AxS Festival is very excited to welcome new presenting partner 89.3 KPCC, who for AxS Festival 2014 | CURIOSITY will be hosting a variety of events exploring the nexus of art and science at the Crawford Family Forum (CFF) in Pasadena. Sunday evening, September 21st, KPCC will celebrate the arrival of MAVEN, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission, as the Planetary Society returns to the CFF for another Planetary Radio Live. This somewhat under-appreciated probe will help us understand how a once warm and wet world lost most of its water and turned into the cold, barren landscape it is today.
MAVEN will reach Mars in time to join the investigation of comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring, which will brush past the planet in October. According to NASA, MAVEN will study gases coming off the comet’s nucleus into its coma as it is warmed by the sun. MAVEN also will look for effects the comet flyby may have on the planet’s upper atmosphere and observe the comet as it travels through the solar wind.
Joining host Mat Kaplan in the Forum will be will MAVEN scientist Richard Zurek Ph.D, Planetary Society Senior Editor Emily Lakdawalla, and the Society’s Director of Science and Technology, Dr. Bruce Betts. Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye the Science Guy will make a live, virtual appearance from New York. As the seconds count down to the critical rocket burn required to place MAVEN into orbit around Mars, we’ll see it all happen as we view the NASA TV broadcast on the Forum big screen. Don’t miss another milestone in our exploration of the Red Planet!
*Start time of event may change, subject to the arrival of MAVEN. Check back for more details.
For more information and to RSVP for this event, click here: www.scpr.org/events/2014/09/21/1508/planetary-radio-live-maven-orbiter-meets-mars/
The event will have a live video stream at the above link on the day of the program.
Additional KPCC AxS Festival 2014 programs will include an installment of NEXT: People | Science | Tomorrow and Community Cinema: ‘MAKERS: Women in space’.