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  2. Death Valley

Mars and the Mojave Festival

Mars and the Mojave Festival, March 9 -11, 2012. Featuring scientist and National Park Service interpreter guided field trips to analog sites, evening keynote speakers and panels, star-gazing, and an expo including mini-rover demonstrations and a 1/10th-scale model of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity Rover. Co-sponsored by NASA Ames Research Center, the Death Valley National Park, the SAM Team at NASA Goddard, and the SETI Institute. Lucinda Land, Executive Director of the Mars Society, will be in attendance on behalf of the organization. NASA festival information Program photo credits for this photo - Steve Hall, Mars Hill and NASA.
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Death Valley National Park Education Specialist Stephanie Kyriazis (left) introduces Dr. Tyler Nordgren (right) – The Universe at Your Feet<br /> A night in the national parks is an opportunity to sleep under the stars and see the sky the way every generation of human beings once did. But astronomy in the parks doesn't end when the sun comes up. The national parks are also a window to the other worlds of our solar system. A hike through the red rocks of Utah, or the geysers of Yellowstone is to experience the sands of Mars and ice volcanoes on a moon of Saturn. In America's national parks, come for the landscape, stay for the Universe.
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Death Valley National Park Education Specialist Stephanie Kyriazis (left) introduces Dr. Tyler Nordgren (right) – The Universe at Your Feet
A night in the national parks is an opportunity to sleep under the stars and see the sky the way every generation of human beings once did. But astronomy in the parks doesn't end when the sun comes up. The national parks are also a window to the other worlds of our solar system. A hike through the red rocks of Utah, or the geysers of Yellowstone is to experience the sands of Mars and ice volcanoes on a moon of Saturn. In America's national parks, come for the landscape, stay for the Universe.

NASAMARSSETISAMMARS ANALOGmars hilluniverseroverrosalba bonaccorsisusanne douoglasandrea joneschris mckaytyler nordgrenaaron zentstephanie kyriazisnasa goddardnasa amesseti institutebadwaterubehebedeath Valleyresearchplanetsastronomy

  • Andrea Jones. Education and Public Outreach (EPO) Specialist for the SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) instrument on the Curiosity Rover. She earned her undergraduate degree in Geology from the College of William & Mary in 2005, and a Masters degree in Geosciences, with a focus in planetary geology, from the University of Arizona in 2009.
  • Expo: Booths from NASA and other organizations.
  • Expo: Booths from NASA and other organizations.
  • Mini-Rover
  • Mini-Rover
  • Expo: Booths from NASA and other organizations.
  • Expo: Booths from NASA and other organizations.
  • Expo: Booths from NASA and other organizations.
  • Expo: Booths from NASA and other organizations.
  • Expo: Booths from NASA and other organizations.
  • Death Valley National Park Education Specialist Stephanie Kyriazis (left) introduces Dr. Tyler Nordgren (right) – The Universe at Your Feet<br /> A night in the national parks is an opportunity to sleep under the stars and see the sky the way every generation of human beings once did. But astronomy in the parks doesn't end when the sun comes up. The national parks are also a window to the other worlds of our solar system. A hike through the red rocks of Utah, or the geysers of Yellowstone is to experience the sands of Mars and ice volcanoes on a moon of Saturn. In America's national parks, come for the landscape, stay for the Universe.
  • Dr. Tyler Nordgren is a professor at the University of Redlands. Earning his PhD in astronomy at Cornell University, Dr. Nordgren has used modern observatories around the world as part of his research. Over the last two decades he has seen the steady spread of urban lighting that shines up into the sky to blot out the view of distant stars. Since 2005, he has worked in National Parks to promote astronomy education, where the public still has a chance to see a natural nocturnal landscape. In 2004 Dr. Nordgren was part of a small group of artists and astronomers that designed a small sundial for NASA's Mars Rovers Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity. His book Stars Above, Earth Below: A Guide to Astronomy in the National Parks was published in 2010 as a way to spread the message of the importance of protecting the naturally dark night sky.
  • Dr. Tyler Nordgren – The Universe at Your Feet
  • Dr. Rosalba Bonaccorsi (center) – Studying Mars from Earth at The Ubehebe Volcanic Field<br /> The Ubehebe Volcanic Field includes a dozen craters formed during hydro-magmatic explosions during the last few thousand years. The craters can serve as analogs for upcoming astrobiology-driven missions at several Martian sites, including the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mission. The terrain of the Ubehebe Volcanic Field presents a variety of geologic environments, from coarse-grained river deposits, to clay-bearing lake deposits, to volcanic ashes. With precipitation patterns in Death Valley similar to a “warmer and wetter” early Mars, and a similar variety of minerals present, the Ubehebe Volcanic Field offers an ideal test site for formulating hypotheses about the potential of minerals, rocks, and sediment to support microbial life in dry, hot deserts on Earth and, possibly, on Mars.
  • Dr. Rosalba Bonaccorsi – Studying Mars from Earth at The Ubehebe Volcanic Field
  • Dr. Rosalba Bonaccorsi – Studying Mars from Earth at The Ubehebe Volcanic Field
  • Dr. Rosalba Bonaccorsi (left) is an interdisciplinary scientist working at NASA Ames Research Center. In 2001 she obtained her Ph.D. in Geological, Marine and Environmental Sciences from the University of Trieste (Italy). Since 2005 she has expanded her interest to the habitability of mineralogical Mars analogs, and very dry desert regions worldwide, including the Mojave, Antarctica, Atacama (Chile), and Australia, often as a NASA Spaceward Bound team member. Rosalba joined the SETI Institute in 2008, and is keen to achieve a wide picture of where life and its signatures are most successfully distributed, concentrated, preserved, and detected. Since 2008, Rosalba has been working in Death Valley on the Ubehebe Volcanic Field. In collaboration with NASA scientists, she is applying results from this research to Mars Science Laboratory mission objectives. Formerly a teacher, she has been involved with Education and Public Outreach with non-profit organizations since 1989.
  • Dr. Rosalba Bonaccorsi – Studying Mars from Earth at The Ubehebe Volcanic Field
  • Ubehebe Crater
  • Ubehebe Crater
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