UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 4
September 26, 1996
Sixth annual Space Day scheduled for Oct. 12

     Was there life on Mars? Where did the galaxies, stars and
planets come from? What is the origin of the universe?
     These and other intriguing questions will be discussed at
the University's sixth annual Space Day, scheduled from 9 a.m.-3
p.m., Saturday, Oct. 12.
     Mike Kaplan, manager of NASA's Origins Program, will be the
featured speaker, discussing these questions in a free, public
talk that begins at 1 p.m. in the Trabant University Center
Theatre.
     Before his talk, presentations, laboratory visits and
demonstrations will be set up in Sharp Laboratory. All are
designed to offer students, prospective students and the general
public a chance to learn more about graduate research
opportunities, NASA-sponsored graduate fellowships and
undergraduate research internships at the University and other
area institutions that are part of a NASA consortium.
     There is a $5 fee to attend the sessions (including lunch)
and pre-registration is required. Registration deadline is Oct.
4.
     Principal areas of active NASA-sponsored research at UD are
computers and robotics, remote sensing and oceanography,
mechanical engineering and materials, astronomy and astrophysics,
space physics and climatology and environmental science.
     Kaplan's talk will cover the NASA Origins Program, which
addresses the most fundamental questions about space. A lively
discussion of recent NASA evidence that suggests primitive life
may have existed on Mars more than 3.6 billion years ago is
planned.
     The first generation of the Origins Program involved work
with several telescopes that are currently operating, are under
construction or are poised ready to begin construction.
     In the new millennium, NASA is preparing to take the next
giant leap in astronomical capability with three second-
generation Origins missions. With these new facilities,
astronomers around the world will get ever-sharper views of the
distant universe.
     In addition to his work in the Origins Program, Kaplan is
the program executive for the Stratospheric Observatory for
Infrared Astronomy, a Boeing 747-based airborne observatory with
a 2.5 infrared telescope that will make its maiden flight in
2001.
     Previously, he spent 10 years at the Naval Research
Laboratory developing mission concepts and technology for future
Navy and Department of Defense space missions.
     For more information or to register, call the UD Bartol
Research Institute, sponsor of Space Day, at 831-8116.