Geek out with these space and science events in Canberra

There are plenty of events coming up for Canberra space and science fans, with an inevitable clash unfortunately:

• European Space Agency mission experts on the Rosetta Mission
• Nobel Laureate Professor Brian Schmidt on the future of science
• Peter Garrett on ecology and climate science
• Anna Frebel (MIT) on the search for our galaxy's oldest stars
• Badri Younes (NASA) on the interplanetary communications and navigation network.

All of these events are free. Descriptions and details below are as published by the various event organisers.



Rosetta's journey - Unlocking the origins of life
The European Space Agency (ESA)
Thursday, 19 February 2015 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM (AEDT)
Acton
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/rosettas-journey-unlocking-the-origins-of-life-tickets-15644837129

This free public lecture, is your chance to discover the mysteries of the universe. Internationally renowned mission experts Paolo Ferri and Mark McCaughrean from the European Space Agency will be in Canberra for one night only to deliver a public presentation on "Rosetta's journey - Unlocking the origins of life."

They will also underline the unique support given to this historic mission by ESA's deep space ground station in New Norcia, Western Australia, and review highlights of 50 years of successful cooperation between ESA and Australia.


'The Future of Science' with Professor Brian Schmidt
Canberra Skeptics
Thursday, February 19, 2015 from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM (AEDT)
Parkes
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-future-of-science-with-professor-brian-schmidt-tickets-15211094794

Brian Schmidt is a Laureate Fellow and Distinguished Professor at The Australian National University. Schmidt received undergraduate degrees in Astronomy and Physics from the University of Arizona in 1989, and completed his Astronomy Master's degree (1992) and PhD (1993) from Harvard University.

Under his leadership, in 1998, the HighZ Supernova Search team made the startling discovery that the expansion rate of the Universe is accelerating, work that earned him the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics. Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, The United States Academy of Science, and the Royal Society, he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2013.

Dinner will follow the lecture (venue TBC).


Institute for Applied Ecology Krebs Lecture: Peter Garrett AM
Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra
Tuesday, 24 February 2015 from 18:30 to 19:30 (AEDT)
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/institute-for-applied-ecology-krebs-lecture-peter-garrett-am-tickets-15397731028

We are well into the new century, and with the world continuing to warm further, delaying robust action on dangerous climate change is a crime against humanity.

Australia, with its high standard of living and rich biodiversity, has much to lose if we don’t seize the moment and change our ways, and much to gain if we do change.

Peter Garrett AM has a unique perspective, having working as an activist and in government. In this presentation, he will present five simple steps we can take to save the hand that feeds us - our planet.


Searching for the oldest stars
Australian National University
Monday, 23 February 2015 from 6:15 PM to 7:15 PM (AEDT)
Canberra
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/searching-for-the-oldest-stars-tickets-15608636853

Take a walk on a moonless night. Watch the Milky Way above, made from a myriad of stars. Did you know that some of them have been shining for more than 13 billion years? These are the oldest, still surviving, objects in our 13.8 billion years old universe. "Stellar archaeology" identifies these extremely rare relics. Analysis of their chemical composition shows that they contain only trace amounts of heavy elements (e.g. calcium, iron) because these stars formed at a time when little of these elements existed. This offers the extraordinary opportunity to use local Milky Way stars for exploring the earliest times in the universe.

This work has revealed tantalizing details about the short-lived very first stars which cannot be studied otherwise. When they exploded as supernovae they left behind individual element signatures in the surrounding gas clouds. These "chemical fingerprints" were incorporated into the next generation long-lived stars that we still observe today. Having access to these fingerprints also provides exclusive information about element nucleosynthesis, chemical evolution, early star and galaxy formation processes, and even the formation of the Milky Way.

Assistant Professor Anna Frebel offers an intriguing account of the latest research results paired with a unique insight into life as an astronomer. Having discovered several of the oldest and most primitive stars using the world's largest telescopes she tells fascinating discovery stories that allow the audience to witness what it means to be a scientist in this day and age.

Spectacular video clips about observing with the 6.5m optical Magellan telescopes in the Atacama Desert in Chile will also be shown.

Anna Frebel is Assistant Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She has received numerous international honours and awards for her discoveries and subsequent chemical abundance analyses of the oldest stars and how these stars can be employed to uncover information about the early Universe some 13 billion years ago. Professor Frebel has authored more than 70 papers in various refereed journals, including Nature, and enjoys communicating science to the public through public lectures, magazine articles, interviews as well as her popular science book Searching for the oldest stars (available in English after mid-2015, by Princeton University Press).


SCaN: Your interplanetary communications and navigation network
Australian National University
Thursday, 26 February 2015 from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM (AEDT)
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/scan-your-interplanetary-communications-and-navigation-network-tickets-15627199374

Mr Badri Younes is the Deputy Associate Administrator and Program Manager for NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN). He rejoined NASA in August 2007 in his present position, to be responsible for all of NASA's communications and navigation infrastructure and services, as well as data standards and spectrum. SCaN was established in 2006 to integrate NASA’s fragmented and aging communications and navigation assets and resources into a single cohesive fully integrated network, and to provide affordable much higher data rate and other enabling services to NASA’s human and robotic missions. This includes all of NASA's globally distributed networks, including the Deep Space Network (DSN), the Near Earth Network (NEN), and the Space Network (SN).

Mr Younes’ professional experience spans over twenty-eight years of leadership in microwave and radiofrequency systems engineering and technology. His technical expertise, leadership, interpersonal skills and rich linguistic ability have been instrumental in furthering US objectives both nationally and abroad. Mr Younes entered the Senior Executive Service in September 2001, as the Director of Spectrum Management for the Department of Defense (DoD), in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. For close to six years in the Pentagon, his innovative vision, influential leadership, pioneering ideas and outstanding achievements contributed significantly to America’s national security, international prestige and economic growth. His transformation of the DoD spectrum management was duly recognized in 2005 when he was granted the Presidential Rank Meritorious Award.