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The NASA New Horizons missions, launched in 2006, successfully flew past Pluto in 2015 and then had an equally exciting encounter with the Kuiper Belt Object Ultima Thule in January of this year. Dr Mohamed Ramy El-Maarry from Birkbeck’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences was planning to spend the New Year in Maryland, USA, as a science team collaborator, undertaking data analysis from this close flyby. He will talk about the results received so far from the most distant object that we have ever visited as well as discussing other non-planetary members of our solar system.
Dr El-Maarry graduated from Cairo University with a Bachelor’s degree in Geology and Chemistry and subsequently studied for a PhD in Planetary Science at Göttingen University in Germany. His research interests were initially focused on Mars, but have recently extended to small bodies, particularly comets. During his post-doc career, he has initiated numerous collaborations spanning many European countries, the United States, and Australia. He is currently a Co-Investigator for a camera on board the Mars Trace Gas Orbiter, as well as a member of the science teams for cameras on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and also on Rosetta.