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About

P. C. Thomas is a leading figure in planetary science, whose work has fundamentally shaped our understanding of the surfaces and interiors of small bodies in the solar system. His research focuses on the geology of asteroids, comets, and planetary satellites, with a particular emphasis on their shapes, rotation states, and collisional histories. Thomas is renowned for his pioneering use of spacecraft imagery to derive high-resolution shape models, which have been critical for interpreting the formation and evolution of these objects. His major contributions include revealing the complex, often binary nature of asteroids and providing key evidence for the rubble-pile structure of many near-Earth objects. Among his most cited works is the description of the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) aboard the Curiosity rover (229 citations), a testament to his role in advancing in-situ planetary exploration. With thousands of citations across his career, Thomas’s work has been instrumental in establishing the modern view of the solar system as a dynamic, collisionally evolved environment, and his shape models remain foundational for mission planning and scientific analysis.