Courtney Dressing

Student Astronaut, The Planetary Society's Red Rover Goes to Mars project

Courtney Dressing is a graduate student in the Astronomy Department at Harvard University. She is working with David Charbonneau to investigate the occurrence of small planets around cool stars using the February 2011 Kepler data release. She obtained her bachelor's degree in Astrophysical Sciences from Princeton University in June 2010 and her master's degree in Astronomy and Astrophysics from Harvard University in 2012.

In 2004, Dressing participated in The Planetary Society's Student Astronaut program as one of 16 high school students selected through a worldwide competition to work inside Mars Exploration Rover mission operations. Dressing was present for the landing of the Spirit rover on Mars.

Courtney Dressing's personal website >

Latest Planetary Radio Appearances

A Recipe for a Small Planet

Astronomer and planetary scientist Courtney Dressing is the lead author of research that may have found the formula for the mass and composition of Earth-like planets. She reveals the ingredients and why she spent time at JPL while in high school.