ONE of the world’s leading planetary scientists presented lectures to both students and the public last week on discoveries made in the last 50 years.
Dr Paul Schenk, a staff scientist at the NASA Lunar and Planetary Institute, is an expert on the topography and geology of the icy satellites of the outer planets.
He spoke to GCSE and A-level students from the island’s five secondary schools at Ballakermeen High School’s studio theatre on Friday, before giving a public presentation, held in association with the Isle of Man Astronomical Society, at the Manx Museum, Douglas, that evening.
Speaking after he gave the students’ lecture, he said: ‘I tried to show the solar system and the universe is a wonderfully complex and diverse place and vastly more complex and diverse than we thought in 1962.’
That year, American space probe Mariner 2 was the first space probe to conduct a successful planetary encounter, passing within 22,000 miles of Venus on December 14, 1962.
Dr Schenk said that since then, it had been found that there are volcanoes ‘on all sorts of planets’, planets swapping places, and a ‘whole belt of objects’ beyond Neptune.
Dr Schenk also gave details of a planned mission to send a probe to Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, where research suggests there is enough oxygen to support life.
One of the proposals to explore Europa is to send a probe which, upon landing, will penetrate where the ice shell is weakest, in craters caused by impact from meteoric impacts.
One of the craters identified for potential landing and penetration is named Manannan.
He said that Europa had been given the theme Celtic gods.
When asked why it was important for students to learn about planetary science, Dr Schenk said: ‘The more you know about the universe around the better perspective you have of your place in it.’
He added: ‘The more diverse subjects you are exposed to, even briefly, it opens up possibilities you didn’t know about or even think about.
Ballakermeen High School student Andrew Paul, aged 17, said: ‘It was fascinating to see where we are with human progress in the solar system.
Fellow student Benjamin Chung, 16, said that it was a shame that the topic didn’t feature more on the curriculum.
Dr Schenk’s visit to the island was sponsored by ManSat.