UNIVERSITY PARK, PA — We now live in a golden age of solar system exploration. With a dozen NASA missions currently in development — as well as spacecraft actively on Mars, near Jupiter, and in the Kuiper belt — the current scale of mission activity is unprecedented and brings forth a new era of comparative study of varied worlds at the systems level. 

Historically, there has been a close kinship between Earth science and planetary science stemming from the recognition that habitability is a special characteristic of Earth and should be cherished. Famed climate scientist Jim Hansen became engaged in understanding the Earth's greenhouse after having studied the Venus atmosphere. Given the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute's (EESI) history of understanding the Earth as a system, the spring 2023 EarthTalks speaker series is intended to provide a venue for the expansion of participants' horizons into the solar system.  

The series will also operate as part of the undergraduate course EARTH 400, which is required for students in the Earth science and policy major. For this reason, some portion of each talk will address space science careers and outer space policy. 

The spring series resumes on Jan. 9 and continues through April 24. Talks will take place at 4 p.m. on Mondays in 112 Walker Building and also be viewed via Zoom.

The series will feature the following speakers:  

— Jan. 9: “Introduction to Earth Talks Spring 2023, Highly-depleted Carbon at Gale Crater, Mars,” Christopher House, professor of geosciences, Penn State 

— Jan. 23: “Investigating Icy Worlds Using UV Spectroscopy,” Amanda Hendrix, senior scientist, Planetary Science Institute 

— Jan. 30: “Organic Astrochemistry 101: Meteorites and the Origins of Life on Earth,” José Aponte, astrochemist, Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center 

— Feb. 6: “Ocean Worlds of the Outer Solar System: Life As We Know It or Life As We Don’t?,” Alex Hayes, associate professor of astronomy, Cornell University 

— Feb. 13: “Exploring Martian Atmosphere Weather with Spacecraft and Simulations,” Steven Greybush, associate professor of meteorology and atmospheric science, Penn State 

— Feb. 20: "Preparing for the OSIRIS-REx Sample Return,” Katherine Freeman, Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences, Penn State 

— Feb. 27: “Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART): NASA’s First Planetary Defense Test Mission,” Nancy Chabot, planetary scientist, Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), Johns Hopkins University  

— March 13: "Microbial Life in the Terrestrial Subsurface,” Jennifer Macalady, professor of geosciences, Penn State 

— March 20: “Venus, a Recently Transitioned Heat-Pipe Planet,” William Moore, professor of atmospheric and planetary science, Hampton University 

— March 27: “Spiders on Mars, Europa and in the Laboratory: Insights for Icy Planetary Surface Processes through Analog Experiments,” Lauren McKeown, postdoctoral fellow, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

— April 3: “Searching for Life-As-We-Don’t-Know-It Using Planetary Mass Spectrometry,” Lu Chou, astrobiologist and organic geochemist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center 

— April 10: “Planetary Interior Controls on the Habitability of Rocky Exoplanets,” Bradford Foley, associate professor of geosciences, Penn State 

— April 17: TDB 

— April 24: “Building a New Understanding of Venus:  The Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging (DAVINCI) Mission,” Stephanie Getty, research planetary scientist, director of Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center 

The series can also be viewed via Zoom. To find more information visit the spring 2023 EarthTalks series webpage.