Cal Poly Features Live Feed of Mars Landing on May 25

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Come witness a momentous event at Cal Poly this month, when the Phoenix Mars Lander touches down on the Martian arctic to investigate water ice.

Everyone is invited to watch a live broadcast of the landing, scheduled at 4:36 p.m., Sunday, May 25 in the Cal Poly Orfalea College of Business Rotunda Building, Room 213.

Cal Poly Physics Professor John Keller will give a public talk on the mission prior to the landing. Keller is a planetary scientist who worked with the Mars Odyssey spacecraft which discovered buried water ice on Mars. His talk is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.

In addition, activities for kids will be included in the day’s events, with the first activity scheduled to begin at 3:45 p.m. Cake and refreshments will be served after the landing at 6:15 p.m., when the first still images of the Martian arctic are scheduled to be beamed back from Phoenix.

The event is free and open to the public. The live broadcast is courtesy of the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena. The event is sponsored by the Cal Poly Astronomy Club, the Central Coast Astronomical Society (CCAS) and Cal Poly’s Center for Excellence in Science and Math Education (CESaME).

CESaME was created to improve the pipeline of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduates and enhance the scientific and technological literacy of our citizens. An interdisciplinary, university-wide endeavor, CESaME fosters collaborations among students and faculty from across campus, partnering with teachers, community college faculty, business, industry, government and foundation partners in support of its programs.

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