1. Keynote and Featured Presentation Descriptions
June 28, 2017 (Wednesday)
Welcome Keynote
9:00-9:30 am, IMAX Theater
Title: Celebrating the Past, Embracing the Present, and Inspiring the Future:
Human Exploration, the Journey Continues
Dr. Jeff Goldstein, Center Director [Bio]
Program Director, SSEP National Program
National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE)
Abstract: We live in a moment in time. It’s the place where the accomplishments of those that came before us meet up with what will be undertaken by future generations. It’s a great place to be, especially if you’re part of the future generation. By learning about the past both in terms of what we know and how we’ve come to know it, and talking to those that work on the frontiers right now, you can choose to shape the future. It’s pretty powerful stuff. Standing on the shoulders of past generations, YOU are now the link between the past and future of human exploration.
Featured Presentation 1
11:20-11:50 am, Moving Beyond Earth Gallery
Title: Overcoming Obstacles and Reaching for the Stars!
Dr. Don Thomas, NASA Astronaut, STS-65, 70, 83, 94 [Bio]
Abstract: When he was just six years old, Don Thomas watched the launch of the first American into space sitting on the floor in his school gymnasium. He knew immediately that he also wanted to be an astronaut when he grew up. Although he faced a number of setbacks along the way, thirty-three years later his dream came true as he launched aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on his first of four missions to space. Through his long journey to become an astronaut he learned some valuable lessons that he will share about achieving your dream in life.
Featured Presentation 2
12:30-12:45 am, Moving Beyond Earth Gallery
Title: ISS Science Research Update
Dan Barstow, Education Manager [Bio]
Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), SSEP National Partner
Abstract: The ISS is an amazing place for science research. How do astronauts adapt to space? How do plants grow in microgravity? Can we 3D print tools and parts for on-orbit repairs? Can lasers enable faster data communications? Do cells replicate differently in space? Get the latest news on these and other topics about the ISS.
June 29, 2017 (Thursday)
Featured Presentation 3
10:15-10:30 am, Moving Beyond Earth Gallery
Title: Seven Very Cool Facts about the International Space Station
Mary Murphy, Senior Internal Payloads Manager [Bio]
NanoRacks, SSEP Strategic Partner
Abstract: A brief overview of why the International Space Station is such a unique resource for students around the world, and the role that NanoRacks plays to help ensure that the SSEP students are given the tools they need to be the next generation of space explorers!
Featured Presentation 4
11:25-11:40 am, Moving Beyond Earth Gallery
Title: Toilet Training… for Space
Michael Hulslander, Manager of Onsite Learning [Bio]
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM), SSEP National Partner
Adjunct Space Science Educator, National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE)
Abstract: Going to the bathroom is something we all do. No wonder that one of the most popular questions an astronaut gets is “how do you go to the bathroom in space?” Here’s an opportunity for you to learn about the waste collection system used aboard the space shuttle and the International Space Station, and how it’s used while orbiting the Earth at 17,500 mph in a microgravity environment – where everything floats.
2. Family Night Program – Wednesday Night, June 29, 2016, 6:45 – 9:10 pm (see Agenda for schedule)
Presentation Title: A Voyage that will Forever Change Your Perspective of Home
Dr. Jeff Goldstein, Center Director [Bio]
Program Director, SSEP National Program
National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE)
Description: When we venture beyond our home and explore a greater landscape—whether it’s the town beyond our house, or a planet beyond the Earth—we gain a deeper sense of our own existence. It’s a fundamental principle of exploration. To truly know and appreciate our home, we must leave it. So to truly know and appreciate a place called Earth, we must venture beyond it, and recognize the breadth and majesty of a greater universe.
From another vantage point—we are integrally connected to the universe, and it to us—so to know the universe is to know ourselves. And while we may seem small in its shadow, beauty has nothing to do with size—for the universe is revealed with something the size of the human mind.
You’re invited to the story of our existence—a race of explorers, 7 billion souls strong. It is a story that ignites wonder about the universe, and a sense of pride in our ability to reveal its nature through both human imagination and ingenuity. It is a story that humbles us, and brings a sense of humility to our lives. It is a voyage that will forever change your perspective of home.
IMAX® Film: Voyage of Time
Narrated by Brad Pitt
Premiere Date: October 7, 2016
Description: The IMAX Director’s Cut is a one-of-a-kind celebration of life and the grand history of the cosmos, transporting audiences into a vast yet up-close-and personal journey that spans the eons from the Big Bang to the dinosaur age to our present human world … and beyond. A labor of love from one of American cinema’s most acclaimed and visually exciting filmmakers, Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line, The Tree of Life), Voyage of Time represents the filmmaker’s first foray into documentary storytelling. The film’s panorama of awe-inspiring images will take you into the heart of monumental events never witnessed — from the birth of the stars and galaxies to the explosion of diverse life-forms on planet earth, including humankind — in immersive new ways that only IMAX can deliver.
Watch this trailer in full screen
The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in the U.S., and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education internationally. It is enabled through a strategic partnership with DreamUp PBC and NanoRacks LLC, which are working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory. SSEP is the first pre-college STEM education program that is both a U.S. national initiative and implemented as an on-orbit commercial space venture.
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), and Subaru of America, Inc., are U.S. National Partners on the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. Magellan Aerospace is a Canadian National Partner on the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program.