Hubble and Beyond: Exploring the Edges of the Universe
Date:Wednesday, Dec 10
Time:7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Cost:Free, but reservations required
Featuring Dr. John Mather, NASA Astrophysicist and Nobel Prize Recipient and Russ Werneth, Aerospace Engineer and Hubble Space Telescope EVA Manager
Dr. John Mather, NASA Senior Astrophysicist and Senior Project Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope, has built a career on exploring the deepest corners of space, searching for the remnants of evidence of the Big Bang. One of the world’s leading experts on the creation of the universe, Dr. Mather served as project scientist for NASA’s Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite, searching for evidence of the first objects formed after the great explosion. As Lead Scientist on the James Webb Space Telescope, planned for launch in 2013, Mather will provide an inside view of the development of the next great space telescope, capable of looking further back in time than the Hubble and seeing inside the dusty cocoons where stars and planets are being born today.
Russ Werneth, an aerospace engineer with Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies in Maryland, led the development of the many unique tools and procedures utilized by the Space Shuttle astronauts in the four Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions. From the development of special tools required for maintaining the observatory in zero gravity to training astronauts for spacewalks (extravehicular activities) to work on the Hubble, Werneth led the team responsible for these complex tasks and missions, ensuring the Hubble Space Telescope would continue to collect groundbreaking deep space images for nearly two decades.
