Philip Christensen

About

Philip R. Christensen is a Regents Professor and the Ed and Helen Korrick Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University. As a geologist and geophysicist, his research interests focus on the composition, processes, and physical properties of Mars, the Earth, and other planetary surfaces. He uses spectroscopy, radiometry, field observations, and numerical modeling to study the geology and history of planets and moons. Much of his work has involved studying Mars, but his interests also include the Moon, the outer planet satellites, and the Earth. Over the past decade, he has studied urban environments and growth worldwide using satellite data. He has built five science instruments that have flown on NASA missions to Mars, including the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera on Mars Odyssey, the Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES) instruments on the Mars Exploration Rovers, and the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) on Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Observer. His contributions to planetary science have been recognized with awards such as NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 2003, NASA’s Public Service Medal in 2005, and the G.K. Gilbert Award of the Geological Society of America in 2008. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. His research interests encompass the composition, physical properties, and processes of planetary surfaces, utilizing spectroscopy, radiometry, laboratory measurements,…

Research topics

• Physics
• Astrobiology
• Computer Science
• Geology
• Astronomy
• Mineralogy
• Aerospace engineering
• Engineering
• Remote sensing
• Geography

Selected publications

• Asteroid (101955) Bennu’s weak boulders and thermally anomalous equator

  Science Advances · 2020 · 136 citations

  Thermal inertia and surface roughness are proxies for the physical characteristics of planetary surfaces. Global maps of these two properties distinguish the boulder population on near-Earth asteroid (NEA) (101955) Bennu into two types that differ in strength, and both have lower thermal inertia than expected for boulders and meteorites. Neither has strongly temperature-dependent thermal properties. The weaker boulder type probably would not survive atmospheric entry and thus may not be represen…

  DOI

• Lucy Mission to the Trojan Asteroids: Science Goals

  The Planetary Science Journal · 2021 · 129 citations

  Abstract The Lucy Mission is a NASA Discovery-class mission to send a highly capable and robust spacecraft to investigate seven primitive bodies near both the L 4 and L 5 Lagrange points with Jupiter: the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. These planetesimals from the outer planetary system have been preserved since early in solar system history. The Lucy mission will fly by and extensively study a diverse selection of Trojan asteroids, including all the recognized taxonomic classes, a collisional family…

  DOI

• Spacecraft sample collection and subsurface excavation of asteroid (101955) Bennu

  Science · 2022 · 105 citations

  Carbonaceous asteroids, such as (101955) Bennu, preserve material from the early Solar System, including volatile compounds and organic molecules. We report spacecraft imaging and spectral data collected during and after retrieval of a sample from Bennu's surface. The sampling event mobilized rocks and dust into a debris plume, excavating a 9-meter-long elliptical crater. This exposed material is darker, spectrally redder, and more abundant in fine particulates than the original surface. The bul…

  DOI

• Science Overview of the Europa Clipper Mission

  Space Science Reviews · 2024-05-23 · 83 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract The goal of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission is to assess the habitability of Jupiter’s moon Europa. After entering Jupiter orbit in 2030, the flight system will collect science data while flying past Europa 49 times at typical closest approach distances of 25–100 km. The mission’s objectives are to investigate Europa’s interior (ice shell and ocean), composition, and geology; the mission will also search for and characterize any current activity including possible plumes. The science obje…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Emirates Mars Mission

  Space Science Reviews · 2022 · 63 citations

  The Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) was launched to Mars in the summer of 2020, and is the first interplanetary spacecraft mission undertaken by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The mission has multiple programmatic and scientific objectives, including the return of scientifically useful information about Mars. Three science instruments on the mission's Hope Probe will make global remote sensing measurements of the Martian atmosphere from a large low-inclination orbit that will advance our understand…

  DOI

Frequent coauthors

• T. D. Glotch

  333 shared

• H. Y. McSween

  University of Tennessee at Knoxville

  318 shared

• R. E. Arvidson

  251 shared

• M. D. Smith

  241 shared

• V. E. Hamilton

  241 shared

• Joshua P. Emery

  235 shared

• K. E. Herkenhoff

  Astrogeology Science Center

  233 shared

• B. E. Clark

  Radiology Associates of Albuquerque

  227 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Geophysics and Space Physics

  University of California-Los Angeles

  1981

Awards & honors

• NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (2003)
• NASA’s Public Service Medal (2005)
• G.K. Gilbert Award of the Geological Society of America (200…
• Fellow of the American Geophysical Union

Similar researchers at Arizona State University

• Greg Asnerh-157
• Alexandra Navrotskyh-105
• Larry Nittlerh-104