The 2023 Annual AOUG Foundation Lecture was presented by Dr Fawdon with a fascinating talk on ‘Exploring Mars from the Open University’. His full impressive OU title of UK Space Agency Aurora Research Fellow, School of Physical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineeering and Mathematics perpared AOUG Members and OU staff alike that they were in for a treat. However despite his high academic title, Peter Fawdon presented a journey through Mars research at a level adapted admirably for the layperson to both understand and be enlightened by. His enthisiasm for his subject was obvious and his presentation was lively and even at one point, demonstrated with a little dance.
He spilt his talk into sections each with a leading question – How do we know? What do we know? What do we know today? with each being illustrated by the amazing photos and clear explanations of the research and its findings throughout the years. Finally he accepted further questions form the audience – Are there precious metals on Mars? – Are the dust storms like tornados? Apparently the data as yet can not answer the first question conclusively but traces of iron oxide has been detected. However the second question received a simple yes and then a full explanation about how these formed. An informative and entertaining lecture.