My Story

Born and raised in a small town in middle America, I grew up during the beginnings of the space age, and watched the first Apollo moon landings on television while in high school from 1968 through 1971.

I always loved astronomy and studying the planets, and my late father and I built several telescopes together and used them to observe the Moon, the planets, nebulae, galaxies, and the wonders of the night sky. We also built and launched model rockets.

In first through twelfth grade, I read every book about space exploration in our school's library, and asked for books of my own for every birthday and Christmas, creating my own space library. I loved to learn about geology, and was a big "rock hound". I dreamed of someday going to Mars to study it first-hand. Keep in mind that in those days we knew very little about the surface of the Red Planet or indeed, any of the other planets and moons.

When I went to college, my first degree in science was a bachelor of science in geophysics. After obtaining my Master's Degree in 1986, I obtained my Ph.D., studying the icy polar regions of Mars.

During my lifetime there has been a revolution in our understanding of the planets, moons, and other objects of the solar system. We have sent spacecraft to every planet in the solar system, and I have been fortunate to work on many of these missions.

For boys and girls interested in planetary science like me, my advice to you is to never give up on your dream. Study hard, particularly mathematics, since scientists use it every day. Also, learn to write well, and to speak in public, since scientists need both skills to create scientific papers and to present research results at scientific conferences. Good grades are needed to be admitted to the best colleges.

You will probably need an advanced degree to work in astronomy or in the planetary sciences. Most scientists obtain a Ph.D., or doctorate degree, after obtaining a bachelor's degree, which takes years of dedicated study and hard work. Some schools require that you obtain a master's degree in between the bachelor and doctorate degrees.

Many planetary scientists work at NASA facilities like I do. Others are professors at universities, and combine teaching undergradute and graduate students along with doing research. Planetary scientists participate in missions to other planets, and some design the instruments and cameras used in orbiters, landers and probes, also.

Talk to your school's guidance counselor to learn more about the degrees you will need, or talk to an expert in the field that you are interested in.

Other careers in planetary science and space exploration are jobs as engineers, computer scientists, biologists, and mathematicians. And astronauts! I doubt that I will get to go into space, and certainly won't get to go to Mars. My daughter's generation, or perhaps her children, have a much better chance of going there. I have been very lucky anyway, having the opportunity to study Mars and the solar system using information from spacecraft we have sent there, such as the Mars Exploration Rovers, the New Horizons spacecraft, the Galileo orbiter, and many others.

Explore the fields that you love, reading books about them in middle school and high school. If you have a learning disability or other problem, figure out a way to overcome it; there are many resources now to help you. Do what you enjoy, do it well, and you will succeed. Good luck! You might be the first person to walk on the sands and rocks of Mars!

-Jeff Moore
January, 2010

Image Caption and Credits for Top Banner: Jeff Moore on a geology field trip to the Mojave Desert in California. Photo by Pam Engrebretson.