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About

H. E. Newsom is a leading planetary scientist whose work has fundamentally shaped our understanding of Martian geology and the search for ancient life. His research centers on the geochemistry of impact processes, aqueous environments, and the development of advanced remote sensing instrumentation for Mars exploration. Newsom’s most impactful contribution is his leadership on the SuperCam instrument suite for NASA’s Perseverance rover, a revolutionary tool that combines laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and Raman spectroscopy to analyze Martian rocks and soils from a distance. The primary paper detailing SuperCam’s body unit and system tests has garnered over 320 citations, underscoring its critical role in the mission’s sample caching and habitability studies. Earlier, Newsom pioneered the concept of impact crater lakes on Mars, proposing that large impacts could create transient, ice-covered lakes—a hypothesis that has received 137 citations and remains central to astrobiology. He also led the 1999 Marsokhod rover field simulation at Silver Lake, California, a key analog mission that validated rover operations and instrument integration for future Mars surveys. Through his work on SuperCam and impact crater paleolakes, Newsom has provided essential tools and frameworks for exploring Mars’ past habitability.