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Wesley T Huntress - Roving the Solar System: Looking for Signs of Life

538 views · Published 9 January 2013 · 57:26 · Indexed 10 October 2026

Channel: TheIHMC · 2013 · Science & Technology

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One of the most profound questions humans ask is if they are alone in the universe. Does life also exist on planets far, far away? Pursuit of the answer to this question has been one of the driving forces behind our scientific exploration of the Solar System since the dawn of the Space Age. NASA has sent multiple spacecraft to many far- flung destinations looking for signs of life in such places as Mars, Europa, Titan and Enceladus. We'll marvel at how NASA does this and what they have found so far.

Dr. Wesley T. Huntress, Jr., is currently Chair of NASA's Science Advisory Committee and director Emeritus at the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, a privately endowed scientific research institution.

After receiving his bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from brown University in 1964 and his Ph.d. in Chemical Physics from Stanford University in 1968, dr. Huntress began his career at Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as an astro-chemist specializing in chemical processes in the interstellar medium, comets and planetary atmospheres.

In 1988 dr. Huntress moved to NASA Headquarters in Washington, dC, first as Assistant to the director of the Earth Science and Applications division, then in 1990 became director of the Solar System Exploration division. In 1993 he became Associate Administrator for Space Science where he was responsible for NASA's robotic science missions to observe the universe and to explore the solar system.

In 1998 dr. Huntress moved to the Geophysical Laboratory where he was director until July 2007, finally retiring in October 2008. He continues today as a spokesman and strategist for the scientific exploration of space.

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