2003: A JPL Space Odyssey -- Join the Journey with Free Lectures

From the oceans that govern Earth's environment to the stars that illuminate outer space, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will share a wide range of discoveries in science and space exploration with the public in a series of free lectures this year. The von Kármán Lecture Series, now in its seventh year, features monthly presentations that originate on a Thursday night from JPL and on a Friday night from Pasadena City College. The JPL lectures are also Webcast live and archived for later viewing. The JPL lectures are held at the lab's von Kármán Auditorium, 4800 Oak Grove Dr. in Pasadena. Friday lectures are held at Pasadena City College's Vosloh Forum, 1570 E. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena.

All lectures begin at 7 p.m., with first-come, first-served seating. For more information, see http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures.cfm or call (818) 354-0112 or email lecture@www.jpl.nasa.gov. Here is the schedule:

--Feb. 20, 21-New Weather and Climate Tools for the 21st Century

Dr. Moustafa Chahine, JPL senior research scientist and science team leader for the Aqua spacecraft sounding system: The benefits of NASA's Aqua mission, which is observing Earth's weather and water cycle with unprecedented detail.

--Mar. 20, 21-The Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn

Dr. Robert Mitchell, Cassini program manager: The birth and evolution of the Cassini-Huygens four-year mission to Saturn. Cassini will arrive at Saturn in 2004.

--Apr. 17, 18-Mars Global Surveyor Across the Centuries

Dr. Terry Martin, JPL research scientist, Earth and planetary atmospheres: How the Mars Global Surveyor mission contributes to future Mars exploration.

--May 8, 9-Challenges in Mobility and Robotics for In Situ Science

Brian Wilcox, manager, Solar System Exploration Mobility Technology Program: The challenges of exploring extreme planetary surfaces with mobile robots.

--Jun. 12, 13-SIRTF: The Last of the Great Observatories

Dr. Dave Gallagher, project manager, and Dr. Michael Werner, project scientist: The developmental history of the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, a mission scheduled for launch in April that will study the early universe and look for planet-forming discs around other stars.

--Jul. 17, 18-Searching and Crawling: A Few JPL Research Robots

Robert Hogg, robotics engineer, JPL Autonomy and Control Section: All about "Urbie," a bathmat-sized robot designed to investigate potential human hazards, help search-and-rescue efforts and survey enemy territory.

--Aug. 21, 22-The Mars Exploration Rovers - Robotic Geologists

Peter Theisinger, JPL Mars Exploration Rover program manager: Post-landing mission plans for the Mars Exploration Rovers, twin spacecraft scheduled to launch this year and arrive at Mars in 2004.

--Sep. 18, 19-Galileo's Odyssey - The Worlds of Jupiter

Dr. Rosaly Lopes, JPL research scientist: A guide to the Galileo spacecraft's journey around Jupiter and its moons, just days before the spacecraft plunges into Jupiter.

--Oct. 16, 17-Cosmic Jets: New Building Blocks of the Universe

Dr. David Meier, JPL astrophysicist: How the mysterious, spectacular phenomenon of cosmic jets are integral to our origin and the universe's structure and evolution.

--Nov. 20, 21-Deep Space Network Challenge for 2003-2004: Tracking Dozens of Mission Critical Spacecraft Events

Speaker TBA: How the Deep Space Network plans to get through its approaching challenge to support more concurrent events of crucial magnitude than ever in its history.

--Dec. 11, 12-Pointing the Way to Exoplanetary Systems: New Initiatives in Space Astronomy and the Legacy of the Hubble Space Telescope

Dr. John Trauger, JPL senior research scientist: How soon will we see planetary systems orbiting the stars in our nearby galactic neighborhood?

JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.