Planetary Geology

Undergraduate

is a classroom- and laboratory-based course that provides students with a basic knowledge of the geology of the Moon, Mars, asteroids and the moons of the satellites of the outer solar system; the petrology and geochemistry of meteorites and their importance to understanding the origin of the planets; impact cratering processes and rock products including those on Earth; and instrumentation for planetary exploration. The course combines lectures and laboratory exercises that examine data sets from planetary missions and specimens of extraterrestrial materials. Students learn how geological processes that have shaped Earth also have operated on other planets, moons and asteroids in our solar system.