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My mentor, role model, and friend Roger J. Phillips passed away yesterday. Roger was a gentle giant of planetary geophysics who took great joy in working through the mysteries of planets. He was a leader in multiple spacecraft missions and institutions in planetary science.
Roger led the Apollo 17 Lunar Sounder Experiment - the first of its kind - and he was pretty much straight out of his PhD. Ground penetrating radar from space
He reveled in rocket launches - though compared them all it seemed to Apollo 17's night launch
https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_17/experiments/lse/
He reveled in rocket launches - though compared them all it seemed to Apollo 17's night launch
https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_17/experiments/lse/
He was at the forefront of understanding the curious mass concentrations discovered by the lunar program that shifted spacecraft trajectories and their role in understanding large impact basins on the Moon.
After his time at JPL, Roger was the Director of the Lunar and Planetary Institute for several years - he was even responsible for the famed Chili Cookoff.
Roger later taught at Southern Methodist University and Washington University in St. Louis - training a fair number of planetary scientists.
Roger was involved in a great many spacecraft missions. He was deeply involved in the Magellan mission and using its data to understand its tectonics, volcanism, and famously the story its craters tell of how the planet resurfaced. https://twitter.com/hauck/status/1329469572445966336?s=20
He also worked on Mars Global Surveyor and its laser altimetry and gravity data where he focused on how water flowed and an old favorite, the Tharsis volcanic province. https://twitter.com/hauck/status/1329450399569469440?s=20
Roger was deeply interested in how the processes of planets were interconnected and followed his curiosity in many directions, one of those led to him quietly igniting work on the feedbacks between climates and planetary interiors. https://twitter.com/hauck/status/1329484743058984960?s=20
Radar, however, was a constantly reappearing thread in his career and he later became the co-leader of the SHARAD investigation on MRO - this time a sounding radar at Mars https://twitter.com/hauck/status/1329446366209323016?s=20
Where he connected the lack of deformation under the polar cap to understand the structure and temperature of the lithosphere https://twitter.com/hauck/status/1329446367828258816?s=20
Roger was a person with the gift of unbridled curiosity and an intellect to keep up with that curiosity. He also had a penchant for dry wit, good food, interesting conversation and laughter.
Mostly though, Roger was the kind of mentor and friend we all hope to have. He was kind, smart (so damn smart), funny, dedicated and always there for you.
