Guest speaker Randii R. Wessen, Ph.D., from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will present 'The Future of U.S. Robotic Planetary Exploration' this Friday, March 1. 

Topic

As the millennium closed, so did the era of large planetary spacecraft that were launched once per decade. Future robotic spacecraft will have a wide range of capabilities, diverse mission objectives, and be launched almost one per year. Among the many types of missions, some will be the landers and sample return missions of tomorrow.  To meet these bold endeavors, these ambassadors from Earth will require advanced mission concepts, new operational approaches, as well as technologies that have yet to be developed.

To organize this effort, the United States robotic planetary exploration program has been divided into the following themes:

1. Earth
2. Mars
3. Solar System
4. Universe

This presentation will describe each of these areas, the major missions currently in operations, and those being planned. It will also have a special emphasis on the quest for extra-solar planets and the search for life in the cosmos.

As the millennium closed, so did the era of large planetary spacecraft that were launched once per decade.

Speaker Biography

Wessen has been an employee of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) since 1984. He is currently the project manager of the Science Understanding through Data Science (SUDS) effort, the proposal manager for a billion dollar X-Ray Telescope (HEX-P), and the Lead Study Architect for JPL’s Innovation Foundry’s A-Team. Prior to this, Dr. Wessen has worked with several mission and program areas at JPL including as system engineer in the Astrophysics Division, telecommunications and mission systems manager in the Deep Space Network serving Mars missions, manager of the Cassini Science Planning & Operations, the Galileo deputy sequence team chief, and the Voyager science sequence coordinator for the Uranus and Neptune encounters.

Wessen received his Bachelors of Science in both physics and astronomy from Stony Brook University, a Masters of Science in astronautics from the University of Southern California, and a Doctorate in operations research from the University of South Wales, United Kingdom. He co-authored the books “Neptune: The Planet, Rings and Satellites” and “Planetary Ring Systems.”  He was the recipient of NASA's Exceptional Service Medal for his contributions to the Voyager 2 Neptune Encounter and has eleven NASA Group Achievement Awards. Wessen is also a fellow of both the Royal Astronomical Society and the British Interplanetary Society and an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics. Asteroid 31664 (Randiiwessen) is named in his honor.

Event Details

Event location - Engineering & Industry Building (EIB) 2nd Floor Solarium
Event date - March 1, 2024
Event start time - 4:30 p.m.
Event end time - 6 p.m.

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