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David Rothery

Professor of Planetary Geosciences, The Open University

I became Professor of Planetary Geosciences at the Open University in November 2013, having been a Senior Lecturer in Earth Sciences since 1994. Before that I was a Lecturer here. I am now in the Department of Physical Sciences, but until 2011 was in the former Department of Earth Sciences. During 1999-2004 I was Director of Teaching and Geosciences Programme Director. I have also been Leader of the IAVCEI Commission on Remote Sensing, and in 2005 I was appointed to the PPARC Solar System Advisory Panel and the BepiColombo Oversight Committee.

In May 2006 I was appointed UK Lead Scientist (now lead Co-Investigator) on MIXS (Mercury Imaging X-ray Spectrometer), which is the only UK Principal Investigator instrument on BepiColombo, the European Space Agency mission to Mercury to be launched in 2017. I chair ESA's Mercury Surface and Composition Working Group. I was also a member of the Science Advisory Panel for C1XS, the X-ray spectrometer on Chandrayaan-1 (launched 22 Oct 2008).
In 2006-7 I served on the ESSC/ESF Ad Hoc Group on Definition of a science-driven European scenario for space exploration.

My research interests centre on the study of volcanic activity by means of remote sensing, and volcanology and geoscience in general on other planets. My landmark book 'Planet Mercury: From Pale Pink Dot to Dynamic World' was published by Springer-Praxis on 14 Dec 2014. I also wrote 'Volcanoes, Earthquakes and Tsunami, A complete introduction' (new edition 2015) and 'Geology, A complete introduction' (new edition 2015) for Hodder's 'Teach Yourself' series, and 'A Very Short Introduction to Planets', Oxford University Press (2010). A companion volume 'A Very Short Introduction to Moons' was published in November 2015.

Is some of the body that collided with Earth to form the Moon still recognisable inside our planet?

Nov 13, 2023 12:23 pm UTC| Science

Scientists have dated the birth of the Solar System to about 4.57 billion years ago. About 60 million years later a giant impact collision between the infant Earth and a Mars-sized body called Theia created the...

Space Science Series

An element essential to life discovered on one of Saturn's moons, raising hopes of finding alien microbes

Jun 15, 2023 03:51 am UTC| Science

Enceladus is the tiny moon of Saturn that seems to have it all. Its icy surface is intricately carved by ongoing geological processes. Its icy shell overlies an internal, liquid ocean. There, chemically charged warm water...

Space Science Series

Asteroid sharing Earth’s orbit discovered – could it help future space missions?

Feb 04, 2022 02:24 am UTC| Science

Research has shown that the Earth trails an asteroid barely a kilometre across in its orbit about the Sun only the second such body to have ever been spotted. It goes round the Sun on average two months ahead of the...

Mars colony: how to make breathable air and fuel from brine – new research

Dec 01, 2020 09:06 am UTC| Science

NASA is planning to land a crew on the Moon by 2024, and then onward to Mars, possibly in the 2030s. One day, we will have permanently crewed bases on both worlds. Unlike the initial short-stay visits, long-term bases will...

How geological maps made the Apollo moon landings worthwhile

Jul 22, 2019 13:33 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science

I still remember a cartoon in a newspaper in July 1969, just before the first Apollo moon landing. It showed the ground crew reminding the astronauts as they boarded their rocket, Dont forget to bring back some rock! This...

China goes where no one has gone before – the moon's far side

Jan 04, 2019 16:05 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science

In a spectacular few days for solar system exploration during which NASA whizzed the New Horizons spacecraft past the Kuiper Belt object 2009 MU69 (somewhat controversially nicknamed Ultima Thule) and eased OSIRIS-REx...

Europe's set to blast off to Mercury – here's the rocket science

Oct 20, 2018 15:30 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science

The European Space Agency (ESA) will launch its BepiColombo mission to the planet Mercury from its spaceport near the equator in Kourou, French Guyana, on October 20. My involvement in the mission means that I will be...

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Economy

The US is one of the least trade-oriented countries in the world – despite laying the groundwork for today’s globalized system

Given the spate of news about international trade lately, Americans might be surprised to learn that the U.S. isnt very dependent on it. Indeed, looking at trade as a percentage of gross domestic product a metric...

Beyond the spin, beyond the handouts, here’s how to get a handle on what’s really happening on budget night

Three weeks from now, some of us will be presented with a mountain of budget papers, and just about all of us will get to hear about them on radio, TV or news websites on budget night. The quickest way to find out what...

Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility

Ivan Vladislavić is Johannesburgs literary linkman. He tells us, in the first pages of his new book, The Near North, that before cities were lit, first by gaslight and later electricity, people of means paid torchbearers...

Economist Chris Richardson on an ‘ugly’ inflation result and the coming budget

With Jim Chalmerss third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief beyond the tax cuts although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As this weeks consumer price...

Inflation is slowly falling, while student debt is climbing: 6 graphs that explain today’s CPI

Australias inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and its now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. The annual rate peaked at 7.8% in the December quarter of 2022 and is now just 3.6%, in...

Politics

US Urges China, Russia to Reject AI Control in Nuclear Arms, Align with Global Norms

Paul Dean, a senior U.S. arms control official, emphasized the critical need for China and Russia to join the U.S. in declaring that humans will always decide on the deployment of nuclear weapons, not artificial...

South Africa’s youth are a generation lost under democracy – study

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa recently painted a rosy picture in which the countrys youth democracys children had enormous opportunities for advancement, all thanks to successive post-apartheid governments led...

Sadiq Khan on track for third term as London mayor – but nearly half of Londoners dissatisfied with performance

Polls have consistently shown that the incumbent mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, appears to be on track to win a third term in office at the upcoming mayoral elections on May 2. One poll we commissioned as part of our...

Biden administration tells employers to stop shackling workers with ‘noncompete agreements’

Most American workers are hired at will: Employers owe their employees nothing in the relationship except earned wages, and employees are at liberty to quit at their option. As the rule is generally stated, either party...

Labour can afford to be far more ambitious with its economic policies – voters are on board

To say that the Labour party is flying high in the polls is something of an understatement. But despite its consistent lead against the Tories, the opposition finds itself in a rather odd position: on the cusp of power but...

Science

IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects

About a trillion tiny particles called neutrinos pass through you every second. Created during the Big Bang, these relic neutrinos exist throughout the entire universe, but they cant harm you. In fact, only one of them is...

The Mars Sample Return mission has a shaky future, and NASA is calling on private companies for backup

A critical NASA mission in the search for life beyond Earth, Mars Sample Return, is in trouble. Its budget has ballooned from US$5 billion to over $11 billion, and the sample return date may slip from the end of this...

A Nasa rover has reached a promising place to search for fossilised life on Mars

While we go about our daily lives on Earth, a nuclear-powered robot the size of a small car is trundling around Mars looking for fossils. Unlike its predecessor Curiosity, Nasas Perseverance rover is explicitly intended to...

The rising flood of space junk is a risk to us on Earth – and governments are on the hook

A piece of space junk recently crashed through the roof and floor of a mans home in Florida. Nasa later confirmed that the object had come from unwanted hardware released from the international space station. The 700g,...

Peter Higgs was one of the greats of particle physics. He transformed what we know about the building blocks of the universe

Peter Higgs, who gave his name to the subatomic particle known as the Higgs boson, has died aged 94. He was always a modest man, especially when considering that he was one of the greats of particle physics the area of...

Technology

Altcoin Market Rally Predicted, Analysts Forecast $4 Trillion Market Cap Surge

Analysts are predicting a substantial rally in the altcoin market, with projections indicating a surge that could drive the market cap to an impressive $4 trillion. This optimistic outlook is supported by positive economic...

Shiba Inu's Remarkable 12% Surge Fueled by Record SHIB Burns, Community Momentum

Shiba Inus ascent reaches new heights as the cryptocurrency experiences a remarkable 12% surge, fueled by record-breaking SHIB burns. The surge reflects robust community engagement and underscores the dynamic nature of the...

Vodafone Ventures into Crypto Integration: SIM Cards to Host Blockchain Wallets

Vodafone, the UK-based telecom giant, is pioneering a groundbreaking initiative to fuse blockchain technology with smartphone functionality by integrating cryptocurrency wallets directly into SIM cards. This innovative...

Leak: Huawei's Kirin PC Chip, Qingyun Notebooks to Launch Next Month

Leaked information hinting at the imminent debut of the highly anticipated Kirin PC chip alongside the release of new Qingyun notebooks. The introduction of this computer-dedicated CPU marks a significant milestone for...

Tesla Enhances Model Y Lineup with Longer-Range Variant, Price Adjustment

Tesla has revamped its Model Y offerings, bidding farewell to the standard range rear-wheel-drive (RWD) model while introducing a longer-range variant for an additional $2,000. This strategic maneuver aligns with Teslas...