Currently, Dr. Richard Zurek serves as the Chief Scientist for the Mars Program Office at JPL and continues as the Project Scientist for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Launched in 2005, MRO continues its exploration of the atmosphere, surface and subsurface of Mars as part of its second Extended Science Mission. As a researcher, Dr. Zurek has studied the upper atmosphere of the Earth and the atmosphere of Mars, using observational data acquired by spacecraft such as the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), Mariner 9, the Viking Orbiters and Landers and the current Mars operating missions.