As a planetary field geologist, John Grant gets excited when he completes a 150-meter-long traverse in just one day. From his office at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum – where Grant analyzes images beamed to Earth from NASA’s two Mars Exploration Rovers – he interprets micro- and macro-scale planetary geology on-the-fly. His job is to maximize the science conducted, and to help keep the Mars Exploration Rovers safe while they explore the surface of the Red Planet. Grant’s mission is, indeed, to boldly go where no geologist has gone before. << MORE >>

http://www.aapg.org/explorer/2010/07jul/mars0710.cfm