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 Big Bang for the Buck: Cosmology from WMAP National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Charles L. Bennett is the Alumni Centennial Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Lecture Phoenix's Arctic Adventure National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Learn what Phoenix taught us about water, climate cycles, and habitability on Mars as we travel with Peter Smith to a polar summer where the sun never sets.
Lecture Impact Cratering and the Solar System Cataclysm National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Discover how impacts shaped the Solar System we see today as Robert Strom guides us through the history of these dramatic events.
Lecture Give and Take: The Story of Martian Winds National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Learn about the awesome power of the wind in this lecture illustrated with remarkable images from multiple Mars missions.
Lecture Where the Hot Stuff Is: Volcanoes of the Earth and Solar System National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Volcanoes are common throughout the Solar System and volcanic eruptions are among nature's most awesome spectacles.
Lecture Our Sun - Is it a Steady Performer? National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Dr. Alan M. Title, senior fellow at the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Advanced Technology Center, will help us get to know the Sun a bit better and to appreciate that it is a more unpredictable creature than ever thought possible.
Lecture Are We Alone? Searching for an Exoplanet Like Home National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Fewer and fewer planets in our Solar System have been found to be viable for life, although we are still looking. But what about the more than 300 “exoplanets” beyond our Solar System that have now been discovered? 
Lecture What IS the Universe? National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

As each new technology complementing the telescope was applied to the question, "What is the Universe?", our understanding of that question changed in profound ways. Dr. Vera Rubin of the Carnegie Institution of Washington will discuss this question.
Lecture Why is Astronomy so Popular? National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Well-known interpreter of astronomy and sky lore, David H. Levy, will discuss  how and why astronomy captures the imaginations of so many people. 
Lecture Forecasting Space Weather National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

Dr. Tom Bogdan, Director of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, will provide an overview of how space weather can affect our advanced technologies-based global economy.