Talk Title: Berkeley's Space Sciences Lab: Enabling Exploration Across the Solar System
Abstract:
UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL) is an Organized Research Unit focusing on the full lifecycle of scientific discovery in the Space Sciences. With approximately 300 academics and staff, SSL employees and students conduct original scientific research with a focus on developing instrumentation and missions to answer outstanding scientific questions in four main areas: Geospace Sciences, Heliophysics, Planetary Sciences, and Astrophysics. Working with stakeholders like NASA and NSF, SSL has been involved in over 100 space missions over the last 60 years and retains key capabilities for executing space science missions: project management, systems engineering, safety/mission assurance, instrument development/test/calibration, and spacecraft operations and navigation. This presentation will discuss SSL's mission and capabilities, as well as the NASA ESCAPADE twin spacecraft mission to Mars, an excellent recent example of SSL's mission execution.
Dr. Robert J. Lillis is a planetary space physicist and geophysicist at the University of California, Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory, where he serves as Associate Director of the Planetary Group. His research focuses on Mars, exploring topics such as atmospheric escape, crustal magnetism, ionospheres, and solar energetic particle radiation. Lillis is the Principal Investigator for NASA's ESCAPADE mission (launched November 2025), a twin-spacecraft endeavor aimed at studying Mars' magnetosphere and its interactions with the solar wind . He also contributes to the MAVEN and Emirates Mars missions, enhancing our understanding of Martian upper atmospheric and magnetospheric dynamics. He earned his BA in Theoretical Physics from Trinity College Dublin and completed his PhD in Physics at UC Berkeley.
Mark Jenkinson serves as the Executive Officer for UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL). With over 25 years of experience in higher education administration in the UK and US, Mark brings extensive expertise to the SSL leadership team. Prior to joining the lab in 2025, he spent a decade as the Administrative and Operations Director for the Molecular and Cell Biology, Integrative Biology, and Neuroscience departments at Cal. Alongside Faculty Director Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Mark oversees SSL’s budgetary, facility, and administrative operations.
UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL) is an Organized Research Unit focusing on the full lifecycle of scientific discovery in the Space Sciences. With approximately 300 academics and staff, SSL employees and students conduct original scientific research with a focus on developing instrumentation and missions to answer outstanding scientific questions in four main areas: Geospace Sciences, Heliophysics, Planetary Sciences, and Astrophysics. Working with stakeholders like NASA and NSF, SSL has been involved in over 100 space missions over the last 60 years and retains key capabilities for executing space science missions: project management, systems engineering, safety/mission assurance, instrument development/test/calibration, and spacecraft operations and navigation. This presentation will discuss SSL's mission and capabilities, as well as the NASA ESCAPADE twin spacecraft mission to Mars, an excellent recent example of SSL's mission execution.
Dr. Robert J. Lillis is a planetary space physicist and geophysicist at the University of California, Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory, where he serves as Associate Director of the Planetary Group. His research focuses on Mars, exploring topics such as atmospheric escape, crustal magnetism, ionospheres, and solar energetic particle radiation. Lillis is the Principal Investigator for NASA's ESCAPADE mission (launched November 2025), a twin-spacecraft endeavor aimed at studying Mars' magnetosphere and its interactions with the solar wind . He also contributes to the MAVEN and Emirates Mars missions, enhancing our understanding of Martian upper atmospheric and magnetospheric dynamics. He earned his BA in Theoretical Physics from Trinity College Dublin and completed his PhD in Physics at UC Berkeley.
Mark Jenkinson serves as the Executive Officer for UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL). With over 25 years of experience in higher education administration in the UK and US, Mark brings extensive expertise to the SSL leadership team. Prior to joining the lab in 2025, he spent a decade as the Administrative and Operations Director for the Molecular and Cell Biology, Integrative Biology, and Neuroscience departments at Cal. Alongside Faculty Director Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Mark oversees SSL’s budgetary, facility, and administrative operations.