Space and the Cosmos

Fleeing her homeland of Iran after the Islamic Revolution, Anousheh Ansari settled in Texas and built a highly successful technology firm whose net worth ultimately allowed her to achieve her childhood dream of spaceflight. Through her sponsorship of the X Prize, she fueled the movement of privatization of space exploration. In her role as the first-ever female commercial spaceflight participant, Ansari’s story speaks to the power of commitment and conviction, realizing dreams, and making the impossible possible. After her return to Earth, Ansari launched herself into the management of her new tech company as well as her family foundation, which supports social entrepreneurship and STEM education and is committed to ensuring a better future for the world through investment and empowerment of youth. Speakers: Anousheh Ansari and Richard Hollingham.

Veteran Space Shuttle Commander Jeff Ashby relates his personal observations of daily life and human behavior in the environment of the International Space Station. Rather than giving a technical talk, Captain Ashby talks about the human space experience, including observations on how humans adapt to weightlessness, what it feels like to travel to the Space Station, and how a view of the Earth from 240 miles altitude can be life changing. He will also share his perspectives on private space tourism and describe what it would be like to take a $200,000 ride into space aboard a suborbital launch vehicle. Jeffrey Ashby is the speaker.

We all learn about space and time as children, yet they are still profound mysteries at the cutting edge of physics research. This session surveys several current experiments that probe exotic behavior of space and time: a "Dark Energy Camera" to study the accelerating expansion of cosmic space; laser interferometers that listen for gravitational waves from black holes; and the Fermilab Holometer, an experiment to search for universal "holographic noise" from the quantum nature of space-time — the bandwidth limit of reality. Craig Hogan is the speaker here.

Telescopes, satellites, probes, and rovers have transformed how we perceive the universe and helped make the invisible, visible. New technologies now enable us to visualize the cosmos in even greater detail, understand our home planet in new ways, immerse ourselves in alien environments, and even see through the eyes of robot explorers. Expert speakers discuss how to bring the far out of our universe, up close. Speakers: Charles Alcock, David McConville, and Richard Hollingham

The relatively small asteroid that exploded in the skies over Siberia last February, injuring over 1,000 people, was a shocking reminder that our planet is a target in a cosmic shooting range. Larger asteroids, from the width of a football field to the size of a small city, have the potential to be killers on a massive scale: in previous collisions with Earth, they have set off deadly blast waves, raging fires, and colossal tidal waves. Fortunately, space rocks like these can be deflected––if we have enough warning. But whose responsibility is it to survey for, and protect against, these potential doomsday bringers? Leaders of governmental and private organizations discuss the defense against the next strike. Speakers: Lindley Johnson, Ed Lu and Paula Apsell

This session explores the almost unfathomable scales of theoretical physics, from the mysterious properties of dark matter to the depths of our universe and beyond. Experiments, like the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva that smashes together protons at high energies, tell us about the smallest length scales we can observe today while measurements of the universe stretch our observations of large length scales to their limits. Theoretical physicists like Lisa Randall tie the results of these experiments to mysteries about our universe. Professor Randall will tell us about the Higgs boson discovery and its implications. She will also explore possibilities for the nature of dark matter and of space itself. Can there be an unseen extra dimension in our universe? Theoretical physics truly knows no bounds Speakers: Lisa Randall

It's a question that we have pondered for years: is life on earth really the only life that's out there in the universe? Turns out there's a good chance it's not just us. With research indicating that other planets might be able to host life, how should we be thinking about interactions between extraterrestrial and Earth life? Planetary protection involves avoiding contamination of other locations in the universe with Earth life, as well as preventing unpleasant things happening when possibly-inhabited material is brought to Earth from other planets. How can we tell the difference between extraterrestrial and Earth life? What do we need to keep Earth safe, and other planets safe from contamination by us? Speakers: Dimitar Sasselov, Catharine Conley, Tracy Day

Thanks to powerful new technologies––and the good old inborn drive to explore––human beings are now investigating places once assumed to be inaccessible. We hear from an oceanographer pushing the limits of technology to explore bizarre “lakes” in the deepest recesses of our oceans; a planetary geologist using images from orbiting spacecraft to explore processes shaping the surfaces of planets, such as dunes migrating across the surface of Mars; and an astrophysicist trying to solve the mystery of the solar wind by building a probe that will fly right into the blazing atmosphere of our sun. Speakers: David Gallo, Maria Banks, Justin Kasper, Paula Apsell

Virgin Galactic is the world’s first commercial spaceline. How did this project first see the light of day? With the help of stunning images and footage, Stephen Attenborough will chart its progress to date, including the latest from the ongoing test flight program. Is Virgin Galactic the spark that could light the fire of a vibrant new industry that could help to meet some of the most pressing challenges faced on Earth in the coming decades? Will you be the company’s next customer on a trip to space for an exhilarating, life-changing experience? Speakers: Stephen Attenborough