Cosmic Explorations Speaker Series Archive
2021–2022
THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE
The Most Powerful Telescope in Space
Dr. Walter Kiefer
Unraveling the Birth of Stars and Planetary Systems
Dr. Elena Sabbi
Exploring Distant Worlds
Dr. Susan E. Mullally
Investigating the Origins of Life
Dr. Néstor Espinoza
The Journey of the James Webb Space Telescope: Where we are and where we are going
Dr. Stefanie Milam
2020–2021
Cosmic Explorations Speaker Series
NASA’s Lucy Mission: 1 Spacecraft, 7 Trojan Asteroids, 12 years
Dr. Cathy Olkin
Psyche: Journey to a Metallic World
Dr. Lindy Elkins-Tanton
VIPER mission to the Moon
Dr. Jennifer Heldmann
Europa Clipper
Dr. Rachel Klima
Dragonfly: Exploring an Organic-Rich Moon
Dr. Melissa Trainer
2019–2020
Apollo to Artemis: Exploring Our Moon
Lunar Dirt, Rocks, and Legacy: The Lunar Receiving Laboratory’s First Five Years
Dr. Grant Heiken
No Bugs, No Cheese: Sample Studies Since Apollo
Dr. Juliane Gross, NASA Johnson Space Center
Increasing Science Capabilities in the Apollo Lunar Exploration Program: Perspectives for Artemis
Dr. Jim Head, Brown University
2018–2019
The LPI at 50: A Half Century of Solar System Exploration
Curiosity and Our Evolving View of the Red Planet
Dr. Kirsten Siebach, Rice University
NASA’s Juno Mission: What’s New at Jupiter?
Dr. Fran Bagenal, The University of Colorado at Boulder
Surprises in the Saturn System
Dr. Linda Spilker, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Ultima Thule: NASA’s Exploration of an Ancient and Distant World
Dr. Carly Howett, Southwest Research Institute
InSight into Planetary Interiors
Dr. Bruce Banerdt, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Mission to Asteroid Bennu
Dr. Kevin Righter, NASA Johnson Space Center
2017–2018
Diving into Ocean Worlds
Ocean Worlds: A Voyager retrospective, and a beginning
Dr. Paul Schenk, The Lunar and Planetary Institute
Europa: Exploring a potentially habitable ocean world
Dr. Robert Pappalardo, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The potential for life within Enceladus after Cassini
Dr. Jonathan Lunine, Cornell University
Titan: A world with two styles of ocean
Dr. Ralph Lorenz, Applied Physics Lab at Johns Hopkins University
The Ultracool TRAPPIST-1 System: 7 Terrestrial Worlds, 7 Chances for Ice and Life
Dr. Susan Lederer, NASA Johnson Space Center
2016–2017
Mercury to Mars: LPI Explores the Solar System
The Value of the Moon
Dr. Paul Spudis, The Lunar and Planetary Institute
Impact Cratering Across the Inner Solar System
Dr. Buck Sharpton, The Lunar and Planetary Institute
Lunar Swirls: You don’t know what you’re missing (and neither do they)
Dr. Georgiana Kramer, The Lunar and Planetary Institute
Mars: Are we there yet?
Dr. Patricia Craig, The Lunar and Planetary Institute
The Evolution of Water on Mars
Dr. Stephen Clifford, The Lunar and Planetary Institute
Mercury: It's not the humidity, it's the heat!
Dr. Louise Prockter, The Lunar and Planetary Institute
2015–2016
Exploring the Solar System Today and Tomorrow
NASA's Exploration of Ceres and Pluto: An Update
Dr. Paul Schenk, The Lunar and Planetary Institute
Exploring the Birth of Rocky Planets: The InSight Mission to Mars
Dr. Bruce Banerdt, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
OSIRIS-Rex: Sample Return from a Primitive Near-Earth Asteroid
Dr. Scott Messenger, NASA Johnson Space Center
NASA's Juno Mission to Jupiter: What's Inside the Giant Planet?
Dr. Fran Bagenal, The University of Colorado at Boulder
The Curiosity Rover on Mars: Moving Toward the Mountain
Dr. Allan Treiman, The Lunar and Planetary Institute
2014–2015
“Science” on the Silver Screen
Gravity
Dr. Stanley Love, NASA Johnson Space Center
Exploring the Core: The Inside Story
Dr. Walter Kiefer, The Lunar and Planetary Institute
SETI: Real vs Reel
Dr. Jill Tarter, SETI Institute
Europa Report: A Report
Dr. Britney Schmidt, Georgia Institute of Technology
Movie Science: Who Cares If It’s Wrong?
Dr. Seth Shostak, SETI Institute
2013–2014
The Universe is Out to Get Us and What We Can (or Can't) Do About It
Solar Storm: Space Weather's Impacts on Society and the Economy (Link coming)
Dr. Daniel Baker, University of Colorado at Boulder
The 2013 Chelyabinsk Air Burst and the Hazards of Near-Earth Asteroid Impacts Dr. David Kring, The Lunar and Planetary Institute
Exploding Stars, Cosmic Blowtorches, and the Runaway Universe (Link coming)
Dr. Jeffrey Silverman, The University of Texas at Austin
When Will We Find E.T. and What Happens If We Do? (Link Coming)
Dr. Seth Shostak, SETI Institute
2012–2013
A User's Guide to the Universe: You Live Here. Here's What You Need to Know
Big Bang Theory: The Three Pillars
Dr. Dragan Huterer, University of Michigan
Dark Energy: A Universe Out of Control
Dr. Nicholas Suntzeff, Texas A&M University
Biography of the Milky Way
Dr. James Bullock, University of California
Black Holes Inside and Out
Dr. Andrew Hamilton, University of Colorado at Boulder
2011–2012
NASA's Year of the Solar System: New Missions, New Perspectives, New Questions
Humanity's Changing Relationship with the Solar System (Link coming)
Dava Sobel, Author
Planet Formation: What's New With the Oldest Events in the Solar System
Dr. Bill Bottke, Southwest Research Institute
The GRAIL Mission and New Understanding of the Moon
Dr. Maria Zuber, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mars: Discoveries and Insights from 50 Years of Robotic Exploration (Link coming)
Dr. Stephen Clifford, The Lunar and Planetary Institute
2010–2011
Changing Climates in the Solar System
Venus, Earth, and Mars: A Climate Overview
Dr. Andrew Ingersoll, California Institute of Technology
Mars: The Decline and Fall of an Earth-Like Climate
Dr. Allan Treiman, The Lunar and Planetary Institute
Calamitous Climate Change Produced by Impacting Asteroids and Comets
Dr. David Kring, The Lunar and Planetary Institute
Icehouse to Greenhouse Transitions in Earth History: Lessons from Deep Time to Recent
Dr. Eugene Domack, Hamilton College
Earth’s Climate History: 1 Million Years Ago to the Present
Dr. James White, The University of Colorado at Boulder
2009–2010
The Search for Meaning, for Planets, for Life
Astronomy, God, and the Search for Elegance
Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ
Kepler, and the Search for Habitable Earths
Dr. William Cochran, University of Texas-Austin
Finding and Making Habitable Planets
Dr. Jim Kasting, Penn State University
What is Life? (and how should we look for it?)
Dr. Tori Hoehler, NASA Ames Research Center
2008–2009
The International Year of Astronomy
From the Big Bang to Big Brains: The Origin of Structure in an Evolving Universe
Dr. Jeff Hester, Arizona State University
Exploding Stars in an Accelerating Universe
Dr. Craig Wheeler, University of Texas-Austin
Exploring during the International Year of Astronomy
Dr. Paul Spudis, The Lunar and Planetary Institute
Star Cities of the Milky Way
Dr. Caty Pilachowski, Indiana University-Bloomington
