Arizona State University Explores the Solar System: St. Louis Astronomical Society January Meeting

NASA’s program for Solar System Exploration has been active since the 1960s, with robotic spacecraft, including flybys, orbiters, landers, rovers, and sample returns. These machines have visited all of the major planets, as well as dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets.  Arizona State University (ASU, Phoenix-Tempe) has been a leader in planetary geology research for decades, along with St. Louis’ own Washington University. What current missions and destinations are in NASA’s plans?  Join Dr. Williams for a deep dive into the various missions exploring the Solar System this decade and beyond.

Dr. David A. Williams is a Research Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona. He is currently performing research in volcanology and planetary geology, with a focus on planetary mapping, remote sensing, and computer modeling studies. He was involved with NASA’s Magellan Mission to Venus, Galileo Mission to Jupiter, Dawn Mission to asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, and ESA’s Mars Express orbiter. He is currently Deputy Imager Lead on NASA’s Psyche Mission to the “metal asteroid”. David is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, and asteroid 10,461 DAWILLIAMS was named in his honor.

The St. Louis Astronomical Society is an organization for individuals interested in astronomy and telescopes. The public is invited to attend its meetings, telescope observing sessions, and special events. For more information about Astronomical Society events, please visit www.slasonline.org.

Free parking will be available.