Tien Suits Grauch


Tien Makes News on Two Fronts
July 8, 2004, Taos, New Mexico

Tien made news in the Taos area on two semi-related fronts this past July. One had to do with her participation in a gravity training exercise with astronauts, who have traditionally used the Taos area for geologic training.

The second had to do with the collection of high-resolution aeromagnetic data that she oversaw in fall, 2003. The data and report were recently released to the public,
at about the same time as the training. The news report on the data release
contains quite a few inaccuracies, but to fix them would require rewriting the entire article. If interested, her scientific report will be coming out in the fall as part of the New Mexico Geological Society 55th Annual Field Trip Guidebook.

 
Tien explaining magnetic rock properties
Who's Who in the photo at left


About the Gravity Training Exercise
(Email from Tien)

I was involved in the training (representing the US Geological Survey). It was quite an experience to meet the 8 astronauts, who are all full-fledged astronauts. They were very sharp, quite energetic,and extremely nice! They are the group chosen in year 2000. Their missions were delayed due to a combination of 9/11 and Columbia events. I talked some with Jim Reilly, the astronaut trainer who has been up twice and is also a geologist. He said that the zero gravity simulator shown in the movie Apollo 13 really only lasts for 20 seconds, unlike the depiction in the movie, and that the simulation that actually feels more like the real thing is done in a pool with flotation devices. I have his card. It says: Jim Reilly, Astronaut. 'Nuff said!

My job was to brief them on geophysical exploration methods before the
exercise, oversee the gravity data collection, process the data after they
collected it, work up the results, and present the meaning of the results at
a briefing the next morning. And when they say the briefing starts at 8 a.m. it's 8 a.m. sharp!

At any rate, it all worked out well and I had wonderful experience meeting them!

 


 
Gravity Training Exercise Group Photo.

Squatting, l. to r. Terry W. Virts, Jr., Lt. Colonel, USAF, NASA astronaut (pilot), Adam Read, geologist, New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources (NMBGMR).

Front row, l. to r. Dominic A. Antonelli (Tony), Lt. Commander, USN, NASA astronaut (pilot); Robert L. Behnken (Bob), PhD in mechanical engineering, Major, USAF, NASA astronaut (mission specialist); Douglas G. Hurley, Lt. Colonel, USMC, NASA astronaut (pilot); Karen L. Nyberg, PhD in mechanical engineering, NASA Astronaut (mission specialist); K. Meghan McArthur, PhD in oceanography, NASA astronaut (mission specialist); Patricia Dickerson, PhD in geology, astronaut trainer, University of Texas-Austin; Mark Mansell, GIS specialist, NMBGMR; Stephen G. Bowen, Commander, USN, NASA astronaut (mission specialist); Duane Ross, logistics coordinator for astronaut training.

Back row, l. to r. Geoff Rawlings, hydrogeologist, NMBGMR; Tien Grauch, research geophysicist, US Geological Survey; James F. Reilly II (Jim), PhD in geology, Astronaut and mission advisor; Andrew J. Feustel (Drew), PhD in seismology, NASA astronaut (mission specialist); Paul Bauer, PhD in geology, Associate Director, NMBGMR; William Muehlberger, Emeritus Professor, UT-Austin, astronaut trainer and mission advisor.

Interesting Tidbit
Each group of astronauts is given a pet name by the previous group. The
1999 group were known as the penguins, named by the group chosen in 1998.
The 1999 group decided that the group of 2000 (the group I met) should be
known as the bugs. The 2000 group had yet to decide what they would name
the new group of 2004, but they were definite that the name would NOT be
something cool or sexy, in keeping with the previous names no doubt!


The results of study are published
by Cornelia de Bruin of The Taos News

 After spending months refining the data collected from a series of flights over portions of the Taos Valley, the U.S. Geological Survey has released its report on the aeromagnetic survey flown in October.

Pilots who work for Fugro Airborne Surveys Corporation surveyed the San Luis Basin in southern Colorado before they collected information from the Taos Valley. Both flight surveys were conducted to get more information about the rock formations that underlay the areas in the agency’s attempt to better understand groundwater systems.

The data measure the magnetic properties of the underground rocks, which give geologists clues about how water might flow around or between the different formations.
    
Geologists found evidence of a deeper, basalt layer, which they say is part of the Taos Mesa and its old volcanic flows. But cutting vertically through that area along the base of some of the mountains ringing the valley, and to the northeast of the Town of Taos, are vertical faults that have pushed their way through the basalt flows and which run from north to south. “The ridge-like areas are interpreted as faults,” explained V.J.S. Tien Grauch, Ph.D., of the U.S.G.S. office in Denver. “They can either be a barrier to water, or be where water is found.”

Grauch said that faulted areas “have a tendency to compartmentalize aquifers. “They also help determine where basalt is close to the surface,” Grauch said.
    
The low-level flights, made by a helicopter carrying instruments in a long tube described alternately as a “Q-Tip” or “boom mike” drew numerous calls to local media and law enforcement agencies from residents.

Email from Tien

"The people in Taos were warned about the helicopter beforehand and that it was part of a Federal government research project. They are a little paranoid about helicopters and the government, so they didn't really believe it was for benign purposes. I'm not sure why they are so paranoid. I guess it's a history that I don't understand. Luckily we didn't go with the helicopter configuration that had the bomb-looking-like thing hanging down from a wire!"