Episode 165: Landing on Europa, with Cynthia Phillips
Feature Guest: Cynthia Phillips
In the 1970s, the Viking landers performed historic experiments aimed at detecting life in the Martian soil. The results were disappointing although to this day still not entirely conclusive. Now over 40 years later a new lander with a next generation set of life detection equipment is under assessment by NASA. This time the target is not the Red Planet, but the ocean moon Europa, which has emerged as a prime candidate in the search for life in the solar system. Today we’re joined here at The Star Spot by Cynthia Phillips, Deputy Project Scientist for the Europa Lander mission concept, who tantalizes us with dreams of flying through plumes and digging into an icy crust.
Current in Space
About Our Guest
Cynthia Phillips is Planetary Geologist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a scientist with the SETI League and she also works at the Center for the Study of Life in the Universe. She received her B.A. in astronomy, astrophysics, and physics at Harvard University, and earned her Ph.D. in planetary science, with a minor in geosciences, from the University of Arizona. Dr. Phillips is the co-author of several books, including The Everything Astronomy Book and Understanding Astronomy.
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