Steve Squyres is Chief Scientist for Blue Origin, a private space company building the foundation for millions of people living and working in space. His responsibilities extend into all areas where Blue Origin’s activities intersect with science.

Steve came to Blue Origin from Cornell University, where he was the James A. Weeks Professor of Physical Sciences. For almost twenty years he was scientific Principal Investigator for NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Project, leading payload development and science operations for the rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

Steve received his Ph.D. from Cornell in 1981 and spent five years at NASA’s Ames Research Center before returning to Cornell as a faculty member. In addition to MER, he participated in the Voyager mission to Jupiter and Saturn, the Magellan mission to Venus, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission, the Cassini mission to Saturn, and the Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and Mars Science Laboratory missions.

Steve has chaired the NASA Advisory Council and the planetary decadal survey for the National Research Council. His awards include the COSPAR Space Science Award, the American Geophysical Union Fred Whipple Award, the Geological Society of America G.K. Gilbert Award, the Space Science Award of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Astronautical Society’s Carl Sagan Award, the National Space Society’s Wernher von Braun Award, the American Astronomical Society Harold C. Urey Prize, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.