We Blasted Off for the Solar System with NASA
To Mars, Pluto & Beyond! Sat. Mar. 10th, '07
at The Children's Museum, 311 Main Street, Utica, NY
presented by Dr. Ken Kremer, NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador
Sponsored by the Mohawk Valley Astronomical Society * View programs


Dr. Ken Kremer mesmerizes the audience

Visitors enjoyed the 3-D glasses!

3-D pictures taken by the Rovers wowed us all!

Seeing a museum Mars Rover exhibit up close

Museum Director Brown & Dr. Kremer at exhibit table

Provided by Carol & Chuck Higgins of the MVAS

Dr. Kremer posing by museum's 4th floor NASA exhibits

Artist's rendition shows the planet-like object, dubbed "Sedna," in relation to other bodies in the solar system, including Earth and its Moon; Pluto & Quaoar, a planetoid beyond Pluto. The diameter of Sedna is slightly smaller than Pluto's. The diameter of the recently discovered "dwarf planet" Eris is slightly larger than Pluto's.

Hubble Space Telescope of Pluto - the "Double Planet". Upper R Pluto (bright object center of frame) & its moon Charon (lower L). Ground-based image of Pluto & Charon appears upper L. Charon's orbit around Pluto indicated in bottom diagram. Two smaller moons, Nix & Hydra, were discovered by Hubble in 2005.

A rover self portrait of Spirit at a mountain top which Dr. Kremer's team published in Aviation Week magazine. Spirit drove for 3 miles and two years across the distant plains at rear, to reach and climb the mountain.Mars Photo Credit: M. Di Lorenzo, B. Braun, D. Ellison, K. Kremer, Aviation Week and Space Technology Magazine, NASA/JPL/Cornell

Mars Rover Spirit with robotic arm and RAT reaching for a science target at the mountain top. The layered bedrock outcrop is named "Hillary", after Sir Edmund Hillary, the first to reach Mt. Everest's summit in 1953 with his Sherpa partner, Tenzing Norgay.


Saturday, March 10, 2007: We were thrilled to offer a special program at the Children's Museum, sponsored by the Mohawk Valley Astronomy Society. The normal $9.00 per person admission included access to all 4 floors AND these program.

11:00 AM
Twin Robots Exploring Mars (IN 3-D) by Dr. Ken Kremer: NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador - Witness the ongoing NASA Rover Mission to Mars covering the explorations and the adventures of Spirit and Opportunity as these amazing robots have journeyed many miles across the surface of the Red Planet. See a full scale model of the RAT science drill, a crucial element in the scientific search for evidence of past water on Mars. Experience spectacular 3-D images from Mars.

12:45 PM
Mars, Saturn, Pluto and Beyond (IN 3-D) by Dr. Ken Kremer: NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador - Experience the beautiful and amazing discoveries in our New Solar System by Spirit and Opportunity as they celebrate 3 years on the Red Planet and by the Cassini Mission to Saturn and its rings and many intriguing moons. These journeys and more to the Sun, Jupiter, Comets, Eris "the Dwarf Planet" and Beyond will be extended into the realm of spectacular 3-D images.

2:00 PM
Save Pluto as a Planet ! by Dr. Ken Kremer: NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador

2:30 PM
Twin Robots Exploring Mars (IN 3-D) by Dr. Ken Kremer: NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador - Witness the ongoing NASA Rover Mission to Mars covering the explorations and the adventures of Spirit and Opportunity as these amazing robots have journeyed many miles across the surface of the Red Planet. See a full scale model of the RAT science drill, a crucial element in the scientific search for evidence of past water on Mars. Experience spectacular 3-D images from Mars.

MVAS also provided special Telescopes configured to allow SAFE viewing of the sun, and had other exhibits with MVAS members present to answer questions.

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......... Pluto

BIO: Kenneth Kremer is a NASA Ambassador from Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Since early childhood, Ken has had a lifelong fascination and love for space exploration, astronomy and science. His interactive presentations to a variety of groups have been enjoyed by people of all ages from kids to teenagers to adults. He is an active member of The Planetary Society and the Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton (AAAP), doing public outreach to educate and excite the general public and to encourage kids to study science. His education includes a PhD in organic chemistry from SUNY Stony Brook and postdoctoral studies in Germany.

As a life sciences chemist for a leading international company, his research has resulted in over two dozen scientific publications and patents and furthered his experience of different cultures. Ken is trained in CPR and the use of Heart defibrillators. Ken was part of a 4 man international team credited with a "Spirit" cover on the 14 November 2005 issue of Aviation Week and Space Technology Magazine and the April 2006 issue of Spaceflight Magazine (British Interplanetary Society) and an "Opportunity" panorama of Duck Bay at Victoria Crater in the 2 October 2006 issue of Aviation Week and Space Technology Magazine.

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The Mohawk Valley Astronomical Society is a non-profit organization formed for educational and scientific purposes. Established in 1989, the organization is dedicated to advancing the study, understanding, and appreciation of astronomy among its members and encouraging the public's awareness of matters related to astronomy. For more information, visit the MVAS web site at www.mvas-ny.org. At the MVAS annual dinner banquet 10 March 2007, Dr. Ken Kremer, a NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador presented “Exploring Mars, the Search for Life, a Journey in 3-D”: A comprehensive review of the ongoing NASA Rover Mission to Mars covering the explorations and adventures of “Spirit” and “Opportunity” from launch to the latest news, as these amazing robots have journeyed many miles across the surface of Mars. Missions to Saturn, Comets and more were put into the broader perspective of the search for life beyond earth, extended into the realm of 3-D. Ken was a member of the four-person international team credited with a "Spirit" cover on the 14 Nov. '05 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine, also selected as "Astronomy Picture of the Day" on Nov. 28, '05. Ken is an active member of the Planetary Society and Program/Lecture Chairman of the Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton.


New Saturn picture from NASA Cassini Saturn Orbiter. Earth is faintly visible at left, between the rings.

Download March '07 Special Events flyer * View CM's Science & Technology Fair


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