The new project scientist for Mars Rover Curiosity is Ashwin Vasavada of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. Vasavada had been deputy project scientist for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Project since 2004 — five years before the name Curiosity was chosen for the project’s rover.
The project scientist’s role is to coordinate efforts of an international team of nearly 500 scientists operating the rover’s 10 science instruments, planning rover investigations and assessing data from Curiosity. The project scientist also works closely with the JPL-based project manager and rover engineering team to maximize the science while using the rover efficiently and safely.
Vasavada succeeds John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, who recently became chair of Caltech’s Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences and remains a member of Curiosity’s science team. [More at link]