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. NPS festival information

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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.

NASA MARS SETI SAM MARS ANALOG mars hill universe rover rosalba bonaccorsi susanne douoglas andrea jones chris mckay tyler nordgren aaron zent stephanie kyriazis nasa goddard nasa ames seti institute badwater ubehebe death Valley research planets astronomy