Steven Squyres

Dr. Steven Squyres is Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University, and also the acclaimed principal investigator for the science payload on the Mars Exploration Rover Project. He is best known as the face and voice of NASA's mission to Mars and the pioneering drive across its surface by two high-tech robotic rovers named "Spirit" and "Opportunity."

Dr. Squyres' fascination and extraterrestrial expertise have recently garnered him immense national attention. His recent awards include the Benjamin Franklin Medal for Earth and Environmental Science, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Space Science Award, the American Astronautical Society Carl Sagan Memorial Award, and the National Space Society Wernher von Braun Memorial Award. He has also received Wired magazine's Rave Award for science, and was named by ABC News as a Person of the Week. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Squyres' work has focused on Mars and the moons of the outer planets. Research for which he is best known includes the study of water on Mars and of a possible ocean on Jupiter's moon Europa. Along with the Mars Exploration Rovers, he has participated in many of NASA's other planetary exploration missions, including the Voyager mission to Jupiter and Saturn, the Magellan mission to Venus, Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the Cassini mission to Saturn. He has written the book Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red Planet about his experiences. He has served as Chair of the NASA Space Science Advisory Committee, and as a member of the NASA Advisory Council.

Dr. Squyres received his PhD from Cornell in 1981 and spent five years as a postdoctoral associate and research scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center before returning to Cornell as a faculty member.