First name

James F.

Last name

Bell III

School, Department, Division or Center

School of Earth and Space Exploration

Academic unit

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Type of professor

Regents Professor

Year

2024

Bio image

Jim Bell

Bio summary

Bell is a professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration, director of ASU’s NewSpace Initiative, and chief scientist of MILO Space Science Institute. He has played key roles in such NASA missions as Mars Pathfinder, NEAR, Mars Odyssey and the Mars Science Laboratory. Bell led the development of the Panoramic camera (Pancam) on the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, and he’s a co-investigator on Psyche, the first ASU-led deep-space NASA mission. Bell has been a key communicator in bridging the gap between space exploration and public understanding.