SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, June 18, 2010
7:30pm
McDonnell Hall,
Washington University

The Geology of Mars

by

Dr. Edward Guinness
Washington University

Mars has long been of scientific interest because of its similarities to Earth geology and the possibility of its having habitable environments either today or in the past. Earthbound telescopes and a fleet of robotic planetary spacecraft have observed Mars for many years. The pace of exploration has quickened in the last decade. Today, multiple spacecraft probe Mars from the surface and from Mars orbit. Dr. Guinness will discuss our current state of understanding of the geology of Mars. He will also present an update of recent activities conducted by the Mars Exploration Rovers on the surface of the Red Planet.
            Edward Guinness is a Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University. He has over 30 years of experience in studying Mars surface processes. He is part of the geology team that has controlled the activity of the two Mars rovers for the past six and a half years. An author or co-author of over 50 scientific articles, Dr. Guinness also works on many NASA planetary missions. He helps to generate the digital archives that make the data from spacecraft instruments available to scientists all over the world. Dr. Guinness resides in Webster Groves, MO.