STEM Faculty

Manish Patel

Professor Of Planetary Science

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Professional biography

2023 - present: Professor of Planetary Sciences

2015 - 2023: Senior Lecturer (Research) in Planetary Sciences

2011 - 2015: Lecturer in Planetary Sciences

2008 - 2011: UK Space Agency Aurora Fellow, PSSRI, The Open University.

2004-2008: Research Fellow, PSSRI, The Open University.

2003-2004: Beagle 2 Operations Research Assistant.

Spaceflight instrument involvements

ESA SpotLight (Mars orbiter). HiRIME (Phase A study) – PI.
ESA LightShip (Mars orbiter). DESI (selected) – PI.
ESA LightShip (Mars orbiter). MADWiL (selected) – Co-PI.
ESA EnVision (Venus orbiter). VenSpec-U Co-I.
ESA ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (Mars orbiter). NOMAD Co-PI.
ESA ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (Mars orbiter). CaSSIS Co-I.
ESA ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (Mars orbiter). ACS instrument Co-I.
ESA ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover (Mars surface rover). Enfys Co-I.
ESA ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover (Mars surface rover). PanCam Co-I.
ESA JUICE mission (Jupiter and icy moon orbiter). JANUS Co-I.
NASA InSight mission (Mars lander). Mission-level Associate Scientist.
ESA Comet Interceptor mission (comet fly-by). Mission-level Associate Scientist.
ESA ExoMars Surface Platform (Mars lander). AMELIA science team member.
ESA ExoMars Schiaparelli (Mars lander). AMELIA science team member.
ESA ExoMars Schiaparelli (Mars lander). DREAMS science team member.
ESA ExoMars rover/GEP (Mars rover and lander). AEP+ instrument team member.
NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens (Titan lander). SSP instrument team member.
ESA Mars Express/Beagle2 (Mars lander). ESS instrument Co-I.

Research interests

Design of Optical Instrumentation for Planetary Investigations.
Mars and Venus global climate and mesoscale research.
Radiative transfer modelling and retrievals for UV and visible light through planetary atmospheres.
Opacity studies of dust storms and dust devils.
Environmental simulation of planetary/icy body surface environments.
Hypervelocity impact investigations within the Solar System.
Having lots of fun.

Teaching interests

S283 - Planetary science and the search for life

Featured research

Planetary and Space Sciences

Space Instrumentation at The Open University

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Latest publications

Displaying 10 of 299 publications

Munaretto, G., Beccarelli, J., Pajola, M., Cremonese, G., Borin, P., Fornasier, S., Lucchetti, A., Tusberti, F., Tullo, A., Re, C., Almeida, M., Read, M., Mason-Piercy, K., Thomas, N., Rossi, C., Penasa, L., Patel, M., Valantinas, A. and Tornabene, L. L., 2026, ‘Evidence of mafic silicates in the blue unit of Phobos: Vis-NIR analogs within the C and Xc-type asteroid taxonomy: A complementary MEX/OMEGA and TGO/CaSSIS analysis’, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 714, https://oro.open.ac.uk/112797/.
Cohen, M., Holmes, J., Egan, J., Lewis, S. and Patel, M. R., 2026, ‘How long could volcanic plumes persist in the Venus atmosphere? Planetary Research, 1(2),’, https://oro.open.ac.uk/112496/.
Ivory, J. M., Suliali, N. J., Prest, M. J., Stefanov, K. D., Mason, J., Hall, D. and Patel, M. R., 2026, ‘Radiation damage in high-sensitivity, low-noise CIS120 image sensors for future space missions’, SPIE Proceedings, 14157, https://oro.open.ac.uk/110879/.
Suliali, N. J., Ivory, J. M., Mason, J. P., Patel, M. R., Feroci, M., Nakazawa, K. and Nikzad, S., 2026, ‘A 50° full field of view imaging lens design for in-orbit UV wavelength sensing by a scientific CMOS sensor’, SPIE Proceedings, 14146, https://oro.open.ac.uk/110878/.
Suliali, N. J., Ivory, J. M., Stefanov, K. D., Hall, D., Patel, M. R. and Minoglou, K., 2026, ‘Integrated UV and optical scientific CMOS sensor characterisation with in-built quality control’, SPIE Proceedings, 14157, https://oro.open.ac.uk/110877/.
Alday, J., González-Galindo, F., Belyaev, D. A., López-Valverde, M. n., Kossova, D., Thiemann, E. M. B., Evans, J. S., Fedorova, A. A., Jain, S., Holmes, J. A., Patel, M. R. and Forget, F., 2026, ‘Variability of the Martian Homopause: Insights from Global Climate Modelling and Empirical Estimates’, Space Science Reviews, 222(5), https://oro.open.ac.uk/111618/.
Willame, Y., Neary, L., Daerden, F., Wolff, M. J., Erwin, J. T., Thomas, I. R., Robert, S., Mason, J. P., Trompet, L., Vandaele, A. C., Piccialli, A., Pereira, N., Flimon, Z., Depiesse, C., Ristic, B., Patel, M. R., Bellucci, G. and López‐Valverde, M. A., 2026, ‘Ice Cloud and Dust Climatologies Over 4 Martian Years From TGO/NOMAD‐UVIS Nadir Retrieval’, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 131(6), https://oro.open.ac.uk/110695/.
Krýza, O., Brož, P., Pěnkavová, V., Havlica, J., Zedníková, M., Emerland, Z., Patel, M. and Sylvest, M., 2026, ‘Effect of Unstable Water Flow on Grain Transport: Insights From Laboratory Experiments Under Reduced Atmospheric Pressure’, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 131(6), https://oro.open.ac.uk/110609/.
Barrett, A. M., Balme, M. R., Favaro, E. A., Woods, M. J., Malinowski, M., Elsarky, L., Rajendran, K., Holmes, J. A. and Patel, M. R., 2026, ‘Detecting and measuring Transverse Aeolian Ridges on Mars using deep learning’, Icarus, 449, https://oro.open.ac.uk/109102/.
Hendrick, F., Robert, S., Thomas, I., Aoki, S., Daerden, F., Trompet, L., Neary, L., Erwin, J., Willame, Y., Piccialli, A., Flimon, Z., Ristic, B., Patel, M. R., Bellucci, G., López‐Valverde, M. A., Smith, M. D. and Vandaele, A. C., 2026, ‘New Climatology of Martian Water Vapor Column Abundance Derived From NOMAD LNO Nadir Observations Over Martian Years 34–38’, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 131, https://oro.open.ac.uk/109728/.

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