(Photo: Arizona State University) Perseverance’s Martian crust samples won’t arrive until 2031, but Dr Meenakshi Wadhwa is improving our understanding of the red planet using meteorites and volcanic rocks. “Please say CREWED mission, not manned,” Dr Meenakshi Wadhwa breaks off mid-thought to stress the point. “I am certain that the first such mission will have women on the team.” We are discussing the likelihood of human beings stepping foot on Mars. As chair of the Science Committee in NASA’s Advisory Council, Wadhwa knows what she’s talking about. She heads the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, and after studying space rocks – some of them from Mars – for years, she also knows more about the red planet than most experts. In fact, she is the recipient of this year’s J. Lawrence Smith Medal – the highest honour in the field of meteoritics (science of meteors, meteorites and meteoroids).