This articlerelies largely or entirely on asingle source. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "Lunar and Planetary Laboratory" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(March 2015)

TheLunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) is aresearch center forplanetary science located inTucson,Arizona. It is also agraduate school, constituting the Department of Planetary Sciences at theUniversity of Arizona. LPL is one of the world's largest programs dedicated exclusively to planetary science in auniversity setting. The Lunar and Planetary Lab collection is held at the University of Arizona Special Collections Library.^[1]

LPL was founded in 1960 byastronomerGerard Kuiper. Kuiper had long been a pioneer in observing theSolar System, especially theMoon, at a time when this was unfashionable among astronomers. Among his contributions are the discovery ofMiranda andNereid, the detection ofcarbon dioxide onMars and ofmethane onTitan, and the prediction of theKuiper Belt.

Kuiper came to Tucson looking for greater independence than he had enjoyed at theUniversity of Chicago, the chance to build a community dedicated to solar system studies, and also to be closer tosouthern Arizona's many potential sites for world-classobservatories, such asKitt Peak National Observatory (founded in 1958). LPL was established under the auspices of theUniversity of Arizona, with Kuiper serving as director until his death.

LPL's endeavors are trulyinterdisciplinary. The accumulated knowledge and techniques ofastronomy,physics,chemistry,geology,geophysics,geochemistry,atmospheric science, andengineering are all brought to bear upon the single goal of studyingplanetary systems. Many students come to LPL having studied only one or two of these subjects in detail, so a broad-based curriculum is essential.

In 1973, the university established a graduate Department of Planetary Sciences, operating continuously with LPL. This provided an administrative framework for LPL to admitgraduate students and take a greater role inteaching. LPL's chief officer is simultaneously "head" of the department and "director" of the laboratory. The current Head and Director isMark Marley.

The Lunar and Planetary Laboratory has been involved in almost every interplanetary spacecraft sent. These are some of the major ones that it was or is involved:

• OSIRIS-REx –Asteroid – Responsible for the Principal Investigator, building the camera system, science operations, and Education and Public Outreach..
• MAVEN –Mars – Dr. Roger Yelle is an interdisciplinary scientist on the mission.
• Phoenix Scout Mission –Mars – Responsible for the Principal Investigator, building the camera systems and the TEGA instrument, and for science operations on the surface of Mars.
• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter –Mars – Responsible for building and operating theHiRISE camera, the largest aperture camera ever sent to another planet.
• Mars Global Surveyor –Mars – Dr. Alfred McEwen is a participating scientist on the Mars Orbital Camera Team. Dr. Steve Bougher is a member of the MGS aerobraking team which is conducting aerobraking exercises (Fall 1997 and Fall 1998).
• Deep Space 2 –Mars – One of the science team members was from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.
• Mars Odyssey –Mars – Responsible for theGamma Ray Spectrometer, for building and maintaining it.
• Pioneer 10 –Jupiter – Responsible for the IPP: The Imaging Photopolarimeter, for operating it.
• Pioneer 11 –Jupiter andSaturn – Responsible for the IPP: The Imaging Photopolarimeter, for operating it.
• Pioneer Venus –Venus – Responsible for the LSFR: The Large Probe Solar Flux Radiometer, for calibrating and operating it.
• MESSENGER –Mercury – Scientist participates in the Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS).
• Galileo –Jupiter – Built part of the ultraviolet spectrometer on board the spacecraft
• Cassini –Saturn – Major team contributor. Responsible for taking and analyzing images of the surface ofTitan andEnceladus.
• Deep Impact –CometTempel 1 – LPL Scientist helped to run many of the simulations to ensure the spacecraft would reach its target.
• Mars Pathfinder –Mars – Designed, integrated, and operated one of the cameras on the lander.
• Huygens Probe –Saturn's moonTitan – The university built and operated the only camera on the probe, and is responsible for a number of movies that show the landing. See theLPL Huygens Site page for some more info, and the movies.
• Mars Polar Lander –Mars – Built Thermal Evolved Gas Analyzer, a similar instrument is on thePhoenix Scout Lander.
• Voyager –Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune – Built and operated the Ultraviolet Spectrometer, and participated on the imaging team on the spacecraft.
• Ulysses –Sun – Two scientists participated in the investigations of heliospheric cosmic ray physics and properties of the interplanetary medium.
• NEAR –Near-Earth asteroidEros – Participated in the X-Ray/Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (XGRS) science team.

The Lunar and Planetary Laboratory is involved withSpacewatch, the program to identifynear-Earth asteroids, with the Planetary Atmosphere Project to measure the content of the atmospheres of various planets, withoccultations, the art of measuring thespectrography of astar when it passes behind aplanet, to see what a planet'satmosphere is composed of, with studies of the planet Mercury, with theCatalina Sky Survey, related to the Spacewatch program, as well as interdisciplinary sciences such as TheoreticalAstrophysics and Space Physics, helping to find the answers to such questions as: What isDark matter?

The Art of Planetary science is an annual art exhibition run by the LPL to celebrate the beauty and elegance of science.^[2] The art exhibit was founded by graduate students in 2013 as a public outreach program and as a means to bridge the gap between scientific and artistic communities. In 2017, The Art of Planetary Science displayed over 200 pieces of art from approximately 100 artists and scientists, drawing more than 700 guests. SaysGeoff Notkin, "It is wonderful to see a real variety and innovative art both inspired by and for inspiring people interested in space, science, and exploration."^[3]

• Lunar and Planetary Laboratory

32°13′55″N110°56′49″W / 32.232°N 110.947°W /32.232; -110.947

• Educational institutions established in 1960
• Astronomy institutes and departments
• Research institutes in Arizona
• 1960 establishments in Arizona

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles needing additional references from March 2015
• All articles needing additional references
• Coordinates on Wikidata