Christopher Edwards, assistant professor in NAU’s Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, just processed new images of the Martian moon Phobos that give scientists insight into the physical properties of the moon… Read more
In anticipation of sending humans to Mars by 2033, NASA scientists are searching for suitable locations to land on the Red Planet. Ideally, these potential landing sites would have high scientific value for exploration while offering natural resources to sustain human life.… Read more
Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Colonizing Mars as a backup planet for Earth has been a theme in both science fiction and popular science for decades, and NASA plans to send human explorers to the Red Planet within the next 20 years.
But how feasible is it for humans to explore or colonize Mars? With an average daily… Read more
Much research in the field of astrobiology—the study of life in the universe—focuses on the habitability of extraterrestrial environments in our solar system and beyond. NASA’s Planetary Science and Technology from Analog Research (PSTAR) program sponsors research exploring the Earth’s extreme environments to develop a sound basis for conducting astrobiological research on other solar system bodies. By identifying, exploring and characterizing terrestrial… Read more
NAU assistant professor of planetary science Christopher Edwards co-authored a paper recently published in Nature Geoscience that has generated interest among scientists in the field as well as in mainstream science news, such as Science Dailyand Outer Places.
The researchers analyzed remote-sensing data from two lunar missions and concluded that water appears to be evenly spread across the surface of the moon, not confined to a particular region or type of terrain as… Read more
There’s a buzz of extraterrestrial activity going on in Room 230 of the Physical Sciences Building at NAU. That’s where Christopher Edwards, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, just opened the new Mars Rover Operations and Analysis Laboratory, where faculty researchers and students will use sophisticated equipment to help command the day-to-day activities of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover (MSL) operating on the surface… Read more