A new view of life: Celebrating the end of Kepler and Cassini, and start of Tess

NASA is set to land in Mount Martha for National Science Week, with two inspiring scientists from the Cassini and Kepler planetary spacecraft missions delivering the annual Science Week public lecture about the learnings so far and the implications for the future.

Two NASA mission scientists are on course for Victoria, bringing Saturn to the Gold Fields, Titan to the CBD, and a glimpse of the active hunt for new worlds to the south-east and Peninsula regions of the state.

With tantalising prospects of life being found elsewhere in our own solar system, these two inspiring scientists are extending the search further afield by hunting for new planets around other stars in the sky.

The Kepler Space Telescope has been fervently scanning the heavens for over nine years now, and its onboard fuel supply is about to run out, ending its life.  In April this year, NASA launched a successor spacecraft mission called TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) and it promises to bring the latest and most sensitive technology to bear in the search for other Earth-like worlds elsewhere in our galaxy.

Dr. Megan Bedell and Dr. Ben Montet will bring you to the forefront of humanity’s search for other worlds and the implications of what it could mean for all of us.

What did we learn from the Cassini spacecraft’s 13 years with Saturn? How did it feel to watch Cassini’s “death dive” into Saturn’s atmosphere last year? What makes the moon Titan Earth-like?  How did scientists discover active, icy plumes on the moon Enceladus? What have we learned from the hundreds of planets discovered by the orbiting Kepler Space Telescope? How will the information beamed back to Earth continue to advance science once Kepler runs out of fuel this year?

Audiences will hear from visiting NASA scientists from the Cassini and Kepler missions at a series of events in Victoria. With the announcement of Australia’s very own space agency, it’s a timely look at the international context of our contribution to furthering humanity’s understanding of the Universe.

This talk is the annual National Science Week public lecture hosted by the Mornington Peninsula Astronomical Society as part of their monthly meeting at the Briars Astronomy Centre in regional south-eastern Victoria.

Members of the public are cordially invited to attend this community event. Light refreshments will be served afterwards.

The venue is marked on Google Maps and on the Melways at map reference 151/E1.