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Q: You have worked on many missions, over a long period of time. How do you feel looking back over the past?
The history of space exploration and the role of technology have been almost as exciting to follow as the actual accomplishments of space exploration itself. Of course the evolving technology is what allows us to go out and do such tremendously exciting things. The early cameras, for instance, had very small formats, very low signal to noise - you could barely distinguish features on the surface - and very narrow spectral bands. And now of course in Earth orbit and on planetary missions, we are flying tremendously high-resolution imaging cameras, infrared and ultraviolet spectrometers, radar instruments that sound the atmosphere and penetrate the surface. We have a tremendous set of instruments looking for magnetic fields and particle plasma zones around planets. It is hard to comprehend what we can do today compared to what we were able to do in the early years. I believe that new pages will keep being added to space exploration as technological evolution continues.
 

Q: The Japanese asteroid explorer Hayabusa has made new history in space exploration. What do you think about the Hayabusa mission?
Hayabusa has been a great mission, orbiting an asteroid, making a landing, and returning samples of the asteroid. I am sure that we can look forward to great results.
We Americans as well as Europeans and other nations benefited from the Japanese being gracious and allow us to participate. It is a very, very exciting mission, and of course we are still waiting for its return.
Q: Do you have any hopes for Japan as an international partner in planetary exploration projects in the future?
I think all countries realize that doing leading-edge scientific exploration of planets and planetary bodies is very complicated and costly. So we look to the world leaders, which include the Japanese, to have cooperations on these international missions, allowing us to work together as great partners.
Q: What is your next mission?
The day I came back from Utah about a month ago, after the successful return of Stardust, I started to clear off my desk, and began working on two U.S. missions that are going to land on Mars again. One is the Phoenix mission, which will land in the northern lowlands of Mars in 2008, and the other is the Mars Surface Laboratory mission. I personally make cartographic maps and help characterize these landing sites. I do that not only with the U.S. mission data, but I am currently planning observations of these future sites on the European Mars Express mission. So it is still very, very exciting. There is always a lot of good work to do.
 

Japanese Asteroid Explorer Hayabusa
Japanese Asteroid Explorer Hayabusa

American Mars Explorer Phoenix
American Mars Explorer Phoenix(Courtesy of NASA)
 
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