Enjoy Free General Admission to Lowell!
Each year, the Festival features 10-days of engaging events and programs, all free, for the community to enjoy and celebrate the wonders of science!
This year’s theme is “Accelerating Innovation”! On Monday, September 23, Lowell Observatory will be hosting a FREE general admission day from open to close.
Special Science Talks
4:30pm | Space Age Exploration with Klaus Brasch and William Sheehan
(45 minutes)
Unique stories of people thrilled as youngsters by the launch of Sputnik in 1957, which triggered the race to the Moon between America and the Soviet Union during the cold war. Many became scientists involved in the exploration of the Moon and Solar System, about which little was known at the time. Theirs are histories of a golden age of exploration which is still underway.
A bioscientist with a lifelong interest in astronomy, Klaus Brasch, PhD, joined the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada as a teenager and was hooked. After retiring from California State University, San Bernardino, Klaus joined Lowell Observatory as docent in its public program. He has written and lectured widely on topics ranging from astrophotography to life in the universe. Asteroid 25226-Brasch was named in recognition of his service at Lowell.
William Sheehan is a retired psychiatrist, astronomical historian, and amateur astronomer. He has published 20 books on astronomy, including most recently Venus (with Sanjay Limaye), Discovering Mars (with Jim Bell), Discovering Pluto (with Dale Cruikshank), and Saturn. He was a Guggenheim fellow in 2001, a recipient of the Gold Medal of the Oriental Astronomical Association, and has been honored with an asteroid, 16037 Sheehan, which was discovered at Anderson Mesa in 1995.
5:30pm | Exploring Oceans with Michael Bland
(45 mins)
NASA’s Europa Clipper mission launches this October, beginning a 10-year journey to explore Europa from its surface to the ocean hidden below. Find out how we can investigate an extraterrestrial ocean we cannot see or touch, and learn about Flagstaff’s role in planning and executing the mission.
Mike Bland is a research space scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center. His interests primarily lie in combining numerical models with planetary datasets to understand the thermal and tectonic evolution of ice-rich bodies.
