Join us on September 23rd to learn about NASA’s Kepler mission
September 18, 2009, Alexandria, VA – Join Challenger Center for Space Science Education for a live interactive webcast, Wednesday, September 23rd at 1:00pm ET with Edna DeVore, Director of Education and Outreach at the SETI Institute and Co-Director for Education and Public Outreach for NASA’s Kepler mission. The interactive webcast is free and open to the public, and it will be broadcast live at http://www.challenger.org
The age-old scientific quest to search for other worlds like our Earth has been invigorated by the popular interest surrounding the discovery of hundreds of planets orbiting other stars. There is now clear evidence for substantial numbers of three types of these “exoplanets”; gas giants, hot-super-Earths in short period orbits, and ice giants. The challenge now is to find terrestrial planets (i.e., those one half to twice the size of the Earth), in the habitable zone of their stars where liquid water and possibly life might exist. NASA’s Kepler Mission is specifically designed to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to search for hundreds of Earth-size and smaller planets in or near the habitable zone and determine how many of the billions of stars in our galaxy have such planets. To learn more about the Kepler mission to search for Earth-like worlds, http://kepler.nasa.gov/ed .
Science and astronomy educator Edna DeVore is the Director of Education and Public Outreach (EPO) at the SETI Institute. DeVore has been a researcher, planetarium director, teacher, and curriculum writer. She co-directs the EPO program for NASA’s Kepler mission. DeVore was fascinated by the sky growing up in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. Her undergraduate degree was in liberal arts. Subsequently, she earned a MA in education and a MS in astronomy. This led her to work in planetariums, education, and eventually her current work at the SETI Institute.
Using space exploration as a theme and simulations as a vehicle, Challenger Center and its international network of 46 Challenger Learning Centers create positive educational experiences that raise students’ expectations of success, fosters a long-term interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and inspires students to pursue studies and careers in these areas. To learn more, visit http://www.challenger.org
For more information, please contact: Rita Karl, Director of Education, Challenger Center for Space Science Education (703) 535-1345; [ mailto:rkarl@challenger.org ]rkarl@challenger.org
