Past Events

Exploring Space Lectures

Aside from the meteorites that fall to Earth haphazardly, direct analysis of the materials of the solar system has required explorers–both human and robotic–to collect and return samples from the Moon, comets, asteroids, and one day other planets. The four lectures in this year’s series will spotlight the sample return missions that have helped us better understand the origin and evolution of the Earth and other planets.

This lecture series is made possible by the generous support of Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company, and United Launch Alliance. 

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Lecture From Skylab to Interplanetary Space Weather: The Next Frontier National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
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Learn about how the study of space weather is vital to the continued success of these missions in space to ensure minimal disruption to our lives here on Earth.
Lecture How Skylab Changed Solar Astronomy into Heliophysics National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
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Find out how the results from the Skylab studies continue to influence the course of international scientific research and have led to the development of heliophysics and the applied science of space weather.
Lecture Solar Science at Skylab's Launch National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
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In this lecture Karl Hufbauer will discuss how the Skylab project enabled solar scientists to partner with NASA to collect these valuable data.
Lecture Living and Working in Space: Conducting Solar Observations from Skylab National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
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Owen Garriott, one of the first six scientist-astronauts selected by NASA, will commemorate the human legacy of Skylab by drawing upon his experience as a member of the second Skylab crew.
Lecture 50 Years of Solar System Exploration: New Worlds, New Discoveries National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Through the decades of planetary exploration, a wide variety of spacecraft (orbiters, landers, rovers, and more) have revealed an amazing diversity of worlds, each with its own story to tell.  Learn about these remarkable journeys as James L. Green guides us through the 50-year voyage of discovery.
Lecture Vesta in the Light of Dawn National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Join Carol Raymond on a tour of this ancient world and learn what it can tell us about the early days of the solar system.
Lecture The Voyager Journey to the Edge of Interstellar Space National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Launched in 1977 on a journey to explore Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, the two Voyager spacecraft are now nine and 11 billion miles from Earth, exploring the outermost layer of the heliosphere, a giant bubble of solar wind that envelops all of the planets. 
Lecture Curiosity's Mission of Exploration at Gale Crater, Mars National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

In August 2012 the Curiosity rover (Mars Science Laboratory) arrived on Mars in a daring feat of engineering.
Lecture Gamma Ray Bursts and the Birth of Black Holes National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Neil Gehrels is Chief, Astroparticle Physics Laboratory, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.
Lecture IUE - The Little Satellite that Could National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Andrea K. Dupree is a Senior Astrophysicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, part of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts.