PLANETARY SCIENCE
MY LIFE AS A PLANETARY SCIENTIST
At the early age of 6, I read The Golden Book of Astronomy, and decided that I wanted to be involved with space exploration, especially the exploration of the Solar System. I studied astronomy in college and found my passion in planetary sciences – the study of the Solar System and exoplanets – receiving my Ph.D. and working professionally in that field for most of my professional career. I have combined much adventure with my work as a planetary astronomer. I worked for two years at an observatory in Chile in the 1970s, concluding my time with backpacking around the southern part of South America. I spent over two months in Antarctica on a remote expedition to collect meteorites in the Trans-Antarctic Mountains. I worked for NASA for over 20 years, and have served on scientific space probe teams, notably two Japanese satellites to near-Earth asteroids.
PICS FROM MY SCIENTIFIC YEARS
Speaking at a scientific meeting.
The international scientific team with a scale model of the Japanese Space agency JAXA's Hayabusa mission to near-Earth asteroid 25143 Itokawa
