Sign In

Dwayne Lawrence

Founder & Executive Director - Friends of NASA, Freelance Digital Media Marketing Manager and Editor

Dwayne Elliot Lawrence is the Executive Director, Editor-in-Chief, and Founder of Friends of NASA, an independent non-governmental organization dedicated to building international support for peaceful space exploration, commerce, scientific discovery, and STEM education.12 He founded the organization in 2008 to honor NASA's 50th anniversary.1

Dwayne is a dedicated space advocate, social entrepreneur, science enthusiast, and promoter of STEM education. He has been a lifelong supporter of NASA and was inspired by Dr. Carl Sagan to study physics and astronomy.1 With a Bachelor's degree in Science & Technology Studies from the University of Toronto, Dwayne has over 30 years of experience as an enthusiastic supporter of NASA, space exploration, and planetary science.1

His professional background includes:

  1. Science and technology analyst and communicator
  2. Marketing, media, Internet, and telecommunications experience
  3. Program host, narrator, and science writer/editor for China Central Television (CCTV) from 2003 to 20081

Under Dwayne's leadership, Friends of NASA has grown to over 22,000 professional members worldwide from over 50 countries and has expanded its public following to 195,000+ on social media platforms.12 The organization's shared multimedia content has received over 700 million views.2

Dwayne is based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, near the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).2 He is also a member of various space-related organizations, including The Planetary Society, Canadian Space Society, and the Space Generation Advisory Council.1

Highlights

Jul 23 · linkedin

Model Behavior: Visualizing Global Carbon Dioxide | NASA Goddard FriendsofNASA.org: This global map of carbon dioxide was created using a model called GEOS, short for the Goddard Earth Observing System. GEOS is a high-resolution weather reanalysis model, powered by supercomputers, that is used to represent what was happening in the atmosphere—including storm systems, cloud formations, and other natural events. This model pulls in billions of data points from ground observations and satellite instruments—and has a resolution is more than 100 times greater than your typical weather model.

Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)/Scientific Visualization Studio Producer, Narration: Katie Jepson (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) Scientist: Lesley Ott (NASA/GSFC) Scientist: Brad Weir (USRA) Writer: Jenny Marder Fadoul (Telophase) Visualizer: A. J. Christensen (AVL NCSA/University of Illinois) Technical Support: Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.) Duration: 1 minute, 51 seconds Release Date: July 23, 2024 Eli Rockenbeck

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Science #Planet #Earth #Atmosphere #OCO2Observatory #GlobalCO2Emissions #ClimateModels #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #Climate #Environment #GreenhouseGases #GHG #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #Supercomputers #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Visualization #HD #Video

Jul 18 · linkedin

NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Discovers Pure Sulfur in a Martian Rock | JPL FriendsofNASA.org | High-res image: https://lnkd.in/gzCjaCjU NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured this close-up image of a rock nicknamed “Snow Lake”. These yellow crystals were revealed after NASA’s Curiosity happened to drive over a rock and cracked it open on May 30, 2024. Among several recent findings, the rover has found rocks made of pure sulfur—a first on the Red Planet.

Since October 2023, the rover has been exploring a region of Mars rich with sulfates, a kind of salt that contains sulfur and forms as water evaporates. However, where past detections have been of sulfur-based minerals—in other words, a mix of sulfur and other materials—the rock Curiosity recently cracked open is made of elemental, or pure, sulfur. It is not clear what relationship, if any, the elemental sulfur has to other sulfur-based minerals in the area.

While people associate sulfur with the odor from rotten eggs (the result of hydrogen sulfide gas), elemental sulfur is odorless. It forms in only a narrow range of conditions that scientists have not associated with the history of this location. And Curiosity found a lot of it—an entire field of bright rocks that look similar to the one the rover crushed.

“Finding a field of stones made of pure sulfur is like finding an oasis in the desert,” said Curiosity’s project scientist, Ashwin Vasavada of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “It shouldn’t be there, so now we have to explain it. Discovering strange and unexpected things is what makes planetary exploration so exciting.”

It is one of several discoveries Curiosity has made while off-roading within Gediz Vallis channel, a groove that winds down part of the 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) Mount Sharp, the base of which the rover has been ascending since 2014. Each layer of the mountain represents a different period of Martian history. Curiosity’s mission is to study where and when the planet’s ancient terrain could have provided the nutrients needed for microbial life, if any ever formed on Mars.Curiosity

Spotted from space years before Curiosity’s launch, Gediz Vallis channel is one of the primary reasons the science team wanted to visit this part of Mars. Scientists think that the channel was carved by flows of liquid water and debris that left a ridge of boulders and sediment extending 2 miles down the mountainside below the channel. The goal has been to develop a better understanding of how this landscape changed billions of years ago.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS Release Date: July 18, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #PureSulfur #SnowValley #GedizVallis #CuriosityRover #MSL #MountSharp #GaleCrater #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Discovers Pure Sulfur in a Martian Rock | JPL
FriendsofNASA.org | High-r

Related Questions

What inspired Dwayne Lawrence to start Friends of NASA?
How has Friends of NASA impacted the space community?
What are some notable achievements of Friends of NASA under Dwayne Lawrence's leadership?
How does Dwayne Lawrence's background in science and technology influence his role at Friends of NASA?
What collaborations has Friends of NASA undertaken with other space organizations?
Dwayne Lawrence
Dwayne Lawrence, photo 1
Dwayne Lawrence, photo 2
Add to my network

Location

Montreal, Canada Area