EVENTS

An Evening with John C. Mather: Filled. Waiting List Only

NOTE: This event is full. We are taking additional names for a waiting list ONLY.  Please bring a credit card for payment. Thank you.

As part of World Space Week, join John Mather, Senior Astrophysicist in the Observational Cosmology Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. He will explain the history of the universe in a nutshell, from the Big Bang to the present, and explore our future understanding of the universe.

Mather will describe Einstein's biggest mistake, show how Edwin Hubble discovered the expansion of the universe, how the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) mission was built, and how the COBE data support the Big Bang theory.  He will also show NASA's plans for the next great telescope in space, the James Webb Space Telescope.  It will look even farther back in time than the Hubble Space Telescope, and will look inside the dusty cocoons where stars and planets are being born today. Planned for launch in 2013, it may lead to another Nobel Prize for some lucky observer.

Dr. John C. Mather is a Senior Astrophysicist in the Observational Cosmology Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.  His research centers on infrared astronomy and cosmology.  As an NRC postdoctoral fellow at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (New York City), he led the proposal efforts for the Cosmic Background Explorer (74-76), and came to GSFC to be the Study Scientist (76-88), Project Scientist (88-98), and the Principal Investigator for the Far IR Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) on COBE.  He and his team showed that the cosmic microwave background radiation has a blackbody spectrum within 50 parts per million, confirming the Big Bang theory to extraordinary accuracy.  As Senior Project Scientist (95-present) for the James Webb Space Telescope, he leads the science team, and represents scientific interests within the project management. He is the recipient of many awards, including the Nobel Prize in Physics (2006) with George Smoot, for his COBE work.

To RSVP for this event email ksm@nas.edu or call 202-334-1201. Please note: We are no longer able to accept cash payments for programs. Please bring MasterCard or Visa.

Museum Location Located at the corner of 6th and E Streets, NW in downtown Washington, DC the Marian Koshland Science Museum is within walking distance of the National Mall, two Metro stations, the Verizon Center, and several other museums and attractions.