Postdoctoral Fellow, Rachel Harris (Girguis Lab) has been selected as one of 16 scientists to serve on the NASA-ESA (European Space Agency) Mars Sample Return Campaign Science Group.
The 16 scientists, from the U.S., Europe, Canada, and Japan, will function as a science resource for the campaign’s project teams as well as for related Earth-based ground projects, such as sample recovery and curation.
“These 16 individuals will be the standard-bearers for Mars Sample Return science,” said Michael Meyer, Mars Exploration Program lead scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “They will build the roadmap by which science for this historic endeavor is accomplished – including establishing the processes for sample-related decision-making and designing the procedures that will allow the worldwide scientific community to become involved with these first samples from another world.”
The team attended their first meeting June 28-29, 2022 at the Keck Institute for Space Studies.