Invasion Mars

Abstract: In 1969, humankind made a historic journey beyond the Earth and landed on the Moon. More recently the media have been particularly interested in Mars, as we have sent a flotilla of spacecraft, landers, and rovers to the red planet; the most recent – the launch of the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter. This is all leading up to the goal of landing humans on Mars within a decade. What have we learnt of Mars thus far? And what are the chances that we may find life, or traces of life on the red planet? And what would this mean for the chances of finding life elsewhere? Join Professor Fred Watson, who is Australia’s first Astronomer-at-Large, and Astronomer Paul Curnow from the Adelaide Planetarium as they discuss the wonders of this alien world.

Bio: Fred Watson is Australia’s first Astronomer-at-Large, a position within the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. He is graduate of the universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh, and worked at both of Britain’s Royal Observatories before joining the Australian Astronomical Observatory as Astronomer-in-Charge in 1995. Fred is best known today for his award-winning radio and TV broadcasts, books, music and other outreach ventures. He holds adjunct professorships in several Australian universities, and was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2010. He has an asteroid named after him (5691 Fredwatson), but says that if it hits the Earth, it won’t be his fault.

Bio: Paul Curnow [B.ED] has been a lecturer at the Adelaide Planetarium since 1992. After 28-years of research, he is regarded as one of the world’s leading authorities on Australian Aboriginal night sky knowledge. Paul runs a number of popular courses for the general public that focus on the constellations, planetary astronomy, historical astronomy and ethnoastronomy. He is a popular guest speaker at astronomy-related events. In 2018, he was made an Honorary Life Member of the Astronomical Society of South Australia for his contributions to astronomy. Paul appears regularly in the media and has authored over 50 articles on astronomy.

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