Harold C. Connolly Jr. on Bringing an Asteroid Sample Back to Earth
11/28/20 • 25 min
There are some things we just cannot learn about other bodies in the solar system without actually having our hands on a sample of the body and analyzing it on Earth using the battery of techniques that have been refined for the analysis of terrestrial rocks. Harold C. Connolly Jr. is Professor and Founding Chair at the Department of Geology at Rowan University. He investigates the origin of the very oldest planetary materials from which the Earth was made. Asteroids are a good place to look for such materials, and, to that end, he is Mission Sample Scientist for OSIRIS-REx, a NASA asteroid sample return mission, as well as a member of the Japanese asteroid sample return mission called Hayabusa 2. He explains how the sample was captured, and what we hope to learn from analyzing it back on Earth.
Go to geologybites.com for illustrations relating to the podcast and to learn more about Geology Bites.
There are some things we just cannot learn about other bodies in the solar system without actually having our hands on a sample of the body and analyzing it on Earth using the battery of techniques that have been refined for the analysis of terrestrial rocks. Harold C. Connolly Jr. is Professor and Founding Chair at the Department of Geology at Rowan University. He investigates the origin of the very oldest planetary materials from which the Earth was made. Asteroids are a good place to look for such materials, and, to that end, he is Mission Sample Scientist for OSIRIS-REx, a NASA asteroid sample return mission, as well as a member of the Japanese asteroid sample return mission called Hayabusa 2. He explains how the sample was captured, and what we hope to learn from analyzing it back on Earth.
Go to geologybites.com for illustrations relating to the podcast and to learn more about Geology Bites.
Previous Episode
Laurent Jolivet on the Origin of the Mediterranean
Laurent Jolivet is an expert on the dynamics of tectonic plates and the mantle and is a Professor at the Institute of Earth Sciences at the Sorbonne University. He combines satellite measurements, seismic tomography, field observations, and computer modeling to reconstruct plate motions, even in some of the most complicated parts of the world. Here he unravels the tangled evolution of the Mediterranean.
Visit geologybites.com to see maps and animations of the Mediterranean's geological history and of the processes discussed in the podcast.
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David Rothery on Volcanism in the Solar System
David Rothery investigates volcanism on Earth and elsewhere in the Solar System using remote-sensing Earth-orbiting satellites and space probes. Mercury is his present focus, and he is lead co-investigator for geology on the X-ray spectrometer aboard BepiColombo, an ESA mission currently on its way to Mercury. He describes some intriguing puzzles about Mercury that he hopes BepiColombo will resolve, as well as a type of volcanism occurring on some icy bodies in the outer solar system called cryovolcanism.
Go to geologybites.com for illustrations supporting this podcast and to learn more about Geology Bites.
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