LPL's Professor Lynn Carter and team developed SESAR-LITE, a radar instrument designed to search for water ice and map lunar subsurface terrain, which has completed critical thermal vacuum and preliminary antenna testing. research.arizona.edu/news/prototy...

Kudos to LPL grad students Namya Baijal and Ruby Fulford!

Please join us in congratulating Lucas Smith, who today successfully defended his Ph.D. Dissertation, Preservation of Presolar Materials and Igneous Clasts in Aqueously Altered Carbonaceous Asteroids. Congratulations, Lucas! 📸: Lucas is pictured with his PhD advisor, Dr. Pierre Haenecour

Please join us in congratulating Maizey Benner, who today successfully defended her Ph.D. Dissertation, A Transmission Electron Microscopy Investigation of Phosphorus- and Sulfur-bearing Mineral Formation in Primitive Planetary Materials. 📸: Maizey is pictured with her Ph.D. advisor, Dr. Tom Zega

Great news! @uarizona.bsky.social ranked #3 in space sciences globally according to the latest report from US News and World report! This ranking includes both LPL and @stewardobservatory.bsky.social. news.arizona.edu/news/u-space...

Kudos to LPL alums Michelle Thompson and James Keane who received their PECASE awards yesterday! More info about this honor is here: www.nasa.gov/organization...

Space Drafts #117 is on May 20 @ 7:30PM at Zerai's International Bar! On tap this month we have @jenivevep.bsky.social telling us about the hunt for infant black holes and @zarahwithaz.bsky.social telling us about Saturn's Rings! If you can't make it in person we are online at bit.ly/SpaceDrafts117.

Please join us in congratulating Kiana McFadden, who today successfully defended her Ph.D. Dissertation, Thermal Modeling of Main Belt and Mars-Crossing Asteroids: Improved Constraints on Physical Properties from Extended WISE/NEOWISE Observations. Congratulations, Kiana!

Please join us in congratulating Kana Ishimaru, who today successfully defended her Ph.D. Dissertation, Probing the Alteration Histories of Primitive Carbonaceous Materials from the Asteroid to the Atomic Scale. 📸: Kana is pictured with her Ph.D. advisor, Dr. Jessica Barnes.

Congrats to all! LPL is proud of our alums! More information about the DPS prize winners can be found here: dps.aas.org/news/aas-div...

Kudos to Kayla!

Congratulations, 2026 Galileo Scholars!

Congratulations, Lucas! 🥳

A research team at LPL demonstrated that ground-penetrating radar mounted on drones can map the thickness of rocky debris covering glaciers on Earth. These results could help future astronauts locate accessible water locked in buried ice on Mars. news.arizona.edu/news/drone-r...

Kudos to LPL graduate student Cole Meyer! 🎉

Kudos to Dingshan!

Congratulations, Beau and Jeremy!

Remembering LPL alum Betty Pierazzo.

Space Drafts #116 is Wed April 15 @ 7:30 PM at Zerai's Intl Bar! We have a talk from LPL grad students Cole Meyer decoding the colors of space, and Ruby Fulford exploring Mars' early evolution. If you can't make it in person, we will be online at bit.ly/SpaceDrafts116.

In one of the biggest surprises of NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, its target asteroid, Bennu, turned out to be a jagged, rugged world covered in large boulders, with few of the smooth patches that earlier observations from Earth-based instruments had indicated. news.arizona.edu/news/asteroi...

Astronomers continue to puzzle over asteroid 16 Psyche's formation. LPL grad student Namya Baijal and team have predictions to help interpret the data from NASA's Psyche mission when it arrives in 2029. The predictions may help settle the mystery of Psyche's makeup. news.arizona.edu/news/large-c...

The biggest planet in our solar system is a little bit smaller and a little bit flatter than we thought. A new study involving LPL Professor Emeritus William Hubbard updates our understanding of the shape of Jupiter. lpl.arizona.edu/news/2026/ju...

More information about Dr. Fink's life and work is shared here: lpl.arizona.edu/about/memori...

Galaxy Slam takes place February 14-21 and features LPL Associate Professors Kris Klein and Ty Robinson! www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhxf...

Kudos to LPL's Head and Director, Dr. Mark Marley, for being awarded the 2026 Lecar Prize! science.arizona.edu/news/lunar-p...

Using data collected by NASA's Parker Solar Probe during its closest approach to the sun, LPL Associate Professor Kris Klein and his research team measured the dynamics and ever-changing "shell" of hot gas from where the solar wind originates. news.arizona.edu/news/kissing...

Lead by LPL Professor Daniel Apai and his team, the Pandora satellite will provide in-depth study of at least 20 known planets orbiting distant stars to determine the composition of their atmospheres – especially the presence of hazes, clouds and water. news.arizona.edu/news/pandora...

Good luck to LPL's Professor Daniel Apai and his team leading the Pandora mission! The mission launches this Sunday, January 11 at 6:19am Tucson time. Launch coverage details can be found at the link below. www.spacex.com/launches/twi...

While nature's resilience to natural disasters has long been recognized, not much is known about how organisms colonize brand-new habitats for the first time. A new study led by LPL scientists provides glimpses into a poorly understood process. news.arizona.edu/news/life-la...

Kudos to @uahirise.bsky.social for taking its 100,000th image! www.nasa.gov/missions/mar...

Congratulations to Nathan Hadland, who successfully defended his Ph.D. Dissertation, Evaluating the Habitability of Basaltic Volcanic Environments in Iceland as an Analog for Potential Life on Mars. Nathan is with his advisors, Dr. Solange Duhamel and Dr. Christopher Hamilton.

Of the seven Earth-sized worlds orbiting the red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, one planet in particular has attracted the attention of scientists, including LPL Assistant Professor Sukrit Ranjan. news.arizona.edu/news/new-loo...

Thank you Senator Mark Kelly for supporting NASA projects, including the LPL-led OSIRIS-REx mission!

The OSIRIS-APEX (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Apophis Explorer) spacecraft swung by Earth within 2,136 miles before heading into deep space for another trip around the sun. news.arizona.edu/news/osiris-...

LPLs HiRISE camera gets a close look at comet from interstellar space. news.arizona.edu/news/u-mars-...

Congratulations to the LPL's HiRISE team for successfully imaging interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS!

TONIGHT! Don't miss the last LPL Evening Lecture of 2025!

Space Drafts #111 is 7:30p this Wed. @ Zerai's Intl Bar (2725 E Broadway Blvd, Tucson, AZ)! We have UA grad students Anna Taylor, on how exoplanets lose their atmospheres, and Maria Mutz, on why neutron stars are so cool! If you can't make it in person we are also streaming at bit.ly/SpaceDrafts111.

One week from tonight don't miss Dr. Solange Duhamel speak at the last LPL Evening Lecture of the semester.

Join us for the last LPL Evening Lecture of 2025! Dr. Solange Duhamel is speaking on Wednesday, November 19 at 7:00pm at the Kuiper Space Sciences building in Tucson or you can register to join online. www.lpl.arizona.edu/calendar/eve...

TONIGHT! Don't miss this LPL Evening Lecture featuring a talk by Dr. Jack Holt!

Only one week left until the next LPL Evening Lecture! Make sure it's on your calendar! More info: www.lpl.arizona.edu/events/lpl-e...

When astronauts land near the moon's south pole as part of NASA's Artemis program, they likely will find themselves in an unexpected treasure trove of clues that could help scientists better understand how Earth's only natural satellite came to be. news.arizona.edu/news/moons-b...

Make sure the next LPL Evening Lecture is on your calendar! On October 22, Dr. Jack Holt will present "Studying Earth's Glaciers to Unlock Martian Mysteries." We encourage in-person attendees to come early to see special exhibits! www.lpl.arizona.edu/events/lpl-e...

Kudos to LPL Assistant Professor DellaGiustina! 🎉 More information about this honor can be found here: aas.org/press/aas-na...

TONIGHT! Stop by to listen to Dr. Christopher Hamilton's evening lecture. Guests can come early to see some special exhibits as well!

There's only one week until the first 2025 LPL Evening Lecture with Dr. Christopher Hamilton! We encourage in-person attendees to come early to see special exhibits!

The application to join the LPL Planetary Sciences PhD program is now open! Visit lpl.arizona.edu/admissions for more information.

Asteroid Bennu – the target of NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, led by LPL – is a mixture of materials from throughout, and beyond, our solar system. Over billions of years, its uniquely varied contents have been transformed by water and the space environment. news.arizona.edu/news/asteroi...

Dr. Hamilton is the first in our "Space on Earth" LPL Evening Lectures for Fall 2025! Come listen to Dr. Hamilton speak on "Mars on Earth: Testing Tomorrow's Mars Missions in Iceland." More information can be found here: www.lpl.arizona.edu/calendar/eve...