Title: Mars, the Search for Origins.

Abstract:

Mars shared an early history not dissimilar to Earth, and so the origin of life there is considered plausible. This talk looks at the history of our engagement with Mars; and examines the present day multi-decadal robotic exploration campaign to characterise the planet and what it has to reveal about life origins processes.

The reasoning for exploring the planet are considered, and the resulting scientific priorities, mission and instrument characteristics outlined. Finally, key results to date are presented, what they reveal about the planet and how they will shape the next missions there.



Biography:

Kevin Nolan is a lecturer in physics at TU Dublin, Tallaght campus. Having returned to academia from industry, Kevin is also working on a part-time PhD under Dr. Niall Smith, Head of Research at CIT. The project originally involved developing a software pipeline for the ESA Integral / OMC camera in association with Prof. Lorraine Hanlon, UCD; and now involves the data analysis of AGN photometric data derived from the mission.

Kevin is also involved in science outreach and has been a Volunteer for The Planetary Society (founder Carl Sagan) since 1998. In 2008 Kevin had a popular science book published titled “Mars, a Cosmic Stepping Stone” examining the motivations for the robotic exploration of the planet Mars. Kevin also makes frequent contributions to Astronomy Ireland magazine, The Irish Times and RTE in the areas of space science and exploration.