When I was looking through some of our old family photos, I found some of these wonderful pictures of me enjoying Hot Science – Cool Talks, when I was younger (and before I became an invasive hunter!).
The talk was The 2004 Mars Exploration Rover Mission: Evidence for Water and Prospects for Life by Dr. John Grotzinger on October 13, 2005.
As part of his talk, I think he showed a NASA animated video of the rover landing, but I’m sure that I enjoyed making and launching a baking soda rocket with one of the Hot Science volunteers:
Here I am with Dr. John Grotzinger (blinded by his awesome science):
Update: How exciting to learn that Dr. Grotzinger is a project scientist for the Mars Science Laboratory that is part of the Curiosity Mars rover that landed on the red planet on August 6, 2012.
Upcoming Spring 2012 Hot Science – Cool Talk presentations
I’m sorry that I’m going to miss this month’s Hot Science – Cool Talk because I’ll be preparing for my presentation at Kid’s Day for National Invasive Species Awareness Week in Washington DC, but I hope that you’ll be able to make it.
Here’s what’s coming up this month:
Dr. Michael Webber, Co-Director of the Clean Energy Incubator at the Austin Technology Incubator, and Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin
Friday, February 24, 2012, at 7:00 p.m. CST
And then in April, I look forward to joining you and learning more about our universe:
Life on Europa? Exploring Jupiter’s Icy Moon
Dr. Britney Schmidt
Friday, April 13, 2012, at 7:00 p.m. CST
Be sure to get there early to enjoy all the fun activities before the talks. Last month included making a moon lander before Dr. Howell’s presentation!
Commander Ben signing off…
Commander Ben 
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