NOVEMBER 8, 2010
1:00 p.m. | Welcome |
Michael Moloney, |
Director, Space Studies Board (SSB) |
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1:05 p.m. | Keynote Introduction |
Charles Kennel, SSB Chair |
1:15 p.m. |
Keynote Address: “No Guts … No Glory. |
Speaker: |
Miles O’Brien, Media Consultant and Chair, Education and Public Outreach Committee of the NASA Advisory Council |
Audience Interaction with Speaker | ||
2:15 p.m. | Session 1: Answering Grand Questions | |
This session will address the contribution of the space program over the past 50 years to answering a number of “Grand Questions” of science and exploration, as identified by the SSB, and set the scene for the subsequent 5 sessions which will address potential future contributions. |
Moderator: |
Charles Kennel, SSB Chair |
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Panelists: |
Miles O’Brien, Television and Internet Science Journalist |
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Christie Nicholson, Journalist and Online Contributor, Scientific American |
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Speaker: |
Roger-Maurice Bonnet, Executive Director, International Space Science Institute |
Panel Interaction with Speaker | ||
Audience Interaction with Speaker and Panelists | ||
4:15 p.m. | Session 2: Understanding the Universe: How Did It Begin and How Is It Evolving? | |
Through the use of space systems we are able to study the universe from early in its formation up to the present day, unencumbered by constraints inherent in observing it from the ground. As such the universe becomes a “laboratory.” |
Moderator: |
Alan Dressler, SSB Member |
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Panelists: |
Miles O’Brien, Television and Internet Journalist |
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Linda Billings, George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs |
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Speaker 1: |
Roger Blandford, Professor of Physics at Stanford University and Chair, Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey (Astro2010) |
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Speaker 2: |
Jean-Pierre Swings, Professor, Université de Liège, Institut d’Astrophysique et de Geophysique and Chair, European Space Sciences Committee |
Panel Interaction with Speaker | ||
Audience Interaction with Speaker and Panelists | ||
5:45 p.m. | Close of the Day’s Workshop Activities |
Charles Kennel, SSB Chair |
NOVEMBER 9, 2010
8:45 a.m. | Opening Remarks |
Charles Kennel, SSB Chair |
9:00 a.m. | Session 3: Are We Alone? | |
This is an issue that spans the gamut from trying to detect microbial life beyond Earth to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Space systems and technology have and will continue to play key roles in these endeavors. |
Moderator: |
Robert T. Pappalardo, SSB Member |
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Panelists: |
Marc Kaufman, Journalist, The Washington Post |
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Stephen Mautner, National Academies Press |
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Speaker 1: |
Sara Seager, Professor of Planetary Science and Professor of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of Is There Life Out There? The Search for Habitable Planets |
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Speaker 2: |
Steven Benner, Distinguished Fellow, Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution |
Panel Interaction with Speaker | ||
Audience Interaction with Speaker and Panelists |
11:00 a.m. | Session 4: Understanding the Solar System: How Did It Begin and How Is It Evolving? | |
Space systems have played, and will continue to play an important role in the remote and in situ study of all aspects of the solar system. |
Moderator: |
Charles Woodward, SSB Member |
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Panelists: |
Andrew Lawler, Science Journalist |
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Dietram A. Scheufele, Professor and Chair of Science Communication, University of Wisconsin, Madison |
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Speaker 1: |
Heidi B. Hammel, Senior Research Scientist and Co-Director of Research at the Space Science Institute |
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Speaker 2: |
Edward C. Stone, David Morrisroe Professor of Physics and Vice Provost of Special Projects, California Institute of Technology, and Former Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
Panel Interaction with Speaker | ||
Audience Interaction with Speaker and Panelists | ||
1:45 p.m. | Session 5: The Earth: Will It Remain a Hospitable Home for Humanity in the Future? | |
The space program has made extensive and at many times essential contributions to the monitoring of Earth and its environment. In a time of global climate change, major environmental degradation, etc, the future of the planet and the role space will play in that future merits serious attention. |
Moderator: |
Molly Macauley, SSB Member |
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Panelists: |
Andrew Lawler, Science Journalist |
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Christie Nicholson, Journalist and Online Contributor, Scientific American |
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Speaker 1: |
Berrien Moore III, Dean, College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences, University of Oklahoma |
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Speaker 2: |
Roger-Maurice Bonnet, Executive Director, International Space Science Institute, and Co-Author of Surviving 1,000 Centuries: Can We Do It? |
Panel Interaction with Speaker | ||
Audience: Interaction with Speaker and Panelists | ||
4:15 p.m. | Session 6: What Could the Future Hold for Humans in Space? | |
Mankind has been a space faring species for over five decades, but, apart from the Apollo program, has yet to venture further than low Earth orbit. The session will address potential scenarios for the future of human spaceflight. |
Elizabeth R. Cantwell, SSB Member |
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Panelists: |
Marc Kaufman, Journalist, The Washington Post |
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Linda Billings, George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs |
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Speaker 1: |
Jeff M. Bingham, Senior Advisor on Space and Aeronautics, Republican Staff, U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Subcommittee on Science and Space |
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Speaker 2: |
Kim Stanley Robinson, Author |
Panel Interaction with Speaker | ||
Audience Interaction with Speaker and Panelists | ||
5:45 p.m. | Close of the Day’s Workshop Activities |
Charles Kennel, SSB Chair |
NOVEMBER 10, 2010
8:45 a.m. | Opening Remarks |
Charles Kennel, SSB Chair |
9:00 a.m. | Session 7: Inspiring Public Interest in Space Research and Exploration: Communication Challenges and Opportunities | |
Taking into account the discussions of the previous two days, this session will focus on how professional communicators can best make space research and exploration stories related to the “Grand Questions” compelling to public audiences. What narrative strategies and techniques will most effectively communicate the meaning, value, and excitement of future NASA missions? What pitfalls should be avoided? |
Moderator: |
Joan Vernikos, SSB Member |
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Panelists: |
Gregory Benford, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine |
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Jean-Pierre Swings, Université de Liège (Belgium) and Chair of the European Space Sciences Committee of the European Science Foundation |
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Speaker 1: |
Dietram A. Scheufele, Professor and Chair of Science Communication, University of Wisconsin, Madison |
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Speaker 2: |
Marc Kaufman, Science Reporter and Editor, Washington Post “Writing about the Science, the Scientists and the Adventure of Astrobiology” |
Linda Billings, Research Professor, George Washington University, and Principal Investigator, NASA Astrobiology Program |
11:15 a.m. | Session 8: Communicating Pathways to the Public: Reading, Watching, Interacting | |
The final panel will address the unique capabilities, as well as the limitations, of the types of media available today to reach the public with stories of space research and exploration. Experts from the world of print, TV, and the Internet will discuss the relative merits of story-telling using the platforms of readable content, video programming, and social media. How do these approaches vary in their power to inspire and motivate? How can they potentially complement each other in an overarching communications strategy? |
Moderator: |
Joan Johnson-Freese, SSB Member |
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Panelists: |
Jean-Claude Worms, European Science Foundation |
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Sara Seager, Professor of Planetary Science and Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
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Speaker 1: |
Andrew Lawler, Science Journalist “Reading the Story” |
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Speaker 2: |
Dexter Cole, Vice President of Programming, The Science Channel “Watching the Story” |
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Speaker 3: |
Christie Nicholson, Journalist and Online Contributor, Scientific American Online |
1:00 p.m. | Summary and Wrap-up |
Charles Kennel, SSB Chair |
1:15 p.m. | Workshop Adjourns |