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OVERVIEW
Our research program (both on-site and off-site) includes earth science, planetary science, and astrophysics. Its researchers are involved in a variety of research projects including NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Mission (Spirit and Opportunity). They study seasonal changes on Uranus and Neptune, and they explore the birth of stars using the recently launched Spitzer space telescope. SSI is also home to the internationally recognized central laboratory for imaging science for the Cassini mission – the flagship mission to Saturn in both the American and European planetary exploration programs.

SSI’s off-site and on-site researchers form a web of entrepreneurial research (self-supported by individual grants), that allows dynamic collaborative efforts among fields of research that are typically separated in academic institutions. Often, the tools developed in one field of research can be applied to another field with immediate impact; the cross-departmental nature of SSI research assists such developments. The map below shows where SSI’s off-site researchers are located in the United States. On-site, Bill Farrand and Brad Sandor conduct research (related to Mars, Venus, and Earth) and Carolyn Porco (the director of the Cassini Imaging team) conducts research on Saturn’s rings.

The Off-Site Research Option
Increasingly, scientific research can be performed in the home environment, which is considered family and environment friendly. The long-distance nature of most collaborative research today is not disadvantaged by remote employment (most interactions involve the internet, travel, and phone conversations). Access to fast computers no longer requires large institutional support, and instrument development (which does require large institutional support) may be done in collaboration with existing facilities such as Lockheed Martin and Ball Aerospace.