Scientists and engineers at Purdue University focus on a future in the stars, with research stretching from what moondust can tell us about the history of the solar system to future exploration priorities on Mars and beyond.
The standard image of Antarctica is vast, featureless sheets of ice and blowing blizzards. But soaring rocky mountains with deep valleys cut like a knife into the continent of Antarctica, evoking the lavish landscapes of the American Southwest’s Monument Valley. Here, ancient rocks reach for the cold blue sky, and here is where Marissa Tremblay, assistant professor of earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences in Purdue University’s College of Science, led her team of science experts – all of whom happen to be women.
When the rover Perseverance landed on Mars, it was equipped with the first working microphone on the planet’s surface. Scientists have used it to make the first-ever audio recording of an extraterrestrial whirlwind.
Michelle Thompson is a geologist. But while “geo” means earth, she studies things that are decidedly unearthly, or at least extraterrestrial: the moon and asteroids.
What do spaceships, strawberries and vaccines have in common? More than you might think. The short answer is that Purdue University engineer Alina Alexeenko is tinkering with ways to make processes involved in each safer, faster and more effective.