ENHG Lecture March 8: Why explore Mars? With Dr. Dimitra Atri

++Kindly note that this lecture will take place over Zoom. It will start at 7:30, however you are welcome to sign in as of 7:00 for an informal chat with fellow members from around the Emirates. A link will be sent out prior to the lecture. We look forward to welcoming you!++

About the Talk: February 9, 2021 has gone down in history as the day the UAE’s first interplanetary mission – and the first from the Arab world – succeeded, when the Hope probe entered the Martian orbit. With a spectacular launch on July 20 from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan, it took 204 days to cover the 493 million km journey to reach the orbit of Mars. For a country founded only in 1971 and with a relatively small population of 10 million, it is an extraordinary achievement. Dr. Atri will share his views of the significance of this achievement and the scientific benefits of Mars exploration. He will then discuss plans of establishing a human presence on Mars by spacefaring nations, and their implications for environmental sustainability on Earth.

About the Speaker: Dimitra Atri is an Astrophysicist at the NYU Abu Dhabi Center for Space Science, where he leads the Mars Research Group along with Prof. K.R. Sreenivasan. The overarching theme of his research is investigating the astrophysical conditions that are responsible for carving out habitable conditions on planets in the Solar system (especially Mars) and beyond (extra-solar planets or exoplanets). Using a combination of space mission data and numerical models, he studies how solar and stellar activity impacts planets around them and their potential to host life. Our planetary neighbor, Mars was very Earth-like in the past with, abundant liquid water on its surface, and could have hosted life. He is investigating how Mars lost most of its atmosphere and water, whether ancient Mars hosted life, and if there is life below the surface of the planet. He is using NASA’s MAVEN mission and plans to use UAE’s Hope mission data to answer the former, and NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance data to answer the latter questions.  He is also interested in human space exploration, and is investigating how radiation in outer space impacts astronauts in long-term space missions, especially for future crewed missions to Mars, and developing strategies  to sustainably explore the Moon and Mars in the coming decades. Before working at NYU Abu Dhabi, he was a Research Scientist at the Blue Marble Space Institute in Seattle (USA) and a Visiting Scientist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai (India). He earned his PhD in Physics from the University of Kansas (USA). He is a lead author of numerous publications in international peer-reviewed scientific journals. He regularly serves on committees of NASA and NSF, and referees for major astrophysics, planetary science, and astrobiology journals.