Continuing its yearlong 25th anniversary celebration, the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum will host the Jaylee and Gilbert Mead Exploring Space Lecture Series, beginning March 13 and continuing once each month through June.
Inspired by the museum's newest permanent exhibition, "Explore the Universe," the free series will feature four distinguished scholars recounting their wide-ranging "travels" through the worlds of cosmological inquiry.
The speakers were advisers to "Explore the Universe," which showcases some of the most significant observational tools astronomers have devised over the centuries and the role each has played in our continuing quest to understand the universe. They are also among the essayists featured in the exhibition's new companion volume, Beyond Earth--Mapping the Universe, published jointly by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Geographic Society.
Owen Gingerich, research professor at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, will deliver the Wednesday, March 13 lecture, "The Great Copernicus Chase"; Robert Smith, University of Alberta professor of history and classics, will deliver the Thursday, April 11 lecture, "Hubble to Hubble: Remaking the Universe"; Vera Rubin, Carnegie Institution of Washington astronomer, will deliver the Wednesday, May 1 lecture, "Why Does an Astronomer Study Something She Cannot See?"; and J. Anthony Tyson, Lucent Technologies/Bell Labs researcher, will deliver the Thursday, June 6 lecture, "Mapping the Dark Universe."
Each lecture begins at 8 p.m. and lasts approximately one hour. The March lecture will be held in the museum's Lockheed Martin IMAX® Theater. The remaining lectures will be held in the museum's Albert Einstein Planetarium.
At 6:30 p.m. prior to each lecture, "Explore the Universe" curator David DeVorkin will lead visitors on a highlights tour of the gallery, followed by a free planetarium show (except March 13).
Concluding each evening, the guest lecturer will sign copies of Beyond Earth--Mapping the Universe and chat with members of the audience.
The lecture series is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Jaylee and Gilbert Mead, longtime advocates for the Washington-area space sciences community.
Museum director Gen. J.R. "Jack" Dailey hails the lecture series as "a wonderful opportunity for us to show that education and science are a big part of our mission."
The Jaylee and Gilbert Mead Exploring Space Lecture Series is free but tickets are required. They are available at the Lockheed Martin IMAX® Theater box office, and through Tickets.com by calling (800) 529-2440, or by visiting their Web site at www.tickets.com. There is a small service fee on all Tickets.com orders.
The museum marked its 25th anniversary on July 1, 2001. Since opening in 1976, it has become the most popular museum in the world, attracting more than 9 million people a year. The museum is currently building a companion facility at Washington Dulles International Airport in
Northern Virginia, which will house the 80 percent of the national collection that has not been accessible to the general public. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center will open in December 2003, to mark the centennial of the Wright brothers' first powered flight at Kitty Hawk.