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Melissa Rice
NASA Perseverance Rover Team Member and Professor of Planetary Science, Western Washington University
Dr. Melissa S. Rice is Professor of Planetary Science at Western Washington University, where she has held joint appointments in the Physics & Astronomy and Geology departments since 2014. Her research focuses on understanding the history of water on the surface of Mars and the planet's ancient habitability using laboratory reflectance spectroscopy, spacecraft remote sensing, and Mars rover data.
She has worked on NASA's Mars rover missions for over two decades, first as a collaborator on the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity; then as a Participating Scientist on the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover; and finally as a Mastcam-Z Co-Investigator and Long-Term Planner on the Mars-2020 Perseverance rover mission. She is also a science team collaborator for ESA's ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover.
Latest Articles
There is something about the Spirit Mars rover, something that tugs at our hearts. I finally figured it out: it's cute.
Latest Planetary Radio Appearances
Mat Kaplan attended a meeting of the science team for the zoom lens camera that will be atop the Mars 2020 rover mast. Planetary Scientist Jim Bell tells us how this new system will show us the Red Planet as we’ve never seen it before.
November 9 was Planetary Society founder Carl Sagan's birthday, so we gathered a few of his close friends and several young scientists he inspired in front of a live audience. They also helped us celebrate Planetary Radio's 10th anniversary!