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Confirmed Speakers List
Below is the list of confirmed major speakers for the 11th Annual Mars Society International Convention in Boulder, Colorado:
 Elon Musk - CEO/CTO,
SpaceXSpaceX is the third company founded by Mr. Musk. Prior to SpaceX, he co-founded PayPal, the world's leading electronic payment system, and served as the company's chairman and CEO. PayPal has over twenty million customers in 38 countries, processes several billion dollars per year and went public on the NASDAQ under PYPL in early 2002. Mr. Musk was the largest shareholder of PayPal until the company was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion in October 2002. Before PayPal, Mr. Musk co-founded Zip2 Corporation in 1995, a leading provider of enterprise software and services to the media industry, with investments from The New York Times Company, Knight-Ridder, MDV, Softbank and the Hearst Corporation. He served as Chairman, CEO and Chief Technology Officer and in March 1999 sold Zip2 to Compaq for $307 million in an all cash transaction. Mr. Musk's early experience extends across a spectrum of advanced technology industries, from high energy density ultra-capacitors at Pinnacle Research to software development at Rocket Science and Microsoft. He has a physics degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a business degree from Wharton and originally came out to California to pursue graduate studies in high energy density capacitor physics & materials science at Stanford. |
 Gen. Pete Worden -
Director, NASA Ames Research CenterDr. S. Pete Worden (Brig. Gen., USAF, ret.) is the NASA Ames Research Center Director. Prior to becoming Director, Dr. Worden was a Research Professor of Astronomy, Optical Sciences and Planetary Sciences at the University of Arizona where his primary research direction was the development of large space optics for national security and scientific purposes and near-earth asteroids. Additionally he worked on topics related to space exploration and solar-type activity in nearby stars. He is a recognized expert on space issues—both civil and military. Dr. Worden has authored or co-authored more than 150 scientific technical papers in astrophysics, space sciences, and strategic studies. Moreover, he served as a scientific co-investigator for two NASA space science missions. In addition to his former position with the University of Arizona, Dr. Worden served as a consultant to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on space-related issues. During the 2004 Congressional Session Dr. Worden worked as a Congressional Fellow with the Office of Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), where he served as Senator Brownback's chief advisor on NASA and space issues. Dr. Worden retired in 2004 after 29 years of active service in the United States Air Force. His final position was Director of Development and Transformation, Space and Missile Systems Center, Air Force Space Command, Los Angeles Air Force Base, CA. In this position he was responsible for developing new directions for Air Force Space Command programs and was instrumental in initiating a major Responsive Space Program designed to produce space systems and launchers capable of tailored military effects on timescales of hours. Dr. Worden was commissioned in 1971 after receiving a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Michigan. He entered the Air Force in 1975 after graduating from the University of Arizona with a doctorate in astronomy. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Dr. Worden served in every phase of development, international negotiations and implementation of the Strategic Defense Initiative, a primary component in ending the Cold War. He twice served in the Executive Office of the President. As the staff officer for initiatives in the George Bush administration's National Space Council, Dr. Worden spearheaded efforts to revitalize U.S. civil space exploration and earth monitoring programs. Dr. Worden commanded the 50th Space Wing that is responsible for more than 60 Department of Defense satellites and more than 6,000 people at 23 worldwide locations. He then served as Deputy Director for Requirements at Headquarters Air Force Space Command, as well as the Deputy Director for Command and Control with the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations at Air Force headquarters. Prior to assuming his current position, Dr. Worden was responsible for policy and direction of five mission areas: force enhancement, space support, space control, force application and computer network defense. Dr. Worden has written or co-written more than 150 scientific technical papers in astrophysics, space sciences and strategic studies. He was a scientific co-investigator for two NASA space science missions. He and his wife Nancy reside in Placitas, New Mexico. |
 Dr. Chris McKay -
Planetary Scientist, NASA AmesDr. McKay is currently a planetary scientist with the Space Science Division of NASA Ames Research Center. He received his Ph.D. in AstroGeophysics from the University of Colorado in 1982 and has been a research scientist with the NASA Ames since that time. Dr. McKay is one of the world's leading researchers studying Titan, and has been involved in numerical modeling of planetary atmospheres for many years. He is currently working on models of Titan's thick atmosphere in support of the joint NASA/ESA mission to the Saturn system. Dr. McKay is co-Investigator on the Titan probe atmospheric structure experiment (HASI). His broader interests focus on understanding the relationship between the chemical and physical evolution of the solar system and the origin of life. He has been actively involved in planning for future Mars missions including human settlements. Dr. Mckay has also been involved with polar research since 1980, traveling to the Antarctic dry valleys and more recently to the Siberian Arctic to conduct research in these Mars-like environments. |
 Dr. James Garvin - Remote
Sensing Specialist, Earth System Science Pathfinder Project, Goddard
Space Flight CenterJim Garvin joined the Geodynamics Branch in 1984, after completing his PHD at Brown University, with specialization in the geomorphology of lander sites on Mars and Venus and Radar remote sensing. Within two years of his arrival at GSFC, Garvin had established ties with laser instrument engineers and together they developed airborne laser altimeter instruments optimized for landscape characterization, as well as investigations pertaining to orbital laser altimeters for the Earth, Moon, and Mars. Garvin's main interests include time variable phenomena associated with volcano-ice interactions, catastrophic glacier outburst floods, the geomorphometry of impact craters, and topographic monitoring of dynamic landscapes. He has served as Chief Scientist for the Shuttle Laser Altimeter (SLA-01, SLA-02), and as PI on 12 airborne laser altimeter missions, four of which have focussed on Iceland. Garvin is a Co-I on the Mars Orbital Laser Altimeter and one of the founding fathers of the original MOLA. He is also serving as the Project Scientist for NASA's new ESSP Project. |
 Dr. Guy Consolmagno - Vatican
ObservatoryConsolmagno, born September 19, 1952, in Detroit, Michigan, USA, obtained his bachelor of science in 1974 and master of science in 1975 in Earth and Planetary Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his Ph.D. in Planetary Science from the University of Arizona in 1978. From 1978-80 he was a postdoctoral fellow and lecturer at the Harvard College Observatory, and from 1980-1983 continued as postdoc and lecturer at MIT. In 1983 he left MIT to join the US Peace Corps, where he served for two years in Kenya teaching physics and astronomy. Upon his return to the US in 1985 he became an assistant professor of physics at Lafayette College, in Easton, Pennsylvania, where he taught until his entry into the Jesuit order in 1989. He took vows as a Jesuit brother in 1991, and studied philosophy and theology at Loyola University, Chicago, and physics at the University of Chicago, before his assignment to the Vatican Observatory in 1993. In spring 2000 he held the MacLean Chair for Visiting Jesuit Scholars at St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia, and in 2006-2007 held the Loyola Chair at Fordham University, New York. He has also been a visiting scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center and a visiting professor at Loyola College, Baltimore, and Loyola University, Chicago. Consolmagno has served on the governing boards of the Meteoritical Society; the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) Division III, Planetary Systems Science (secretary, 2000 - present) and Commission 16, Moons and Planets (president, 2003-2006); and the American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences (chair, 2006-2007). He has coauthored five astronomy books: Turn Left at Orion (with Dan M. Davis; Cambridge University Press, 1989); Worlds Apart (with Martha W. Schaefer; Prentice Hall, 1993); The Way to the Dwelling of Light (U of Notre Dame Press, 1998); Brother Astronomer (McGraw Hill, 2000); and God's Mechanics (Jossey-Bass, 2007). (Our Publications Page will help you to obtain these.) Dr. Consolmagno is curator of the Vatican meteorite collection in Castel Gandolfo, one of the largest in the world. His research explores the connections between meteorites and asteroids, and the origin and evolution of small bodies in the solar system. In 1996, he spent six weeks collecting meteorites with an NSF-sponsored team on the blue ice of Antarctica, and in 2000 he was honored by the IAU for his contributions to the study of meteorites and asteroids with the naming of asteroid 4597 Consolmagno. |
 Dr. Bill Clancey - NASA
Ames Research CenterDr. Clancey is a computer scientist, specializing in cognitive science and artificial intelligence. His early work focused on developing computer programs that could diagnose diseases, explain their reasoning, and teach medical students. Today he believes that the best way to advance AI is to understand the differences between people and computer programs. In developing practical applications, this is called human-centered computing. His professional interests include relating computational models to neuropsychology, building visualization tools for designing work systems, and applying AI technology in commercial ventures. |
 George Whitesides -
Executive Director, National Space SocietyGeorge Whitesides is the Executive Director of the National Space Society, the largest space advocacy group dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring civilization. NSS has approximately 20,000 supporters and more than 50 chapters around the world. Founded in 1974 on the principles of Werner von Braun and Dr. Gerald O'Neill, NSS seeks to promote change to advance the day when humans will live, work and play in space. Whitesides began his career at Orbital Sciences Corporation as special assistant to the president. Since then, he has served as Vice President of Marketing for Zero Gravity Corporation, a private space-tourism company, and Director of Marketing for Blastoff Corporation, a space-experience company funded by film and technology leaders. He is an appointed member of COMSTAC, the official advisory committee to the Department of Transportation on space transportation issues. He has also served on the Board of Trustees of Princeton University, and currently serves on the board of the Space Generation Foundation. He has focused on bringing new constituencies into the space community via pioneering outreach and education projects, and by building media coverage of space outside traditional venues. For this work, he has been featured on MTV and NPR. Whitesides is the co-founder of Yuri's Night, a global celebration of space that includes thousands of celebrants each year around the world. He is also the founder of Permission to Dream, a global space-education program focused on astronomy. Permission to Dream has donated telescopes and astronomy materials to disadvantaged children in 16 countries to date. A Fulbright scholar, Whitesides received his graduate degree in remote sensing and GIS from Cambridge University, and his undergraduate degree in public and international affairs from Princeton University with honors. Whitesides maintains an active speaking schedule, includings talks at the annual convention of the National Society of Black Engineers, the FAA's Space Transportation division, the Arthur C. Clark Awards, the ORBIT Awards for Space Tourism, Cambridge University, Princeton University, and local schools. Internationally, he has presented at UNESCO headquarters in Paris and at events in other spacefaring countries like Brazil, China and Russia. An active writer and commentator on space and exploration issues, Whitesides has been interviewed on NBC, CNN, Fox News, VOA, and many other media outlets, as well as contributing comment to NPR, Space News, Space.com, and the Planetary Report. He was the co-recipient, with Loretta Hidalgo, of the 2001 Permission to Dream award. Whitesides is a licensed private pilot and certified parabolic flight coach, with over 200 parabolas. His other interests include architecture, photography, ice hockey and mountaineering. In 2000 he made a successful ascent of Aconcagua, the highest peak in the western hemisphere. |
 Dr. Carol Stoker -
Co-Investigator, Phoenix Mars LanderCarol Stoker is a planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center. She recieved her Ph.D in AstroGeophysics in 1983 from the University of Colorado. At NASA since 1985, she is actively involved in planning for robotic and human exploration of Mars. Carol's research has focused on field studies of Mars-analog environments on the Earth using robots. She has performed field studies in the Antarctic, arctic, equatorial pacific, Southern Spain, and the southwestern US to demonstrate robotic systems relevant to searching for life on other planets. She was a participating scientist on the Mars Pathfinder mission where she provided a three-dimensional interactive virtual reality model of the Pathfinder landing site as a tool for operating the rover mission. She played a similar role in the Mars Polar lander mission, the scientific progenitor of Phoenix. She currently leads the MARTE project to develop a robotic system for drilling the subsurface of Mars to search for living organisms. MARTE is searching for subsurface life in Rio Tinto, Spain, an analog to the Sinus Merdiani site explored by the MER rover. |
 Dr. Carolyn Porco -
Imaging Science Lead, CassiniDr. Porco is a planetary scientist and the leader of the imaging science team on the Cassini mission presently in orbit around Saturn. In 1999, she was selected by The London Sunday Times as one of 18 scientific leaders of the 21st century, and by Industrial Week as one of 50 Stars to Watch. Porco was responsible for the epitaph and proposal to honor the late renowned planetary geologist Eugene Shoemaker by sending his cremains to the Moon aboard the Lunar Prospector spacecraft in 1998. Her contributions to the exploration of the outer solar system were recognized with the naming of Asteroid (7231) Porco which is "Named in honor of Carolyn C. Porco, a pioneer in the study of planetary ring systems...and a leader in spacecraft exploration of the outer solar system". She was awarded the Isaac Asimov Science Award in 2008 by the American Humanist Association. Porco was an imaging scientist on the Voyager mission in the 1980s, and is also an imaging scientist on the New Horizons[9] mission launched to Pluto on January 19, 2006. She is an expert on planetary rings and the Saturnian moon, Enceladus. As a young Voyager scientist, she was the first person to describe the behavior of the eccentric ringlets and the "spokes" discovered by Voyager within the rings of Saturn, to elucidate the mechanism by which the outer Uranian rings were being shepherded by the Voyager-discovered moons Cordelia and Ophelia, and to provide an explanation for the shepherding of the rings arcs of Neptune by the moon Galatea, also discovered by Voyager. She was a co-originator of the idea to take a 'portrait of the planets' with the Voyager spacecraft, and participated in the planning, design, and execution of those images in 1991, including the famous Pale Blue Dot image of Earth. She has co-authored over 80 scientific papers on subjects ranging from the spectroscopy of Uranus and Neptune, the interstellar medium, the photometry of planetary rings, satellite/ring interactions, computer simulations of planetary rings, the thermal balance of Triton’s polar caps, heat flow in the interior of Jupiter, and a suite of results on the atmosphere, satellites, and rings of Saturn from the Cassini imaging experiment. She and her team discovered five moons around Saturn: Methone, Pallene, Polydeuces, Daphnis, and Anthe. They also have found several new rings, such as rings coincident with the orbits of Atlas, Janus and Epimetheus (the Saturnian 'co-orbitals') and Pallene, a diffuse ring between Atlas and the F ring, and new rings within several of the gaps in Saturn's rings. Recently, she has turned her scientific investigations to the study of Enceladus and its now-famous jets. She and her team first suggested, and provided detailed scientific arguments, that these jets might be geysers erupting from reservoirs of near-surface liquid water under the south pole of the small moon. They also sighted what looked like a hydrocarbon lake in the southern hemisphere of Titan in June 2005, and a group of similar (and larger) features in the northern hemisphere in February 2007. The possibility that these sea-sized features are either completely or partially filled with liquid hydrocarbons is significantly strengthened by overlapping Cassini radar data. |
 Dr. Matt Mountain -
Director, Space Telescope Science InstituteMatt Mountain is the Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, taking the reins on September 1, 2005. Matt was previously the Director of the Gemini Observatory, which is based in Hilo, Hawaii. He is also the Telescope Scientist for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, a member of the Webb Science Working Group, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford (UK). Matt received a B.S. in physics in 1978 and a Ph.D. in astronomy in 1983—both from the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London University — where he also held a Research Fellowship before joining the staff at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh. During his seven years in Edinburgh, he worked on observations of star formation processes and instrumentation for infrared astronomy, which culminated in the successful commissioning of a new infrared spectrometer for the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope in Hawaii. In 1992, Matt became Project Scientist for the Gemini 8-meter Telescopes Project and went on to become Project Director in 1994. In 1998 he moved to the "big island" of Hawaii, with responsibility for the creation of the Gemini Observatory. Matt's principle research interests have included star formation in galaxies (including our own), advanced infrared instrumentation, and the capabilities of advanced telescopes. |
 Ted Peters - Director,
Institute for Theology and Ethics
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Mars Phoenix Lander Parties!
CNN Coverage of Space in the US Presidential Election
