Lecture Title: “Launching DAWN to Asteroids: From Behind the Scenes at Kennedy Space Center Press Site ”
Presenter: Dr. Ken Kremer, NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador and The Planetary Society.
Location: Health Science Building, Room 500
Date/Time: April 15, 2009, at 8 PM
This lecture will be open to the public.
Launching DAWN to Asteroids: From Behind the Scenes at Kennedy Space Center Press Site by Dr. Ken Kremer, NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador and The Planetary Society
NASA Solar System Ambassador Dr. Ken Kremer makes a return visit to the Gloucester County College campus on Wednesday, April 15, to present a free lecture on the blast off of the DAWN asteroid orbiter with an up-close and personal look direct from the launch pad with top NASA scientists. The lecture, “Launching DAWN to Asteroids: From Behind the Scenes at Kennedy Space Center Press Site,” will be held at 8 p.m. in room 500 of the Health Sciences building and is open to the public.
Kremer, a research scientist and journalist whose articles and space exploration images have appeared in magazines, books and on Web sites, will share information about the revolutionary DAWN spacecraft, which is powered by exotic ion propulsion and is the first to orbit the two uncharted infant worlds Ceres and Vesta. Kremer has lectured at educational institutions, civic organizations, museums and astronomy clubs, including The Franklin Institute and Princeton University. His research has resulted in more than two dozen scientific publications and patents, and his space exploration images have appeared on the covers of Aviation Week & Space Technology and Spaceflight magazines. He is a member of The Planetary Society, the Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton and the Rittenhouse Astronomical Society in Philadelphia.
For more information on the lecture, email dmccormi@gccnj.edu or contact the Student Activities Office at (856) 415-2236.
Astronomy Picture of the Day link (12 June 2008): “Phoenix and the Snow Queen”
Astronomy Picture of the Day link (12 November 2008): “Phoenix and the Holy Cow”
Aviation Week link to 9 June 2008 photo mosaic, “Phoenix and the Snow Queen”
You can visit Dr. Kremer's web page at http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/ambassador/profiles/Kenneth_Kremer.htm
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“Phoenix and the Snow Queen”: Cover mosaic for Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine on 9 June 2008.
The Phoenix Mars lander footpad to the left of an apparent large block of water ice, which was cleared of topsoil by descent rockets, indicates the spacecraft literally touched down on top of the primary sampling objective of the mission near the Martian North Pole on May 25, 2008.
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona image mosaiced and color-coded for Aviation Week & Space Technology by Kenneth Kremer and Marco Di Lorenzo. |
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“Phoenix and the Snow Queen” Photo Mosaic: featured in Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine 9 June 2008 issue, Spaceflight magazine October 2008 issue and Astronomy Picture of the Day website on 12 June 2008.
Mosaic of Phoenix lander footpad to left of large block of water ice, which was cleared of topsoil by descent rockets as the spacecraft touched down near the frigid Martian North Pole on May 25, 2008. Phoenix was specifically targeted to land on icy soils in the Martian arctic to look for organics and other clues to Martian life and researchers were prepared to methodically dig with the lander’s robotic arm to reach the solid ice especially important to such studies. The ice layer was found about 5 cm below the surface. A robotic arm camera developed by the University of Arizona and Max Planck Institute in Germany was lowered by the arm to take this false-color image of the feature dubbed “The Snow Queen”. It is too far under the lander to be sampled directly, but was studied to confirm that it is water ice, instead of salt or rock. The image also shows that a spring (right of footpad) was harmlessly lost from the spacecraft during landing.
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona image mosaiced and color-coded for Aviation Week & Space Technology by Kenneth Kremer and Marco Di Lorenzo. |
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Dr. Ken Kremer stands in front of the Space Shuttle Discovery, sitting atop the crawler transporter, as it is being rolled out to Launch Pad 39 A at the Kennedy Space Center. |
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“Spirit’s Soar” Summit Panorama: The Mars Rover Spirit, high on a Martian mountaintop 50 million miles from Earth, takes a Navcam self-portrait along with mosaic of the summit terrain and the sides of Husband Hill sloping to the distant Gusev crater floor. Spirit drove for 3 miles and two years across the distant plains at rear, to reach and climb the mountain. She took this mosaic on Sol 618 (September 28, 2005) and is remarkably free of dust with the sun glistening on the solar arrays. The image was derived by an international team of Mars enthusiasts including Dr. Ken Kremer. Reprinted by permission of Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine (14 November 2005 issue). This picture was featured on the popular Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) website on 28 November 2005.
Credit: Marco Di Lorenzo, Douglas Ellison, Bernhard Braun and Kenneth Kremer. NASA/JPL/Cornell/Aviation Week & Space Technology |
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“SPIRIT’S SOAR” self portrait at the summit of Husband Hill was the cover image for the 14 November 2005 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine (reprinted by permission) and the April 2006 issue of Spaceflight magazine. The image was derived by an international team of Mars enthusiasts.
Credit: Marco Di Lorenzo, Douglas Ellison, Bernhard Braun and Kenneth Kremer. NASA/JPL/Cornell/Aviation Week & Space Technology |
