Bradbury Science Museum gets Martian fever
Curiosity rover bears LANL technologies.
Contact
- James E. Rickman
- Communications Office
- (505) 665-9203
Public invited to Curiosity rover landing party Sunday night at new Mars exhibit
LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico, July 31, 2012—Curious about Curiosity, the SUV-sized rover scheduled to touch down on Mars on Sunday? Then come on down to an opening party for a new exhibit about it this Sunday at the Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos.
The public is invited to a special opening reception beginning at 10 p.m. Sunday (August 5, 2012) to celebrate Los Alamos National Laboratory technologies aboard the six-wheeled mobile science laboratory. The Curiosity rover, the centerpiece of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission, is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet Sunday at 11:31 p.m. local (Mountain Daylight) time. The museum plans to show the landing via NASA TV live that evening.
While waiting for the nail-biting news about the successful landing of the Curiosity rover, visitors to the new museum exhibit can learn about LANL technologies on board, view a nearly life-sized 3-dimensional stereo poster of Curiosity, and use their iPhone or iPad to interact with it. Light refreshments will be served.
“This is an exhibit about LANL technology on Mars. We’re really excited to showcase LANL’s scientific and technologic expertise while also providing an educational and fun experience for the public,” said Bradbury Science Museum Director Linda Deck. “We’ve been thinking about this for months and intensely working on it about four weeks,” she said, adding that the exhibit will remain in place indefinitely in the museum’s TechLab.
Museum visitors will find display models of ChemCam—the rock-zapping laser that will help characterize Martian geology—CheMin, which uses X-ray diffraction to determine the composition of mineral samples collected and dropped into a funnel on the Curiosity rover; and simulated radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), the tiny plutonium canisters that provide heat and power sources that give Curiosity several times as much electricity as previous-generation rovers—a necessity for the much larger and more-advanced payload on Curiosity.
The museum’s TechLab will have a dozen videos and animations about the Curiosity rover from NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Visitors can also pose for photos with a life-size image of the rover. A scientist from LANL’s Curiosity team will be on hand to talk to visitors during the opening event. For more information about Sunday’s special event, call 505-667-4444.
The Bradbury Science Museum is open every day except, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. The museum is located at 15th Street and Central Avenue and is open from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday and Monday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Learn about the Mars Science Laboratory mission here: http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl
July
- Frontiers in Science Lectures
- Hazmat Challenge
- Bradbury Science Museum Gets Martian Fever
- Presidential Early Career Award
- Scientists Among Duke-Led Consortium
Fast Facts
People
Total employees,
10,402
Los Alamos National Security, LLC, 6,929
SOC Los Alamos (Guard Force), 396
Contractors, 349
Students, 889
Post doctoral researchers, 427
Place
Located 35 miles northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, on 36 square miles of DOE-owned property.
More than 2,000 individual facilities, including 47 technical areas with 8 million square feet under roof.
Replacement value of $9.8 billion
Budget
FY 2012: Approx. $2.2 billion
—57% Weapons programs
—9% Nonproliferation programs
—7% Safeguards and Security
—8% Environmental Management
—4% DOE Office of Science
—4% Energy and other programs
—11% Work for Others
Workforce Demographics
(LANS and students only)
34% of employees live in Los Alamos, the remainder commute from Santa Fe, Española, Taos, and Albuquerque.
Average Age: 46
—67%
male, 33% female
—44% minorities
—67% university degrees
—26% hold undergraduate degrees
—18% hold master’s degrees
—23% have earned a PhD
Major Awards
124 R&D100 awards since 1978
31 E.O. Lawrence Awards
The Seaborg Medal
The Edward Teller Medal
The Nobel Prize in Physics, Frederick Reines
98 miles; 1 hr, 51 min.
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About Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and URS for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.
Video
Los Alamos ChemCam Team Update Oct. 2012
Members of the Los Alamos National Laboratory ChemCam team re-live their experiences during the entry, descent, and landing phase of the Mar...
