Dr. John Robert Spencer

Dr. Spencer was born in Lancashire, England and did his undergraduate work in Geology at the University of Cambridge in England. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in planetary sciences. During JASON Project VI, Dr. Spencer will be the Host Researcher in the area of astronomy. Dr. Spencer has a background in planetary geology and has become an expert in outer planet satellites. He is making spectacular observations of volcanic activity on Jupiter's moon lo from Mauna fKea with an infrared telescope. He is quite excited about the Galileo Jupiter encounter coming up in 1995.

Dr. Spencer's major research questions are: Where are Io's major volcanoes? Are they in the same places as when Voyager flew past Io in 1979, or have new ones become active? How long do Io's volcanic eruptions last? Are there different types of volcanoes, as there are on Earth? How hot are the vo1canoes? What volcanoes will be active when Galileo spacecraft flies past in December 1995 and makes new close-up observations?

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Gene Carl Feldman (gene@seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov) (301) 286-9428
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