Astronomy on Tap Atlanta – CORA: A Concept Mission to the Dwarf Planet Ceres

Speaker: GSU Astrophysics Ph.D. Candidate KhaDeem Coumarbatch

Abstract: Is there life beyond Earth? The key ingredients for life as we know it are water, chemistry, and energy. Almost a decade ago, NASA’s Dawn mission discovered evidence for all of these on Ceres, a dwarf planet and the largest asteroid. We present a concept for a Lander mission to Ceres that would determine where this accessible relict ocean world lies on the Ladder of Life.