Vision Systems for Planetary Landers and Drones: Progress and Challenges

The first onboard vision system used in a lander for planetary exploration was the Descent Image Motion Estimation System (DIMES) developed at JPL for the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) landings in January of 2004. DIMES used monocular imagery, radar altimetry, and an IMU to estimate the horizontal velocity of the descent system in the last 2 kilometers of descent. The horizontal velocity estimates were used in retrorocket firing logic to reduce horizontal velocity before the airbag impact on the ground.

Looking for Planets Outside Our Solar System with Superconducting Photon Detectors

In astronomy the only way to get a bigger signal is to build a bigger telescope or make a better camera for an existing telescope. While larger telescopes come roughly once every 30 years, better instruments and especially better detectors can be updated much more rapidly, leading to startling advances. I will present my group’s work developing an entirely new kind of camera based on a revolutionary new photon sensor, known as a Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors, or MKIDs.

Using Gamma Rays and Neutrons to Measure the Elemental Composition of Planetary Bodies

Gamma rays and neutrons are used to measure the elemental compositions of planetary surfaces, which provide fundamental information to our understanding of how planetary bodies form and have changed over time.  In this talk, I describe the technique of planetary gamma-ray/neutron spectroscopy, including what it is and how it is carried out.  I will then tour the solar system, stopping off at locations where compositional measurements have made (or will make) important contributions to

Comparing a Star to its Planets: A Story of Light Stable Isotopes in the Solar System

The NASA Genesis mission returned samples of solar wind to Earth a little over a decade ago. Analyses of those samples have shown that the terrestrial planets are significantly enriched in the minor stable isotopes of N and O relative to the Sun. Genesis has not yet reported C isotope values for solar wind, but we recently completed analysis of infrared absorption by isotopes of CO (carbon monoxide) in the solar atmosphere.

Techniques for Exploring Remote Alaska Basins for Oil and Gas

Oil production in Alaska began along the southern margin with discovery in 1957 of the 500 MMBO Swanson River field in Cook Inlet.  This discovery and the financial promise it held allowed Alaska to apply and receive statehood in 1959.  Discoveries on the North Slope of Alaska, beginning in 1969 with the giant Prudhoe Bay field, filled the TransAlaska Pipeline with decades of subsequent oil production.  Multi-billion barrel fields are still being discovered on the North Slope, although the pipeline is cur

Becoming Interplanetary: Grappling with the Human Side of Mars Exploration

In this talk, I will discuss my work as the Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology. The Blumberg Chair is a unique position, created to foster research at the intersection of astrobiology (the search for and study of life in the universe), and its implications for society. During my residency, I have been exploring the ethics of Mars exploration, with a focus on equity and inclusion in the sciences.

Machine Learning for Robots on Earth and in Space

In this talk, I will present our recent progress in developing learning methods that allow robots to acquire and refine a rich set of motor and perceptual skills. The developed algorithms are highly efficient, scale to robots with many degrees of freedom, and can be used to learn challenging tasks ranging from dexterous manipulation of objects, to locomotion, and even basketball. In contrast to the prevalent 'Big Data' approach, we focus on 'Small Data' regimes that can learn from a minimal set of real-world trials.

Biogeophysics: Exploring Earth's Subsurface Biosphere using Geophysical Approaches

Microorganisms are found in almost every conceivable niche of the Earth from hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean basins to the cold subglacial lakes of Antarctic ice sheets. As such, microorganisms have played an important role in transforming Earth’s systems (e.g., accelerating mineral weathering), influencing global climate change, and mediating different biogeochemical cycles over most of Earth’s 4 billion-year long history.

The School of Earth and Space Exploration is home to more than 40 instrument facilities and laboratories, led by our faculty in the Earth and space fields including geological science, planetary science, astronomy, cosmology, astrobiology, astrophysics, exploration systems design, and science education. Move below for more detailed descriptions to the facilities and laboratories available to our faculty, research staff, graduate students, and undergraduates.

Beauty Can Be Just Skin-Deep: the Essential Role of Surficial Microbes in Current and Future Desert Ecosystem Function

In dryland regions, where plants are sparse, soil surface communities (including photosynthetic cyanobacteria, lichens and mosses, as well as fungi, heterotrophic bacteria, and soil microfauna) are often the dominant life form. These communities control many ecosystem processes in desert settings. They often determine local hydrology by roughening soil surface roughness and creating soil aggregates.