Planetary Exploration of Habitable Planets and Moons

Prof. Dr. Dirk Schulze­–Makuch
(Washington State University - School of Earth & Environmental Sciences)
Freitag/Friday, 2012-7-20 14:00, EW 114
Eugene-Paul-Wigner Gebäude, Hardenbergstr. 36, 10623 Berlin

Abstract

One major motivation for the exploration of our vicinity of the galaxy is the search for habitable planets, where life can be found or where we can establish future colonies (e.g., through NASAs 100–­year Starship Project). This talk will focus on what habitability means in a planetary context and discuss the concept in detail for examples within and outside of our Solar System. Emphasis will be placed on Titan for the likely assembly of organic molecules and possibly even macromolecules in an unusual planetary setting and Gliese 581d, a Super-Earth in a Mars-type orbit around an M-star.