"We see a definite pattern related to the daily thermal tides of the atmosphere, " said RAD Principal Investigator Don Hassler of the Southwest Research Institute's Boulder, Colo.

ENGADGET: Curiosity rover finds radiation levels on Mars are safe for humans

"We're finding more and more, so our concern about hazards is going up, " New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo.

MSN: New Pluto moon hints at perilous journey for spacecraft

The radiation exposure from a Mars journey is similar to getting a full-body CT scan every five or six days, said lead researcher Cary Zeitlin of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo.

NPR: Astronauts Face Radiation Threat On Long Mars Trip

If anyone ever led a dream life, it was Slick, a protean figure who founded San Antonio's Southwest Research Institute and devoted himself to adventure--when he wasn't collecting art or campaigning for world peace.

FORBES: Magazine Article

From the scientific perspective, for the story to close for science, flight rates have to be high, said Alan Stern, chair of the scientific organizing committee for the conference and associate vice president of the Southwest Research Institute's Space Science and Engineering Division in Boulder.

MSN: Suborbital spaceships spark scientific frenzy

Mr. ALAN STERN (Southwest Research Institute): And, you know, whereas we know of four terrestrial planets and four gas giants, we expect that there are hundreds if not thousands of these ice dwarfs, and so this class of planets which we have not yet reconnoitered is in reality the most populous class of planetary body in our solar system.

NPR: NASA Sends Spacecraft to Pluto