September 15, 2006
"Bicycling On Other Worlds"

Lonny Buinis, Instructional Designer, Space Artist and Amateur Astronomer.

Cycle down a volcano the size of Texas, dodge geysers, ride next to ice cracks as they form.

October 20, 2006
"Exploring Mars, the Search for Life, and a Journey in 3-D"

Dr. Ken Kremer, NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador.

A comprehensive review of the ongoing NASA Rover Mission to Mars covering the explorations of Spirit and Opportunity from launch to the latest news, as they have journeyed across the surface of Mars. See a full scale model of the RAT science drill. Ken was a member of the four-person international team credited with a "Spirit" cover on the 14 November 2005 issue of Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine which has also appeared in numerous other publications. 3-D glasses will be provided.

November 17, 2006
"It's Like Watching a Tree Grow in Tokyo, Measuring Stellar Motion with HST"

Dr. Carelton Pryor, Astrophysicist, Rutgers University.

Dr. Pryor explains how instruments aboard the Hubble Space Telescope are used to measure the motion of stars.

December 15, 2006
"Cosmology: a Fifty Year Perspective"

Dr. James E. Gunn, Astrophysicist, Princeton University.

The interplay between Cosmic Microwave Background with COBE and WMAP. This gives us a picture of the universe in the early times, and large scale galaxy surveys which tell us in detail about the universe today.

January 19, 2007
"Stellar Duets"

Dr. Orsola DeMarco, PhD in Astrophysics from University College, London in 1997, Currently with the American Museum of Natural History.

How Companions Shape the Life and Evolution of Stars."

February 16, 2007
"The Last Rites of Binary Star Evolution"

Dr. Joseph Patterson, Astrophysicist, Columbia University.

Most stars are found in binary star systems. The theory of stellar evolution is almost exclusively about single stars. This talk will present the latest understanding about the structure and evolution of these stars.

April 20, 2007
"First Mission to Pluto"

Michael Dean Lewis, NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador.

The New Horizons mission to the farthest regions of our solar system is presented with some interesting facts about Pluto, which is now designated as a "Dwarf Planet". It will also address the Kuiper Belt objects, and the Heliopause reflections. Details about operations of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Deep Space Network will also be discussed.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2007
"Seeing the Light: The Nature of Astronomical Color and The Use of Filters in CCD Imaging"

Jim Burnell author and astroimager

Jim Burnell is perhaps best known as the co-author (with Richard Berry) of The Handbook of Astronomical Image Processing (now in its second edition)—which includes the AIP4Win image processing software that is used by amateur and professional astro-imagers alike. His presentation will address issues of color rendering in CCD imaging. Burnell has been interested by astronomy since he was a kid. Professionally, he has worked eighteen years in research and development at Bell Labs and presently develops photonic hardware for Fujitsu.

OCTOBER 19, 2007
"Launching Dawn (and Phoenix) From behind the scenes at Kennedy Space Center Press Site"

Dr. Ken Kremer NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador & The Planetary Society

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Dr. Kremer will be presenting his "behind the scenes" experience of the rarely seen "reporters perspective" of the Space Press Corps at America's Space Port including an "Up-Close and Personal" look at the just launched NASA Dawn Asteroid Orbiter powered by exotic ion propulsion.

As the events unfolded during launch week, Ken filed reports as Guest Blogger for The Planetary Society Weblog, all available in the archives at http://planetary.org/blog/archive.

Ken will also allow us to experience the beautiful and amazing new discoveries in our New Solar System by "Spirit" and "Opportunity" as they celebrate nearly four years on the Red Planet as well as by the Cassini Mission to Saturn and its rings and many intriguing moons. Journeys by NASA's newest planetary missions, Phoenix and Dawn, and others to Jupiter, Comets, Pluto, Eris, and Beyond will be extended into the spectacular realm of 3-D. Ken is a research scientist and has authored a Mars cover article for the Journal of the Explorers Club. His international team of astronomy enthusiasts has published Mars images in magazines (including Aviation Week and Space Technology) and numerous other media (including Astronomy Picture Of the Day). 3-D glasses will be provided.

November 14, 2005 cover of AW&ST published by Dr. Kremer and collaborators.
 
 

NOVEMBER 16, 2007
"New Eyes on the Universe: Observing Beyond Hubble with the Chandra and Spitzer Space Telescopes"

Dr. Kimberly Weaver, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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The world has been fascinated by glorious images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. But these visible images represent just a small portion of a larger picture. Much of the universe contains violent processes and dust-enshrouded objects that are revealed only by searching for their signatures in X-ray and infrared light. In particular, star birth, star death, black holes, cosmic collisions, and the origins of other solar systems are revealed in stark clarity. Her talk will focus on new images from NASA's Chandra and Spitzer space telescopes, how these images are adding to our knowledge, and what they are telling us about our complex universe. Dr. Weaver is from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland where she serves as the Associate Director for Science in the Exploration of the Universe Division. She was the program scientist for the Spitzer Space Telescope and is also affiliated with Johns Hopkins University as an adjunct associate professor. In 1996, she won a NASA Presidential Early Career Award to pursue research in extragalactic astronomy.

DECEMBER, 21, 2007
"After Galaxies Collide"

Dr. Charles Liu, City University of New York, College of Staten Island

Galaxy collisions are spectacular cosmic events taking millions or even billions of years to complete. What's left in the aftermath? In one system, called G515, it looks like a quiet, hidden, supermassive black hole! Dr. Charles Liu will trace the history of this enigmatic object, and investigate the black hole lurking within. He is a professor of astrophysics at the City University of New York’s College of Staten Island, and an Associate with the Hayden Planetarium and Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. His research focuses on colliding galaxies, quasars, and star formation history. He earned degrees from Harvard University and the University of Arizona, and did postgraduate research at Kitt Peak National Observatory and at Columbia University. Along with academic journals, he also writes the monthly column “Out There” for Natural History Magazine. He received the 2001 American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award for his book “One Universe: At Home In The Cosmos.” He lives in New Jersey.

JANUARY 18, 2008
"Symmetry: From Human Perception to the Laws of Physics"

Dr. Mario Livio, Senior Astrophysicist, Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute

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What do the fundamental laws of nature, human perception, the music of Johan Sebastian Bach and the selection of mates have in common? They are all characterized by certain symmetries. Symmetry is a concept that bridges the gap between the laws of nature and psychology; science and art. Yet the “language” of symmetry — group theory — emerged from a most unlikely source: an equation that couldn’t be solved. Dr. Livio will tell the story of symmetry, of group theory, and their applications to everything from string theory to how we select our mates. He will also follow the sad lives of two mathematical prodigies who opened the door for these concepts.

“The Equation That Couldn’t Be Solved" is the first popular level book to explore group theory, not through abstract formulas but in a beautifully written and dramatic account of the lives and work of some of the greatest mathematicians in history.
 
 

FEBRUARY 15, 2008
"A Ray of Light in a Sea of Dark (Matter)"

Dr. Charles Keeton, Rutgers University

Dr. Charles Keeton makes use of a sort of natural “telescope” — gravitational lensing — to study mysterious “dark matter”. Dr. Keeton attributes his interest in space to the success of the Voyager missions and the Space Shuttle program in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After earning a B.A. from Cornell University and Ph.D. from Harvard University, Dr. Keeton did research at the University of Arizona and the University of Chicago before joining the faculty of Rutgers University in 2004. Dr. Keeton has observed with the Hubble Space Telescope as well as observatories in Arizona and Chile. His research has recently been featured by National Public Radio, MSNBC.com and the New Scientist magazine.

MARCH 14, 2008
"Plasma Propulsion and the Exploration of Space"

Prof. Edgar Choueiri, Princeton University

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Professor Edgar Choueiri highlights next generation rocket technology that is crucial to enabling advanced missions to explore deep space. A brief history of rocketry will explain why the chemical rockets currently used to send humans to the Moon are not feasible for ambitious deep space exploration. He will describe the basic physics of more advanced spacecraft propulsion concepts, such as nuclear and plasma propulsion, and show how the plasma rockets that have been successfully used on several recent small spacecraft are being evolved for the more ambitious missions that will define the next age of space exploration, such as a Jupiter moon tour, a Pluto or a Neptune orbiter, and sample return missions to Mercury, Titan, Europa, comets, asteroids and Kuiper Belt objects. Professor Choueiri leads a large team of researchers at Princeton University and at various NASA centers to develop new plasma rocket technology. His experiments have flown on the Space Shuttle and Russian scientific spacecraft. Professor Edgar Choueiri is Director of the Engineering Physics Program at Princeton University as well as Princeton's Electric Propulsion and Plasma Dynamics Laboratory where he works on a new generation of rockets for spacecraft.

View the facilities, meet the researchers, and access the rich trove of publications of Professor Choueriri's Electric Propulsion and Plasma Dynamics Laboratory (EPPDyL).
 
 

APRIL 18, 2008
"Life in Space"

Robert J. Cenker, Aerospace Systems Consultant

What’s it like to live and work in space? Robert J. Cenker found out firsthand when he flew on the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS 61-C) as the Payload Specialist for a six day mission from January 12th to 18th, 1986. In addition to overseeing the deployment of the RCA Satcom Ku-1 satellite, he performed a variety of physiological tests and operated an infrared imaging camera. Today, he works as a consultant with various firms on spacecraft design, assembly, flight operations and micro-gravity research. Mr. Cenker will share his experiences while showing slides taken during his flight as well as a short video.