After an introduction on the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2022 and the European-American scientific collaborations, four French planetary scientists from NASA/JPL-Caltech and ESA shared their experience and excitement for the upcoming revolutionary space science missions JUICE (ESA) and Europa Clipper (NASA) that will launch towards Jupiter’s moons in 2023 and 2024. This is an example of efficient European-American collaboration which promotes the search for habitable worlds.
This online event was organized by our team in Los Angeles and hosted by the Alliance Française of Pasadena, where some special guests (scientists and diplomats mostly) were invited. The presentation and discussion are in English.
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Europa and Ganymede, and potentially Callisto, three natural satellites of Jupiter, host global liquid saltwater oceans maintained by internal heating beneath their icy surfaces. These oceans have captured the interest and curiosity of the scientific community: do they harbor environments and conditions suitable for life?
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Do not miss Dr Caitlin Ahrens’ promoting video
To promote our Café des Sciences, Dr. Caitlin Ahrens, NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow, gave us insights into Jupiter in Native American Culture, and into how indigenous’ Astro-knowledge has enriched today’s Space sciences.
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens’ research involves remote sensing of icy surfaces and volatile interactions, including modelling of thermal phases of ices, and applications to geomorphological data on icy surfaces. Dr. Ahrens also works on a number of planetary volcanism projects, including lava flow morphology, caldera formation, and rheology, on Mars, Ceres, Titan, and Pluto. Dr. Ahrens is currently applying Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data to investigate the volatiles at the lunar surface and lunar volcanism.
Dr. Ahrens received her B.S. in Physics/Astrophysics and Geology from West Virginia University in 2015, and a Ph.D. in Space and Planetary Science at the University of Arkansas in 2020. Dr. Ahrens is currently a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow at the Goddard Space Flight Center.
In 2018, Dr. Ahrens received the Ten Outstanding Young Americans award (presented by the U.S. Junior Chamber) for her efforts in science communication and outreach.
The speakers
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Editor : Clara Devouassoux, Deputy attachée for Science and Technology at the Consulate of France in Los Angeles, [email protected]
