Mr. Thomas Stein of Washington University will be featured at the May meeting of the St. Louis Astronomical Society.

Mr. Stein will talk about the continuing exploration of the planet Mars, particularly using remote-control robotic rovers. In January, 2004, two Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) touched down on the Martian surface. Mr. Stein will present some of the results of these highly successful missions. He will describe the scientific instruments on board the MER robots, and explain how they will be used to answer important questions about the origin and evolution of the Red Planet. He will also preview the next stages in the exploration of the Red Planet, including a planned sample return spacecraft.

At Washington University, Thomas Stein is the Computer Systems Manager for the Earth and Planetary Remote Sensing Laboratory, under the direction of Professor Raymond E. Arvidson. The Laboratory serves as the Geosciences Node of the NASA Planetary Data System. As such, it archives and distributes planetary geology data for researchers all over the world. Mr. Stein also works closely with the Mars research effort. In addition to his work with the MER project, he is also involved with other current NASA missions such as Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey and a number of planned missions for orbiters and rovers.