New PSI CEO Amanda Hendrix.
The Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute is getting new leadership. Amanda Hendrix is taking over as director and CEO from Mark Sykes. He led the research organization for 21 years.
Hendrix notes the Institute’s scientists are involved in all of NASA’s Solar System exploration missions.
“We have involvement in the Dragonfly mission which is a super exciting trip to Titan, the largest moon on Saturn, and we have involvement in Venus missions like Veritas," she said.
Veritas is scheduled to launch in 2031. Its mission is to map the surface of the planet Venus in high resolution. Dragonfly is slated to land a robotic rotorcraft on Titan in 2034.
Hendrix adds the Institute’s over 100 researchers are working on multi-year space science projects, including the LUCY mission, the first visit to explore the Trojan family of asteroids orbiting between Mars and Jupiter.
“The LUCY spacecraft has not yet arrived at any of those Trojan asteroids but it has done two encounters with main belt asteroids on its way out there.”
The Planetary Science Institute is headquartered in Tucson but its scientists are stationed around the world. The organization also teaches science education in schools and promotes space science through art and publishing books.
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