22/09/2016
2016 Series of Lectures on Astrophysics and Cosmology: science of the cosmos, science in the cosmos
Lecture: Exploring the Solar System with the European Space Agency
Speaker: Mark McCaughrean
European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Netherlands

Synopsis:
The European Space Agency operates a fleet of spacecraft throughout the solar system, studying the Sun and the Earth’s magnetic field, orbiting Mars, Saturn, and Comet 67P/CG, with new missions under construction that will go close to the Sun, Mercury and Jupiter and its icy moons, and drive on and drill beneath the surface of Mars in search of signs of life. Other telescopes now being constructed will study planets around distant stars. The speaker will present some key recent results from existing missions, and discuss the exciting findings anticipated from those being built.

Bio notes:
Mark McCaughrean is Senior Science Advisor in the Directorate of Science at the European Space Agency. He is also responsible for communicating results from ESA’s astronomy, heliophysics, planetary and fundamental physics missions to the scientific community and the wider public. After earning a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, he worked at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, followed by astronomical institutes in Tucson, Heidelberg, Bonn, and Potsdam, and taught as a professor of astrophysics at the University of Exeter before joining ESA in 2009. His personal scientific research involves observational studies of the formation of stars and their planetary systems, and he is also an Interdisciplinary Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope of the U.S., European and Canadian space agencies (NASA, ESA and CSA).

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