Mark Robinson

Mark Robinson is a Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University. He was a member of the science teams for the NASA Clementine, Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous, and MESSENGER missions. His research interests are currently focused on the origin and evolution of planetary crusts, including volcanism, tectonism, and regolith development. Investigations are approached using a variety of remote sensing techniques — multispectral imaging, spectroscopy, stereo analysis, and geomorphology — utilizing datasets from Apollo, Lunar Orbiter, Clementine, Galileo, NEAR, Lunar Prospector, Mars Global Surveyor, and Mars Odyssey. He is currently working on the Mars 2020 Rover and is the Principal Investigator of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC).

As the Principal Investigator, Robinson leads science analysis of ultra-high resolution imaging (50 cm/pixel) and the first ever global high resolution UV through Visible multispectral mapping of the Moon (315 nm to 680 nm). The LROC imaging systems provide opportunities to map compositional variations of the lunar crust and reveal details of how airless body regoliths (soils) are formed and evolve with time — key knowledge for planning and executing future lunar exploration endeavors.