The Physics department colloquia are usually on Friday afternoons at 3 pm in Room 135. Coffee and cookies are served at 2:45 pm in the same room. Anyone is welcome.

NASA Science Update
Dr. Michelle Thaller, Assistant Director for Science at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

With over 90 active science missions, it’s been a busy year for NASA Science! December 2014 brought a flurry of news about Mars; methane, evidence of long-standing water, and the arrival of a new spacecraft bent on understanding what happened to the Martian atmosphere. This spring we look forward to an encounter with Ceres, the largest asteroid, and Pluto, the still-controversial dwarf planet. We’re launching a mission to understand the fundamental physics that drives solar storms and space weather and continuing our monitoring of Earth’s changing climate.

We’ll take a look at the breadth and depth of NASA science missions, and look forward to the future – the incredible James Webb Space Telescope and just-approved mission to Europa.