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Dr. Paul Schenk

Staff Scientist
Lunar and Planetary Institute
3600 Bay Area Blvd.
Houston, TX  77058

1. Geology of Icy Satellites (jovian, saturnian, uranian, neptunian).  
2. Stereo and topographic mapping of icy satellites, impact cratering, polar wander, volcanism.
   

Title: Galileo's Discoveries at Jupiter:  400 years of Mapping the Medician Moons.

Abstract:

When Galileo became the first human to recognize the 4 large satellites of Jupiter, he could not have imagined the true nature of the worlds he had discovered.  His discoveries fundamentally altered human evolution, both scientifically and socially.  It fell to others, including a partially blinded mechanical namesake that for 6 years orbited the giant planet 387 years later, to map and investigate these new worlds.  Now, 400 years later, we finally have the first comprehensive (albeit incomplete) understanding of these bodies.  These new discoveries have also altered our view of the universe and perhaps even our place in it - a revolution that is still playing out.  I review these discoveries and their impact.

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