Authors David Baker and Todd Ratcliff surfing “big waves” in Manhattan Beach, California. Good surfers don’t even bother getting in the water under such terrifying conditions.
Dr. David Baker explores extreme stuff on Earth and other planets: violent thunderstorms on Earth, bizarre features in the atmospheres of Venus and Jupiter, and giant dust devils on Mars. As part of NASA’s TESS exoplanet mission, Dave has helped discover over 25 exotic planets outside of our solar system, including hot Jupiters and super-Earths. He currently serves as Professor of Physics and Director of the Adams Observatory at Austin College. In 2016, Dave was named a Texas Piper Professor of the Year. He routinely leads adventure-oriented science courses to remote places in Patagonia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Peru, the Galapagos, Iceland, and Nepal — students have been known to camp overnight outside the administration building to enroll in these most extreme courses.
Dr. Todd Ratcliff grew up in rural Ohio where the magnificent views of the pristine night skies fueled his interests in space and led to his journey to become a scientist. Since that time, his work has covered a wide range of Solar System topics. As an undergraduate, he participated in a NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) investigation of the requirements for building a landing/launch facility on the Moon. His Ph.D. research investigated the surprisingly different behaviors of the hot, active interiors of Earth, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter’s moon Io. Now at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Todd helps spacecraft figure out where they need to go by determining and predicting the precise location of Earth in space. Using data from lasers bounced off mirrors placed on the Moon by Apollo astronauts, he also strives to understand the enigmatic interior structure of the Moon.