Jim Bell

Biography

Jim Bell is a Professor in the School of Earth & Space Exploration at Arizona State University and the Chief Scientist of ASU’s Milo Space Science Institute. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Dept. of Astronomy at Cornell University, a Distinguished Visiting Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and a member of the Board of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. He is an active astronomer and planetary scientist who has been involved in solar system exploration using data from Hubble, Mars rovers, Voyager, and orbiters sent to Mars, the Moon, and several asteroids. His research focuses on the use of remote sensing imaging and spectroscopy to assess the geology, composition, and mineralogy of the surfaces of planets, moons, asteroids, and comets. Jim is also an author of many popular science books related to space exploration, including Postcards from Mars, The Space Book, The Interstellar Age, The Ultimate Interplanetary Travel Guide, The Earth Book, Hubble Legacy, and his newest book The Art of the Cosmos. Jim was President of The Planetary Society from 2008-2020, has received the American Astronomical Society’s Carl Sagan Medal for public communication in science, and has a main belt asteroid named after him – 8146 jimbell.