Sunday, February 2
Nature Exploration Center
WRAL 3D Theater, 1st Floor
1 PM, Space Food: The Final Frontier
Ever wondered what astronauts eat in space, how their meals are prepared and preserved, and—most importantly—whether they actually taste good? Join Vickie Kloeris, retired NASA food scientist and author of Space Bites, for a captivating journey into the science and stories behind space food. Learn how sandwiches are assembled in zero gravity, hear Vickie’s firsthand accounts—including her experience feeding the Apollo 13 crew—and uncover what it takes to create meals that keep astronauts nourished, satisfied, and mission-ready.
Book sale and signing will follow presentation outside of theater.
Photo by: Robert Markowitz
About the speaker: Vickie L. Kloeris recently retired from NASA where she worked in space food systems for 34 years. For 29 of those years, she served as the NASA manager of first the Shuttle and then the International Space Station food systems. She has authored and co-authored numerous publications and has received several awards including NASA’s highest employee award, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.
Nature Exploration Center
Windows on the World, 3rd Floor
12:30 PM, Why Explore Space?
Mike Keefe & Doug Lively, NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassadors
NASA’s Space Program began over 66 years ago, during which we have witnessed incredible achievements in space exploration. But have you ever wondered, “How have these triumphs positively impacted my life?” Join our presenters as they explore the progress made in space and the benefits that these discoveries have brought back to Earth.
1:30 PM, Coding for Astronomy
Tony Rice, NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador
A live coding exercise in Python calculating interesting astronomical events like conjunctions and oppositions you can see without a telescope.
2:30 PM, Remote Observing at AppState’s Dark Sky Observatory
Dr. Dan Caton, Appalachian State University
Real time observing using the Appalachian State Dark sky Observatory’s 32-inch telescope will be demonstrated. We will image some bright objects visible in the daytime sky, including the Moon.
Nature Research Center
SECU Daily Planet Theater, Floors 1-3
11 AM, Defending Dark Skies and Human Health
Dr. Dan Caton, Appalachian State University
Light pollution is a threat to both astronomy and human health. We will cover the basics and then the newer threats of LEDs to health and satellite constellations to astronomy.
12:30 PM, The Farthest View
Dr. Carter Emmart, Director of Astrovisualization, American Museum of Natural History
How far can we see, and what does it tell us? We will show you and tell you what cannot be seen. Piecing together a distance ladder of data can now be shown with software shared freely for us all thanks to NASA and a major international collaboration.
2 PM, Interview with a Planet Hunter
Alan Rich, NASA-JPL Solar System Ambassador, with Madyson Barber, UNC Chapel Hill
We’ve found thousands of alien planets orbiting distant stars. We’ve got billions left to find! How are we doing it? Will we find life on them? Planet Hunter Madyson Barber of UNC tells us how she does it.
3:30 PM, The Search for Life in the Solar System
Ken Brandt, Alan Rich, Jeff Qualls, NASA-JPL Solar System Ambassadors, with Madyson Barber, UNC Chapel Hill
Multiple space agencies have sent probes to many places in our solar system, with many more to be explored in greater depth by NASA, as well as other agencies. What have we learned so far, and where will the search go from here?
Saturn Room, 4th Floor
11 AM, Mars Update: What’s Happening on the Red Planet
Adam Hauser, NASA-JPL Solar System Ambassador, Ken Brandt Director, Robeson Planetarium/NCSEA Ambassador
What’s the latest from those plucky Mars robots on, and over, Mars? Join Solar System Ambassadors Ken Brandt and Adam Houser as we delve into the latest and greatest from the red planet.
12 PM, How to Start Your Own Space Program
Ian Hewitt, Coastal Carolina University
Getting involved in space is easier than ever in the 21st century! This talk will discuss how to start getting involved in space missions, from simple things and individual can do to more advanced projects that can be done by small institutions.
1 PM, Exploring Beyond the Solar System with Voyager 1 and Voyager 2
Ann M. Murphy, Raleigh Astronomy Club
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are now part of the Voyager Interstellar Mission (VIM). Learn about the history of this mission and its primary goals – to explore the outer solar system environment, search for the heliopause (the outer edge of the heliosphere), and study interstellar space (the space beyond the heliosphere).
2 PM, Protecting the International Space Station from Space Junk
Tony Verdone, NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador
The ISS circles the earth in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) which contains millions of space junk created by satellites and rockets. This presentation discusses how the ISS and astronauts are protected from collisions with small and large debris.
3 PM, Where to Look to Find Stuff in the Night Sky
Seth Hetherington, Raleigh Astronomy Club
So you have binoculars or maybe a small telescope: now what? This presentation will walk you through how to find fascinating stuff in the sky you never knew existed.
Uranus Room, 4th Floor
11:30 AM, Averting Armageddon
Matthew Funke & Alan Rich, NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassadors
Around 66 million years ago, an asteroid hit the Earth and upset the global climate for years, resulting in the extinction of the dinosaurs. They didn’t have a space program, but we do — what are we doing to avoid the same fate?
12:30 PM, Discovering an Infant Exoplanet
Madyson Barber, UNC Chapel Hill, with Alan Rich, NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador
Infant exoplanets can help teach us about how our own Earth formed, but young planets are tricky to find. Learn about how astronomers in North Carolina discovered the youngest transiting planet!
1:30 PM, The Case for Life on Mars
Ken Brandt Director, Fellow, International Planetarium Society
Cheyava Falls: the rock sample that will confirm once and for all-that there fossils on Mars. Many other lines of evidence will be presented in the quest to answer the question: Was Mars an abode for life? Does it remain so?
2:30 PM, Europa Clipper: What’s Beneath the Ice?
Jeff Qualls, Ken Brandt, NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassadors
We will provide an overview of the Europa Clipper mission and what we hope to learn about Jupiter’s moon Europa and the massive warm, salt-water ocean that scientists believe exists under a thick ice shell. We will discuss the scientific instruments that will investigate the potential for life in that ocean.
3:30 PM, NASA’s Return to the Moon: Exploring the Next Giant Leap
Mike Keefe, Tony Rice, and Doug Lively, NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassadors
Join NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassadors for an exciting overview of NASA’s ambitious return to the Moon! Discover why we’re going back, how we plan to stay, and get an inside look at the cutting-edge hardware that will make it all possible. From the powerful SLS rocket to SpaceX’s innovative technology, learn about the tools and missions that will propel humanity into a new era of lunar exploration. Don’t miss this opportunity to explore the future of space exploration.
Neptune Room, 4th Floor
12 PM, Measuring the CMB, the Oldest Light in the Universe
Dr. Kasey Wagoner, NC State University
The cosmic microwave background is the oldest light in the universe, emitted shortly after the “big bang”. In this talk I will describe how we measure the CMB, and what we can learn from those measurements.
1 PM, Human Spaceflight Report 2024
Marc Fusco, NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador
A review of 2024, another banner year in human spaceflight (HSF), and how it is shaping up for the coming decade. SpaceX is leading the way to a new golden era of human spaceflight and is poised to change the dynamics of HSF with their new Starship, and NASA is back to the Moon with the Artemis program.
2 PM, The Great Migration of Jupiter
Ron Monti, Raleigh Astronomy Club
Four and a half billion years ago, Jupiter migrated into and back out of the inner solar system, wreaking gravitational havoc upon the planets there. This talk will cover the evidence for the Grand Tack hypothesis- how Jupiter’s migration resulted in today’s solar system, and how it made life as we know it possible on Earth.
3 PM, SpaceX and Commercial Space Report 2024
Marc Fusco, NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador
We’ll review the exciting things that went on in the world of commercial space in 2024. We’ll look at SpaceX, Blue Origin, Boeing, and the rest, determine whether they had good or bad years, and see how things in commercial space are blowing up (in a good way).
4 PM, Exploring Heavenly Mountains
Matthew Funke, NASA/JP Solar System Ambassador
The world’s space agencies have been sending space probes to “minor planets”, learning more about the random debris that wanders between the planets. Why are we exploring, what have we learned, and what are we hoping to do in the future?