Peter Smith (scientist)

Infobox Scientist
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name = Peter Smith

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residence = United States
citizenship = American
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fields = Physics
workplaces = University of Arizona, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
alma_mater = University of California, Berkeley
University of Arizona
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known_for = Principal Investigator of Phoenix project
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Peter H. Smith is a Senior Research Scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona, where he holds the inaugural Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Chair in Integrative Science [cite web|url=http://uanews.org/node/19742|publisher=University of Arizona|title=Peter Smith Named Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Chair in Integrative Science|author=University Communications (University of Arizona)|date=2008-05-15] . He is also the principal investigator for the $420 million robotic explorer Phoenix which landed at the north pole of the planet Mars on May 25, 2008.

Education

Smith received his bachelor's degree in physics in 1969 from the University of California, Berkeley and his master's degree from the University of Arizona Optical Sciences Center in 1977. [cite web|url=http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/smithPeter.php|title=Peter Smith|publisher=University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory] Since 1978, he has worked at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, initially as a Research Assistant up to his present position as a Senior Research Scientist.

Space exploration missions

Smith worked on the Pioneer Venus mission of 1978 and the Pioneer Saturn mission of 1979, mapped the surface of Saturn's largest moon Titan using the Hubble Space Telescope in 1994, and became Project Manager for a descent camera on the Huygens probe that landed on Titan in 2005.

Smith designed the cameras for Sojourner Rover of the Mars Pathfinder mission, the ill-fated Mars Polar Lander, and the subsequently cancelled Mars Surveyor Lander. He helped to build the microscope for the ill-fated Beagle 2, and managed the building of the 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE camera. He serves on the science team for the Mars Exploration Rovers which landed in January 2004.

Smith's proposal for the Phoenix project was selected in 2003 as the first Scout mission to Mars. He is responsible for all aspects of the $420 million mission.

References

External links

* [http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/ Lunar and Planetary Laboratory]
* [http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/ Phoenix Mars Mission]

"This article was originally based on material from the [http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/smithPeter.php Phoenix project page] , which is licensed under the GFDL."