We humans must understand our own place in the solar system and explore neighboring worlds to prosper intellectually and economically. In Planetology: Unlocking the Secrets of the Solar System, Tom Jones, planetary scientist and four-time shuttle astronaut, joins forces with noted planetary geologist Ellen Stofan to convey exciting new insights into the stories of Earth and its celestial siblings. The pair will present compelling new images of Earth and remarkable scenes of alien surfaces beamed home by astronauts and our far-ranging robotic probes. From space, we see remarkable visual evidence of the natural processes that have shaped the varied planetary landscapes in our solar system: searing lava plains, windswept deserts, active volcanoes, up-thrust mountains, creeping glaciers, and stark impact craters. Ranging from the international fleet of spacecraft on and around Mars, to the Cassini Saturn mission, to the once-hidden surface of Mercury, these striking images help us understand the powerful forces that have shaped our own planet and inform humanity’s age-old quest for other worlds like our own. Copies of Planetology will be available for purchase and signature by the authors.
Thomas D. Jones is a scientist, author, pilot, and former NASA astronaut. In more than 11 years with NASA, Dr. Jones flew on four space shuttle missions to Earth orbit. On his last flight, he led three spacewalks to install the centerpiece of the International Space Station, the American Destiny laboratory. He received a B.S. in basic sciences from the United States Air Force Academy and a Ph.D. in planetary science from the University of Arizona, where his research interests included the remote sensing of asteroids, meteorite spectroscopy, and applications of space resources. Dr. Jones is a member of the NASA Advisory Council and active in the debate over our nation’s future space exploration policy.
Ellen Stofan is a Senior Research Scientist at Proxemy Research and an Honorary Professor of Earth Sciences at University College London. She conducts research on the geology of volcanic and tectonic features on Venus, Mars, Titan and Earth. While an employee of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (1989-2000), she was the Chief Scientist on NASA's New Millennium Program, the Deputy Project Scientist on the Magellan Mission to Venus, and the Experiment Scientist on SIR-C, an instrument which provided radar images of the Earth on two shuttle flights in April and October of 1994. Dr. Stofan is currently a Co-Investigator on the MARSIS sounding radar on the ESA Mars Express Mission, and an associate member of the Cassini Radar Team.
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