Condensed Matter and Biological Physics Seminars

On June 30th 2004, the largest and most sophisticated spacecraft ever sent into deep space, the Cassini/Huygens probe, entered orbit around Saturn after nearly a seven year journey. This was the first step of a four-year nominal mission during which Cassini will explore Saturn, its rings, satellites, and magnetic environment, while the Huygens probe made in situ measurements of the satellite Titan last January. Dr. Kevin Grazier, Investigation Scientist and Science Planning Engineer on Cassini, will provide an overview of the mission, science objectives, and some of the recent science results.

Dr. Kevin Grazier currently works at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, holding the duel titles of Investigation Scientist and Science Planning Engineer for the Cassini/Huygens Mission to Saturn and Titan. He also performs large-scale computer simulations of Solar System dynamics, evolution, and chaos with collaborators at UCLA, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the University of Auckland. Dr. Grazier is also extremely active in educational outreach.

In addition to his JPL duties, Dr. Grazier teaches classes in basic astronomy, planetology, cosmology, and the search for extraterrestrial life at UCLA and Santa Monica College. He is on the planetarium lecturing staff of LA’s Griffith Observatory. On a lighter note, Dr. Grazier also currently serves as the science advisor for the upcoming PBS animated series The Zula Patrol and for the SciFi Channel series Battlestar Galactica.