Join us for lunch in space with our Launch Break! Faculty from the UCF Physics Department and the UCF Planetary Sciences Group, and educators from Orlando Science Center, will help us blast off into space and explore our universe. These talks are collaborative efforts with the Orlando Science Center’s Planet Pioneers traveling exhibit. This exhibit helps you learn through the planet pioneers how to survive on another planet and travel to Mars and beyond! This exhibit will be at the Orlando Science Center until May 9, 2021.

Zoom Virtual Talks: 30-45 minute talks followed by a moderated Q&A
*Safe for all ages, but recommended for those 13 years of age and older.

Extreme Explorers: Challenges of Exploring our Planetary Neighbors

Speaker: Adrienne Dove, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, UCF Physics Department

Talk Abstract: 

No air? Low gravity. Dust everywhere!

Human and robotic explorers to other planets are presented with unique challenges to landing, moving around and operating on those surfaces. This is because the Moon, Mars and asteroids are all much smaller than Earth, don’t have it’s protective atmosphere and they have very rocky, dusty surfaces.

In this talk, we will discuss some of these challenges and how we can do tests and experiments to understand them. We will also discuss how we are preparing our next explorers for these extreme environments.

Speaker Biography: 

Dr. Adrienne (Addie) Dove is a planetary scientist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Central Florida (UCF). She received her B.S. in Physics from the University of Missouri in 2006, and her Ph.D. in Astrophysics and Planetary Science from the University of Colorado – Boulder in 2012.

She is passionate about space and space exploration (both human and robotic) and educating people about science and exploration. Her work involves experiments in the lab, on airplanes, and in space, and she has received numerous awards from UCF and NASA for her research contributions to the science and exploration communities.

For more information on this talk: sciences.ucf.edu/launch-break/extreme-explorers/

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