SUNY Oswego's Science Today lecture series will feature Dr. Steven Squyres of Cornell University, whose notable roles include Mars Exploration Rover principal investigator, at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, in Room 183 of the Shineman Center.

Squyres -- prominent for NASA missions in robotic exploration of planetary surfaces, from Voyager's imaging of Jupiter and Saturn to the current Mars Exploration Rover project -- will speak on "Asteroid Exploration Underwater: NASA's NEEMO Program."
 
NASA Extreme Environmental Mission Operations is a series of missions that sends groups of astronauts, engineers and scientists to live in the Aquarius undersea research station off the coast of Florida for up to three weeks at a time. The laboratory's habitat and surroundings provide a convincing analog for the aquanauts, who test themselves and mission scenarios before experiencing the harsh conditions of deep space. 
 
Squyres is James A. Weeks Professor of Physical Sciences in Cornell's astronomy department. His awards include the American Astronomical Society's Harold C. Urey Prize, the Space Science Award of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Astronautical Society's Carl Sagan Award, the National Space Society's Wernher von Braun Award and the Benjamin Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute.
 
The lecture is free and open to the public. Parking on campus requires a permit. For those without a current campus parking sticker, visit oswego.edu/administration/parking for details on obtaining a $1 day-use permit.
 
For more information about Squyres' appearance at Oswego, contact [email protected].