"LISA Pathfinder Results" Hangout on 17 June
Alberto Conti BAE Systems, Inc.
After decades of effort, the era of gravitational wave astronomy is finally here. Ground-based instruments like LIGO have opened up humanity's ears to the ripples of spacetime. But the LIGO results represent just one slice of the gravitational wave spectrum. There is a lower-frequency rumble in spacetime that requires a space-based instrument to hear.
Tune into the next "Future in Space" hangout on Friday, 17 June, at 3:00 pm ET for a discussion of LISA Pathfinder, a mission led by the European Space Agency with contributions from several European Member States and NASA, which seeks to demonstrate the technologies needed to build a space-based gravitational wave observatory. Paul McNamara of ESA and Ira Thorpe of NASA will explain the exciting first results from LISA Pathfinder, which were published and announced on June 7th.
We hope you can join us! Please bring your questions and comments for our experts. You can join us on YouTube and RSVP on Facebook.
What Are "Future in Space" Hangouts?
"Future In Space" Hangouts bring the future of space astronomy and astronautics to you every month via Hangouts on Air. With the cooperation of both the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and the American Astronautical Society (the other AAS), our hosts Tony Darnell, Alberto Conti, and Harley Thronson bring you topics that look beyond current space-astronomy research and missions and peer into the unfolding possibilities of what we may learn about the universe with members of the American Astronomical Society. We will peer into what we hope to learn about exoplanets, black holes, the early universe, quasars, and life in the universe along with what technologies might help us — and a whole host of other topics in space astronomy.
We will also explore the technology and engineering possibilities of space travel and research with members of the American Astronautical Society and probe what our future in space may look like and how we might get there. We will examine the underlying technologies of future space telescopes, orbiters, landers, and human space vehicles. We will delve into topics that help us understand the possibilities and limitations of human space flight and eventual human colonization of other worlds.
We hope you can join us each month as we bring experts from both AAS's — people who think about and plan for our future in space — to your computer, tablet, or smartphone. We invite you to bring your questions and comments and get ready to learn about the amazing possibilities for the future of space astronomy and exploration.