Φ Β Κ News & Events

Upcoming Events: Initiation April 29, 2012, Great Hall, Memorial Union, 3PM

 

Past Event: Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Lecture

Peter Smith

The Next Phase of Martian Exploration: The Search for Life

Thursday, 10 Feb 2011 at 8:00 pm

Great Hall, Memorial Union

Peter Smith is a professor at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and was responsible for the $420 million Phoenix Mars Mission, part of NASA's search for elements of life in our solar system. During the five months of operations, the probe conducted science experiments and relayed more than 25,000 pictures of the Red Planet. Smith has participated in many of NASA’s space missions, beginning with the Pioneer Venus mission and later the Pioneer Saturn project. His association with Mars began in 1993 when NASA accepted his camera proposal for the Pathfinder mission. In 1997 the camera returned images from the Martian surface and monitored the forays of the Sojourner Rover. Smith is a recent recipient of the American Geographical Society’s prestigious Cullum Geographical Medal and is the first Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Chair in Integrative Science at the University of Arizona.