flawlessly for the next decade.

Malin was the lead scientist on the Mars Orbiter Camera. Malin was a scientist on the Mars Pathfinder mission in 1996. He was the Principal Investigator on the Mars Color Imager (MARSI) (1998), a two-camera system designed to observe the color of Mars. He had the same role for the 1999 Mars Polar Lander (which mysteriously failed to report back any data). Malin and his team helped build THEMIS (Thermal Emission Imaging System) on the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission. Malin was the Principal Investigator on the 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter MARCI, a reflight of the 1998 Mars Color Imager. Malin has authored a number of papers based on the photos returned from the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC). His most significant claim is that photographic evidence from the MOC strongly suggests recent flow of water on the surface of Mars. This claim was initially met with skepticism but it has been bolstered by recent photographic evidence (see Life on Mars for more details). The Surveyor exceeded its designed life by many years but in November 2006 it stopped sending back data. As of December 2006, the NASA program manager said it is likely that the spacecraft and all its instruments (including the Malin MOC) were lost.

Awards 2017 Whipple Award 2005 Carl Sagan Memorial Award 1987 MacArthur Fellows Program

Works Malin, Michael C.; Edgett, Kenneth S. (2000). "Evidence for Recent Groundwater Seepage and Surface Runoff on Mars". Science. 288 (5475): 2330–2335. Bibcode:2000Sci...288.2330M. doi:10.1126/science.288.5475.2330. PMID 10875910.

References

External links Chaikin, Andrew (23 June 2000). "A Scientist's Fight to Send His Camera to Mars on the Mars Global Surveyor - Part I". SPACE.com. Archived from the original on 26 July 2009. "Mike Malin". Solar System Exploration – People. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 3 January 2013. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. "New Gully Deposit in a Crater in Terra Sirenum: Evidence That Water Flowed on Mars in This Decade? MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1618". Malin Space Science Systems. 6 December 2006. Recent Water Gushes and Craters on Mars. NASA Podcasts. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 6 December 2006. Archived from the original on 6 February 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2007.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Michael C. Malin

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Michael C. Malin claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Michael C. Malin before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Michael C. Malin ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Michael C. Malin

In research: Michael C. Malin appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Michael C. Malin in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Michael C. Malin is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1950 births, 20th-century American astronomers, American planetary scientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Michael C. Malin outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Michael C. Malin in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Michael C. Malin means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Michael C. Malin out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Michael C. Malin in simple terms?

Michael C. Malin (born 1950) is an American astronomer, space scientist, and CEO of Malin Space Science Systems.

Why does Michael C. Malin matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Michael C. Malin?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Michael C. Malin.