POTSDAM -- Researcher, astronomer and "voice of NASA's mission to Mars" Steven Squyres will speak at Clarkson University as the Alumni Association Reunion keynote speaker.

The public is invited to hear Squyres talk at 1:30 p.m. on July 12 in the Student Center Forum (#13 on the map at http://www.clarkson.edu/about/clarkson_map.pdf). Squyres, who is best known as the face and voice of NASA's mission to Mars, will talk about working under tight constraints and how design and invention got manmade devices to Mars.

The pioneering drive across the Martian surface by robotic rovers Spirit and Opportunity, initially expected to last 90 days, has continued for more than nine years. The development of the rovers required more than 4,000 highly motivated engineers and scientists.

Squyres is an astronomy professor at Cornell University and the principal investigator for the science payload on the Mars Exploration Rover Project. He has participated in many of NASA’s planetary exploration missions, including Voyager, Magellan, Cassini and the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Mission. A recipient of numerous awards in his field, Squyres also has served as an Aquanaut for the NASA Extreme Environment Missions Operation (NEEMO) 15 and 16 projects.