Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Altadena Public Library Presents “Juno and the New Renaissance” with Theo Clarke

On Saturday, June 18th at 4:00 p.m. in the Barbara J. Pearson Community Room of the Main Library, join Altadena Library for an exciting and enlightening presentation by Theo Clarke on the NASA Juno Mission to Jupiter.

Juno is a NASA mission now approaching the planet Jupiter. The Juno spacecraft was launched August 5, 2011. It looped around the sun and returned to Earth on October 9, 2013 for a gravity assist that slung it on its journey to the planet Jupiter. Juno will arrive at Jupiter on July 4, 2016 to begin a one year investigation of that giant planet.

The high level science objectives of the Juno mission at Jupiter are to determine the concentration of water in Jupiter’s atmosphere, the existence and size of a solid core, and the nature of Jupiter’s huge magnetic field. With this information Juno scientists hope to catch a glimpse of the dawn of creation of our own solar system.

“Juno is much more than a space laboratory to study the planet Jupiter. Juno is the embodiment of a remarkable union of science, technology, history, literature, music, art, and public engagement. As Juno sails the cosmic sea to Jupiter it can be deemed an ambassador to the universe of the New Renaissance.” – Theo Clarke

Theo Clarke has a BA in English Literature and an MS in Physics from UCLA. In a 27 year career at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Clarke worked as scientist and engineer on the Mariner 10 mission to Venus and Mercury, the Voyager mission to the outer planets, and the Galileo mission to Jupiter. He is the recipient of NASA’s prestigious Exceptional Service Medal for his service and dedication to Galileo’s Earth encounters. He has lectured on the U.S. space program all over the world, including to all three U.S. military academies. Clarke is currently an Adjunct Professor of Physics at Pasadena City College and a consultant on NASA’s Juno mission to the planet Jupiter.

The Altadena Library is located at 600 East Mariposa Street, Altadena. For more information please call (626) 798-0833. For a schedule of events, visit the library on the web at www.altadenalibrary.org.