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This event is at capacity. If you have already RSVP'd through the link below, we'll see you there!

Join Sunday Assembly at the Crawford Family Forum for this incredible expose on the Mars Rover.  Be sure to RVSP at this link: http://kpcc.ticketleap.com/mars-rovers-10-years/.  Tickets are free, but they do "sell" out.

This program is a partnership between the Crawford Family Forum's science series NEXT: People | Science | Tomorrow and The Planetary Society’s Planetary Radio LIVE.

The Mars Rovers – man-made robots with uncanny appeal to the human imagination. January 4, 2004, Spirit fell through the Martian sky, landed on the surface and bounded away, protected by “beach balls” like those that had successfully delivered the Pathfinder lander and little Sojourner rover years before. Just three weeks later and halfway around the planet, Opportunity did the same.  She continues her trek today, sending new information about the Red Planet to the waiting scientists on the NASA and JPL teams who launched her.

The rovers are arguably among our greatest engineering and science achievements. Even their builders shake their heads as they continue to receive stunning images and intriguing data after more than 3,650 Earth days on Mars - transmitted by a rover with a “warranty” for just 90 days. More than this, Spirit and Opportunity have captivated billions with real time information and images from this alien world. With the mission to find clues to past water activity, they have helped set the course for future exploration, including the successful Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory, and the possibility that man may one day travel safely to this elusive planet.

To celebrate these ten remarkable years and talk about future explorations, Mat Kaplan, host of Planetary Radio and SCPR’s science series, NEXT: People | Science | Tomorrow, welcomes leaders of the Mars Exploration Rovers team to the Crawford Family Forum stage. Joining them will be Bill Nye the Science Guy and Planetary Society CEO, and the Society’s Emily Lakdawalla and Bruce Betts. Don’t miss out – reserve your seat and get in on the fun!

 Host:

Mat Kaplan: host of Southern California Public Radio’s science series, NEXT: People | Science | Tomorrow; host and producer of Planetary Radio for The Planetary Society - @PlanRad

Guests:

Bruce Betts: Director of Projects for The Planetary Society - @RandomSpaceFact

John Grotzinger:  Fletcher Jones Professor of Geology at the California Institute of Technology; Project Scientist for Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory

Emily Lakdawalla: Senior Editor and Planetary Evangelist for The Planetary Society - @elakdawalla

Rob Manning: Chief Engineer at the Jet Propulsion Lab for Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory; recipient of two NASA medals; and member of the Aviation Week Magazine Space Laureate Hall of Fame at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

Bill Nye the Science Guy: CEO of The Planetary Society - @TheScienceGuy

Special performance:

Hedgehog Swing, a gypsy swing band based in Long Beach which prides itself on being true to the music of 1930's France and legendary guitarist, Django Reinhardt.