Focus on Alumni

Researcher Spotlight: Devin Schrader

Jan. 1, 2021

Dr. Devin Schrader is the Interim Director of the ASU Center for Meteorite Studies (CMS) and an Associate Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE). His research focuses on the study of primitive meteorites that have remained relatively unaltered since they formed in the early Solar System ~4.5 billion years ago. He also works on samples returned from asteroids, including those returned from asteroid Itokawa by the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA), and is a collaborator on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission.

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Bringing Back Bennu

Dec. 14, 2020

The University of Arizona-led OSIRIS-REx mission accomplished a first for NASA when the mission spacecraft collected a sample from a near-Earth asteroid on Oct. 20. It descended to hover just above asteroid Bennu's surface, extended a sample collection arm that briefly touched the surface and collected a sample of the asteroid's rocky material.

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Jupiter's Moons Could be Warming Each Other

Sept. 10, 2020

The gravitational push and pull by Jupiter's moons could account for more warming than the gas giant Jupiter alone.

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The four largest moons of Jupiter in order of distance from Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto

Postdoc Success Stories: Drs. Ali Bramson and Michael Sori will be Assistant Professors at Purdue University!

Aug. 17, 2020

Dr. Michael Sori (Ph.D. in Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Dr. Ali Bramson (Ph.D. in Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona) are Postdoctoral Scholars in the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) at the University of Arizona. Both have recently accepted positions as Assistant Professors in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) at Purdue University.

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Dr. Michael Sori and Ali Bramson, Postdoctoral Scholars in the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the

A View From Earth - Dr. Margaret Landis

July 30, 2020

Dr. Margaret Landis is a post-doc at CU Boulder specializing in geology and icy bodies all over the Solar System. She has worked with spacecraft such as the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Dawn spacecraft that visited the dwarf planet Ceres, and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter at the moon. Her current work looking at the chemistry of ices on the moon could be essential in determining what sort of water reservoirs our future human explorers could access for drinking, farming, and fuel.

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Octocopter Set to Explore Titan, Saturn's Very Cool Moon

June 30, 2020

NASA is on a mission to explore Titan — the largest moon of Saturn. To do that, scientists are building a nuclear-powered, self-driving drone (technically an octocopter) called Dragonfly. Scheduled to launch in 2026 and arrive on Titan in 2034, Dragonfly could provide clues about how the building blocks of life started here on Earth.

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This illustration shows NASA's Dragonfly rotorcraft-lander approaching a site on Saturn's exotic moo

NASA's OSIRIS-REx Discovers Sunlight Can Crack Rocks on Asteroid Bennu

June 9, 2020

The spacecraft of the University of Arizona-led OSIRIS-REx mission has documented the first direct evidence of erosion driven by harsh temperatures between daytime and nighttime. Evidence of thermal fracturing on the asteroid can help scientists learn about the geologic history not only on Bennu, but on other planetary surfaces as well.

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Martian Ice Revealed: Dr. Ali Bramson

April 26, 2020

Dr. Ali Bramson, a planetary scientist with expertise in spacecraft remote sensing of ice on other worlds, discusses how to find ice on Mars.

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Dr. Ali Bramson, Postdoctoral Research Associate, UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory

Alumna Explores Existence of New Planet with Wittenberg Series’ Speaker

Sept. 24, 2019

Wittenberg graduate Kathryn Volk is boldly going where few others have gone before – to the Kuiper Belt along the far edges of the solar system in hopes of proving the existence of a few more planets.

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The Dusty Plains of Arcadia Planitia (podcast)

Sept. 23, 2019

SpaceX has been requesting HiRISE images from an area called Arcadia Planitia as potential landing sites for their Starship vehicle. Dr Ali Bramson, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Lab and expert on the region, joins Jake to talk about what’s going on there and why SpaceX might be interested.

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