The majority of asteroids in our solar system are found in the Main Asteroid Belt, which is located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Although millions of objects populate the belt, most are relatively small, and astronomers have not actually studied many of them in detail.
NAU assistant professor Cristina Thomas, whose research focuses on asteroids, recently received two grants from NASA to study two… Read more
Three Ph.D. students in Northern Arizona University’s Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science have been awarded grants through the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) program. The funding—up to $135,000 total per student for up to three years—supports graduate student-designed research projects that help further NASA’s Science Mission Directorate interests in Earth sciences, heliophysics, planetary science and astrophysics.
Anthony… Read more
A veteran of multiple NASA missions to Mars, Northern Arizona University planetary scientist Christopher Edwards will closely watch the launch of a… Read more
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