NASA, Smithsonian Host 10-Year Mars Rover Events
NASA and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington are sponsoring events to mark the 10-year anniversary of the Mars Exploration Rovers.
NASA and the Smithsonian National  Air and Space Museum (NASM) in Washington are sponsoring events to commemorate  10 years of roving across the Red Planet by the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER).Anniversary activities will showcase  the images and achievements of Spirit and Opportunity, both launched by NASA in  the summer of 2003. Activities also will highlight how Mars robotic  exploration and discovery will aid plans for a future human mission to Mars.Spirit and Opportunity completed  their three-month prime missions in April 2004 and went on to perform extended  missions for years. The rovers made important discoveries about wet  environments on ancient Mars that may have been favorable for supporting  microbial life. Although Spirit ceased communicating with Earth in March 2010,  the Opportunity rover continues its work on the Red Planet.Anniversary events include:On Tuesday, Jan. 7, starting at 7:30  a.m. PST (10:30 a.m. EST), NASA and the museum will facilitate two panel  discussions on Mars robotic and human missions. Held in the museum's Moving  Beyond Earth gallery, participants will discuss the MER program and its  scientific successes. Participants also will provide updates on the agency's  activities to advance a human mission to Mars in the 2030s.Panel I: Moderator - Pamela Conrad,  Curiosity rover scientist, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.-- John Grant, supervisory geologist at the Center for Earth and Planetary  Studies, NASM, and science operations working group chair for the MER mission-- Steven Squyres, professor of astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., and  principal investigator for the Mars Exploration Rover mission-- David Lavery, program executive, Solar System Exploration, NASA HeadquartersPanel II: Moderator - James Green,  director, Planetary Science, NASA Headquarters-- John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator, Science Mission  Directorate, NASA Headquarters-- Mary Voytek, director, Astrobiology, NASA Headquarters-- John Connolly, acting Chief Exploration Scientist, NASA Headquarters-- Alyssa Carson, NASA Passport Winner and student from Baton Rouge, La.NASA Television and the agency's website  will provide live coverage of the event. The discussion will also be Webcast  live athttp://www.livestream.com/mars.The public can ask questions via  Twitter using the hashtag #10YrsOnMars.The museum is featuring a new  exhibit, "Spirit & Opportunity: 10 Years Roving Across Mars," with  more than 50 mosaic and panoramic photographs taken by the rovers. From a view  of the sun setting over the rim of a crater, to a study of "abstract  dunes," to a shot of rover tracks disappearing over the horizon, the  images were chosen for their scientific and aesthetic content by MER mission  team members.On Thursday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. PST  (10 p.m. EST), JPL will host a public celebration of a decade of the twin Mars  Exploration rovers. The event will be held in the Beckman Auditorium on the  California Institute of Technology campus, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena.The participants are:-- Charles Elachi, director, JPL-- Steve Squyres-- John Callas, project manager, Mars Exploration Rover Project, JPL-- Bill Nye, chief executive officer of the Planetary Society, Pasadena, Calif.The event will be streamed live on  the Web athttp://ustream.tv/NASAJPL.Friday, Jan. 17, 7 p.m. PST: JPL  will host a public lecture delivered by John Callas, entitled "The Mars  Exploration Rovers: A Decade of Exploration," at the Vosloh Forum on the  campus of Pasadena City College, 1570 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena.Thursday, Jan. 23, 11 a.m. PST (2  p.m. EST), JPL will host a media briefing on the Opportunity rover's decade of  exploration.  NASA Television and the agency's website will provide live  coverage of the event. Reporters and the public can ask questions from NASA  centers and via Twitter using the hashtag #10YrsOnMars.Participants will include:-- John Callas-- Steve Squyres-- Ray Arvidson, Mars Exploration Rovers deputy principal investigator,  Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.The discussion will also be webcast  live athttp://ustream.tv/NASAJPL. For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visithttp://www.nasa.gov/nasatv.JPL manages the Spirit and Opportunity  rovers for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. For more  information on the rovers and the Mars Exploration Program, visithttp://www.nasa.gov/mars.JPL is managed for NASA by Caltech.