Discovering the geological history of planets

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December 20, 2017

“The geological histories of individual planets and moons is the key to understanding the Solar System as a whole”, says Angelo Pio Rossi, Professor of Earth and Planetary Science at Jacobs University. Together with Prof. Dr. Stephan van Gasselt from National Chengchi University in Taiwan, the scientist provides a geoscientific overview of solid Solar System bodies and their evolution in a recently published book. Planetary research today is a strongly multidisciplinary endeavor with efforts coming from engineering and natural sciences. Key focal areas of study are the solid surfaces found in our Solar System. Some have a direct interaction with the interplanetary medium and others have dynamic atmospheres. The geological knowledge of those surfaces - and sub-surfaces - is a prerequisite to understand the Solar System as a whole as well as the planetary perspective of our own planet. The book, published by the scientific publishing house Springer, turns mainly to undergraduate students and readers with a basic knowledge in Geology. It is divided into four sections including Methods and tools, Processes and Sources, Integration and Geological Syntheses and Frontiers. The latter covers the far-reaching broad topics of exobiology, early life, extreme environments and planetary resources, including the potential for extraterrestrial resource exploitation. Prof. Rossi was recently involved in a project of the European Space Agency ESA. Together with other scientists, he supported ESA astronauts and engineers on Lanzarote providing training on geology and geophysics as part of the Pangea-X training program for space travelers. More information: https://www.jacobs-university.de/news/jacobs-universitys-researchers-train-astronauts  Book:Planetary Geology, edited by Angelo Pio Rossi and Stephan van Gasselt, Springer, ISBN 978-3-319-65177-4, 433 pages, 71,39 € (e-book), 90,94 € (Hardcover) Questions will be answered by:Dr. Angelo Pio Rossi | Professor of Earth and Planetary Science an.rossi [at] jacobs-university.de | Tel.: +49 421 200-3153