About Mars: The next step

Dr. James Rice, who is an American expert, was invited to the Czech Republic by the Academy of Science. Mars: The Next Step follows the popular program ‘To Space with a Little Mole,’ which came to the Czech Republic in 2011. Astronaut Andrew Feustel took the well-known cartoon character, Krtek, a little mole on a journey to space in the Endeavour spaces shuttle. Space exploration is a very popular subject in the Czech Republic and Dr. Rice shared his knowledge to inspire a future generation of Czech scientists. A press conference took place on Tuesday, 17 September 2013 at the headquarters of the Academy of Sciences of the CR in Prague. Other than the American scientist, also the Ambassador of the USA in Prague Norman L. Eisen and Vice-President of the ASCR RNDr. Jan Šafanda, CSc. appeared. “ Through this event, the ASCR is trying to show the public that space research in which a number of academic institutes are involved and which costs a great deal of money returns bounteously to society – both through expanding our knowledge of the solar system and also a number of practical applications and technological innovations,” said J. Šafanda.

 
 

Photos: Stanislava Kyselová, Akademic bulletin  

                                                                                   

  A planetary geologist, Dr. James Rice, recently one of the top American experts and now an Astrogeologist and Senior Scientist with the Planetary Science Institute gave lectures in 5 different cities. They were held in Prague, Ostrava, Brno, Hradec Králové and České Budějovice accompanied with an exhibition prepared especially for this event. He shared his knowledge and excitement for cutting edge science as part of the Mars: The Next Step Project and  discussed the unexpected discoveries on Mars thanks to the robotic vehicles Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity. He wanted to approach young science enthusiasts and share a unique experience through an interactive presentation on Mars.