Phil Christensen

Phil Christensen

photo courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech (2005)
Born 1953
Utah
Nationality United States
Fields Planetary geology
Institutions Arizona State University
Alma mater University of California, Los Angeles

Philip Russel Christensen is a geologist whose research interests focus on the composition, physical properties, processes, and morphology of planetary surfaces, with an emphasis on Mars and the Earth. He is currently a Regents' Professor and the Ed and Helen Korrick Professor of Geological Sciences at Arizona State University (ASU).

Education

Christensen earned his B.S. degree in Geology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1976. He earned his M.S. in 1978 and his Ph.D. in 1981 in Geophysics and Space physics, both from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Career

Along with serving on the faculty of the Department of Geology at Arizona State University since 1981, Christensen is the principal investigator for the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) and the Mars Odyssey THEMIS instruments, as well as a co-investigator for the Mars Exploration Rovers, responsible for the Mini-TES instruments. He also serves on the research staff of the Center for Meteorite Studies museum on the ASU campus and is the director of the Mars Space Flight Facility.

His discovery (based on Thermal Emission Spectrometer data) of crystalline hematite in Meridiani Planum was instrumental in that area's choice as the landing site for the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.

Awards and honors

Dr. Christensen was awarded the Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal by NASA in 2003, and was elected as a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 2004. In September, 2009, he served as chair of the Mars Panel of the National Research Council's 2013-2022 Decadal survey [1] on planetary science. In 2014, Asteroid (90388) Philchristensen was named for Dr. Christensen.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Space scientists meet at ASU to plan Mars exploration | ASU Now: Access, Excellence, Impact". Asunews.asu.edu. 2009-09-04. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
  2. ↑ "Asteroids named for 2 ASU professors". 3TV. Phoenix, Arizona. March 11, 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
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