LPL Will Lead Mission to Discover Potentially Dangerous Asteroids

NASA has tasked LPL Professor Amy Mainzer, an expert in infrared astronomy, with delivering NEO Surveyor, a mission to find, track and characterize yet unseen asteroids and comets that may pose a threat to Earth.

Coronavirus Information

Until further notice, the University of Arizona, in accordance with the guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages all employees to work remotely. Our offices in the Kuiper, Sonett, and Drake Buildings are closed to the public, but you can reach the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Monday–Friday 8am-5pm, at 520-621-6963.

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Coronavirus Info/Resources for Graduate Students

University Coronavirus Updates

Recent explosive volcanic deposit around a fissure of the Cerberus Fossae system. NASA/JPL/MSSS/The Murray Lab

Volcanoes on Mars Could be Active, Raising Possibility that the Planet was Recently Habitable

New observations reveal that Mars could still be volcanically active, raising the possibility for habitable conditions below the surface of Mars in recent history.

Christopher Hamilton launches a drone during flight tests in the Holuhraun, Iceland lava flow field. RAVEN builds upon recent developments in drone technology – such as NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, accompanying the Mars 2020 rover “Perseverance.”

Iceland: The Wildcat Testing Ground

UArizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory programs are influenced by early Apollo missions and Gerard Kuiper’s approach to teaching. He took his students on field trips to places on Earth that he felt were representative of what students might see on the moon or in the solar system.

Bennu in the Sky, on the Canvas and (Soon) in Zoe Zeszut's Hands

Zoe Zeszut painted mythological birds perched on the Bennu features that carry their names.

Upcoming Events

Saturday, May 15, 2021 to Sunday, August 15, 2021

August 14-21: 84th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society

Statement on Diversity

Science can succeed only if there is diversity—diversity of ideas, of perspectives, and of individuals. We at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) value diversity in all of its forms. LPL strives to address inherent problems that exist within planetary science, and academia in general. LPL is at the forefront of planetary and space sciences, and as such must stand as an ally to and in solidarity with its community members regardless of race, national origin, immigration status, ethnicity, sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, intellectual and physical ability, income, faith and non-faith perspectives, socio-economic class, political ideology, education, primary language, family status, military experience, cognitive style, and communication style, and with all people who intersect these groups. We strongly believe that the science and knowledge we pursue every day is a human pursuit strengthened through the participation of these historically minoritized groups.

For more information on the DLC and its members, visit the Department Life Committee page.

Research Focus Areas

Pursuing interdisciplinary research spanning the breadth and depth of planetary science.

Exoplanets

Understanding how planets form and evolve and how life emerged on Earth are among the most fundamental questions in planetary...

Small Bodies

LPL scientists study asteroids, comets, and meteorites using groundbased observations, spacecraft missions, and modeling techniques.

Earth

Collecting information about Earth from space provides new information about how Earth systems work, how they are changing, and how humans might anticipate and respond to changes.

Lunar Studies

Lunar research was one of the hallmarks of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in its first decade (the 1960s) as...

Spacecraft Missions and Instrumentation

Exploring the Universe as investigators on spacecraft mission and instrumentation teams.

OSIRIS-REx

LPL is home to the OSIRIS-REx mission, which made history for NASA when it tagged the surface of asteroid Bennu for 4.7 seconds, triggering a flush of nitrogen gas and collecting the largest sample of extraterrestrial material since the Apollo moon landings.

HiRISE (MRO)

HiRISE, the high resolution imaging science experiment onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, is the most powerful camera ever sent to another planet.

MMX

The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission is in development by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. MMX will visit the two Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, land on the surface of Phobos, and collect a surface sample.

NEO Surveyor

The Near-Earth Object Surveyor Mission, formerly called Near-Earth Object Camera (NEOCam), is a planned space-based infrared telescope designed to survey the Solar System for potentially hazardous asteroids.