Event Recording:

From rovers on Mars to balloons on Venus and boats on Titan, robotic spacecraft are exploring very distant frontiers indeed.

One of the most pressing ethical considerations is how to protect these alien environments, and the clues they hold about how widespread life might be in the universe, from our own exploration efforts.

Dr Colin Wilson, Researcher in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Planetary Physics, will review the current frontiers and outlook for spacecraft exploration of our solar system and beyond.

Join in on Twitter with the hashtag #omsfrontiers

About the speaker

Dr Colin Wilson is a Researcher in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Planetary Physics at the University of Oxford and an Inter-Disciplinary Scientist for the European Space Agency's (ESA) ExoMars 2016 mission, focussing on dust & aerosols and their effects on trace gas chemistry.

His main interests are in our terrrestrial planetary neighbours: Venus and Mars. He was Science Operations Co-ordinator for ESA's Venus Express satellite and he used Venus Express data to study cloud properties, winds and radiative balance on Venus. He has developed instrumentation for Mars landers for atmospheric science.

He developed mission concepts for future planetary exploration, in particular Venus mission proposals. Recent Venus orbiter proposals can be viewed at www.envisionvenus.net.