event
Wednesday 22 Nov 2017: [Seminar] Extra-terrestrial fieldwork; adventures of an Earth-bound astronaut.
Dr. Natasha Stephen - University of Plymouth
Physics 4th Floor 14:00-15:00
Humans have been looking up the skies for millennia, and physically exploring the Solar System around us for decades. Despite this, and only 45 years since humans last walked on the Moon, we haven’t yet set foot on another planetary body. Our own moon is the only place in the Solar System other than Earth that a geologist has bent down and examined the rocks beneath their feet; something that most take for granted. Instead, we employ a range of robots and satellites to explore planets, moons, comets and asteroids, or rely on natural processes to deliver us pieces of these distance worlds, and use a range of complimentary and often complex techniques to try to unravel their stories.
This talk will explore the geology, and therefore the history, of our Solar System, using both real samples and mission data to build a picture of what extra-terrestrial fieldwork has already achieved, and what future expeditions might also discover.
