TSCN News:Café Scientifique, New Mexico’s portion of the Teen Science Café Network, is gearing up for a two-part series of cafés about Mars.
The first café is 7 p.m., Feb. 2 at the YMCA Teen Center in Los Alamos. The second café is 7 p.m., Feb. 23 in Taos at the Mural Room of the old county courthouse and will be presented on Human Landing sites on Mars.
Suzi Montaño and Steve Johnstone from Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Space Data Science and Systems Group (ISR-3) work on the Curiosity rover ChemCam team, and will present on the state of manned missions to Mars, and how close to a reality colonizing Mars has become.
Teens will have a chance to review the criteria for landing sites and make recommendations to the LANL/NASA team. Teens who recommend a Mars site that NASA chooses will be added as a member of the research team.
Dr. Nina Lanza of LANL’s Space and Remote Sensing group (ISR-2) will host part two of the Mars series, presenting on the high-tech search for signs of life on Mars. Her café schedule will include four stops:
- March 8, 7 p.m. in the YMCA Teen Center in Los Alamos;
- March 16, 6 p.m. in the Erna Fergusson Library in Albuquerque;
- March 30, 7 p.m. at the Northern New Mexico College AD Building in Española; and
- April 19, 7 p.m. in the Mural Room of the old county courthouse in Taos.
For more information and directions, visit Cafenm.org/schedule.html. Direct questions to RJ Montaño at RJ@scieds.com.
About Café Scientifique New Mexico
We started our journey with Café Scientifique in 2007. It’s a free, fun way for teens to explore the latest ideas in science and technology. Stimulating conversations with scientists, engineers, and inventors take place in an informal and relaxed setting. Free food is served! The program is run by teens for teens at central locations in Los Alamos, Española, Albuquerque, Rio Rancho and Taos. This program is made possible with funding from the National Science Foundation, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Northern New Mexico College.
