About the Earth and Planetary Remote Sensing Laboratory

The Earth and Planetary Remote Sensing Laboratory is part of the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences and the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. It is located in the south wing of Rudolph Hall, second floor. Dr. Paul Byrne is the director.

The Remote Sensing Laboratory research focuses on the surface processes and histories of Earth, Mars, and Venus. Laboratory staff and students are involved in current NASA missions such as Mars 2020 (Perseverance Rover), Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity rover), Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the European Space Agency’s Mars Express Orbiter.  In addition to its research activities, the Laboratory is the site of the Geosciences Node of NASA’s Planetary Data System, one of a handful of facilities across the country that work with planetary missions and individual scientists to create and make public high-quality science data archives.

These activities are supported by a computer system that hosts the Geosciences Node planetary data archives and enables analysis of complex science data sets.

Related Resources
  • If you’re looking for planetary data, go to our NASA Planetary Data System Geosciences Node website.
  • Archived data from landed Mars and lunar missions, including Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance, can be found in the Geosciences Node’s Analyst Notebook.
  • Data from orbital missions to Mars, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon are available through the Geosciences Node’s Orbital Data Explorer.