Space Center Celebrates 10 Years

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – In 10 years, the Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences has gone from a small group of scientists with an idea of a thriving program of undergraduate and graduate students doing research on astrobiology, the geochemistry of planets and moons such as Mars and Titan, and supermassive black holes and galaxy evolution. The center will celebrate its 10^th anniversary with a lecture, open house and workshop Dec. 6-9.

“The Space Center has come a long way in the last decade,” said William Oliver, director of the center and a professor of physics. “These events will help us celebrate this progress and showcase the important work that student and faculty researchers are doing in the center.”

The first event will be the fall 2010 Barringer Lecture, presented by Ralph Lorenz, research scientist in the Planetary Exploration Group at the Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University. Lorenz will present “Titan Unveiled” at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 6, in Room 201 of the Field House, just north of the Arkansas Union and formerly known as the University Museum.

Saturn's giant moon Titan has fascinated the public since the presence of an atmosphere was hinted at one century ago. The NASA-ESA-ASI Cassini-Huygens mission, orbiting Saturn for the last six years, has transformed this curious dot in the sky into a remarkably diverse, complex and interesting world, which is in many ways more Earth-like than anywhere else in the solar system.

This talk will summarize some of Cassini's recent findings with emphasis on the interactions between Titan's surface, atmosphere and interior. These include dune-covered sand seas, river channels that attest to violent but perhaps rare downpours and climate change, hydrocarbon lakes and possible cryovolcanic features. The rich inventory of organics on Titan makes it a particularly appealing target for astrobiological studies. As well as reviewing recent findings about Titan, Lorenz will discuss his experiences of working on Cassini since the project's inception 20 years ago, and some aspects of vehicles and instruments for future exploration of Titan such as boats, balloons and airplanes.

Later in the week, the Center for Space and Planetary Sciences will host a two-day workshop as part of its 10^th anniversary. On the morning of Wednesday Dec. 8, the workshop will begin with opening remarks by Steve Saunders, a retired NASA scientist who has chaired the External Advisory Board of the space center since its inception. The rest of the morning will consist of a series of talks that review the history and current activities of the center. This will be followed by an open house from 1-5 p.m. when professors and students at the space center will be available to show instruments and answer questions in the following areas:

• Arkansas Galaxy Evolution Survey Project Office
• Main floor/Planetarium
• Inductively Coupled Mass Spectroscopy Laboratory
• Electron Microprobe Analysis Laboratory
• W.M. Keck Laboratory for Space Simulations
• Geomorphology Laboratory
• Meteorite, Lunar Sample Curation Facility
• Magazine and Meteorite Identification
• Thermoluminescence Laboratories
• Spaceflight Instruments Laboratory

During the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 8, there will also be a dinner and a keynote address by Jim Rankin, the university’s vice provost for research and economic development who has a distinguished career in aerospace research.

On Thursday, Dec. 9, students and faculty members in the space center will make technical presentations on their current research.

These events will take place in the Field House, which has housed the space center immediately north of the Arkansas Union since 2004.